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Land and Life in Boone County, Kentucky: Beyond Economics

Notes by Jas. Duvall, M. A.

2008

"Economia is that land where everything has a price, and everything can be sold or destroyed, for a price."

Dr. Socrates Ruggles

Is agriculture an industry or a way of life?  Land & Life

Factors:

Sanity – man must remain in touch with nature and the land.
Beauty – man must improve the land and its fertility.
Wealth – the land must bear a constant and steady supply of food and other natural commodities, by means that result in happy and healthy lives.

Enriching and reconstructing agriculture and the rural farm population. Policies should result in greater employment and soil fertility. We must inculcate the values and ideals that make rural life possible. These cannot be “reconstructed” like soil fertility, they can only be taught by example, preaching, and philosophical teaching.

Change must take place if there is to be a new attitude to the land. There must be some major resolution of the major tensions in the beliefs of our time. This includes religious beliefs about God, man, and nature. It includes also uncovering our metaphysical presuppositions.

Land as a “sacred” aspect of life.

or,

What is Wrong with the "Green" Movement?

The roots of the current Green movement, both on the right and the left, are to be found in Fascism. The Fascist attempt to solve the industrial problem also included a theory of returning to the land and the ecological problem. Both are characterized by an attempt of the elite to control or destroy the existence of the “unenlightened”, or society as it actually exists.

The inventor Charles F. Kettering once said that the reason so many people present theories of how to improve the world is that they never had to present a working model. Any improvement made in society must be done while the whole thing is a going concern, like those roads that are improved while traffic continues to move on them.

Modern ecological movements are generally not attempts to improve the natural environment we have; they insist on destroying the whole fabric and beginning anew. They are opposed to human freedom, and especially to democracy. They, like the Gnostics, hate humanity, as it actually exists, and are willing to destroy society for the hoped for benefit. As it stands the movement, by and large, is an assault on humanity, with an entirely destructive agenda. “Nature” is treated as a victim, and the Green movement claims to speak for it, though it is a constituency which cannot reject it, whatever harm it does.

This does not mean that ecology is not important. On the contrary. Human relation to the land is the single most important problem facing society today; especially in places like Boone County, Kentucky. Land is not merely a means of production. Some land should not be farmed, built on, or used for any commercial purpose whatever. Thoreau wrote of such land:

I think of no natural feature which is a greater ornament and treasure to this town than the river. It is one of the things which determine whether a man will live here or in another place, and it is one of the first objects which we show to a stranger. In this respect we enjoy a great advantage over those neighboring towns which have no river. Yet the town, as a corporation, has never turned any but the most utilitarian eyes upon it and has done nothing to preserve its natural beauty. They who laid out the town should have made the river available as a common possession forever. The town collectively should at least have done as much as an individual of taste who owns an equal area commonly does in England. Indeed, I think that not only the channel, but one or both banks of every river should be a public highway, for a river is not useful merely to float on. In this case, one bank might have been reserved as a public walk and the trees that adorned it have been protected, and frequent avenues have been provided leading to it from the main street. This would have cost but few acres of land and but little wood, and we should all have been gainers by it. Now it is accessible only at the bridges, at points comparatively distant from the town, and there is not a foot of shore to stand on unless you trespass on somebody’s lot; and if you attempt a quiet stroll down the bank, you soon meet with fences built at right angles with the stream and projecting far over the water, where individuals — naturally enough, under the present management — seek to monopolize the shore. At least we shall get our only view of the stream from the meeting house belfry. As for the trees which fringed the shore within my remembrance — where are they? and where will the remnant of them be after ten years more?
So, if there is any central and commanding hilltop, it should be reserved for the public use. Think of a mountaintop in the township, even to the Indians a sacred place, only accessible through private grounds. A temple, as it were, which you cannot enter without trespassing — nay, the temple itself private property and standing in a man’s cow-yard.

[Henry David Thoreau, Wild Fruits: Thoreau’s Rediscovered Last Manuscript, (New York: Norton, 2000), p. 236-237.]

Other land should be used to produce food for man, but not at the expense of destroying the fertility of the land, which is merely pushing starvation back a generation or two. Certainly this should not be done for mere monetary profit. Land has value in itself as the habitation of man. Decisions made about land are never merely economic, but have philosophical and metaphysical consequences.

What is at stake it the nature of civilization and human life. Agriculture involves our relation to the land, and the question of how man will live in nature. Our health, sanity, and the beauty of the countryside, depend upon this relation. This relation cannot be the result of a simple economic formula. Agriculture and industry are in fundamental opposition. Agriculture, unlike industry, produces living products to sustain life, and this is done through human means. Land is priceless. We may set a commercial price upon it, but that does not mean this is its true value. Its beauty and fertility must not be permitted to decay. The wild creatures upon it, like man himself, must be permitted to live and thrive. Man and animal must be allowed to enjoy the land.

It is only in this sense that land is "sacred".  As Wendell Berry, or foremost Kentucky writer on ecological and agricultural themes has written, there is no place that is not sacred, places are either sacred, or desecrated.  We do not worship land as such, but we hold it in reverence, because our life depends upon it, and the life of the race.  Just as we hold human life sacred from its conception, so we must also rightly respect that which is required for its existence.  In the terms of the Old Testament, the land must become "married"  (the meaning of the Hebrew word Beulah), and this is man's proper relation to the land.

31 March 2008.  Slightly revised, 22 Oct 2010.

Draft of article on Conservation in Boone County, Kentucky
Written while I was the Local History Research Specialist for the Boone County Public Library

James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University:  A Think Tank, Research Institute, & Public Policy Center
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.
Big Bone, Kentucky



Agriculture in Boone County, Kentucky

A Draft of my essay Agriculture in Boone County, Kentucky



The Early Period: Settlement to the Civil War

Draft begun 28 July 2006



Settlement in Kentucky is intimately related to agriculture. The earliest explorers were interested in hunting, but those that followed were invariably looking for lands to cultivate. If they were speculators they had an eye to lands that farmers would be interested in. Agriculture in Boone County is part of the story of farming in northern Kentucky.

The farmers found that once the Indians were no longer threat the biggest obstacle they faced was the forest. The pioneers did not like trees, at least not large forests full of trees, and they set to work to clear the countryside as soon as possible. John Tanner, the boy who was captured by the Indians, tells in his book how his father, the preacher John Tanner, who was the first settler in the Boone County, cleared trees with the help of his slaves for a cornfield, then stood guard with a rifle while the crop was planted. The clearing of the trees was all done with the ax, and with fire, at an enormous cost in labour.

John Taylor, another Baptist preacher, who had sold Tanner the land he cleared, and followed him soon after, tells of clearing fifteen acres, with the help of his slaves, in a year. Trees were something to be gotten rid of. They were unproductive, and could not be used for crops until the clearing was done. In addition they might hide lurking Indians. No settler contemplated the beauty of these primeval forests, but they loved to see large expanses of cleared land in crops and pastures.

Along the banks of the Ohio river, in the alluvial flood plains, lies the largest amount of prime cropland in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The only area that can match it is the inner Bluegrass. Boone County, with almost fifty acres of river shore, one of the longest in the state, offered a quantity of such land as a prime attraction to early settlers. Much of it is in the area of Petersburg, in northern Boone County. Though not so extensive, there is also many acres of this kind of land around Middle Creek and the town of Grant, known today as Belleview. Even today these river bottom lands have the highest yields of corn per acre any where in the nation. It was not long before all of these lands were claimed. The lands at Big Bone, though claimed early, contain very few acres of this prime land; most of what there is lies in narrower strips along Big Bone and Mud Lick creeks.

Aside from the flood plains Boone County falls into two distinct sections based on soil type: These sections are the eastern and western, and this has had a huge impact on settlement and agriculture in Boone County, for the best lands (excepting the river areas) were furthest from the river, which meant difficulties in transportation. Picture a wavy line running roughly down the center of the county, with a single band running along the Ohio River: this band is considered to be 75 to 100 percent prime. To the east the land is considered to be between 25 to 50 percent prime, which means that the land is considered suitable for cultivation. To the west the land is considered less than 25 percent prime, which means that it is considered suitable for pasture for stock, and occasional cultivation. The soil is mostly composed of silty clay, and the steepness of most of the land means that the top soil is but a shallow layer in most places. Most of it is marginal agricultural land. Its best use would be as woodland and pasture, with a some intermixture of crops on the most suitable land.

(See maps)

Sir Albert Howard, widely regarded as one of the founders of organic agriculture, writing in 1947, sums up the reasons for erosion and soil damage in the United States:

“Such, in this great country, are the results of misuse of the land. The causes of this misuse include lack of individual knowledge of soil fertility on the part of the pioneers and their descendants; the traditional attitude which regarded the land as a source of profit; defects in farming systems, in tenancy, and finance — most mortgages contain no provisions for the maintenance of fertility; instability of agricultural production as carried out by millions of individuals, prices, and income, in contrast to industrial production carried on by a few large corporations. The need for maintaining a correct relation between industrial and agricultural production, so that both can develop in full swing on the basis of abundance, has only recently been understood. The country was so vast, its agricultural resources were so immense, that the profit seekers could operate undisturbed until soil fertility — the country’s capital — began to vanish at an alarming rate.”

Sir Albert Howard, The Soil and Health, (Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale, 1947), p. 88.


Did agriculture in Boone County conform to this pattern, or did the mixed farming in the area save us from the worst effects of the country wide pattern?

Mortgages that specify the farm must be left in conditions of good husbandmanry, and that so many acres of fruit trees must be planted each year.  (Cite these from the Boone County Deed Books)

Nature of mixed farming: Plant and animals together are necessary to maintain fertility.  Boone County always had mixed farming.

Relation of agriculture and economics in Boone County.

Chart prices when possible

Prices of land over time

Division of lands

Slaves and laborers on individual farms

etc.

Updated 13 March 2008.


Note this was compiled from Documents and Notes made while I was the Local History Research Specialist at the Boone County Public Library.  I have not had time to complete this essay, but plan to complete it in the near future.  I have collected many items since March 2008, and plan to do more research in the future.

Thank you.

James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University:  A Think Tank, Research Institute, & Public Policy Center
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.
Big Bone, Kentucky

Do the Job Right!

"A Grave in Honduras"

"I saw several churches and cathedrals in Honduras with a row of bullet-holes in the front wall, about as high from the ground as a man's chest, and an open grave by the road-side, which had been dug by the man who was to have occupied it. The sight gave us a vivid impression of the uncertainties of government in Central America. The man who dug this particular grave had been captured, with two companions, while they were hastening to rejoin their friends of the government party. His companions in misery were faint-hearted creatures, and thought it mattered but little, so long as they had to die, in what fashion they were buried. So they scooped out a few feet of earth with the tools their captors gave them, and stood up in the hollows they had made, and were shot back into them, dead; but the third man declared that he was not going to let his body lie so near the surface of the earth that the mules could kick his bones and the next heavy freshet wash them away. He accordingly dug leisurely and carefully to the depth of six feet, smoothing the sides and sharpening the corners, and while he was thus engaged at the bottom of the hole he heard yells and shots above him, and when he poked his head up over the edge of the grave he saw his own troops running down the mountain-side, and his enemies disappearing before them. He is still alive, and frequently rides by the hole in the road-side on his way to the capital. The story illustrates the advisability of doing what every one has to do in this world, even up to the very last minute, in a thorough and painstaking manner."

From Three Gringos in Venezuela and Central America, by Richard Harding Davis (1895).

Senator Lorena Herrera of Honduras

Santa Biblia and La Constitución de la República

Borges Prose Poem: Dreamtigers

Dreamtigers

In my infancy I adored tigers with fervor: not the egg-coloured tigers of the floating-islands of Paraná, or the Amazonian confusion, but the royal Asiatic tiger, with stripes, which can only be confronted by men of war, on a tower mounted on an elephant. I used to linger endlessly before one of the cages in the Zoological gardens; I appreciated the vast encyclopedias and the books of natural history, for the splendour of their tigers. (I have total recall of these figures: I who cannot recall, without error, the face or smile of a woman.) Infancy passed, and the tigers, and my passion for them faded, but they are always still in my dreams. In subconscious sleep, or the chaos which generally follows, it's like this: I sleep, and am distracted by some sort of dream, and immediately I know that it is a dream. At such times I think: This is a dream, a purely voluntary diversion, and now that I have unlimited power I am going to evoke a tiger.

O, incompetence! My dreams are never able to engender the fierce things longed for. The tiger appears, indeed, but desiccated, or enfeebled, or with irregular variations of form, or of an inadmissible size, or completely fugitive, or similar to a dog or bird.



Translated by James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.
12 Oct 2010.
From the prose poem by Jorge Luis Borges, "Dreamtigers" Poems of the Night (Penguin, 2010), p. 34.
The intention of this translation is to emphasize cognate words in Spanish and English. The original title is English: "Dreamtigers", not "Tigres de Sueño".

Library owed some $600,000 in fines - State & Regional - Wire - Kentucky.com

Boone County Public Library owed some $600,000 in fines - Kentucky.com

Lisa Murkowski: Arrogant — You Lost!

New Audit Confirms Stimulus Payments went to Dead People

72,000 Dead People Received Stimulus Checks of $250. 

About 89,000 people who were either dead, or in prison, received stimulus checks of $250, according to an article in the Cincinnnati Enquirer today (8 Oct 2010, p. A-2).  The amount involved was about $18 million.  All of these people should have been ineligible to receive the funds, and almost 72,000 of them are dead.  The dead people were ineligible by law to receive the money, and it is doubtful that most of them even wanted it, as it is quite useless where they are.  It is only the American government that thinks dollars are a cure all problems.  There was no provision in the hastily enacted law under which the payments were made to recover checks sent incorrectly.  The report indicated that about half of the payments were returned, showing that the people are generally more honest than the government.  We consider this just another example of Obamanomics, and since he receives public housing, we wonder if he also received one of the checks.
 

Beagle Bob on Top of the "Mountain at the End of the World"

Beagle Bob

COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky v. Elizabeth BRANDENBURG

114 S.W.3d 830 (Ky. 2003)


COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellant,

v.

Elizabeth BRANDENBURG, Appellee.

No. 2001-SC-0722-DG.

Supreme Court of Kentucky

Sept. 18, 2003.

Page 831


"A fair trial in a fair tribunal is a basic requirement of due process. Fairness of course requires an absence of actual bias in the trial of cases. But our system of law has always endeavored to prevent even the probability of unfairness. To this end no man can be a judge in his own case and no man is permitted to try cases where he has an interest in the outcome. That interest cannot be defined with precision. Circumstances and relationships must be considered. This Court has said, however, that 'every procedure which would offer a possible temptation to the average man as a judge ... not to hold the balance nice, clear, and true between the State and the accused den the latter due process of law.' Tumey v. Ohio, 273 U.S. 510, 532, 47 S.Ct. 437, 71 L.Ed. 749. Such a stringent rule may sometimes bar trial by judges who have no actual bias and who would do their very best to weigh the scales of justice equally between contending parties. But to perform its high function in the best way 'justice must satisfy the appearance of justice.' Offutt v. United States, 348 U.S. 11, 14, 75 S.Ct. 11, 99 L.Ed. 11."

Religious Nuts Go Too Far!

When I got home from work today my wife and children were upset.  A group of men known by the name of "Jehova's Witnesses" had stopped by, and my wife and children refused to answer the door.  Why would good Baptists open the door to such people?  However, they refused to go away.  They stood around and talked in my yard, way out in the country, and my wife and children heard them comment that they could hear people inside, and were laughing about it.  Then one of these men came and looked into the window of my daughter's room!  I wish my wife had taken the license number, or had called the Sheriff's department, or State police.  This is really upsetting!  I think it is about time that these cults call off their dogs.  If anyone knows what can be done about this, I will be glad to do it.  For now, all I can do is tell other people what happened.  Thank you for reading this; now you know.

Slavery at Big Bone — an early incident

Slavery at Big Bone,
and in Southern Boone County, Kentucky

Chapter 17

by

James Duvall, M. A.

Uncle Tom's Cabin was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 - 1896), and serialized June 1851 to April of the next year. It was published as a two volume book in March of 1852, and was an immediate success. The story was based upon Stowe's rather limited knowledge of slavery acquired in a few visits to Kentucky; it is likely the book would have had less impact had she possessed a more nuanced understanding of the situation in the South. Clarity of vision is important for propaganda, nevertheless, the book stands as a powerful indictment of slavery told in human terms. Stowe rose above her immediate purpose, and the book is not only highly readable, but is a classic of American literature, if not entirely for its literary quality, for its historical importance. I recommend it be read by every American. (The most interesting recent account of Mrs. Stowe's life is an essay by historian David McCullough, Brave Companions, etc.)

The response to the book was intense, certainly enough to provide at least some grounds for the famous remark supposed to have been made by Abraham Lincoln that Mrs. Stowe was the lady who started the Civil War. It is one of those remarks that was certainly made by someone, and Lincoln should have said it even if he really didn't. The primary reason for the sensational sales of the book, beyond the fact the the writing was good, and the story well-told, was that it was so highly controversial. Her assumptions and incidents were so often controverted that she soon felt obliged to defend her word by publishing another volume in support of the novel.

This was the Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, released in 1853. It had brisk sales as well, and it contains primary material, such as letters from slaves detailing various atrocities they had suffered, an engraving of a slave with scars on his back, and so forth. It was not a large volume, but in its way was probably as powerful as the novel simply because the documents, however carefully they may have been selected, represented actual rather than fictional cases. Still it probably did not do much to change the opinion of many people one way or the other. It is certain that Mrs. Stowe, who had Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky connections, made an important contribution to the debate on slavery then raging through the nation, and this makes her a significant figure in American history.

The book was not well received in Kentucky and the South, for the most part, if I may be permitted an understatement. The response to the book at Big Bone was fairly representative of Boone County, one of the northernmost slave-holding counties in the nation -- the border of the border, as it were. The reception was similar in the rest of the South. The story of this reception at Big Bone begins in 1824.  This was a book entitled Abolitionism Unveiled, that was written in answer to Mrs. Stowe's novel.  This book is like Uncle Tom in that it is a fictional account. True, it is not so powerful as Mrs. Stowe's book, or was it so well written, as the author was not a professional writer like her. (She was phenomenally prolific, averaging a book a year for thirty years.) One would hardly expect so much from the Sheriff of Boone County.

Henry Field James (1799 - 1870) married Francis Garnett in 1824, the same year that Squire Gray, the main character in Abolitionism Unveiled, moved to Big Bone. There were a number of points of correspondence between the two men. They had both been born in Virginia, in the same month of the same year, January 1799, just a few days apart. James was the son of Daniel F. James (1764 - 1845) a Baptist minister from Culpepper County, Virginia, who migrated early to Boone County. [Spencer, History of Kentucky Baptists, p. 416-417.] Both were Boone County farmers, Squire Gray had his seat at the Mouth of Big Bone Creek, James lived just a few miles upriver on Woolper Creek, both were slave owners, both men had held the office of Justice of the Peace in Boone County, and both were highly interested in the question of abolition. Like Squire Gray, doubtless it could be said of James: "Whenever the subject was named, his eyes beamed with fire, and the vast fund of information he possessed in relation to it, was poured forth with warmth and energy." ( Abolitionism Unveiled, p. 9)

In 1850, while Mrs. Stowe was writing her book, James was Sheriff of Boone County. The appearance of Uncle Tom must have made his blood boil. It was obvious to Henry James that Mrs. Stowe had not the slightest idea of what she was talking about. Everything in his knowledge, experience, and worldview contradicted the message and content of that book. It was a challenge he could not allow to pass unanswered.

Probably the most amazing thing about Abolitionism Unveiled is the fact that it exists. Many people read books that make their blood boil: "I'm going to write a book!" is a familiar refrain; yet how few people actually write one. Most people are content to discuss the offending book with like-minded family or friends. A few perhaps rise to actually publishing a scathing review — Stowe's book certainly got its share of those — but how many people actually get around to publishing a 250 page novel in response to one they don't like? It is a measure of Mr. James's feeling that he wrote an answer to Uncle Tom's Cabin and published it in 1856, thereby becoming Boone County's first published novelist. (Boone County's other novelist, John Uri Lloyd, was but seven years old at the time.)

James owned 15 slaves in 1850, according to the national census taken that year. There were a total of 2,104 slaves recorded in Boone County that year. Kentucky was the third most populous of the slave states that year, and the number of slaves in the state was exceed only by Virginia and Tennessee.


Note:  The saga of slavery at Big Bone will continue in a later installment.  I will continue to add materials from the huge amount of MS I have accumulated in my research and writing about the history of Big Bone, Boone County, and Northern Kentucky.

James Duvall, M. A.
Director
Big Bone University:  A Think Tank, Research Institute, & Public Policy Center
Big Bone, Kentucky
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.

Big Bone University Public Policy Papers

The Political Rag Spectaculaire

Policy Paper No. 1

It hath been said of old time: "All politics is local."
But I say unto you: "All politics is personal!"

Socrates Ruggles, Esq.

I have started a new group: Citizens with a Grudge. SWAG, I mean, CWAG, but it is pronounced the same way. I am currently the only member, so we are all in a sort of agreement about almost everything. I also started the Rag Spectaculaire, a local political gossip sheet. I will swear every word in it is true; or, if it is not, it will be as true as my sources, and resources will allow. That should give me a little lee-way, but not much. No one knows everything; but we try. (We meaning myself and my tapeworm, as an editor once remarked.)

I have a few grudges. I'll admit them up front, and then you don't have to wonder, or try (perhaps with limited success) to figure out what they are. I think it was wrong of the Director and Administration of the Boone County Public Library to fire me for no reason after seven years of good work as a Reference Associate, and as the Local History Research Specialist. I think it is wrong for Gary Moore to be re-elected, when he is morally corrupt, and deserved to go to prison. I think it is wrong for Mr. and Mrs. Linda Talley Smith to pretend there will be no conflict of interests between the offices of District Judge and Commonwealth Prosecutor. I think it is wrong to pretend like Obama is the president, when he wasn't even born in this country. I think we are

Taxed
Enough
Already

I think it is time for a Pity Party — not for us — but for our country! This is the politics of the personal: I take it personally when people bring conflict into the community through their own self-interest. I take is personally when the local judge-exec treats women like they are sops to take the blame for his actions. I take it personally when he takes credit for measures he opposed (like tail-pipe emissions testing), and puts blame on others, when he was originally opposed also (like accusing Cathy Flaig in a mailer of opposing the Creation Museum, when the entire Court had opposed it until Answers in Genesis initiated a lawsuit!). It is stupéfactif, as the French say, and I'm here to tell you about the politics of stupefaction!

"If you only knew," they say. Well, now you are going to know, because I'm going to tell you; and you have only yourself to blame if you don't act on what you know, and remember in November.

Professionals are much looked up to in our society, but not always with good reason. There should be no professional politicians. I believe in term limits; even if a few good people are turned out from time to time. There are plenty of more good people where those came from, but the real danger is in continuing evil people in office. There are always good replacements for good people, and a truly good man would want to see another good man get a chance; why would it matter much if one bad person replace another? The present system (or lack of it) perpetuates corruption, waste, fraud, and incompetence. This is true at all levels. Longevity in office breeds contempt for the public and for public trust.

KACo

I am convinced that KACo, the Kentucky Association of Counties, is a grave threat to justice in the Commonwealth. I have evidence that KACo has spent millions of tax dollars to prevent suits against public officials from going to Court. They do this by paying private law firms to fight these suits. And (I believe) by influencing judges through various methods. One of these firms was Covington based Adams, Stepner, Woltermann, and Dusing. This is the firm that employed Joy, Gary Moore's wife before she became Appellate Judge.

There have been at least five lawsuits against Michael Helmig, Sheriff of Boone County, but none of them has ever made it to Court. This is not because they had no merit, but because of the influence of KACo. I have evidence in one case the Gary Moore covered up a huge payoff by the Sheriff's Department to settle a particular case against a deputy, until ordered to release the information by the Attorney General under Freedom of Information. This case involved a payoff of $1,000,000 of Boone County tax money. Two other cases involved people who were tazered illegally, one man in his own home. He sued, but the cases never came to Court. In another case, of which I have knowledge, a deputy entered a home and confiscated guns illegally. This was acknowledged by the Sheriff in a written statement, and yet he refused to return the guns. KACo was involved, and the man lost the Court case, though the Judge stated that the man's second amendment rights had been violated.

I have a copy of a letter in my possession on KACo letterhead, from Tim Sturgill, General Counsel for KACo, that shows that the firm of which Joy Moore was a member accepted $22,799.10 to fight a single case in Boone County against the Sheriff's Department. This document was released under orders from the Attorney General's office under the Freedom of Information Act. According to articles by Ryan Alessi in the Lexington Herald-Leader, this firm has received millions of Kentucky tax dollars to keep similar cases from coming to Court.

This is a travesty of justice, and it is paid for with your hard-earned tax dollars. Every Kentuckian who feels so strongly about an injustice that he, or she, is willing to take the risks that surround litigation in our justice system, should have the right to be heard in Court. But KACo, which I regard as the single greatest political threat to our liberties, as Kentuckians, prevents it. There are still many important issues relating to KACo to be discussed, but that is enough for this installation of the Rag; I have plenty more material!

Gary Moore

Gary Moore is a crapulent old man who cannot stay in his own bed. The C.O.M. cannot tell the truth, and he cannot stand criticism. Every time he attends the Teaparty Meetings he feels he must answer anything that is brought up against his administration — and, believe me, the list of grievances is long. He puts a "spin" on everything he says, and takes credit for everything accomplished.

The highlight of my many experiences at the Teaparty was when he tried to take credit for getting rid of tail-pipe emissions testing, and the citizen most responsible for co-ordinating the effort responded: "You fought us every step of the way!" That took guts. I admire that: it is the solution to the politics of stupefaction. We can't let the C.O.M and his cronies get by with these lies and this corruption any longer. It's bad for Boone County, and it is bad for morals; for him and others. I take that personally.

Gary Moore is endorsed by "Right to Life." That is good, I guess, though the office has nothing to do with abortion policies, and has no influence on that issue. But why should a man get credit for claiming to be against abortion, which his personal behavior is exactly of the kind that causes people to want abortions. Most abortions are the result of immoral behavior; for officials to indulge in this behavior is to sanction by example whatever is the result of it. This contradiction lies at the heart of Gary's political career. It is like the thief who proclaims the values of law and order. Or the poacher who claims to be for stronger game protection laws. Such hypocrisy is a staple of the ego stupéfactif.

I cannot cover all of these subjects here — but I must move on, or I will not get to air all of my grudges. I'll leave the library for another time, as I already have about five long essays on that topic, and their will be more. That issue can wait until after November; the issues involving candidates must take precedence. I'll also give you the scoop on Obama in another essay — did you know he smokes cigarettes and was born in Kenya? — I told you this was a gossip rag. Let's get on to the issue that rivals that of KACo, at the local level. The connivance of the Smith gang!

Mr and Mrs. Smith: Unequally Yoked!

Smith is a very common name. Many people do not realize that our Boone County Prosecutor, Linda Talley Smith, is the wife of Jeff Smith, who is an assistant of Robert Neace. Even many of the people who know this do not realize what it means.

When any two lawyers are married there are potential conflicts of interest; possibility is greatly magnified when they are both officials within the Court system. This is magnified to the inevitable when they are both in the same District Court. This is because the offices of District Judge and that of Prosecutor are linked by statute. Among other coordinated duties, all preliminary hearings for cases tried by the Commonwealth Attorney must be heard in District Court. If Jeff Smith were to be elected he must recuse himself from any case the Prosecutor brings to Court. In effect Boone County would have a Judge that cannot try a very large majority of the cases that would normally come before him. This is stupéfactif.

You say that wouldn't really matter. But the Supreme Court has already ruled that is does. A Court case decided in 2003, the Brandenburg case, involving drugs, was declared invalid, because someone working in the Prosecutor's office was related to someone in the Judge's office!

This is as it should be. The potential for injustice and conflict of interest is too great. But don't you see how much potential conflict the county would be inviting by this situation? The politics of stupefaction would be in full swing. And you ain't heard nothing yet! Things would go from bad to worse in short order. Our local Court system could be in chaos for years to come, since there would be uncertainly attaching to every single Court case tried during the tenure of these two individuals.

Let me explain that though I take this conflict of interest personally, I have no personal animosity to Linda and Jeff. They are the typical Yuppie couple trying to get ahead. The pay is good, the benefits, particularly the retirements, are great. You can't really blame them for trying to cash in on what appears to be an excellent career opportunity. However, this, for me, is beyond the cash; we will pay that in any case; it is about what is right for Boone County. Even the fact that Judge Moore, the C.O.M. wants Jeff (an insider) to be District Judge, should speak volumes about what this election means, and who stands to gain or lose influence by the result. Think about it.

Amanda Benshotten, the Enquirer reporter, wrote an article online about the Walton Parade in which she said that Jeff Smith's mobile sign, featuring a huge photograph of himself, trumped Rick Bruggemann's cavalcade with more than one hundred people. (Yes, I and six of my children were in it too. This is personal, remember!) I commented on Facebook that in my opinion people are more important than posters in any election, but, that if posters were the issue, Jeff Smith had a huge poster of himself, and Rick Brueggemann had a huge poster of the Constitution, and that, as far as I can see, that just about sums up the differences between the two candidates.

I guess that's about enough political stupefaction for now. But I assure you that everything I have told you is true:  Every word of it! My informants may not always be completely informed themselves, but my unerring judgment allows me to compensate for this, and you can rest assured that the truth has overcome all obstacles to reach you.


Jas. Duvall, M. A.
Professor of Muckraking and Criminology
Big Bone University
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.
25 Sep 2010. Minor revisions 28 Sep 2010.

A Constitutional Basis for a Taxpayers Suit against the Boone County Public Library

MEMO

by James Duvall, M. A.

Big Bone University

Big Bone, Kentucky

A Constitutional Basis for a Taxpayers Suit against the Boone County Public Library.


Section 180 of the Kentucky Constitution states that every Board "shall specify distinctly the purpose for which said tax is levied". It is arguable that if the purpose it to buy land and build millions of dollars worth of buildings, that should be distinctly states.


Furthermore, section 170 states that there is an exemption from taxation of "public libraries, their endowments, and the income of such property as it used exclusively for their maintenance."


It is more than arguable that millions of dollars in buildings and land are not maintenance. Therefore, income generated by the library though endowments, investment portfolios, and sales of land, and other income from property, would be taxable. This, however, is impossible for a tax-exempt organization: therefore, it must not engage in such activities as a means of expanding its operations, only of maintaining itself.


Cindy Brown, the former director of the Boone County Public Library, stated at a Board Meeting which I attended last year, that the excess of the fifty acres of land in North Bend (bought for $3.1 million) and not needed by the Library could be sold for enough to pay for the building they intend to erect. She even mentioned that a part of it that should be sold for a strip mall. Can an institution legally use tax money for such land speculation? Can tax money be so used if it was not specifically designated that it would be used in this manner?


If it is legal, what would most tax payers think of the propriety of a tax-supported institution speculating in land with tax monies, in competition with builders and others?


Again: Since the Constitution provides for maintenance, not the growth, of the institution, should not any levy for buildings have to be stated specifically as being for this purpose? Would not money raised by investment, and other means, fall outside this definition, and not be usable for such a purpose?


If it is true that "no tax levied and collected for one purpose shall ever be devoted to another purpose" (Section 180), could not a suit demand that the money be retained only for maintenance, that is, salaries, upkeep, and improving the book collection, etc. And would this not effectively bar the Library from proceeding to build three or more new additional buildings which are planned for Boone County? (North Bend, Walton, Rabbit Hash area; more eventually, according to the "Five Mile Plan"), that is unless the levy stated the money would specifically be used for building? The suit would ask for an immediate injunction (or "stop work" order) against any building on the North Bend site, and plans being prepared for the other sites until the Constitutionality of their proceedings have been determined by the Court.


Do not forget that it is also possible to impeach Board Members through the Fiscal Court, if they fail to do their duties satisfactorily. Perhaps the people can bring enough pressure to bear to bring a little fiscal sense to this organization!

Written 26 Aug 2010.

"As the Freak Takes You . . ." — Hiking Advice from Robert Louis Stevenson

     A walking tour should be gone upon alone, because freedom is of the essence; because you should be able to stop and go on, and follow this way or that, as the freak takes you; and because you must have your own pace, and neither trot along-side a champion walker, nor mince in time with a girl.  And then you must be open to all impressions and let your thoughts take colour from what you see.  You should be as a pipe for any wind to play upon.

     I cannot see the wit," says Hazlitt, "of walking and talking at the same time.  When I am in the country I wish to vegetate like the country," — which is the gist of all that can be said upon the matter.  There should be no cackle of voices at your elbow, to jar in the meditative silence of the morning.  And so long as a man is reasoning he cannot surrender himself to that fine intoxication that comes of much motion in the open air, that begins in a sort of dazzle and sluggishness of the brain, and ends in a peace that passes comprehension.

Robert Louis Stevenson, "Walking Tours", in Works

Boone County Judges, Boone County, KY 1850-2010

 

Boone County Judges

This office was established by the Constitution of 1850. From 1799 to 1850 the Senior Justice of the County Court exercised county executive functions.

Lewis Youell 1851-1854
Benjamin Watts 1854-1858
Nathaniel Hawes 1858
Washington Watts 1858-1862
Robert Coleman 1862-1865
F. A. Boyd 1866
Washington Watts 1866-1870
Nathaniel Hawes 1870-1874
John Phelps 1874-1878
Cyrus Riddell 1878-1882
Lewis Dills 1882-1886
Edwin Baker 1886-1894
Benjamin Stephens 1895-1898
Charles Roberts 1898-1901
Perry Cason 1901-1919
Nathaniel Riddell 1919-1942
Carroll Cropper 1942-1962
Charles Niblack 1962-1964
Mary Jane Jones 1964
Bruce Ferguson 1964-1976

After the 1976 revision of the Constitution this office was styled Judge-Executive.

Bruce Ferguson 1976-1982
Terry Roberts 1982-1986
Bruce Ferguson 1986-1992
Kenneth Lucas 1992-1998
Larry Burcham 1998
Gary Moore 1999-2010
*Terry Roberts 2010

*Projected

James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.
Big Bone, Kentucky

School Excuses? Try "I Ate My Homework!"

A Story for your Children or Grandchildren

Download PDF or Print

School time.  Homework time (again). 

Having sisters does not help.

Mrs. Trundle just does not understand.

I don't have the pictures drawn, yet, but I think you might enjoy

this short story about my problems as a little boy.

Why wouldn't the teacher ever believe my excuses?

And it kept getting worse all the time.

QPAW and the Hellabore MediX Company

QPAW and the Hellabore MediX Company

Sweatshop Sagas, No. 2

James Duvall, M. A.

Big Bone University

Dept. of Medical Signs and Unwanted Favours

A few weeks ago I wrote an essay about working for the Solo Soupcan Inferno. Perhaps no one is interested in such things, but a taste of reality is a good thing. At the least I can include them as chapters in my Autobiography, which I intend to write posthumously.

Quicko-Printo Advertising World (QPAW) — I change the names to protect you from reality — is a sweatshop in Kenton County. (Yes, they have them there too.) Even the guy at the temporary service, KAT (Kill-a-Temp) seemed surprised when I agreed to take this $8/ hour job with 12 hour shifts. "You will?!" While I was working at QPAW I noticed one of their signs going to a style shop "Hot, Hot, Hot." I don't know what the style was, but it couldn't have been as hot as that shop.

Everyone working in the packing department was temporary, except for the lead, a hard-looking woman with a smoker's voice, and a complexion like cantaloup rind. She had the work badly organized. The shop keeps going through people for some reason. My employee number in this small "short-history" firm, was 9121. Ain't that a lot of people!

The shift was from 6 am - 6 pm, but, fortunately, I was called late, when someone else walked off the job, and didn't get there till about 9.30. Everyone else had been sweating for four hours when I got there, and their pace had slowed to a crawl. I call the whole enterprise "Penny wise, pound foolish." It is my theory that, except in special cases, you are not getting the best out of any body after five or six hours, especially in the heat. Why not raise the pay a little and give the people an incentive to stay? Henry Ford had been paying workers on his assembly line 50 cents a day, and went through thousands of workers. Over his opposition, the management of Ford talked him into raising the pay to $5 a day, an unheard of amount at that time, and soon the factory went from complete turnover every month or two to having a waiting list, and profits soared!

It would have been crazy to work like wildfire in that heat. To last twelve hours at almost anything you have to pace yourself. In my view the firm (infirm?) is wasting money. They can't afford to pay $8 an hour, to be efficient they should pay about $10-$12 for a six hour shift, so that packing would be efficient. Printing presses nowadays are very fast. The real trouble with printing is handling what you produce; no matter how fast your presses go you can't send out product and get your money any faster than the stuff is packed. That is the bottleneck, and low pay and turnover only make the bottleneck worse.

The place was filthy. No soap in the bathrooms, etc. That shows lack of respect for the workers. All the workers (except me, while I was still fresh) had the slows. One girl's t-shirt expressed the feeling of most: "I get enough exercise pushing my luck!" I could have taken three of my oldest children and gotten most of the work done in about half the time it was produced by QPAW. There were no Hispanics. I had left them behind, working efficiently for $7.50/hour, at SSI, while I went on to sweat even more elsewhere. Wait till they find out there are $8 an hour jobs available; but perhaps even they would not work in such conditions.

I got about $50 for the day for my efforts. It is certainly a challenge to try to feed 7 children, 3 dogs, about 10 cats, and a large white rabbit for a week on that amount. (The ducks and chickens don't count; they're not family, they're food. But they still have to eat.)

I didn't get anything at first this week, except an offer to return to QPAW, which I declined. The 40 miles or so there (and that distance home) took a good bite out of the %50. I did get a promising job interview: part-time permanent, at minimum wage, and no guarantee on the number of hours. (Great economy, ain't it, Jerry Mort!)

Friday I got a chance to work at the Hellabore MediX Company, in the Industrial Park. This was the best job yet, at $9 an hour. I was the bottle and glue man, on a Hellabore packing machine. Two bottles go into a box, one was 1900 millaliters (about the size of a half-gallon of milk), and the other was 500 ml. (about the size of a bottle of witch-hazel, or rubbing alcohol). One line held 21 of the big bottles, and the other held 35 of the small bottle, so you can imagine which had to be filled the most often. I also had to dump dried glue chips into the heater about every half hour. There's a good job in Boone County now. All I had to do was enjoy it.

I did learn a bit about Hellabore — not there, but from my big herbal at home. There are three kinds of Hellabore — black, green, and white — they are all considered poison, but the small bottle was the antidote. (Of course not all poisons will kill you instantly, soap, for instance; it can take awhile.) In the old days Hellabore was a prescription for lunatics, so I suppose most of the product is going to Washington, D. C. Perhaps the antidote should be suppressed!

I am normally very interested to learn people's names, but this day I decided not to. I wasn't exactly jealous, but one of the men on the line was just so much more of a man than I am, if these things are calculated in gross tonage. He fell once and knocked off a lot of medicine bottles, which rolled all over the floor. We wiped them off with paper towels, but I was told later it didn't matter about germs and dirt, as the doctor or nurse just punches a hole in the box and never touches the bottle.

The other person on the line was a pockfaced individual with scraggles of red hair and beard under a beret. He wore long coach's shorts, with white nylon support hose up to his knees — the kind that the little lady greeter at Walmart tried to sell me late one night, as I was walking out of the store — she sells them on the side, and perhaps does a brisk business amongst fact'ry workers. He wsa fast at packing, and could apparently sit for hours at a time — I wonder why he wsa wearing a huge orange back brace? Perhaps all this "Repetitive Motion Sickness" is not so good for you. It was hot, but there were fans. That helped some.

At lunch I sat down to write a few notes of my impressions. A woman with no teeth, who was gumming her potato chips, kept watching me write. It always seems to be a shock to fact'ry workers when people write anything more than a word or two on a cardboard box with a magical marker. (I nearly caused a sensation at SSI when I wrote an essay of five pages during a short period the line was down.) I heard the Mr. O set aside a huge figure of the so-called "stimulus money" for tattoo removal. Several of the fact'ries I have worked in could suck that up in a few days. I suggest Hellabore might solve the problem better.

There are a few other thoughts that come to mind. The first is that Henry David Thoreau's family owned a pencil fact'ry. Henry D. have the knack of being able to pick up exactly 12 pencils at a time in each hand, and so he used to work in the fact'ry packing pencils. It is a great comfort to me that even a nature-lover like Thoreau used to do this kind of work, sometimes.

The other is that the Industrial Park is looking better. I hadn't been out that way for 15-20 years, and the trees that were small then have really grown. In some places you can barely see the big ugly buildings. In 20-30 years — after the Earthquake — it may look better yet, and then we will have something that Europe has (besides high unemployment): ruins! By then the whole "park" will be a forest, and Henry David will be selling pencils on the roots of one of the big trees. I might be selling them sooner than that — I was called in late again (someone didn't show up, or a line went down too soon), and I made about $50 for the day, and the week. I showed up the next day, and was sent home; not enough work. Those dogs are going to have to go on a diet!

Written 21 Aug MMX. Typed 31 Aug MMX.

Big Bone University
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.


AQQ:  An Archival Quality Quotation:

"The present is a fleeting moment, the past is no more, and our prospect of futurity is dark and doubtful." 

Edward Gibbon, Autobiography

The Mad Hatter's Pity Party

The Mad Hatter's Pity Party; or, Will You Be Able to Retire Before You are 100?

Hidden away on page 20 of the draft of my "History of Taxation in Boone County, Kentucky" is this interesting information that you might want to take into consideration when you are planning for retirement.

I think we are in trouble . . .

This material is based on the work of Jagadeesh Gokhale and Kent Smetters, “Fiscal and Generational Inbalances: New Budget Measures for New Budget Priorities.” Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Policy Discussion Paper. March 2002.

Gokhale and Smetters asked this question concerning the Federal Debt:

If the government could get all of the future income that it can expect to get today, and use it to pay off all the future expenditures to which it is committed, today; would there be enough to cover all of the debts?

The answer, of course, is no; there would be a shortfall of $45 trillion dollars.  That is twelve times the official national debt, and about four times the national output.

They suggest four alternative ways the government could make up this shortfall:  My question is: What do you think the government will do? (Hint: Pick any two.)

(1)  Cut Federal discretionary spending to zero.
(2)  Cut Social Security and Medicare by 56%
(3)  Increase the Federal income tax by 69%
(4)  Increase payroll taxes by 95%

The real problem with these figures, as Niall Ferguson points out, is not in the calculations, or the final figures, which are very conservative, or even optimistic. In fact the shortfall would be a good deal more than $45 trillion, and the longer it goes without anything being done about it the worse it gets. Gokhale and Smetters calculated that by 2008 the income tax would have to go up by 74% just to break even. The real problem, as Ferguson says:  “To put it bluntly, this news is so bad that scarcely anyone believes it.”

Data cited from Niall Ferguson, Colossus: The Price of America's Empire (New York: Penguin, 2004), p. 269-272.


I tell you what; we'll discuss this again when we both get to be 100.  OK?

James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.
Big Bone, Kentucky


"Clean Up Boone County: 
Recycle Moore!"

Paid for by Denizens Against Gary Moore! All slights Deserved. What's left needs to be Conserved!

Nobody was ever meant to remember or invent what he did with every cent

Experience or Impartiality?

Jeff Smith implies that he has had a vast deal more experience than his opponent Rick Brueggemann. I am not greatly impressed with Mr. Smith's experience. He claims to have prosecuted tens of thousands of cases, including two murder cases. I heard a lawyer who has practiced in Boone County for about 40 years say that if he was involved in those cases, he must have carried the Prosecutor's briefcase. Perhaps his experience as deputy Prosecutor would result in complacence! Experience is not the real issue; Mr. Brueggemann has been intensely involved in litigation for years. The real issue is impartially. Can someone married to the CW Prosecutor maintain the impartially required by law? It will be necessary for Mr. Smith to recuse himself for a great many of the cases that would normally come before the District Judge. This could cause individuals, and Boone County, a lot of grief in the future. A Judge should be Judge of all the people, and only occasionally need to recuse himself; this is an important consideration in the upcoming election. Think about it.

James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.

A Document about KACo Klan

KACo Klan is a subversive, unconstitutional organization that is wasting millions of dollars of taxpayers money, and subverting justice in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Here's some of the waste:

Audit of KACo Klan's Expenditures

There is plenty more on the State Auditor's website.

The False "Compensating Tax Rate" Blasted

Get involved in axing this scam! See the following Kentucky Enquirer article:

Boone PVA Cindy Rich Counters False "Compensating Tax Rate before KY Legislature!"

Cindy is working hard to lower our taxes. She can't do it alone. Get involved. Write your Representative now! Tell them go get on board and lower our tax rates.

Throwing a Stone at the Megastate

or, Who's Robbing the Store?


James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University
Department of Economics & Political Irony

“It is better to throw a stone at the right time, than to give gold at the wrong.”
—Socrates Ruggles

In a book published in the dark ages before 2000 A. D., one of our Nobel Prize winners (in chemistry, which means he doesn't know any more about government and politics than we do), wrote a book that I do not recommend for several reasons. He correctly suggests, however, that your government is composed of individuals who are looking out for themselves, and not really “minding the store”. He writes:

When we were children, we thought our parents were taking care of things. Sometimes they were. As adults, we like to think there are some very wise people, usually older than we are, taking care of the planet and us. As a result of this wishful thinking, a lot of people make a living under the pretense of doing just that.
It would be naïve to think that individuals working in government agencies charged with taking care of us, or even in nonprofit foundations with lofty names, are altruistic toward us. They aren't sharing our genes. They aren't our parents. They are attending to their own biological imperatives and their own personal needs. Only when “ours” and “theirs” overlap do we get attention.
[Kary Mullis, “Who's Minding the Store”, in Dancing Naked in the Mind Field (New York: Pantheon, 1998), p. 101.]

I would like to suggest that not only is no one really minding the store, it is being robbed. After all, as he points out a little later in the book, talking about the kind of people who promote global warming, climate change, and ozone holes, on the basis of no science, he remarks: “Your planet is in well-fed hands.” (p. 109) They really are in this for themselves. I suppose our Nobel prize winner has his own motives also, probably to sell books.

This self-interest does not apply just to national or global politics—all politics is local. The guy running the dog-pound, or the “Free Store” is just as self-interested as the chairman of FEMA, or the FDIC. We need to keep turning these guys out of office, and getting new ones (who will be just as incompetent as the old ones were when they started), making sure they have no connections with the former bunch. There are no experts. Barak Hussein O has proved only one thing. That any idiot can be President; you don't even have to have been born here. “Throw the rascals out” was a phrase first coined by a very wise man—unless it was Adam and Eve's Landlord. If so, it is proof that even your ancestors in a direct line didn't always have your best interests in mind. They were in it for what they could get for themselves. Whether stealing apples (persimmons?), or making legalized heists from the national treasury, no one is looking out for us. We need movements like the Teaparty to remind the leeches in government that we are not fooled by their so-called expertise. The party is over, and the playhouse is about to be broken up—for now. It will have to happen again and again.

So, what should our stance to the government be? So far as I can see our two major parties today are both wrong. The people in control of them both espouse Big Government, and Big Spending. They may disagree on exactly how to spend this largesse, and on social issues; but it comes to the same thing regarding the role of government. The politicos of both parties agree that the government should do virtually everything. At the other end of the scale, shading off into Anarchy, are the Libertarians, and others who think that the government should do almost nothing! The lines are going to be drawn on which of these two kinds of government we are going to have; but these will not be the two major parties.

The people know that there should be a government, and that it has a legitimate function. That function is very much smaller than the one is has assumed under the two major parties at present. Even a government a quarter of the size of our current mess is going to be rich and powerful, but it will not have complete control of our lives. In the early days of our country one of the major parties was the Whigs. Eventually this party became irrelevant, and ceased to exist. The other party, the Democratic-Republicans, eventually became two (or more) parties. They at one time broadly represented most voters. In a sense the modern parties are largely a sentimental hang-over from earlier days. Both are largely irrelevant, and even if names are retained, they will both eventually cease to exist. We are now in an era in which “conservative” and “liberal” (not very good names at best), is mostly about values, but the real issue is what kind of government are we going to have! This in itself is a primary value, but it will, in the end, determine how all the others are to be dealt with. Our arguments about government are largely misplaced because there has been a “revolution” in economics that has not yet been grasped.

People and politicos alike (remember there are no experts, even among those who claim to be minding the store) still think that wealth depends primarily on making things and moving things; but the truth is, it is no longer possible to make large profits from such activities. Even the control of money does not guarantee this. (zero interest rates!) Land, labour, and money capital, the traditional sources of wealth, increasingly yield less and less return. In the modern economy what drives profits and produces wealth is knowledge and information.

When I worked at FedEx the company thought it important to keep us constantly informed about the affairs of the company. Most people think that FedEx is primarily concerned with moving things; but the chairman, Fred Smith, in one of his video-casts to us, said something that proves the contrary. He stated that the most valuable product of FedEx is information. Remember that the next time you are trying to track a package. Google seems to be doing better than U. S. Steel, and Government Motors right now. The late Peter Drucker, who was one of our foremost economists, said that the knowledge-based economy does not operate like the traditional theories assume all economies operate. Knowledge cannot be quantified like steel ingots. Our statistical methods do not tell us much about it. We don't even have a theory, as of yet, about how knowledge drives the economy, though it is obvious that it does.

We need an Economics of Knowledge. Peter Drucker writes:

We need an economic theory that puts knowledge into the center of the wealth-producing process. Such a theory alone can explain the present economy. It alone can explain economic growth. It alone can explain innovation.
[Drucker, Post-Capitalist Society, p. 183.]

Knowledge work, Drucker points out, requires the very opposite of central planning and centralization. Big Government is the major factor inhibiting the growth of the economy at the present time. He points out that even the terms used, such as centralization and decentralization, are not economic terms; they are terms used in management. Big Government cannot manage. It cannot help in the current damming of productive energies, but it can surely hinder. The Megastate has become the master of civil society; it endangers life, liberty, and property. All knowledge is created by individuals (not committees, not group-think), and any threat to the sources of private wealth endangers the creation of knowledge-capital. We must set economic limits to what government can do, and thus free the private sector to produce the knowledge that will be the gateway to the future.

How limited do we want the government to be? One of our new writers (I have lost the citation for the present) says: “One could imagine a democratized political, economic, and social system that still contained within it a few formal and informal restraints, sacrificing some energy and dynamism in favor of other virtues, such as transparency, honesty, equity, and stability.” I think a party espousing such a view would speak for me, and for many others. Perhaps enough to counter the Big Government crowd. What we want is not the “Nanny State” that can cater to our every whim, but a government we can respect, to preserve our basic freedoms.

When the government is limited to the proper size there will be less trouble in monitoring it, less to steal, less encroachment. This is what the real issue is at present. It is grass-roots movements, like the Teaparty, that have grasped this, however dimly. The major parties ignore this insight at the peril of splitting, and their ultimate demise, and nothing we can do will stop it.

Written 21 Aug 2010.

Big Bone University: A Think Tank, Research Institute, & Public Policy Center
Established 2000 A. D.
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.
Big Bone, Kentucky
jkduvall@gmail.com

I suggest that not only are people who run agencies of the government robbing us, often through legal means, such as the false “compensating tax rate”, but that the government is robbing the economy. It is stifling the sources of growth while pretending to stimulate growth. Sectors of the economy, such as transportation, industry, and banking, that no longer drive the economy are given deference over the private initiative that is not so obviously “economic”, but such “stimulus” is at their expense, and hurts their growth. Innovation today is in private sector knowledge work—knowledge industries, research, technology, information, and education—and none of these are a primary function of government.


AQQ: Archival Quality Quotation:

“The primary fantasy of our time is to escape catastrophe by building an ark or founding an apocalyptic colony far removed from the collapse of civilization.”
William Irwin Thompson, Passages About Earth (1974), p. 58.

Livin' Off the Fat of the Land

An Essay On Library Bureaucrats, the Taj Mahal, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon


James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University

At my house we often sing a little song I wrote, called “Livin' Off the Fat of the Land”. I play piano while my six oldest sing at the top of their lungs. The chorus goes:

It feels mighty grand,
Livin' off the fat of the land.

I suggest to you that this would be a good Teaparty theme song, because a lot of our tax-spending bureaucrats are doing exactly that — livin' off the fat of the land, without much regard to whether the rest of us eat or not.

This week I went with a group of Teaparty members to protest a tax-increase. I am interested in anything to do with Libraries, and this was at the Kenton County Public Library, where I, like some of the others, am a card-carrying member. Like so many people I am normally at work at 9.30 in the morning. Fortunately, I am out of work, and so was able to accept Garth's invitation to attend.

I did not intend to speak, but when my turn came I felt compelled to speak up for all the parents who couldn't be there because they work, but still do not have the funds for additional taxes right now. You have to have your head above water in order to live off the fat of the land.

Library Board Meetings are normally very exclusive affairs. Like so many government activities, they can be quite boring, and normally are, unless you you happen to have a personal interest (as we did this day), or are one of that class of person who happen to like that sort of thing. (Shouldn't their heads be examined?)


Names and Faces for the Board

The Board consists of the following individuals, a number of whom are closely associated with Northern Kentucky University. Lois Schultz, President, Jim Adams, Vice-President, Jim Horner, Treasurer, Tony Milburn, Secretary, and Susan Mospens. Additional addendees were Charlotte MacIntosh, Regional Librarian for the Kentucky Department of Library and Archives, a financial adviser, Dave Schroeder, the Director of the Library, and an assistant.

We were invited in almost as soon as we arrived by the President, Mrs. Schultz. She began a list of those who wished to speak. This is not strictly necessary, and State Law provides that those who wish to speak at Public Meetings are not required to identify themselves. The first speaker was asked to begin almost immediately. The Board was there to get this part over as soon as possible. People were making good statements, and very much to the point. I felt the situation was very difficult; I had met a few of the people we were speaking to before, but a lot of them I didn't know. I was the forth of fifth person on the list, so I rose when my turn came and said: “I always like to have names and faces on my bureaucrats; could each of you tell us who you are, and your position.”

Mrs. Schultz, a handsome lady I had met briefly years ago, apologized and requested each person at the table to introduce themselves. I believe that Ms. MacIntosh went first. I remember her once telling me about her adventures in old barns and attics in West Tennessee tracking down copies of Confederate newspapers that hadn't been seen since they were printed — much more interesting than Board Meetings! Then there was, according to my sketchy notes, Mr. Milburn, looking at us over the top of his glasses, as if we were a hostile jury. There's a reason for that; he's a lawyer, with one of those big Cincinnati firms. Next, I think, was Mr. Horner, a man with silver hair, and a rosy round face that looked very nice whenever he finally got around to smiling. He insisted at one point, “We are conservative in our expenditures.” But that was not proved on this day.

Then there was the gracious Lois, presiding at the center of the group. And then, beside her, was Susan Mospens, who appeared to be irritated once or twice, but managed mostly to appear unfazed by our intrusion; get it over with, and get on to business. Then there was Mr. Adams, associated, I believe, like Mrs. Schultz, with NKU. He looked a little like Uncle Al, or perhaps your sixth grade teacher. Perhaps that's what he was dozens of years ago; in fact he probably sounded a bit like a not-very-well-informed teacher when he made the motion to “lower the tax rate(!)” to 11.6%. The accompanying remarks made about as much sense; such remarks as “this is the best balanced solution”, and “we can't have it all my way; we can't have it all your way!” (He got his way—this time; we need eliminate his independence of the voters!)

At the table furthest from me sat Dave Schroeder, the Director, between his able assistant and a financial adviser. Mr. S. has worked for the Library for twenty years. He is a very nice person—he was a little nervous this day, I think, but he handled himself well. He is a very informed person, and it is a virtual certainty that he knows more about Covington and Kenton County history and genealogy than anyone else in the world. I did not catch the name of his assistant or the financial adviser. Evidently the adviser had told them it was a very good financial deal for the Library to raise taxes; at least for them. This, then, was the major cast of characters. Would anything we had to say be able to change their minds? At least we had gained something. By knowing who they were the situation became more personal, and I will say that all the comments made from people both for and against the proposed raise in taxes, were received attentively by the Board.

Most of the speeches were not lengthy. Mine might have lasted three minutes, perhaps less. Time moves strangely when you stand up to speak. I recall pointing out that even if the project were a good one this is not the right time to raise taxes. Someone brought out a copy of the budget (Kenton is almost the only Library in the State that publishes its budget online. That is a good thing!), and someone else had a chart showing how much the taxes for the Library had gone up in the last decade. Dr. MacElheny delivered a rousting speech, following one almost as good by her husband. As a CPA he mentioned that he often audited small businesses, many of which are right on the edge — this might be enough to cause them to fail. (After all $11 million sucks a lot out of a local economy.) Dr. Mac got applause when she spoke, especially when she came to the part about the astronomical rise in health care (that's her baby!). A lovely lady, a Council-woman for Independence, spoke movingly about living on a fixed income, which had been halved, and about 30% of which went to pay for her healthcare insurance. Such common situations in these days are important to take into consideration when it comes to taxation for any purpose.

Not every person there was opposed to the tax; some spoke for it. With maybe one exception (am I just imagining this?), the people for the tax were bitter, and some of them spoke almost angrily. One ugly talking person, who I would say looked like a little old man, but that would be insulting to little old men, took occasion to disparage my seven children and myself in the course of her little diatribe. Why does such an one need to insult others to make her point? I would suppose we are all glad she doesn't have seven children—they might all be like her. I wonder why she didn't get as much applause as some of those opposed to the tax?

We had there also two candidates for Kenton County Judge Executive. Mr. Arlinghaus commented that the Library takes in approximately as much as the rest of the county government combined. Mrs. McDowell pointed out that our children—for whom the project is supposedly being done—are going to inherit a huge debt. (How are they going to enjoy it in a few years when they are going to spend all of their time paying for it?) It might be better to let them decide how they want to spend their money, and perhaps the best thing we can give the next generation is a good example, by not spending beyond our means!

At one point one of the Board Members, I think Ms. Mospens, said, “We're taxpayers, too!” That is true also, but as I pointed out to someone after the meeting, they are spending their own money, as well as other people's.

Probably the most stunning observation I have to make concerns the false “compensating tax rate” that is so blatant an offense in the faces of the taxpayers of Kentucky. Mr. Schroeder read this tortuously worded piece of legalize to us, and then stated that it meant the Board could not receive less taxes than it had the year before! In other words, this piece of legislation, originally proposed to protect us from an increase of more than 4%, and which has done so much damage in robbing us, is now being used to say that legally the Board must raise taxes!

I don't know what you think of this, but it was too much for me. Perhaps it was very rude of me, and if so I apologize humbly to Mr. S., to the Board, and to the Public at Large, both taxpaying, and non-taxpaying; but I interjected the remark: “You don't have to raise the tax rate at all!” I thought that this devilishly worded document meant that if the tax-rate was to be raised it could not produce less than approximately what it had the year before. Now bureaucrats are reading it to prove that they have to raise the tax rate each year, by law. This means only one thing. We as taxpayers must press our Legislature to change this infamous law. That way I will never have an excuse to be rude at a Board Meeting again, at least not about taxes.

Let me say that I understand why Mr. S. wants a better facility. It is not even that I think the project is a bad thing in itself. The money could be spent for worse projects. The question here was is this the time to do it?

The Board thought so. Mr. Best-Balanced-Solution even stated: “We need to take advantage of these economic conditions.” I take it he meant interest rates, not the working (or lack) of the people expected to pay for it. The fact is that the outcome of the vote was predetermined, not by secret conspiracy—that is beyond anything I could possibly consider—but by how much the Board had already invested in the project, psychologically and otherwise. They had to get through the Public Hearing, but nothing said could affect the outcome:

It feels mighty grand,
Livin' off the fat of the land.

Mr. Horner also issued a challenge for those of us from Boone County. (This was a practice session for us. We are sharpening our Library cards as I write.) He said: “This is not Boone County—and this Board is not responsible for what happened in Boone County!” Whether this referred to the Taj Mahal, or the temporary tax reduction to 5%, is unclear; but we are equal to the challenge.


Changing the Situation

Board Members of any entity that can tax must be directly responsible to the taxpayers. Mr. Horner's statement about the “best balanced solution” was followed by the remark that this was a “compromise” that balanced “all constituencies”. The people who pay should have the say! Children, the homeless, computer users, book borrowers, program attenders, etc are not “constituencies”, they are recipients, whether it is you, me, or anyone else. A constituency is by definition a “body of voters”, not people who want or use something. (Though bureaucrats are famous for changing the meaning of words!) The only real constituency of a Board should be the taxpayers. In theory the Board represents them, but the voters must also make it so in practice. Obviously this is not now the case; but it would be if these people had to stand for election. As it is in every case, of which I am aware, the Board scratches the Director's back, and he or she makes sure not to rub them the wrong way. (See my essay on this subject: "Then There Are Five" )

No one can make it to the meetings of all the Boards that can raise taxes. I think they should all take place in a single location (say the Fiscal Court Meeting Room), on the same day each year. Perhaps on Election Day, when everyone is feeling Civic Minded, each Board could be given an hour or two to make their case for a raise in revenue, if it is really necessary. All employers could be encouraged to let people have the day off to go to the meetings; we might even start to get a little more citizen participation in government, as in the old time Court Days, that were attended by all.

We need some PIGs (Public Information Gatherers) to attend these meetings and take notes, or even record them; after all, they are public. We need all the information we can get. Even this essay is written from a few notes and what I remember; with all the good will in the world my impressions are not as valuable as solid truth, such as would be possible if it were packed chock full of accurate and informative statements. (Incidently I have been told my writings might appeal to old people, so if you enjoyed this at all you know where you stand!)

So, was our visit to the Board wasted? Certainly not. Could the Board rescind its decision? Certainly. Epictetus, the great Greco-Roman philosopher, who started life as a slave, once remarked that the only prescription for refusing to change your mind when you are wrong is Hellabore; they administered it in those days to lunatics. So far as living to fight another day, my grandfather used to say if you get knocked down in a fight, start on their toes! Never give up! Learn from whatever happens, and be better prepared next time. Better yet, work to make the rules fair—let's work to make Boards accountable through the election process, revoke the murderous “compensating tax rate”, which is false, and create a better America. Once the bureaucrats on the Boards are responsible to the taxpayers I care not whether they decide to build the Taj Mahal, the Tomb of King Tut, or the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, so long as a great majority of the taxpayers agree. (Well, I will still care, but at least I will not feel so bad about it.) Then, maybe, the last line of my song will come true for all:

It's almost more than I can stand;
Livin' off the fat of the land.

Written 18 Aug 2010.

Big Bone University: A Think Tank, Research Institute, & Public Policy Center
Established 2000 A. D.
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.
Big Bone, Kentucky

jkduvall@gmail.com

To Those Who Attended the Meeting:

I regret I cannot recall the speeches of everyone present who spoke. If you care to write out what you said, or think you said (which might be even better), I would be happy to include it here. Thank you for your contribution to the discussion; you represent many others who were unable to attend.

Note that Boone County is getting ready to build a new facility in accordance with the “Five Mile Plan”. It will cost more than the one Kenton County proposes to build. Let's take Mr. Horner's advice, and make the Boone County Board of Trustees responsible for that. Perhaps we should start before they get too much invested in the project.


AQQ: Archival Quality Quotation:

“. . . and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.” Jeremiah 51.58.

Typed 21 Aug 2010.

An Essay on Libraries and (Tax) Liabilities

An Essay on Libraries and (Tax) Liabilities; or,Boone County's Taj Mahal and the Bad Book Tax

James Duvall, M. A.
Big Bone University

Libraries are very little understood by the general public. People don't know what they do, or what they have available. “Libraries are about books,” is a widely held idea, and not without reason; however, modern libraries are often about a lot of other things, and books come in as a distant focus, which should become obvious in the course of this essay.

I worked for the Boone County Public Library for seven and a half years, and can claim to have some knowledge of the subject. I certainly think the mystery needs to be taken out of the subject, and so I am working on a book, currently in draft, called “the Extraordinary History of the Boone County Public Library, Boone County, Kentucky, with Special Remarks on the Taj Mahal and Citizens for Lower Taxes”. I feel that I am the only person qualified to write this work. It falls within the scope of the work I was doing for the library, a massive project called the Annals of Boone County, which includes every aspect of Boone County history and genealogy.

My research is not yet complete for the history of the library, and I am not yet in a position to tell all I know. Some things I only suspect. Some of these waters are deep, and one can only draw out the truth by evidence that will mirror the sometimes murky waters of the mind. It it true here, no less than in other aspects of politics and government spending, that there is a kind of mad methodology in the muddiness.

Let me first say that I do not oppose libraries; I love them. When I went to Washington, D. C., the first place I visited was the Library of Congress; a truly impressive collection of books, maps, and manuscripts. I have used many of the local university libraries, including their rare book rooms. These include the Klau Library of Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, one of the three great repositories of Judaica in the world, and the largest outside of Jerusalem; I am a graduate of the college. I have researched in the Lloyd Library, also in Cincinnati (though it has Northern Kentucky roots), one of the world's premier collections of pharmacology and materia medica. University of Cincinnati. Northern Kentucky University. The libraries at the University of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Archives, and State Historical Society Library, among many others.

I love a good collection of books, but I am opposed to waste. I like good libraries. Good libraries are those that serve the public, and serve their purpose, rather than the egos and advancement of their administrators. A good library is about books. The public always knew this, but many of our professional librarians and “highly qualified” administrators seem to have forgotten this.

Library administrators, that is Directors, and a few other people, will argue that libraries are about service. And this is perfectly correct, so long as we are clear about what the service actually is; however service is an area in which they are deficient, for the most part. It can be very hard to get good service in most public libraries. It is not guaranteed by the fact that the person serving you has an MLS degree (Master of Library Science). This degree, though required for most of the better positions, is a very inferior degree. It is a “systems” degree, concentrating on process rather than content. You don't have to be very smart, or even read much of anything, except the dull text books, and do a few “projects” to get the degree.

Many of the people with whom I worked were knowledgeable in a number of area, and were concerned to help anyone who asked them for help. Good librarians tend to develop area of special interest and expertise, and were always willing to learn. I enjoyed working with these people; but there were significant exceptions. I might understand why, but I never appreciated a colleague who rolled their eyes as certain patrons left the desk. We got some odd requests from time to time; but the real problem is that most Reference people do not know very much about books.

I recently came across a statement in a book that applies here: “Most of the famous people I have met have their feet firmly planted in mid-air.” For “famous people” read “librarians” and you have a perfect description of the bulk of the breed.

Someone once called the library to ask how to season a skillet. The person who picked it up didn't even attempt an answer, they just passed the telephone to me. I didn't have (or need) a reference book on the subject; I just told them how I season mine, and mentioned several other methods I had observed, been told or, or had read about. This person said they liked my method best, which was flattering; but you have to have experience and common sense to answer that kind of question.

You have to study real subjects to be able to recommend books that will help someone after significant information. You have to be able to look at the cover and the publisher, and other indications, to tell if this is a book of value, or one of the many advice books so bad you could die of a misprint. Mid-air people don't have the experience or qualifications to make these types of judgments, which the public pays for, and on which they rely. It is acknowledged in the library journals that about 75% of the Reference questions asked in U. S. libraries receive incorrect answers (if my memory serves); I may be giving an incorrect answer here — the true figure is closer to 85%.

Most reference people are tied to the computer for basic information, and for the catalogue of books (which we all need often enough). They don't have any sense (to speak of) about what is available on the subject, and what is more important, what the library might have.

Speaking of this subject (before I proceed to talk about the Taj Mahal, and its rather pitiful collection of books): There is a real lack of good books in the Boone County Public Library. This is partly by design, and partly through ignorance about what the best books are. I have not used the Kenton County much for years. I lived in Latonia for ten years, and often used it them. The collection at that time was much better than that of Boone County. There were at least a few solid books on almost every subject in which I happened to be interested. (This would include just about any subject you might think of.)

My impression is that this quality was due mostly to the influence of Ms. Mary Ann Mongan, the long-time library Director. How much the collection might have changed since that time I can only guess. When I am there I deal primarily with the excellent collection of Kentucky History, but this has been there for years, and is hardly a good guide to the state of the collection as a whole.

I suspect that Boone County is not the only public library around that is lacking in what should be its primary feature and purpose. Most of the books are new; if they age much they are usually thrown away and replaced by new books of inferior value, if you are considering content rather than retail value. Many of the books have catchy titles, but are short on substance. For example you can get a history of sunflowers, but no commentary on the Bible. You can check out a series that includes “Aristotle in Fifteen Minutes” (which is impossible), but not one book written by a real philosopher. You can get every recent book in print on witchcraft, but there is only one volume in the whole library on anthropology, and it is not very good. The mathematics section is particularly poor, though books on the subject are often requested. We are talking about all the branches here.

I have a graduate degree in history (besides the one in Bible and Ancient Languages), and have found only a few books in the collection having any solid worth; nothing that even covers “world history” that I could recommend. The section on language (my favourite) is not worse than that of most small public libraries, but nothing much to brag about. At my suggestion a Greek dictionary, and a few other books were acquired and added. There are a few good books on the sciences; a good bit of it is little more than trash. Most of the best books have never found a home here. I don't mean the kind of books demanded and written by research scientists; I mean ordinary works that actually cover the subject, in writing. The “Illustrated Book of Stars” and “The Complete Idiot's Guide to Traveling in Black Holes”, are not the kind of thing for people who really want to know. I don't have an MLS, but I know better than that.

We do have a nice history of the Taj Mahal (the real one). I remember putting it out on display once, when the controversy about the new library was at its height, and it found its way back to the shelf rather quickly, to spend a life of indolence. It was rather an interesting book, lots of pictures. I could go into great detail about other sections of the collection. The Literature section is actually in rather good shape, except the high school students never can find much on Shakespeare for their yearly assignment, for there is only one book on the subject they can use! It is thanks to one or two literature-loving librarians that this area has been kept up fairly well, one of whom has now passed to the great “Library of the Infinite”. The section on religion is the worst in the library. Don't get me started on this subject — go and look for yourself!

I wrote a plan to correct this problem. It had enough promise, even on the face of it, that copies were distributed to everyone on the Selection Committee (though probably not read), by order of the Director. However, nothing was done to improve selection. The feeling seems to have been that it is more important to buy books than to improve the collection. (Link: Notes on Book Selection)

So what about the Taj Mahal on Wildcat Blvd.? The building of that come as a surprise to everyone, certainly the public. (I had heard vague rumors.) This was because the public was not aware of the “Five Mile Plan”, which is still in effect. This was an agenda agreed on by Lucinda Brown, the former Director, and Ted Bushelman, back in the day when he was president of the Board of Trustees, to put a library facility within five miles of every resident in Boone County. That is going to cost you more than you realize, sooner or later!

The Taj was the crown jewel in this plan, though it was but three miles from an existing facility in Hebron. However, you will be happy to know that this thriving, and much used branch, is going to be axed, and a new one built at Francisville, a few miles further north. The branch built at Union was a bargain at $5 million, I was told; and that included building and contents. The fifty acres of land for the new one have already been purchased for $3.1 million. I have seen the initial sketches for this building. It will be at least as large as the branch at Union, and I estimate it will cost over $10 million. Probably this includes the contents also. It doesn't include the staff. I estimate that it will take about fifty people, full and part time. I can assure you that your taxes will go up considerable when the present library staff of about 150 begins to approach 200.

Libraries are about books, not buildings. No one is arguing that you can have books with no place to put them, but here the emphasis seems to be all on buildings. They say people aren't interested in books, so the have programs to draw them in. These include concerts, yoga, magicians, food-crafting (from people who don't even know how to season a skillet?), and even sleep-overs. You have to have something in a building that big to justify the expenditure, so you spent more to drag people in. It is true that people come to the library to use the Internet and computers. It is a nice service; I sometimes use it myself, as I do not have Internet at home. I still think $18 million is a little expensive for an Internet Café. My dentists office is nice, but not so costly as that — why not offices all around the county that are rented by the year, and closed if they don't get much use? People could order their books online, and pick them up within five miles of home! Why invest so heavily in one spot?

Why not at least ask the public, particularly the taxpayers, what they really want?

Why keep these big productions secret until the Director and the “secret Trustees” roll them out for our expected applause? Why not concentrate on books and media — downloadable books (I know the value of all kinds of books), DVDs, recorded books, periodicals, and traditional children's programs, rather than have specialized banquets at $20 a plate, or exercise programs with enrollment fees of $25 to $35. That excludes the underpriviledged. Why should taxpayers underwrite a huge building with a club atmosphere that discriminates against poor citizens? Why should we have programs there at all that are not directly concerned with books? If the programs are for the public why should individuals have to pay at all? Why not concentrate on the reason libraries even exist, rather than create new demands from a limited public, while ignoring or downplaying the true purpose of a library?

Call to Action

There is a very great deal more that I could say, and perhaps will say in my “Extraordinary History” of the subject. I will be glad to personally discuss this subject with any reasonable person (that is anyone who doesn't yell or cuss). There is a basis flaw in the Statues which govern the administration of Kentucky's Public Libraries that often doesn't show up as long as library systems are small; but it needs to be fixed. And now is the time to fix it! Library Trustees should be directly accountable to the public. They should be elected just as the members of the School Board are. In theory the Board controls the Library. In actuality the Director controls the Board. The Board needs to be in a position to demand accountability from the Director and Staff.

I have written a detailed essay on the subject of how Library Boards are appointed. (Link: “Then There Are Five”) They are chosen by the Director, and approved in a rubber-stamp process. It is possible to impeach Trustees by action of the Fiscal Court; but it is not possible. Trustees have a right to appeal this action through the State Courts, and iffy and endless process, which means that practially speaking they cannot be ousted before their term expires. In essence they are untouchable.

Anyone with authority to raise and spend your taxes needs to be accountable to you!

Written 16 Aug 2010.

Archival Quality Quotation:

“We're not sure yet whether the new library will be another Taj Mahal, or the Tomb of King Tut. Either way, there will be a lot of Lucinda Brown's carefully hoarded tax money spent. In both cases the money was spent without your consent!”

Kathryn James
Teacher and Teaparty Member

Big Bone University: A Think Tank, Research Institute, & Public Policy Center
Established 2000 A. D.
Nec ossa solum, sed etiam sanguinem.
Big Bone, Kentucky

jkduvall@gmail.com