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  • Bill Rice 12:56 pm on August 21, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , education, , mi, schools   

    Bill Rice Running for Flat Rock, MI School Board 

    Bill Rice School Board IconI am running for School Board in my community of Flat Rock, Michigan. My wife and I have been heavily involved in the Flat Rock community ever since we moved to Michigan in early 2004. With three kids it doesn’t take long to find yourself volunteering in everything from little league to school classroom.

    Flat Rock Community FieldsFlat Rock, Michigan is a great little community of around 10,000 people. When I was recruited up from Ohio to serve on the Quicken Loans Leadership Team I had many options of where to live. We visited communities from Birmingham, to Ypsilanti, to Monroe, and of course the more obvious options close to work–Livonia and Novi. All of those cities were very nice and I am sure we would have been happy living in any of them, but when we visited Flat Rock it had a remarkable charm that we immediately fell in love with.

    Flat Rock Community CenterYou see the people who have lived in Flat Rock much longer than I have created a remarkable community. The folks are friendly and they care about their city. They are hard working and have strong family values. The City is active–there is always something going on; a baseball game, a soccer match, a football game, a parade, or a picnic. We have great walking/biking paths, beautiful parks, scenic waterfronts, and state-of-the-art community center. These are the outward things that drew us to Flat Rock.

    Flat Rock High SchoolHowever, as our kids started school we discovered even more hidden treasures–the teachers, the schools, the parents, and most importantly the children.

    Unfortunately, the economy is going to make maintaining the quality of our community and education system challenging. This is what made me proud when several people from the community of Flat Rock asked me to run for the School Board.

    I wait to represent these great people during these challenging times. And I know we will continue to improve on the strong foundation those before me have created.

    If you want to read more visit the Flat Rock School Board website or the Bill Rice for School Board Facebook Fan Page. Feel free to join!

     

    • angelinacook 8:12 am on September 14, 2009 Permalink

      Really nice information. Thanks for sharing…

  • Bill Rice 9:11 am on January 16, 2007 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    Connecting Unusual Dots in Your Feed Reader 

    This is the second time in a couple of weeks that I have noticed treads of significant issues showing in my increasingly International perspective RSS feed reader that are not appearing in the US press I typically read: NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Washington Times, NY Post, Wall Street Journal, memeorandum.

    The first was a tingle I got in reading an Al-Jazeera post about the Iraqi President’s trip to Syria, but that turned to a cold chill when Dave Winer highlighted the full feeling.

    Then last night I got this from my Digg “Banking” feed: “ING Investment Bank Warns Investors of Israeli Strike on Iran.” Notice only 11 Diggs–not near enough to put it above any fold, but it got into my reader!

    This made me remember this post I read on Sunday from Joel Rosenberg’s feed: “DISPATCH FROM JERUSALEM: Bush speech seen as preparing for war with Iran” that included this ominous quote from his interview with Benjamin Netanyahu:

    I asked Netanyahu how much time the West has to stop Ahmadinejad. “Not much,” he said, noting that when he was Prime Minister both India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons to the shock of all Western intelligence agencies and that Iran could be much closer to getting the Bomb than anyone realizes. “Nothing else matters – not Iraq, not the peace process with the Palestinians – if Iran is allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. They must be stopped.”

    I think this one is particularly interesting in that these are two very different circles of information potentially reaching very obvious conclusions about a very significant future World event without a “top fold” article in any of the US national press. You can find it at the International Herald.

    Lesson: diversify your feeds!

     

  • Bill Rice 6:00 am on June 13, 2006 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: government, , net neutrality,   

    Net Neutrality–Danger of Legislating Markets 

    The debate around Net Neutrality should not only focus on barriers to entry and discrimination of content. We should consider all of the unknow effects inherent in regulating and legislating markets.

    I think we should let free markets do their thing. If the market determines that it is not getting enough out of the infrastructure providers then incentive will emerge. For example, if Google or Yahoo do not think Verizon or AT&T are providing sufficient infrastructure performance they will strike a partnership and create mechanisms and business arrangements to produce the results. If consumers are clamouring for faster content then charge them and see if they buy it. It worked with cable and satellite TV. I now pay for what I used to get free on TV and I pay four times what I would pay for dial-up Internet because I want higher performance.

    Markets work these incentives out not legislatures–dangerous times for free markets.

     

  • Bill Rice 4:24 pm on December 29, 2004 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: jan egeland, un   

    It’s Confirmed Jan Egeland of the UN is a Jackass! 

    Jan Egeland, UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator is now singing a new tune. His earlier statements are just another example of the UN struggling for position on the International stage.

    Why is the UN even needed? Individual countries, relief agencies, and private organizations are responding rapidly and effectively I think the UN is vying for good PR in light of recent black-eyes concerning Kojo Annan and the Oil-for-Food program.

    Meanwhile, Clinton calls for a centralized and coordinated effort. Plays more like another press release in coordinated campaign for UN Secretary-General.

    As a capstone for the earlier Egeland “stingy” comment. US is continuing to prove itself a top contributor of relief funds as Andrew Natsios, administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) announces $120 mm in total World aid and the US has already committed $35 mm, which is 30% by my calculations. Seems significance to me.

    In addition, the US has dispatched aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and dozen other ships from 7th Fleet and 10 Navy P-3 Orions.

     

  • Bill Rice 4:08 pm on December 29, 2004 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: immigration   

    Immigration Should be an Issue American Values 

    I must admit this is an issue that I have never explored deeply, but I think should be a fundamental concern of American principle.

    I realize that realistically this is an issue that is too politically divisive to probably see the light of day; however, I feel it is important and I am not certain it has ever been thoughtfully analyzed.

    Here is what I see as the core points to the argument for liberalized immigration, which is where I think I tend to line-up:

      There are 10 million illegal aliens in the U.S. today
      They generally are paying into our social security trust fund (we should investigate the contribution they made to the Clinton administration’s surplus) and are never eligible for receiving this contributions
      The jobs they are doing are not generally jobs American’s are taking anyway
      Isn’t America fundamentally a nation of immigrants. Shouldn’t it be against our fundamental national premise to close the doors?

    Overall, I am keenly interested in understanding this issue better so if you are better educated on the issue help me understand by commenting or emailing me.

     

  • Bill Rice 7:56 am on December 29, 2004 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: political strategy   

    Attack the Enemy’s Strategy 

    Anthony Cordesman’s New York Times article reminded me of one of Sun Tzu’s principles of offensive strategy, “what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.”

    Cordesman’s fundamental thesis is that American should approach force protection or defense of our troops with a strong defense. A key principle for sure and I totally agree with his argument, but I think he touches subtly on another key point in articulating what the enemies strategy is–force the American’s agenda in Iraq.

    As Cordesman writes:

    “…the insurgents knew the bombing would receive extensive news coverage in the United States, and they no doubt are aware of the results of recent polls that show rising opposition to the war among Americans. Why not try to divide Americans and Iraqis the way they are trying to divide Sunnis and Shiites?”

    and

    “If America overreacts to attacks and lets the enemy drive its agenda, losing the war in Iraq will become not just possible but almost certain.”

    he is framing a very real strategy and consistent strategy by a myriad of insurgent interests. The good thing is that the strategy is consistent–force the agenda with unpredictable and random acts of indescriminate violence and maximize the effects of media on American resolve. Consistency can be confronted. The unfortunate aspect is that a great many “causes” are using Iraq as a terror and media stage.

    So, to Cordesman’s point we can not re-trench and fall back to heavily fortified keeps within the castle walls. We witnessed the strengthening effects of this approach in April’s withdrawal from Fallujah. Rather, we have to offensively eradicate the staging grounds and resources of these insurgents as we did most recently in Fallujah. Meanwhile, engage and stand with the Iraqi people in the streets to preserve their opportunity to direct their freedom and democracy.

    It is with this offensive strategy that actors like bin Laden’s and Zarqawi’s will be revealed and drawn into desperate statements. Statements like the ones in bin Laden’s most recent videotape that tip his intent and leave the Iraqi’s wondering why an outsider is trying to direct their national will.

     

  • Bill Rice 10:50 am on December 28, 2004 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: foreign aid   

    U.S. Rarely the “Stingy” Nation 

    I guarantee you that when the total world aid to this natural disaster is tabulated the U.S. is at the top of the list in total contributions despite what this JACKASS says!

    The UN needs to step out of its ivory tower and contribute something of value, beyond their clever rhetoric about philanthropy.

    Perhaps their next suggestion would be that they become the administrator of the fund/program and line their relatives’ pockets with the world’s aid money.

     

  • Bill Rice 10:35 am on December 28, 2004 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: ,   

    Iraq: Case Study in Emerging Democracy in a Hostile Environment 

    There is a lot of talk about teetering and brinks, but I think this is more about having the fortitude to support an emrging democratic opportunity in a region that sees a democracy as a threat to a myriad of authoritarian regimes.

    I think Americans would like to see our troops return, but have a strong interest in finishing the job of planting the first self-determined democratic opportunity in the Arab Middle East.

     

  • Bill Rice 10:16 am on December 28, 2004 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: blair, bush, churchill, roosevelt   

    Bush is to Roosevelt as Blair is to Churchill 

    Here is one to make my liberal reader’s toes curl. American Future posts a reference to the Guardian’s analogy of Bush and Blair as the modern equivalent of the historical pillars of freedom and democracy Roosevelt and Churchill.

     

  • Bill Rice 10:16 am on December 28, 2004 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , women   

    Behind Every Great Man (and Democracy) is a Great Woman 

    Wall Street Journal’s OpinionJournal has an interesting piece on Viktor Yushchenko’s wife, Kateryna Chumachenko Yushchenko and her potential impact on the democratic future of the Ukraine.

     

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