Uncaring America

I've heard this so many times from inside and outside the U.S. that I was starting to wonder if it were true.

Then I read: "Americans lead world in generosity" by Star Parker.

[all emphasis: mine]

Americans are hearing so much these days about how bad we are that we're starting to believe it. "We are such a rich nation and care little for the poor, we should give more."

In a recent Gallup poll, 68 percent said they are "dissatisfied with the position of the United States in the world today," and 55 percent said they think that the rest of the world views us unfavorably.

See I wasn't the only one.

However, as I page through a publication called the Index of Global Philanthropy, which is produced annually by the Center for Global Prosperity at the Hudson Institute in Washington, it becomes obvious that these American feelings of self-deprecation are misguided.

This is the just-released third annual edition of this index. It produces a unique snapshot portraying the full extent of American generosity to developing countries, by amount and by source.

Usually when the question of aid to the developing world arises, we think of government funds. But this index shows that, whereas it may be the rule in the rest of the industrialized world that most aid is government aid, in our country this isn't the case. Most of the contributions that Americans make abroad are private and voluntary. And they are large.

And how large?

In 2006, the latest year for which data are available, the index reports that Americans contributed privately and voluntarily $34.8 billion to individuals and organizations in developing countries.

Philanthropy is distinct from government aid in that it originates with private citizens and is voluntary, but also the recipients are private individuals and organizations, as opposed to governments. Private to private versus government to government.

The $34.8 billion in philanthropy from private Americans exceeded the $23.5 billion in official U.S. government aid abroad by $11.3 billion, or 48 percent.

Damn near 50% more that the U.S. gov't gives, and remember, we taxpayers gave that $23.5 billion also.

This private philanthropy is flowing from foundations, corporations, private and voluntary organizations, universities and colleges, and religious organizations.

Of particular interest in this year's index is the $8.8 billion reported from religious organizations. According to Carol Adelman, who directs this work, the data were produced by commissioning "the first national survey of congregational giving to the developing world" ever done.

The average contribution of congregations was $10,700.

Only $10,700? when you add it all together that is 25% of the total being given, voluntarily by these congregations.

To put this in some kind of perspective, the $8.8 billion in giving from American religious institutions to developing countries was $1.5 billion more than the total giving from all private sources in 30 of the world's major industrialized democratic countries combined.

You got that? You add up the total from next 30 democratic nations and we've still given $1.5 BILLION more!

When consolidating all assistance funds flowing from the United States to developing countries, the total is $129.8 billion. This is the total of government aid, philanthropy and remittances – funds sent directly by private individuals to other private parties in developing countries, often family members. A far second in total giving behind the United States is the United Kingdom at $20.7 billion.

The next most generous country in line, Great Britain, gives 16% of what we do.

There are a couple of important messages here.

First, of course, is the incredible compassion and generosity of Americans. American largesse does not need to be pried or forced by the government. It flows organically from free, civic minded and often religiously motivated citizens. And it comes from citizens of every income strata. The religious giving data show that whereas the average congregation gives $10,700, the median number is $2,500, indicating that there are many smaller, less wealthy congregations engaged.

The other headline is the central importance of the private sector in both generating prosperity, but also in sharing it.

We know how good we have it here, and we want to help those in need or who have been hit by disaster and we are willing to sacrifice some of our blessings to the rest of the world..."the median number is $2,500, indicating that there are many smaller, less wealthy congregations engaged." Help when you can, as much as you can.

Bookshelves now strain with studies showing the failures of government-to-government aid.

Always seems to end up buying munitions to further suppress the people it was suppose to help, or they just build another palace.

It is individuals who create wealth. Compassion and personal responsibility reside in the breasts of those same individuals. Neither can be said of government bureaucracies.

Amen!

Barack Obama spoke at the commencement ceremony at Wesleyan University the other day. He talked about national service and, recalling John F. Kennedy, committed to doubling the size of the Peace Corps if elected president.

From what I see and what the data show, Americans don't need government to make them care, contribute and volunteer. If anything, they need less government so they'll retain and keep control of more of what they produce and subsequently share with those in need.

Like I said at the beginning, I was starting to believe the BS that maybe we don't give enough. They can take that a shove it sideways.

Other countries may have their own motivations for what causes them to view Americans the way they do, but the data are clear. Americans are unmatched in creating prosperity and sharing it.

It's time to pay closer attention to what Americans do rather than what others say.

I don't know about you, but my family also give to charities that operate strictly within the U.S., so the numbers there are not figured into the grand total.

Gotta Pee?

If you're modest and live in Colorado, you better go before you leave the house.

Guv strikes state's gender-specific restrooms

With today's signature on SB200, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, has eliminated gender-specific restrooms and locker rooms statewide, giving woman and girls reason to fear being confronted by predators, cross-dressers "or even a homosexual or heterosexual male," according to a critic.

The state's new "transgender nondiscrimination" bill makes it illegal to deny a person access to public accommodations, including restrooms and locker rooms, based on gender identity or the "perception" of gender identity.

If you were afraid to let your kids go into a public restroom before, imagine what it's going to be like now.

"Henceforth, every woman and little girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their presence," Dobson said. "The legislation lists every conceivable type of organization to which this law applies, including restaurants, bathhouses, massage parlors, mortuaries, theaters and 'public facilities of any kind.' Those who would attempt to protect females from this intrusion are subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and up to one year behind bars.

I've been to events, concerts, ballgames, where the line going into the ladies facility is about 5 miles long and had women sneak in the guys bathroom and it never bothers anyone, but the idea of some of the guys I know going into the ladies room while my wife or daughter (if I had a daughter) is in there, I guess I'd be looking at a $5,000 fine.

"And by the way, because of the way this bill is written, it is not subject to the initiative process. There is no recourse,” Dobson said.

(James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, the Christian publishing and broadcast ministry in Colorado Springs.)

The hell with whatever the people feel is proper, the gov't knows best.

Maxine: Read the Constitution!

I'm still reeling from Maxine's declaration during the Congressional hearings on gas prides:

Borrowing liberally from: Maxine: Read the Constitution! by Henry Lamb

And guess what this liberal will be all about? This liberal will be about socializing – would be about, basically, taking over, and the government running all of your companies.

That someone cannot take all the facts of OPEC cannot produce much more than they are, Russia's oil industry is an ecological nightmare, and we have at least a 60- to 70-year known supply of domestic oil available, but can't touch and world demand has outstripped supply, that prices are going to be high.

Congress does expect us to ignore that while "BIG OIL" is making under 8% profit per gallon, the gov't gets a 23% profit through taxes.

Government intervention into the marketplace is justified only to ensure consumer safety and honest competition. Beyond this, government intervention into business affairs creates a drag on the economy, and the greater the intervention, the heavier the weight that drags down the economy.

And the fun thing about gov't intervention is that when dealing with the multiple agencies, City, State and Federal, they all have their own rules that often run counter to each other, but expect you to comply with theirs, and being they all seem sit in their office all year then in a flurry try to catch up on inspections, you end up wasting time readjusting equipment to comply with whichever agency is coming in this week.

Maxine Waters' remedy – to nationalize the oil companies and, by inference, any other business she thinks the government can run better than the owners – is a sure-fire formula for the destruction of the U.S. economy and of the nation.

You can be damn sure the taxes won't be dropped, they'll probably be increased as a subsidy for a give back to the "poor". So now the gov't will get 31%+ profit from gas, but there will be no "Windfall Profit" brought up.


The main points are:

The more government dictates what business may and may not do, and the more costs the government imposes upon business in the form of taxes and regulatory compliance, the slower the economy turns.

and

Unless the elected representatives at every level of government get a grip on the principles of freedom the Constitution holds, the United States of America will continue to descend into the collectivist, dictatorial regime that Maxine Waters threatened. It may already be too late. A generation or more of people have been taught to expect the government to take control and solve whatever problems may come along. This is the mentality that drives the likes of Maxine Waters and Hugo Chavez.

Obama to TUCC: Under The Bus Please

Hat tip to Radical Redneck, who posted this pic at the Rott.

The Obamessiah has once again shown that there is no one that is not expendable in his run for President. This time it isn't just a person he's thrown under the bus, but all the congregates of Trinity United Church of Christ. He's finally decided that what he thought he was hearing for the last 20 years really wasn't what was being said.

If you need examples of what the sermons where about go here:

"When You See These Videos You Will Never Vote for Barack Obama" from The Patriot Room

When the central tenet of your churches philosophy is based on "Black Liberation Theology", where you have to accept that to be a true Christian you believe God is going to kill all whites...that if you make money, you must give it all up for the sins of your fathers...in order to for this country progress, the U.S. Constitution must be torn up and rewritten...and any means to accomplish these goals is justified. (Kinda sounds like another bothersome theology.)

Of course he made the announcement on a Saturday, so let's see if the story sticks around till Monday when people sorta pay attention to the news again, but then we still have to deal with "Obama's inerrancy" as far as the left and the MSM (redundancy) are concerned.


By Eric Allie
© 2008

It's My Blog And You Ain't the Boss Of Me

I may have posted on this before, but I was in the mood for it again, and I may post it again at a later date, but I was bouncing around cyberspace tonight and ran across this:

Lee Michaels

Bastards won't let me embed it, but it's a short sample of Lee Michaels and Frosty just blowing the windows out. (Hint: Crank your volume to 11).

If you liked that here a longer music sample of them just kicking ass.



Hope you got 12 on your system, it you ain't moving during this set, you dead.

Someone once said Lee Michaels is the Jimi Hendrix of the Hammond B-3 organ, isn't that the truth.

It Couldn't Happen Again, Could It?

Just when he thought it was safe to go back in the water, Barrack "The Uniter" Obama has another of his campaign’s pastoral advisory committee (Ret), show, again, the type of people that he has used as mentors.

Let's see there are two race baiter's, a husband and wife team of terrorists and a racist Grandmother.

My friend Blackiswhite has a post on the reverend Pfleger's sermon that covers all I wanted to say (and more) so drop by his site and read.

If you want to hear this asshat reverend in his own words:

Someone Stole My Cat ...Again!!!

It's not the first time it's happened, and probably won't be the last, but it seems that about every two years some asshat decides to steal my cat.

She's been missing for about four days now, so if history is any indicator, she should be back in the next day or so. Whoever has her will get comfortable with trying to keep her in the house, and she'll make her break and be back home banging on the front screen wanting to be fed.

Long ago we had a kitten take up residence in my company's yard and the guys and I started feeding it. It lived in a shed and just hung around like cats do. The only problem was the few times it would get locked in the shop at night, we had motion detectors and the third time the boss got called at 2 AM because of the cat, he said it had to go. My wife had recently lost a cat, so I figured to earn some brownie points by bringing home a new kitten.

This was a brilliant idea on my part. Being responsible pet owners, we took her to the vet for all the shots and get it spayed/neutered. We found out it was about 6 months old and pregnant (little slut). That was vet bill that ranked up there in the "holy crap!" range. Oh, boy, a free kitten.



Isn't she gorgeous?

She lived in and out of the house for a few years, but gradually just started spending more time outside. Now, she never comes in the house. She's always around, but prefers to live in the garage. The highlight of her day, outside of getting fed, is when I come home so she can get on the hood of my truck with the warm engine and crash out.

Tessa loves everyone. If you're walking down the street, she's up on our front wall waiting for the pets due her regalness. I've watched little kids pick her up upside down and she just tolerates it. That's the problem, for some reason these people who have seen this cat at my house for weeks, decided they are going to give her a better life and they take her.

We tried collars with tags, but we always got the breakaway kind, and after losing the fourth collar in 6 months, we gave up.

For 12 years, she's come back, so I'm going to believe she'll be back again shortly. I miss her greeting me on the front porch no matter what time I get home. Of course the usual position I recognize her in is:

What The Dem's Really Want

The *spit* Hon. Maxine Waters (D-L.A.) let slip during the House Judiciary Committee's Task Force on Competition Policy and Antitrust Laws hearing to investigate competition in the oil industry what their real plans for the country are.



Waters: "And guess what this liberal will be all about? This liberal will be about socializing--would be about, basically, taking over and the government running all of your companies."

Yeah, they'll take the price of a gallon of gas down from $4/gal. to $2.35 (a $1.65 "saving), but in order for the gov't to do it, they'll raise your taxes by $2.50/gal. to subsidize it.

The only thing I found even slightly amusing about this was watching the two Reps in the background try to stifle their laughter when this crap fell out of her mouth. Not only is what she says she going to do unconstitutional, but by allowing the oil industry to fall into the hands of gov't, they will have total control on how much we can drive and where we can go.

I felt it wasn't going to be to long until one of them let it slip that they were planning on taking any business they felt like "for the good of the people". Welcome to the Brave New World, comrade.

Remembering

May we all take a few moments today to think upon the gift of freedom bestowed upon us by this country and of all those men and women who have stepped up and given up their lives to protect that freedom.

God bless them and bless their families who have lost loved one for us.

Oil Profits

Gee, someone else out there gets it.

Mark Steyn: Your car can't run on Congress' hot air

I was watching the Big Oil execs testifying before Congress. That was my first mistake. If memory serves, there was lesbian mud wrestling over on Channel 137, and on the whole that's less rigged. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz knew the routine: "I can't say that there is evidence that you are manipulating the price, but I believe that you probably are. So prove to me that you are not."

Had I been in the hapless oil man's expensive shoes, I'd have answered, "Hey, you first. I can't say that there is evidence that you're sleeping with barnyard animals, but I believe that you probably are. So prove to me that you are not. Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence and prima facie evidence, lady? Do I have to file a U.N. complaint in Geneva that the House of Representatives is in breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?"

Another waste of taxpayer money going over the same thing they went over a few years ago. Libtard thinking, every time the price of gas goes up, it must be BIG OIL causing it,with their 8% profit margin.

Once the show with Oil Execs is going nowhere and is over, they come up with the brilliant idea of suing OPEC members (sovereign nations) over the use of their own commodity...because we want it.

and then they went off and passed 324-82 the so-called NOPEC bill. The NOPEC bill is, in effect, a suit against OPEC, which, if I recall correctly, stands for the Oil Price-Exploiting Club. "No War For Oil!," as the bumper stickers say. But a massive suit for oil – now that's the American way.

"It shall be illegal and a violation of this Act," declared the House of Representatives, "to limit the production or distribution of oil, natural gas, or any other petroleum product ... or to otherwise take any action in restraint of trade for oil, natural gas or any petroleum product when such action, combination, or collective action has a direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the market, supply, price or distribution of oil, natural gas or other petroleum product in the United States."

I would assume that this law with penumbras and such, could be used to sue Fwance for limiting the import of Brie to the U.S. causing action, combination, or collective action has a direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the market, supply, price or distribution of Brie, or other cheezy stuff in the United States."

After all Nancy Pelosi may have a fund raiser for re-election and she wouldn't want to have to serve any of that nasty California cheese.

Er, OK. But, before we start suing distant sheikhs in exotic lands for violating the NOPEC act, why don't we start by suing Congress? After all, who "limits the production or distribution of oil" right here in the United States by declaring that there'll be no drilling in the Gulf of Florida or the Arctic National Mosquito Refuge? As Rep. Wasserman Schultz herself told Neil Cavuto on Fox News, "We can't drill our way out of this problem."

No, we can't...but:

Well, maybe not. But maybe we could drill our way back to $3.25 a gallon. More to the point, if the House of Representatives has now declared it "illegal" for the government of Saudi Arabia to restrict oil production, why is it still legal for the government of the United States to restrict oil production? In fact, the government of the United States restricts pretty much every form of energy production other than the bizarre fetish du jour of federally mandated ethanol production.

But we're protecting "our" environment, and you guys live in a sandbox.

Nuclear energy?

Whoa, no, remember Three Mile Island? (OK, nobody does, but kids and anyone under late middle age, you can look it up in your grandparents' school books.)

We have been operating a nuclear navy for decades now without mishap. I have a brother-in-law who would have loved to come out of the Navy, after running the reactor for 10 years and gone into a civilian job doint the same thing.

Coal?

Whoa, no, man, there go our carbon credits.

OK, how about if we all go back to the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe, and start criss-crossing the country on wood-fired trains?

Are you nuts? Think of the clear-cutting. We can't have logging in environmentally sensitive areas such as forests.

Coal has progressed to where the technology is much, much cleaner than the old smoke belching stacks of the '50's, but future advances are limited when using it for a fuel source is just ruled out.

Rep. Wasserman Schultz believes in "alternative energy," which means not nuclear (like the French) but solar and wind power. At the moment, solar energy accounts for approximately 0.1 percent of U.S. electricity production, most of which is for devices that heat swimming pools. So if there was a tenfold increase in swimming pool construction you might be able to get it up to 1 percent, but the only way all those homeowners would be able to afford to build their new swimming pools is through the kinds of economic activity that depend on oil, gas and other forms of federally prohibited energy.

Concentrating solar rays in an area enough to produce meaningful energy, gee, I duuno, might cause an unnatural increase in the temperature in the surrounding area, thereby making it to hot for the two-tongued horny-toad to survive. (No one has seen a two-tongued horny-toad in over 60 years, but they could be out there and we wouldn't want to kill one.)

So, instead, Congress hauls Big Oil execs in for the dinner-theatre version of a Soviet show trial and then passes irrelevant poseur legislation like the NOPEC bill. The NOPEC bill is really the NO PECS bill – a waste of photocopier paper passed by what C.S. Lewis called "men without chests."

But, they did something, right?

The New Yorker ran a big piece the other day called "The Fall Of Conservatism." Indeed. This November isn't going to be pleasant for those of us of a right-wing bent. Many conservative voices in the media say: This is the way it is, get used to it. Voters want the government to "fix" health care and "fix" gas prices and "fix" the environment and, if all you're offering is the virtues of small government, you too sound small – and mean and uncaring about the real issues in real people's real lives. Standing athwart history yelling "Stop!" was a cute line from William F. Buckley, but it's not a practical position for a political party that wishes to stay in business. "The fact of change is the great fact of human life," writes my National Review colleague David Frum in "Comeback," his thoughtful critique of the conservative movement.

Frum is right. Change is a constant. You're a big railroad baron,and things are going swell, and then someone invents the horseless carriage and a big metal bird that holds hundreds of people and you never saw it coming – because you thought you were in the train business rather than in the transportation business. That kind of change is the great exhilarating rhythm of American life. [emp. mine]

Our countries past ability to glimpse around the next corner, that seem to be missing today.

But government "change," Obama change, NOPEC change is nothing to do with that. In fact, it obstructs real dynamic change. On energy, on environmentalism, on health care, government "change" generally does nothing more than set in motion the next crisis that the next change-peddling pol has to pledge to address.

So we complain about $4-a-gallon gas, and our leaders respond with showboating legislation like NOPEC and feel-good environmental regulatory overkill like putting the polar bear on the endangered-species list, while ensuring that we'll continue to bankroll every radical mosque and madrassah on the planet. In Britain, new "green taxes" do nothing to "save" the planet, but they are estimated to cost the average family about $6,000 a year. That's change you can believe in.

We refuse to recognize what needs to be done, try to push the blame off on others (NOPEC, the hearings) and continue to dig ourselves in deeper.

One final note: The Big Oil companies are not setting the price of a barrel of crude, they are having to pay that price, because if they don't, some other country will and we lose.

Child Abusive Services?

I cut and pasted this from my post on the Rott, we had discussed these asshats on the first of the month, so when I read this, I went back and posted. After all that work, I wanted a copy for my site.


Court blasts state’s strip-search of children
Social worker enters Christian school without cause, tells kids to remove clothing

Two children who attended a private Christian school in Wisconsin were illegally strip-searched and had their constitutional rights violated by a state social worker, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled Monday.

These kids were 8 and 9 years old, are drug dealers that young now a days?

In Michael C. v. Gresbach, the court said state worker Dana Gresbach violated the children’s Fourth Amendment rights to freedom from unreasonable search when she entered Good Hope Christian Academy in Milwaukee, Wis., had the children pulled from the classrooms and told them to remove their clothing when she suspected the parents of spanking in February 2004.

OMG, spanking. Hell, my parents used hands, belts or a bamboo switch, not overly often, but I usually ( :em93: ) deserved it and it was never excessive. With my boy, from 2 to 5 a swat with a cupped hand to the pampers got his attention. I came out alright :em95: and my son seems to be OK…for a teenager. :em98:

“The social worker performed these strip searches as a matter of routine, estimating that in perhaps one-half of the 300 or so cases she handled every year she subjected kids to a partial disrobing,” he said. “In fact, she testified that she considered it so routine that she did not bother to discuss her intentions with her supervisor, even though she spoke to her on her way to the school.”

I guess her attitude is I drove over here, I’m going to find something, after all, if I don’t find abuse…somewhere, what am I doing to earn my salary?

When Gresbach entered the school, she handed her business card to Principal Cheryl Reetz and told her she needed to see Ian and Alexis. Reetz asked the social worker if she could call the children’s parents, but Gresbach refused to allow it, saying she would contact them at a later time. The principal then asked if she could remain in the room to observe the interview, but she was denied permission to do so.

No independent advocate for the children…she could have inflicted bruises on the kids and claimed they where cause to put the kids in foster care..not that they would do that. :em02:

The social worker spent nearly 15 minutes alone in the room with each child. She searched Ian’s wrists for bruising and asked him to pull up his shirt. He complied, and she examined his back for suspicious marks. Gresbach then privately inspected Alexis, asking her to pull down her tights and lift up her dress. The worker was unable to find any sign of injury on the children’s bodies.

G-d, someone you don’t know has you pulled out of 4th/5th grade class, starts asking you ( all alone) questions, then tells you to remove clothing…wonder if these kids aren’t a little bit damaged? I’d be willing to bet more than from a spanking.

Gresbach claimed she was entitled to qualified immunity because her actions were reasonable under the Fourth Amendment; however, the court disagreed.

“We do not exempt child welfare workers from adhering to basic Fourth Amendment principles under non-exigent circumstances – to do so would be imprudent,” the court stated. “… we do not believe that requiring a child welfare caseworker to act in accordance with basic Fourth Amendment principles is an undue burden on the child welfare system, particularly when it is necessary to conduct an examination of a child’s body, which is undoubtedly ‘frightening, humiliating and intrusive’ to the child.”

Wow! A Court with some common sense in it. I was losing hope. I’m all for protecting children, but the kids have rights, the parents have rights, just because some civil servant get a state parking lot sticker for their car, doesn’t mean they get to determine how the law is applied.

Someone, Please!! Tell Me What Is Going On: Updated

This has reached epidemic proportions now.

Via: Newsbusters
Not the Catholic Church? MSM Mum About Huge L.A. School Sex Abuse Scandal
By Dave Pierre | May 19, 2008 - 09:28 ET

A major child sex abuse scandal has erupted in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Where's the national media?

* Steve Thomas Rooney faces 13 felony sex-related counts, including charges that he had unlawful sex with two female students, ages 13 and 14, during the time he was an assistant principal at a middle school. And here's the kicker: In August 2007 LAUSD assigned Rooney to his job even though it knew that police had investigated him about an alleged sexual relationship with a student at his previous job at a high school. The former high school girl has since testified that Rooney impregnated her. (LAT coverage)
* KNX 1070 Newsradio has reported "21 teachers and administrators have been yanked from schools in the past year because of allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with kids." Most of the cases happened since only January of this year.
* Two LAUSD administrators face criminal charges for failing to report suspected child abuse by a substitute teacher. Yet LAUSD has sent the pair back to work at school! (LAT)
* During interviews, LAUSD Superintendent David Brewer has often come across utterly uninformed on the scandal. (Listen to this must-hear KNX audio.)
* When LAUSD Deputy Superintendent Ramon Cortines was questioned over the phone about the scandal by KNX reporter Charles Feldman, Cortines became agitated and hung up on Feldman. (Hear the audio.) In discussing the scandal with KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, Cortines defiantly responded, "This is not out of the ordinary for school districts all over the nation. These things happen."

Twenty-one!! Twenty-one teachers under investigation for sexual abuse...with most of them occurring since last January?

I had read about the cluster of cases over in Florida, and other cases scattered around the country, but I hadn't heard word one about this going on in the LAUSD, and one of the reasons is the answer of LAUSD Deputy Superintendent Ramon Cortines uses the "Well, it's happening everywhere" dodge.

Cortines is correct though, it is happening all over the nation. WorldNetDaily has a list that they update of the female teachers that have been busted for sex with students: "The big list: Female teachers with students". The list is much longer since the last time I looked at it.

It's been 36 years since I got of HS, and Glendale Unified was a relatively small district back then, with good teachers. I can only remember one teacher in my senior year that talked politics, outside of history and gov't classes, and there was never a slant. We got both sides and were allowed to debate. This was all during the hippy years of the Viet Nam War, LBJ & Nixon, all that crap.

My kid just graduated last year and he would tell me that his math teacher would go off on a 20 minute "discussion" on Bush, Iraq, etc in the middle of class, then go back to what he was suppose to be teaching.

Teachers today just do not seem to be the professionals they were back in the day. For them to steal time from students is nothing (to them).

Why are there all these teachers (I'm sure there are males that should be on a list, but the women have a shock value) suddenly unable to control themselves? What could cause these people to become involved with a kid literally half their age?

Narcissism: (A need for excessive admiration. Will use others to achieve her / his goals. Lacks empathy)...one of the wonderful benefits to come out of the "Free-love" and "Me" generation.

All guys had at least one hawt teacher they would fantasize about, I had two, but no matter how much extra attention they gave you, you knew it wasn't to be.

That was then, today:



Update: I haven't changed anything above, though after reading the story for this update, I now feel really ill.

Woman charged with kidnap, rape of 10-year-old student

A former elementary school teacher in Tacoma, Wash., is behind bars for allegedly kidnapping and raping her 10-year-old student numerous times.

Jennifer Rice, 31, is said to have met the fourth-grade boy shortly after being hired last year as a replacement teacher at McKinley Elementary School.

10 years old. I cannot conceive how sex could enter into a relationship between a 31 year old and a ten year old. I want to puke. If this had happened to my kid, there would be blood and death involved.

According to the Tacoma School District, Rice was hired last October and placed on leave in April. Her contract was not renewed after McKinley Elementary received complaints she was socializing inappropriately with students.

So rather than anything being done to call attention to her activities, they put her "on leave", I'm sure with pay, so she was able to get one more quicky in.

I see no "caring about the Chiiilledren" here. I see a Union holding onto power and a bureaucratic system trying to deny they have lost all control of what is happening around them.

First Record

Although I had been listening to music since 1964 with the advent of the Beatles, I had never bought a record of my own until 1967. The song that pushed me over the edge to pony up some of my allowance for something besides candy and comic books was this song.

I bought the 45, costing me IIRC around 85 cents (an album ran like $2.35). I played this over and over til the grooves turned white. I think the disc is still in a box in the garage somewhere.

The group has reformed and still performing this song: "Incense and Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock

A Wee Mistake

I had a ton of stuff to post on, but after dropping by the Rott and the other sites I support, by the time I finished posting on their sites, I was just burned out.

Today, try my sidebar of places I go and see if I enlighten you there. Even if I didn't post there, these are good people who write gooder than me, and dropping by will make your day better.

But I'm Tired.

(With due respects to George Thorogood.)

Just been occupied for the last week. Nothing big, just stuff I didn't really want to deal with, but it was just better to dive in and get it over with. Such is life.

The week has been news worthy.

Kalifornia's Supreme Court decided that no matter what the people want the law to be, they know better and found a loophole to make same-sex marriages legal. I'm fine with civil unions and am in favor of the Church's being remove from the legal side of it altogether. Have a State recognition of the pairing for the gov't, then if one choses, to have the union blesses by God at the Church of their choice, have a separate Church service. This way the Church is not refusing to uphold state law by denying gays a service that their beliefs say cannot be sanctioned.

There was a major donnybrook over at the Rott (that I missed most of) regarding whether you were a better Republican by voting or not voting for McVain in November. It got to where each side accusing the other of being communist and the dreaded RINO slur was used widely.

The Emperor had to step in and swing his mighty clue bat scepter and remind everyone that we are all working towards the same end, we just differ as to which way to get there.

I got my voter pamphlet early this week for the June elections. It's just for a few County/City things and judges...lots of judges. It reminded me that up until this year, Kalifornia had no say in the Presidential nominee (maybe this was a good thing), however, even though the Primaries were moved up 3 months, I still wasn't given a choice. I voted for Romney, but he had, in reality, already ceded the race. So much for my (somewhat populous) state getting a say after a few dinky states get theirs.

On top of that, I'm voting in March (primaries), June (local) and again in November (General). That's three elections in 9 months. I really try to take my vote serious and make an informed choice, but damn, this is too much. I've just taken a breath from the current election and the choices for the next are sitting in my mailbox when I get home. That our representatives refuse to make a decision and let it drop down to a referendum, just pisses me off!! What the hell did we elect those people to do.

It usually works out that the State Supreme Court rules that someone forgot/or put an extra semicolon in the wording of the bill, so it's "unconstitutional", so we get to start all over again and nothing happens to correct the problem.

Teddy "the Swimmer" Kennedy had couple of seizures today. Politically and morally, I loathe the man, but I cannot wish death on anyone, unless they are actively trying to kill me. He may be trying to enslave me, but he is only a threat to my and my kid's future living standard, and I'm sure with his Hawvard education and somewhere between $43-162 million, he knows what is best for the little people like me. Although the work he has ever done is to try to keep his or some family members ass out of jail or the scandal sheets.

Well I think that little rant made up for the last week, so in closing I'll include the song referenced at the top.

But I'm tired. :lol:



We saw Thorogood and the Destroyers at Dodger Stadium at a "Rock the Stadium" after game event and my kid, who was about 10 at the time, was bouncing around so much, we thought he would fall out out the cheap seats we were in and be dancing in front of the stage.

Hope You Made It Through Mothers Day

I had to work, no I mean work. It wasn't a babysit the site Sunday, we have a inspection by the State today. I've spent the two days scrubbing oil tracks off the concrete and yesterday slapping paint on equipment.

I had to explain to the people I work with about the difference of a professional paint job and a commercial paint job. The higher up wanted to scrap tanks down, by hand, and put two coats of paint on, with roller and brush. No power washer, no spray painter...Mwahahahah.

We are doing commercial(you look at it from a distance, it looks good, up close looking for flaws, you'll find some. In three days, we've got a coat of paint on 5 units, as opposed to having one really pretty tank that would be run over and looking like it did a few months ago.

So you made it this far and are wondering how I'm going to tie in the video you see crawling up the screen while you've been reading this. Well, it's a really short story, because there is no tie in. I just gave a rundown of my last few days and I'm going to hang a song that I like on the end.

L.A.- Crapper again

High School in South Los Angeles Locked Down after Fight
Last Edited: Friday, 09 May 2008, 10:31 PM PDT
Created: Friday, 09 May 2008, 1:37 PM PDT

Police were called in after an "incident" at Locke High School on Friday afternoon. Some students were taken into custody.
Police at Locke High School


South Los Angeles -- A fight involving African-American and Hispanic students at a South Los Angeles high school resulted in four arrests but no major injuries, a school official said on Friday.

The brawl broke out at around 1 p.m. among Locke High School students who had apparently been talking about fighting for some [time].

So from 1 p.m. on, all the students in the school were deprived of education, because the non-racist blacks couldn't get along with the non-racist mexicans

It's made so much difference now that it's called South Los Angeles as opposed to South-Central L.A...You know it was just the name that made the area dangerous.

FETE

Miley Cyrus

Why do I care about Miley Cyrus? I really don't. To me she is just the newest preteen fad. I have never seen her program nor listened to her music.

My kid is 19.

I had to live through "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and his, since past, love of "wrestling" (not while I'm home and if I open the front door and I see more than the channel changing, there will be consequences).

I served my time in hell.

Miley, who is only 15, cannot be held responsible for this debacle. Nor do I think her parents should take the complete blame. This child was put into a situation, with adult supervision that was suppose to watch out for her and got snowed by the media image industry into they were just advancing Miley's career.

Annie Liebowitz as photographer, for Vanity Fair? A little research should have told the Cyrus' that either Mom, Dad, or both should have handle this session.

Billy Ray has said he regrets what happened and from what little I've seen of interviews with him and his feelings of family, I'm willing to give him this one.

Being this affects me little, I think if the parents cool their jets, we'll just remember her as this.

A Musical Interlude

If I had to pick my favorite between David Bowie or Pink Floyd I couldn't do it. "Dark Side of the Moon", "Wish You Were Here" and "Ziggy Stardust", "Aladdin Sane" are albums that I can put on, no matter my mood, and be completely into the music on the first rack.

With that said, I'm going to pick two Bowie songs that aren't on either of the albums mentioned above.

First: Heroes



Second: Cat People (Putting Out Fire) this is overlaid on the open credits of the (excellent)movie but it works.



The soundtrack version is infinitely better than than the one on "Let's Dance" IMHO also because I rule all here, I wouldn't want to deprive you of the live version.



I've seen Bowie live three times, and if you haven't, you've missed one of the greatest performers of of generation.

Why Is L.A. Going Down The Crapper?

First I'm going to point out that I don't "live" in L.A. City. I live in Glendale, north of L.A. and I live in the La Crescenta Valley on the northern edge of Glendale. I can't vote for the asshats in L.A. city, but I've worked in downtown L.A. for 30 years, so what happens there affects me.

Second, the asshat in this piece comes from a line of asshats. We first had Kenneth Hahn (Supervisor from 1947-1992), followed by Gordon Hahn, who replaced him on the Los Angeles city council, while another, John, was assistant county clerk. His son James K. Hahn was elected Mayor of Los Angeles in 2001. His daughter, Janice Hahn, currently sits on the City Council, representing San Pedro and Wilmington.

Janice is the one we'll focus on here.

I lived in San Pedro 30 years ago, still with my parents, and it was a city of contrasts. I lived on cliffs overlooking the ocean, but drove a school bus through some of the most gang infested parts of the that area.

This piece by the local Fox news station covers how Ms. Hahn has set up a program that puts convicted gang bangers on the city payroll. (It's a two parter, so it goes awhile)

Video: Gang Intervention Money

I particularly like the part where the guy gets busted for being someplace he had an injunction telling him to never go their again, gets busted for being there and Janice's office bails him out. Not to mention that during his interview he keeps saying that he works for Janice Hahn.

The City Of Los Angeles is now paying the criminals of the city to do something about the rampant crime. And there are no guideline or instructions attached, just, I guess, hinted at goals.

This woman is willing to pay thugs a "city gov't" income with taxpayer money and have no explicit restrictions or expectations of what the job entails. She just expects because she slipped them some cash, they won't take it an run as long as they can while doing the same as they did before.

Liberalism is a mental disease.

Plant Rights

Yep, you read that correctly, the Swiss are debating the morality of harming flora.

A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms." No one knew exactly what it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, "The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants," is enough to short circuit the brain.

A "clear majority" of the panel adopted what it called a "biocentric" moral view, meaning that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive." Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim "absolute ownership" over plants and, moreover, that "individual plants have an inherent worth." This means that "we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily."

I am now starting to believe the human race is on the verge of extinction.

This goes to 11

While cruising around today, I ran across this site which reminded me of why "This Is Spinal Tap" is one of the funniest movies ever. My boy and I use to use this saying as code to each other when talking to someone who has left common sense behind.

Windfall Profits?

OK, here it comes. Just yesterday I was bitching about nothing to write about and what happens...one flies down the pipe.

Profits Of Doom?

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, May 01, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Profits: Exxon Mobil's first-quarter earnings of $10.9 billion, up 17% from a year earlier, are stirring outrage in Washington. Some are calling such profits "obscene." What a sad lack of understanding of economics.

I said it a few times before, I kept hearing these whispers of "Windfall Profit Taxes" being imposed again. I had just started working in the oil industry when Jimmy Peanutbrain tried this back in the early '80's. It didn't work then and it won't work now. "The Congressional Research Service has analysed that the windfall profit tax brought in $80 billion in extra revenues for the United States government, which was far less than the projected $393 billion. Also, domestic oil production by oil producers was said to be lowered."

Case in point: Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Like her rival, Barack Obama, she's pushing a massive "windfall profit" tax on those "greedy" oil companies. "There is something seriously wrong with our economy when Exxon's record $11 billion in quarterly profits are seen as a disappointment by Wall Street," Clinton said Thursday. "This is truly Dick Cheney's wonderland."

No, what's seriously wrong is that politicians such as Clinton can cynically manipulate public opinion to enact disastrous policies.

[all emphasis: mine]

Believe me, it will be disastrous. They know what happened last time they tried this, so I'm fairly sure that if elected, they won't really push this too hard...either that, or they are insane. (They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.)

Our free-market economy is built on profit. Higher profits mean more jobs, higher incomes, more investment in equipment and people, higher standards of living. Yes, profits are the engine for all of this — and that includes the profits of "Big Oil."

By signaling that supply is scarce, higher profits encourage more production. Except, that is, when Congress through its inept lawmaking stands in the way. And that's the case now with the oil industry.Our free-market economy is built on profit. Higher profits mean more jobs, higher incomes, more investment in equipment and people, higher standards of living. Yes, profits are the engine for all of this — and that includes the profits of "Big Oil."

Congress seems almost constantly at war with the oil companies — slapping them with taxes and pillorying their CEOs while ignoring the fact that higher profits lead to more exploration, drilling and development.

Why is this? Having a domestic oil supply is what made this country grow and, over the last 100+ years, show the rest of the world what people can accomplished, given the means to develop an idea, manufacture it, and get it to a population spread over huge distances and still be worth the effort (profit).

If anyone is to blame for our current energy mess, it's Congress. At least 20 billion barrels of oil sit untapped in Alaska and another 30 billion lie offshore. Such sources that could help satisfy U.S. demand for years to come. Yet, Congress has put them out of bounds.

ANWAR has been blocked for years...because of the way oil was developed back in the 1890's. I've seen pictures of the "Old Downtown L.A. Oil Field" (where I started, see pic above), in a book, and the chapter's title was "Oil In The Streets Of Los Angeles". There where lakes of oil right next to the houses and wells gushing when brought in, but the industry doesn't work that way anymore.

At the price of oil, especially now-a-days, you don't just let that stuff just dump on the ground. The industry has really evolved over the last century and they understand and take (overly regulated) precautions so that doesn't happen any more.

Instead, Congress scapegoats oil profits. In reality, according to Ernst & Young, from 1992 to 2006 the U.S. oil industry spent $1.25 trillion on long-term investment vs. profits of $900 billion.

Truth is, oil industry profits are in line with the rest of American industry. In 2007, a record year, they earned 8.3 cents per dollar of sales. Beverage companies and cigarette makers, by contrast, earned 19.1 cents. Drug makers, 18.4 cents. Indeed, all manufacturers, 8.9 cents on average, made more than "Big Oil."

I know...I know, they've put extra ("sin") taxes on liquor and cigarettes, but did that "punish" the corporations for their perceived windfall profits....NO!! It only increased the consumers price of the product more. These taxes do not affect the profit of the company, just the amount you pay.

Besides, we've tried windfall profits taxes before, in the early 1980s, and they were an utter failure. As the Congressional Research Service found, revenues produced for the government were nearly 75% below what was expected. Meanwhile, , while oil imports surged 16%.

That's just poor policy, and even worse economics.

Oh. come on, give 'em a chance...They'll make this formula work this time.

NOTE: domestic oil output fell 8%

Due to this tax, for independents, it wasn't making money so they just shut it down.

Remember: Oil companies don't really pay "windfall profit" taxes, anyway. You do. Some 50 million Americans today own oil company stock, either directly or through 401(k)s and mutual funds. Don't be suckered: "Windfall profits" taxes come right out of your retirement account, not out of the oil industry's business.

Oh sure, Big Oil's profits are up. But so are the taxes they pay. In 2006, that came to $90 billion — up 334% in just four years.

As to the added tax, I covered that, however, did you notice that the taxes that they pay under the current system is up 334% in just four years.

Note: Those that were able restarted idled wells because they could make some money off producing. Nobody is going to pay $1.50 to deliver a commodity that you pay $1.00 for.

This is how Clinton-style populism works. It starts with ignorance and ends with serious damage to our economy.

I've never understood how anyone that has held a job and had the slightest grasp of the cost to keep a company going and still get enough return to make the hours worth the effort, unless you're Union.

Oil prices aren't high because profits are up; they're high because we don't have enough oil. By clamping down on drilling, refusing to move forward on nuclear energy and hitting producers with punitive taxes, Congress is doing all it can to ensure we don't have enough in the future.

I'm all for getting us off dependency on Middle East, Venezuelan, Mexican, even Canadian oil. I favor Nuclear myself. If the Frogs can handle it, I think we can.

If we started drilling today, it would be almost 12 years for ANWAR to be producing. I bet we could build quit a few nuclear plants in that time frame.

If you want to keep paying $100+ per barrel for oil, I'm not going to complain, you've guaranteed my income.

8.3% profit...damn them.

The Muse Is Missing

I've had nothing lately.

Global Wormering has had me pissed off lately, the temps here have gone from in the 100's a few days ago to the mid 70's this week, so I have to admit, the climate does change.

I thought the illegal rallies yesterday would get me het up, but with the anemic turnout here in L.A., I lost steam.

The only thing I can give you is this song that has stuck in my head for the last week. Why it's there I can't say, but maybe by posting it it'll move on.

History

I lived in this house for three years. The rent was cheap and it was really close to work...I had an oil well in my front yard. (by the way I lived across the street from Belmont High School and about four blocks from the new Belmont Center)

I lived in the fourth house down from the left:



This house was built for the foreman that managed the field I worked in 70 years later. It had, under many years of paint, mahogany baseboards, ceiling trim (10ft. ceiling), doors and fireplace mantle. Also, if you notice they built the house for the SoCal weather, hence the steeply sloped roof so the snow will slide off.

It was freezing in the (SoCal) winter and ungodly hot in the summer. It had no closet space to speak of, just enough to hang your Sunday suit and a few other things, jackets hung in the entryway.

I loved that place. I could walk to the store at any hour, even though it was in the middle of the Diamond Street gang territory, because, while they didn't know me, they knew I worked for the oil company that had a well on their friends house property. Our trucks were never bothered, and our sites never graffiti'ed, outside of occasional outsider gangs "pissing on the wall".

The best thing about the house was the parlor. It was small, about 8 x 10, but it had a 10 foot ceiling. It was lathe and plaster and I had a new upright piano and lots of time. The acoustics were great for playing for yourself as the whole room filled and seem to direct the sound right back to you without echo.

The few years I lived there were worth every dollar my parents spent on piano lessons.

The few years I lived there were worth every minute.

Update: Just wanted to mention that I was single when I lived there, I moved out and into the suburbs of "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" because I was ready to get married and Downtown Central L.A. was not the place to convince a lady you're worth a shit.

Also, the picture was taken from the derrick of a well I worked on. The derrick was long gone, and it was a bitty D6 beam unit, but still there and pumping away for over 90 years.

Belmont Learning Center Opens

And it came in at of cost of just $400 million.

When it was slated to be opened back in 1998 it was the most expensive HS ever built. However, the LAUSD and certain political activists, decided that being there was oil nearby and earthquake faults, the complex shouldn't be allowed to open.

I worked that oil field for twenty years, and it wasn't a gas producing field...there was NO methane problem. The problem they will now face is that being the field is no longer reducing the pressure that these wells were relieving (and there were over 1300 holes punched into this field that where just "kinda" abandoned) in about 5 to 10 years the city will see gas build-up and oil seeps so that the Temple-Beaudry district will resemble the La Brea Tar Pits.

As far as earthquake faults... well we live in So Cal, if you don't live on one, you live close enough to it that it's probably going to fuck up your day.

Reading The Constitution

It's something I now realize I should have done years ago. Oh, of course we read it High School, but at the time it was just another assignment to get through, and the classroom discussion was minimal.

I bought the Heritage Guide to the Constitution almost two years ago, I started to read it once and got sidetracked, but about two months ago I was desperate for something to read and I picked it up again.

This is an excellent reference book. It takes each Article,Section and Clause and cites debates of the Founders on the issue and interpretations and rulings from the three branches of gov't (where applicable).

I decided to read no more that one clause a day, I'm up to "Presentment of Resolutions"(Article 1, Section 7, Clause 3). This has given me time to actually try to digest the thoughts and arguments and internalize them.

The men were giants. There were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists who came up with a document that the states could agree on, balancing the power of the National Gov't with the power of the the individual States and restricting the power of each branch of the gov't so that no one branch could control the process.

I'm still dealing with Congress and have the President, Judiciary, Military, Treasury to go, not to metions getting to the Amendments.

I also have a copy of "The Federalist" that I bought at the same time, and only got through about 1/2 of the "Editors Introduction" (it's 84 pages). I'm now really looking forward to getting back to it so I can compare my approvals and misgivings about this document.

Now I could use recommendations of books similar to "The Federalist" that covers "The Bill of Rights".

I couldn't come up with a heading for this entry because I really don't know how I feel. I'm 54 today, and I'm torn between the joy of having lived this long with all the idiot decisions I've made over all those years, and the realization that because of those decisions I'm not where I thought I should be.

My major joy is my son. He has grown up into a compassionate and moral man. At 19, he doesn't really have a pointed goal of what he wants to do, but he's not accusing anyone or anything of stopping him from achieving it, and I would do all in my ability to help him achieve is goals.

I"m very conflicted on this anniversary. I feel I've done good in my life, but feel that there is so much more that should have been done.

Saving My Past - Part II

A long long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.

(Don Mclean , American Pie)

A long, long time ago I got a turntable that plugged into my computer. I was so excited that I was now able to save all my albums that I ran out and bought a 100 gig drive that would store nothing but music. Over a year, and I hadn't even filled 8% of that drive.

I got off work early today by swapping a couple hours with my relief that he needed yesterday (by the way Dennis you owe me $1 due to shift differential), and I got an urge to listen to stuff I hadn't heard in forever, so I figured if I was going to listen, might as well record.

I started out just flipping through my collection, but that only lasted for the first two albums, now I'm looking for specific LP's and being I've had cats for many, many years, the bastards liked to sharpen their claws on that nice wall of cardboard. That means that half the ends of the record sleeves are unreadable and I found out that my kid liked to listen to the records, just wasn't to meticulous about filing them back where he got them.

It seems that whatever particular album I'm looking for isn't where it should be, that means flipping through everything and that leads to "OH WOW" I haven't heard that in ages so I'll pull it out and get to it after these others.

So far today I've listened to Bowie, ELP, King Crimson, Lee Michaels, Zappa, Stevie Wonder and have The Tubes, Springsteen, Iron Butterfly, Doors and Led Zeppelin sitting at my feet ready to go.

One thing that has amazed me is the condition of my records, for being anywhere up to 40 years old is that a majority of them are without major clicks, pops or scratches, not perfect, but as close as a normal person could keep them while enjoying them.

I've always loved my music and have always tried to take care of the discs. No multi-platter disc dropping turntables, dust them off before playing and put them away in the dust sleeve and jacket when done.

Another album is coming to a close, so gotta go.

Drugs!!!

Had to go yesterday to get my "random" drug test. Outside of the fact that I had to drive 16 miles to a site right next to the entrance to LAX, it really wasn't a big thing. I haven't done drugs in a long, long time, hell, I'll try to tough out a headache before I'll take an aspirin. With my consumption of beer at times...well I feel sometimes you just have to pay the piper to play.

The reason for the snide quotes around "random" is due to a mid-life crisis, or some other reason like I just felt like it, but for the last 7 to 8 months, I've let my hair and beard grow. I now have a full beard and a really cute ponytail.

I'll post pics sometime before I mow it all down because I'm thinking it will most likely be clean shaven and 1/2"(max)on the hair.

I did this as an experiment to determine if the hair growth of hippies caused any of the brain defects that seem to crop up with the look. It doesn't seem to have any effect on my generally pissed off view of the world in the sense that I despise Commies, Socialists and all the posers that believe that "Big gov't is stealing our freedoms...but, if elected, I will make sure gov't cures your ills if you pass this law".

I really believe that I got called in to "piss in a cup"...again, is that my foreman seems to think I'm a threat to his job. I DO NOT want his job. The foreman doesn't do much except dump the blame on the Operators for things not working right, so I just sit back and wonder how long the owner can delude himself that there are 7 people that don't know their ass from a hot rock and maybe, just maybe, someone needs to come up with an actual business plan.

My job this weekend was suppose to paint a tank, but I pointed out (on Thursday)that we had no rollers to complete the job. I was told there had to be rollers out there as he had just bought some (4, about a month ago and used). The foreman didn't come in on Friday, so I now get to assign jobs to myself (no problem), but on Monday, I'll get bitched at for not doing the job HE wanted done.

I've managed a small oil company...when we were getting around $6.00 a barrel way back in the '90's...we'd lose money in the short run, but with 4 generations of experience, knew that it would cycle and eventually come out ahead.

If there is a plan for Monday, outside of complaining about the tanks not getting painted, I'd like to see or hear about it

Maybe I should start using drug again, that would give me a reason for MY failure to get the job done.

Nope, I think I'll fight it out to the end.

O.K., It's Just Hot!!

Over the last three days it's gone from 72 to 92 degrees. I know I live in what is really a desert and I expect high temps, but this 20 degree jump in two days just doesn't give you much of a chance to adjust.

Thursday, I was doing some labor intensive work, and it was pleasant, I didn't mined much at all. Today I was just washing down an area with a high pressure hose and was sweating so much that after about 15 minutes I couldn't see through my glasses so much perspiration had dripped and dried on the lenses.

Maybe there is something to thing Global Wormering thing...or it could be that being the last few summers have been fairly mild, we're due for a real bastard of a heat wave this year.

No Taxation Without Representation

Wow! Here it is April 10th and I have a feeling something is hanging over my head that needs to be done. Oh, yeah...I'm right on it, it'll be done tomorrow, if I can figure out where I filed my W-2.

I was watching Glenn Beck tonight and saw where the top 10% earners pay 70% of taxes and the top 1% pay 40% of that. Sounds fair to me.

My boy, who is trying to figure out what he wants to do with himself, is working a crappy job. I did his taxes a while ago and along with getting the 300 some-odd dollars they took away in taxes, he is entitled to another 300 dollars.

How did our tax code get so screwed up that when you pay taxes, you can get it back, PLUS, you get back more? I can understand when someone is hovering around minimum wage getting back what they paid in, but to say they get back what they paid, and then Double it is insane socialism.

Now, on top of that, he will get another 600 dollars back as an "Economic Stimulus Payment".

Someone who paid around $340 in taxes, gets a return of $1250, and we wonder why the country runs a deficit.

L.A.'s Moratorium On Vilolence

From the L.A. Times April 4, 2008

You'd better not kill anybody after 6:01 p.m. today, or you'll really rile the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. It has passed a resolution declaring a 40-hour moratorium on violence, starting at a time that marks to the minute the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr..

How'd it go? 3 dead and 18 wounded.

Pretty typical numbers for Los Angeles, guess the gangbangers didn't get the word.

I'm Trying

I came by here today, like I do every day, but I haven't listened to the news or had a chance to cruise the web in the last couple of days, sometimes life just gets busy and you have to deal with it.

I'm just feeling lazy and I used up so much energy writing this post over at the Rott. I just decided to copy and paste it here. I don't think the Emperor has a copyright clause that anything posted there belongs to him.

Santa Ana teacher arrested after students find gun in her class

HT: LC Intellectual Conservative

A Santa Ana elementary school teacher was arrested after students found a handgun and ammunition in the drawer of a supply cabinet of her classroom, officials said Thursday.

Jayne DeArmond, 51, a third-grade teacher at Diamond Elementary School, was arrested on charges of felony possession of a firearm on a campus and misdemeanor child endangerment after students discovered the unloaded handgun and ammunition about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday,

Perhaps this particular person should be charged...third grade...unloaded handgun and ammunition, any 8 year old can figure out how the two go together...not to mention, an unloaded handgun is not going to do any good in a crisis. If she really needed the gun, it needs to be loaded and in her immediate control.

Students were moved to another classroom after the gun and ammunition were found.

Good thing, you never know when those cartridges will jump out of the box, into the mag, and chamber themselves to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting populous.

"It's dangerous not only for the school, but for the whole community here,"

Yeah right, after spontaneously loading itself, the gun could run through the neighborhood wasting all who cross it's path...or the third grader likes the way people fall down when he says bang.

Counseling has been made available to students and staff,

And the school district social workers are able to justify their jobs for another year by convincing these children that they were traumatized by the thought that they were near a firearm.

Students had access to the cabinet where the gun was kept,

This was STOOPID, and the teacher should be hed accountable for this breach of common sense.

The students who found the gun told an instructional aide, who told Pelasky. She notified school police, who confiscated the weapon within minutes,

Sounds like the rugrats actually do listen to grownups sometimes. They did what was right. I wonder if they've ever had an assembly by Eddie Eagle?

After conducting interviews, police took DeArmond into custody. Authorities said they also searched DeArmond's car.

G-d, if she had one gun, she must have an arsenal stored close by.

DeArmond was released late Wednesday on her own promise to appear in court. She could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Guess not.

School police will be conducting an initial internal investigation of the incident, which will be followed by an administrative investigation into how the gun arrived on campus.

My guess...the teacher brought it.

In a letter sent to homes Thursday afternoon, Pelasky reassured parents that "our school is a safe haven for our students."

Except for the facts that...if anything happens...you get to wait 5 to 20 minutes for the police to arrive and set up a perimeter, then try to figure out what's going on in the building, then execute a plan...or, if the teacher felt the need for a gun close at hand, it should have been in her possession, loaded and out of "little prying eyes".

Damn...I Think I'm Getting Old

It's April again. I've almost completed one more cycle around the sun in a couple of weeks and I'm staring to think that gravity has gotten the upper hand on me. I'm not just grunting when I stand up, I groan when I sit down.

It's not just the pains that I expected at this point from growing up...motorcycle "accidents"...Cadillac v 450 Honda, dirt bike riding (I can make that jump), hiking (I can make that jump), all the way back to jumping off the roof of a house onto a concrete patio (I was 8 and only minor damage ensued), because I knew I was invincible.

Well, maybe I am invincible, but I ache.

At the moment it seems I'm either trying to stretch out some bastard knotty muscle, or trying to find the back-scratcher so I can get to that fraking iItch in the middle of my back.

I figured it out today, I really do walk at minimum 5 miles a day at work. During these miles, I have to bend waaay over and around to reach valves, tighten leaky things and read gauges somewhat accurately that can be anywhere from mid-calf level to 8 feet in the air.

My company is on the verge of making a comeback, and I'm trying to use all my abilities to get us over the edge, but I get no respect from my "foreman" and two of the guys (out of four) don't give a shit about anything but having the "job" to come to.

The other guy seems to think that (even though he's been there a decade) that things will change and we'll get the basic tools and supplies we need.

Mwhaahaaahaa!!

I do know that the company has massive debts (due to lack of maintenance), but at $104 a barrel, when the industry ideal was $30, I think there may be money to mitigate some of our dilemma, or at least correct existing problems to stave off future disasters.

I wonder how many of my aches are because of my age, or how much I hate my job?