Not for Donald Trump or Hillary: For whom do Republican leaders vote?

Not Donald Trump: 20% of the 331 current Republican governors, Senators and House members have renounced their party’s nominee -- and the number is growing. (Time screen shot)

Many Republican leaders are not voting for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, so for whom do they vote on Nov. 8?

Thursday’s announcement by former Republican Party leader Michael Steele that he will not be voting for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton is just the latest news leaving too many supporters of the Republican Party in limbo about what to do in the 2016 Presidential election.

As of Oct. 13, which was before the third presidential debate between Trump and Clinton, the Time reported that “nearly 20% of the 331 current Republican governors, Senators and House members have renounced their party’s nominee.”

While the number of current or former Republican leaders opposing Trump is growing, very few are sharing for whom they will vote:

Virginia Representative Scott Rigell, who is retiring at the end of his term, was the first U.S. Congressman to state that he will not vote for Trump or Clinton, but that he is “going to vote for the Libertarian candidate” Gary Johnson.

Republican Illinois Senator Mark Kirk said on Aug. 10 that he intends to write in former Secretary of State Colin Powell when he casts his vote for president in November.  Kirk told CNN that he would not vote for Trump because he was “too racist and too bigoted for the land of Lincoln.”

Washington Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler told The Columbian that “For months I’ve left the door open for Donald Trump to earn my vote. That door has now slammed shut.” Beutler said, “She will write in a vote for Paul Ryan.”

‘Mike Pence for President’  

According to a list provided by USA Today, the number one choice of alternative to Donald Trump among Republican leaders is Mike Pence.

New Jersey Rep. Frank LoBiondo is quite representative in his statement about what he will do on Nov. 8. “I cannot support and will not vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton to be President of the United States. I will write in Governor Mike Pence for President.”

Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz stated that he could “no longer in good conscience endorse” Trump for president. Chaffetz wished Mike Pence “was at the top of the ticket.”

Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock and Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo also consider Mike Pence to be a much better choice. “Donald Trump should step aside and allow our party to replace him,” Comstock wrote on Twitter. “I cannot in good conscience vote for Trump.”

“Make no mistake – we need conservative leadership in the White House,” wrote Crapo in his Twitter statement. “I urge Donald Trump to step aside and allow the Republican Party to put forward a conservative candidate like Mike Pence who can defeat Hillary Clinton.”

John Thune of South Dakota, the third-highest ranking Republican in the Senate, tweeted on Saturday that “Donald Trump should withdraw and Mike Pence should be our nominee effective immediately.”

How Mike Pence could become president

According to an Oct. 8 Washington Post report, “Many [Republicans] said they would like to hand the ticket over to Pence, but experts said it would be almost impossible logistically for the party to replace its nominee a month from the election.”

With only a few days until Nov. 8 and many people already voting, there is only one option left for the Republican Party – convince the 538 members of the Electoral College not to vote for Donald Trump.

In contrast to the popular vote happening on Nov. 8, the Electoral College does not gather until December 19 to cast their ballots for president and vice president.

According to Edward Foley, director of election law at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law, Republicans could try to convince the electors to turn their back on Trump and vote for Pence or someone else.

Even though electors are supposed to comply with the wishes of the popular vote, it is actually unclear whether there would be any legal ramifications:

“While many electors are bound by state law to vote for the candidate selected by the popular vote on Nov. 8, there is precedent for ‘faithless’ electors who have bucked that requirement,” stated Foley. “And it is unclear what legal remedies there would be to force them to comply” with the popular vote.

“The Supreme Court has never settled the question of what happens if the electors vote on Dec.19 contrary to what the state vote assumes they will,” Foley added. “What really matters is what gets sent to Congress on Jan. 6.”

Since Donald Trump is not going to withdraw, the majority of Republican leaders who are not supporting Trump or Clinton stated that they intend to write in Mike Pence’s name on Nov. 8.

For anyone not wanting to vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, the idea might not be as absurd as it sounds.

After all, it might give electors the justification they need not having to vote for Donald Trump in December. 

Dyslexia and its meaning in 'The Connected Universe': The answer is clear

Dyslexia, like everything else in the universe, has its place and purpose. Watching the above trailer of "The Connected Universe" in Full Screen (click on the right hand lower icon) is an amazing experience.

As for the background to the above trailer, "The Connected Universe" posted on its Facebook page on Friday, September 23, that the film will be premiering in Los Angeles on Monday, September 26. The film, narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart (known for his role as "Star Trek: The Next Generation" 's Captain Jean-Luc Picard and as Shakespeare actor), explores the interconnection of all things in the Universe.



While "The Connected Universe" certainly does not cover dyslexia, the film's theme does raise the question -- why do we have dyslexia and what is its connection within the vast universe?

The clear answer to the above question lies in -- "without."

Without dyslexia, we would not have the amazing work of Leonardo da Vinci, August Rodin, Jorn Utzon (architect who designed Sydney Opera house), writer Agatha Christie, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gustave Flaubert, W.B. Yeats, Ann Bancroft (Arctic Explorer), Alexander Graham Bell, John R. Horner (Jurassic Park), Pierre Curie (Physicist), Werner Von Braun, Erin Brockovich, George Patton, Henry Ford, William Hewlett, Charles Schwab, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, John F. Kennedy, Nelson Rockefeller, Woodrow Wilson, George Washington, Cher, John Lennon, Harry Belafonte, Tom Cruise, Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno, Keanu Reeves, Henry Winkler, and Robin Williams.

There are many more famous (and not-so-famous) dyslexic individuals -- past and present -- whose talented contributions have made the universe brighter.

While fighting the challenges that accompany dyslexia, especially in a traditional environment, parents and teachers might ask themselves -- what would the world be without dyslexia?

Dyslexia: Why Leonardo da Vinci succeeded

We have moved this article to our new website. Please click here to read the article.

Dyslexia: Famous dyslexic people speak out, their heartbreaking stories

Reading and hearing the words of famous people with dyslexia and witnessing the pain they experienced as a child is heartbreaking. What is even more heartbreaking, however, is the fact that not much has changed in our school system.

Children with dyslexia are still suffering in school and dropping out.  How many psychologists are able to trace a child's depression, alcoholism, drug abuse or even suicide to the fact that the child was actually dyslexic -- but never diagnosed?

If, as Canada reports, 1 out of 5 children is dyslexic, imagine being a teacher in a classroom of 25 students. Even if one child is being diagnosed as having dyslexia, what happens to the other four children?

Dyslexia and what's the deal with learning disabilities?

Below is an excerpt of our book What's The Deal With Learning Disabilities? Since we have discontinued the publication of the book due to costs, we do want to share some of its insights in the hope that it will make a difference in the lives of children with learning disabilities.

In contrast to most books about learning disabilities like dyslexia, our book actually focuses on the amazing abilities in the word dis-ability.

After sharing some of the painful experiences of famous people with learning disabilities, the book actually focuses on what amazing abilities they discovered in their "dis-abilities" -- and what made all the difference in their lives.

Here are the painful voices of famous dyslexics:

“When I was growing up, no one knew what learning challenges were. So, I was called ‘stupid,’ ‘lazy,’
and ‘not living up to my potential’ … Inside you feel one way, and people are telling you that you are
another way, and I couldn’t reconcile that.” (Henry Winkler, The Fonz)

“I only remember one B in my life. The rest were a few Cs, mostly Ds, and lots and lots and lots of Fs. …Throughout college, I learned a lot but I kept flunking out. I still couldn’t memorize. It was also hard for me to keep up with lectures. In chemistry, I remember my teacher writing on the board and talking about something else at the same time. I couldn’t follow either. And I could never keep up with all the reading.” (Dr. John (Jack) Horner, a consultant to Steven Spielberg for the movies, “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World” was the real life model for the paleontologist in the movie Jurassic Park.)

“When I was young, I went to a million different schools. I kept falling further and further behind in my schoolwork because of it. My spelling was terrible; I couldn’t read quickly enough to get all my
homework done, and for me, math was like trying to understand Sanskrit. It was embarrassing for me not to be able to do the schoolwork that everyone else was doing. Was I stupid? I didn’t think I was. But all the signs pointed in that direction. I didn’t like authority, and I couldn’t understand the lessons.” (Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPiere, better known as Cher, did not learn that she was dyslexic until she was 30.)

“It’s painful to think about it. The nasty little secret was that I couldn’t read worth a darn.” (Charles
Schwab, 66, dyslexic financier, in an interview with the New York Times.)

“He told me that his teachers reported that…he was mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in his foolish dreams. Apparently nothing came easily, except, I suppose, Physics, when he finally got there. In the meantime, he could not remember the time’s tables, he couldn’t read very well, and spelling defeated him. It was even suggested that Albert might be mentally handicapped.” (Hans Albert Einstein about his father.)

“Young Anthony was a sensitive kid, happier drawing, painting and playing the piano (he's now a
virtuoso) than hanging with the other kids. A dyslexic, he was poor academically, once saying of himself ‘I was lousy in school. Real screwed-up. A moron. I was anti-social and didn't bother with the other kids. A really bad student. I didn't have any brains. I didn't know what I was doing there. That's why I became an actor.’ To separate him from the many other Hopkins at school, he became known as Mad Hopkins.”( Anthony Hopkins Biography)

“Despite Andrew Jackson’s intellectual promise, he never showed much ability to write, and his poor
spelling appalled his friends.”King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has had some "hard and bitter" experiences in his struggle with dyslexia. Queen Silvia, in a TV interview shown Thursday in Stockholm, spoke publicly for the first time about the king's learning disorder. It became publicly apparent during a visit to a copper mine in 1973, when he signed his name on a rock wall and misspelled it.

“Whoopi had a lot of difficulty in school, but it was not until she was an adult did she learn that she had dyslexia. When Whoopi was growing up, she remembers being called dumb and stupid because she had a lot of problems reading.” (Whoopie Goldberg, actress and entertainer.)

The future of dyslexia

Unless we want children to continue to suffer like the above famous people with dyslexia, schools, teachers, parents, and society in general have to change.

Our book about the amazing abilities in students with dyslexia or other learning dis-abilities (including emotional disabilities) is not for sale. Our school, the Academy of Exploration International, is closed for the major part.

However, we are continuing our work in trying to make a positive difference in the lives of children with dyslexia.

As such, we will be posting more excerpts from the book - which focuses on the abilities and not disabilities -- on our JTNews19 blog.

If you are interested in receiving the eBook copy of the book for FREE, send us an email to Exploration@cox.net. The discussion about the amazing abilities in children with learning dis-abilities is also continuing on Twitter.

The only thing we wish is that you will respect the purpose of the Academy of Exploration International -- to make a positive in the difference in the lives of children with learning disabilities like dyslexia.

Dyslexia and why dyslexic kids struggle with time management, lateness, and sleep

After having spent 30 years teaching children with dyslexia,dyscalculia  ADD, ADHD, auditory processing disorders, emotional disorders, tourettes, autism, OCD, depression, and about any other physical or emotional challenges that students are facing, it is time to write about why those students became successful in life.

Those kids turned out to be writers, poets, yoga masters, painters, veterinarians, an international ice-skating champion, and whatever road their life was meant to take.

To explain why and how those students with learning disabilities succeeded, would take a novel. In the meantime, this blog can provide a few insights -- one at a time.

As to the topic of time, the most important aspect of understanding children with physical or emotional learning disabilities is that these kids have amazing "abilities." There is a reason for the word "ability" in the word "dis-ability."

Creative individuals like kids with learning dis-abilities are most active at night because it is when the brain functions differently.

Most everyone who is able to remember his or her dreams ( a skill that can be learned) knows how utterly awesome the brain works in creating the most unimaginable images, metaphors, and story lines.

In contrast to kids who follow the "logic" left-brain hemisphere directions to sleep at night, kids with learning dis-abilities (governed by the creative right side of the brain), follow their "nature" to be creative when the brain works at its ultimate.

Imagine waking up every night when you have a dream and feeling the need to have to write it down, draw it, or express it in any other way.

As such, it is no surprise that children with learning dis-abilities are tired in the morning and have trouble following other people's understanding of "time" management.

More on the topic and how our school dealt with the "time" issue to be continued ....

"No one knows whether or not he is a writer unless he has tried writing at night." – H.P. Lovecraft pic.twitter.com/VUsZpq4SZ6

— Chuck Sambuchino (@ChuckSambuchino) August 11, 2016