Remembering the Fallen - 2021 Edition

I have written Memorial Day blog entries 7 of the last 8 years. I usually begin by mentioning that Memorial Day is not to honor myself or my fellow veterans who are still alive. It is not for the men and women currently serving in our Armed Forces. It is for those who died while serving in our nation’s military. Today I am mildly perturbed by a tweet from Vice-President Kamala Harris

Enjoy the long weekend. pic.twitter.com/ilGOrod4AW

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) May 29, 2021

I was far more offended by the story in The Atlantic claiming Donald Trump referred to the 1,800 U.S. Marines who died at the Battle of Belleau Wood as “suckers” for being killed. But Vice-President Harris’ remarks were tone-deaf and call for a mea culpa.

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Today is for Colonel Pat Paxton, commander of the 21st Fighter Wing. He died on March 20, 1985 when his F-15A fighter jet crashed into the Yellow Sea. He was deployed to Kwang-Ju AB in southwest South Korea. That is where I was stationed. As the only individual assigned there who knew how to operate the equipment to show the gun camera tape that was recovered from his aircraft, I had to play it for the room filled with high-ranking officers conducting the investigation into the “mishap.”

Today is for Marine Corps Private George Phillips. Private Phillips died on March 14, 1945 during the Battle of Iwo Jima. While standing guard he was the only person alert when a Japanese Imperial Army soldier tossed a grenade into his unit’s position. He shouted a warning and then smothered the grenade with his body.

Today is for three other Marines. Lance Corporal Joseph N. Hargrove, Private First Class Gary L. Hall and Private Danny G. Marshall. They were part of a rescue mission on May 15, 1975 attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Mayaguez that were believed to be held on the island of Koh Tang. They were left behind when the Marines pulled out and subsequently murdered by the Khmer Rouge.

Today is for Michael J. Adams, an Air Force Major who perished on November 15, 1967. The X-15 aircraft he was piloting suffered structural damage while descending from a height of over 230,000 feet.

Today is for Navy Captain Laurel Blair Clark who was killed on February 1, 2003 when the Space Shuttle Columbia was lost.

Today is for Army Staff Sergeant Robert James Miller who was killed on January 25, 2008. The citation that accompanied the posthumous award of the Medal of Honor says that he saved the lives of seven members of his own Special Forces team and 15 Afghanistan National Army soldiers.


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Today is also for:


Army Specialist Nicolas Panipinto, who was killed in late 2019 in a training accident at Camp Humphreys in South Korea. The eight Marines and one Navy sailor who perished in a training accident at Camp Pendleton in California.

In July of 2020, Congressman Vern Buchanan of Florida called for investigation into the rising number of training deaths in the U.S. military. He cited statistics from the Congressional Research Service showing that 32% of deaths of active duty personnel between 2006 and 2018 were from training accidents.

Random Ponderings - 5/25/2021 edition

From the "what the heck were they thinking file"

Michigan's Governor apparently learned nothing from the adventures of CA Governor Gavin Newsom at the French Laundry restaurant.

Bad enough to break the rules you establish for others, but to then cancel the rule right after you get caught breaking it...

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From the same "what the heck were they thinking file"

Kevin Spacey has been cast in a movie role for the first time since allegations of sexual miscondut were made against him. He will make a cameo appearance in “L’uomo Che Disegnò Dio” an Italian film starring Franco Nero. Mr. Spacey has been somewhat of a pariah in Hollywood. Mr. Nero, who is also directing the film said, “I’m very happy Kevin agreed to participate in my film. I consider him a great actor, and I can’t wait to start the movie.” I doubt that the casting of Spacey will do anything but hurt this movie's box office; at least here in the United States.

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Is an error of three feet a large mistake? Or a minor one? Context is everything. In this instance, the mistake may cost a New Zealand homeowner over $220,000 US. The company that he hire to build his house made an error and built it on his neighbor's property. The idiots who made the mistake need to pay up.

Half of the seniors in the graduating class at Comfort High School near San Antonio, Texas were suspended after putting a fork in their high school careers.

SUSPENDED❗️ Half the senior class at Comfort High School has been suspended after participating in a senior prank last week. The extent of the damage? See the pictures below ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/OrDHmPfxE8

— Morgan Burrell (@Morgan_Burrell) May 20, 2021

They put forks in the football field. Could have been worse. I recall a senior prank where the senior class removed the doors to every restroom in the school.

Vyviana Quinonez was arrested and charged wth battery causing serious bodily injury after she was involved in an incident where she allegedly attacked a Southwest Airlines flight attendant. The flight attendant had two teeth knocked out in the incident.

The headline of the article in Army Times reads "Two-star general among group of soldiers punished after sexual misconduct probe." The investigation revealed that rather than refer two allegations of sexual assault to the Army's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) as required by regulation. Instead internal investigations were initiated.

So what was the punishment meted out to Major-General Miyako Schanely? She was forced to relinquish her command and given an official memorandum of reprimand from General Joseph M. Martin, the Army's Vice Chief of Staff. Big deal.

The Profit in Being a Not for Profit School - Latest Update

To provide a bit of background I will mention (for those unaware of this fact) that I spent 17 years working at one of the elite private schools I've written about on this topic back in 2016 with an update two years ago. I did some analysis of the budget surplusses and compensation paid by ten such private schools. Here is the list of the schools: Archer School for Girls Brentwood School Buckley School Chadwick School Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences Harvard-Westlake School Marlborough School Milken Community School Wildwood School Windward School Here is the first set of numbers, with updates to add the figures from 2017 through 2019: Average annual surplus: 2012 - $3,771,152 2013 - $4,271,705 2014 - $4,576,092 2015 - $7,125,818 2016 - $8,018,211 2017 - $6,000,447 2018 - $6,153,491 2019 - $7,210,956 Worth noting is that if we take out the one school among the ten that ran deficits each of the last 3 years, the figures look like this: 2017 - $7,111,585 2018 - $7,262,912 2019 - $8,366,020 What is the big deal if not for profit schools keep piling up surpluses? The law does not preclude a not for profit from running surpluses. But when they are showing large surpluses year in and year out, one wonders if they are truly intent on not showing a "profit." According to the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance, a respected charity watchdog, a not for profit should not have an accumulation of surplus funds that is more than three times its annual budget. Harvard-Westlake School has the highest average annual surplus over the last three years, a stunning $23.9 million per year. Their annual budget according to their 2020 Form 990 (Not for Profit Organization Tax Return) is around $88.6 million. Their accumulated surplus on that same return was $398,678,207. That is approximately 4.5 times their annual budget. * * *

If we substitute the words Head of School for King in the above example of the brilliance of Mel Brooks, we can transition into the compensation of the top person at each of these schools. Average ompensation of the person at the top of the organizational chart: 2012 - $482,453 2013 - $595,335 2014 - $548,445 2015 - $543,791 2016 - $574,501 2017 - $440,923 2018 - $568,605 2019 - $566,020 Those amounts do not include deferred compensation being set aside for their future retirement. The average amount of deferred 2017 - $79,866 2018 - $78,795 2019 - $69,193 Even more interesting is the very wide range of averages among these heads of schools when it comes to deferred compensation. Here are the 3 year averages from highest to lowest, without identifying which school is which: $216,234 $166,176 $164,100 $98,222 $34,992 $31,916 $17,295 $14,402 $11,008 $5,168 Yes, there are three heads of school who are receiving more than $150,000 annually for their retirement plan. How is that possible? Two words come to mind. Rabbi Trust. You can read about Rabbi Trusts here, and about the difference between a Qualified Plan and a Nonqualified Plan when it comes to deferred compensation here. But in simple terms, if a for profit entity was paying an executive this much deferred compensation, they would not be able to deduct the cost of funding the plan from their income. To offer perspective on just how much some of these people are earning in just their deferred compensation, the average household income in Santa Monica is around $75,000 * * * Private schools talk about "The Gap" in their fundraising. This refers to the gap between their budget and the portion of that budget that is covered by just the tuition paid by parents. Every year these schools spent hours calculating just how much they can raise tuition over the prior year. In the early 1990s I was present at the annual budget meeting of the school's Board of Trustees. My reason for being present was to record the minutes of the meeting. At the time, tuition for the Upper School (grades 9 through 12) was less than $10,000. Two of the most famous members of the board had a very spirited exchange about just how much the tuition could be increased. One of them punctuated his position by saying "we could add a zero to the end of the current tuition and still fill this school completely." These private schools do amazing things. They provide large amounts of financial assistance to poorer families in order to give the children of those families an opportunity at the best possible education. They stress community service and other good works. They provide their employees with outstanding benefit and retirement plans. All things that are appropriately highlighted in their efforts to raise funds. They are far less transparent about their finances. I wonder if people who donate to these annual giving drives would be as generous if they were aware of surpluses and compensation at the top of the organizational chart By the way, their finances are a matter of public record. Anyone can ask to examine the last three years of their tax returns.

Well, which is it?

That is a photo of Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida. The question is, just how much is it worth? According to the official Executive Branch Public Financial Disclosure Report signed by Trump himself claims a worth of over $50 million.

The funny thing is that while he crows and preens about his property being worth more than $50 million dollars he has been suing the Palm Beach County Assessor over the assessed value of the course over and over. According to the Palm Beach Post in a 2017 story, he sued the Assessor's Office claiming that the property is worth less than the 2018 assessed value of $18.4 mmillion. He sued them in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and again in 2018. When it comes to Trump's National Golf Course Westcheester in Ossining, NY it gets worse. This is from the same financial disclosure report referenced earlier:

As reported by CNNMoney back in 2017, Trump sued the Ossining Receiver of Taxes and claimed that the property was worth no more than $1.5 million. As a wise cartoon character famously said... Why does this matter? Because inflating the value of his assets to obtain loans and deflating them to get property tax breaks are among the potential criminal violations being investigated by the New York Attorney General. An investigation that has moved from civil to criminal in nature. Richard Nixon said "I am not a crook." We now know he was. Time will tell if our suspicions that Trump is a crook were right or not.