The county of Santa Clara, CA has outlawed toys in McDonalds Happy Meals, and any free toys to be given out with high calorie childrens meals in restaurants. This move will definitely make all of the obese children become svelte in Santa Clara, won't it?
Let's face it--most kids don't eat fast food out every day, some don't eat out that much at all. If the idea is to cut calories in kids meals, removing the toy won't do that. They toy was not intended to be ingested. The theory is that we should kids fast food meals less appealing to kids. Hmmmm...so if they go to McDonalds with their family and are not interested in a Happy Meal anymore because the toy is not in the box, then what will they order? A Big Mac, Large Fries and a gallon of Coke? Or perhaps 12 piece Chicken McNuggets, or some other heart attack in a paper wrapper?
The Happy Meal toy is not the cause of children becoming obese. Parents that either don't know how to properly feed their kids, parents that think there is not enough time to do so, or parents that just don't care whether or not they feed their kids healthy food are a major contributor of their kids obesity.
Another cause of childhood obesity is the lack of activity in the school day. Gym classes are being cut down or cut out due to budget constraints. Kids don't have to get off the couch to even change the channel of the TV, to answer the phone, to shop, to converse with a friend. They have gadgets to do all of that for them.
Parents are stressed, have less time, and as a result are buying convenience foods instead of cooking wholesome meals. Convenience foods may be convenient to cook, but they are not convenient on any one's waistline. They tend to be the fattier, saltier, sugary foods that have little nutritional value and lots of calories. If parents don't set the example by eating healthy foods themselves or by having healthy foods available to eat at home, kids are going to gravitate toward the items that are marketed to them by the fast food chains and manufacturers of sugary cereals, chips, and frozen snack foods.
Lots of parents are obese and they tend to be the ones that have a higher percentage of obese children. There are no simple solutions, but targeting the toy in a Happy Meal will not change eating behavior. Kids that order the Happy Meal because they like the food will still order the Happy Meal. The others will order something that is worse for them. This action will not stop people from eating at McDonald's. It is part of our culture and nobody is going to give it up without a fight.
That being said, if people took it upon themselves to start eating better and ordering the healthier options at fast food joints more often, then places like McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's will get the idea and will start offering more healthy options. If you have a salad with your burger instead of fries, or a chicken salad instead of chicken nuggets, they will change their menus to reflect what the people want.
This all comes back to individual responsibility. McDonald's is not responsible for your child being fat! You are, if your child is too young to buy their own food. You drive them there, you order for them, you cook for them and feed them at home and you let them eat school lunch (even worse than McDonald's -yuck!!) General Mills & Kellogs are not responsible for your kid eating Captain Crunch, and Count Chocula. They didn't mail it to you. If you don't want your kids to eat that way, don't buy that kind of food; it is really simple. They can't eat what isn't there!
I understand that these fast food companies and food manufacturers advertise to kids on TV, at the movies, on the internet, etc. That may be an area where there should be some regulation. But you have control of what food comes into your house when your kids are young. When you eat out, you are driving the car and don't have to allow your kids to order junk food when you are at a restaurant. You can be "bad cop" and just say NO.
I am sure McDonald's in Santa Clara, CA will find a way around the new regulation. They may sell a toy for 25 cents and then reduce the Happy Meal price by the same 25 cents. That is their call. But if you as a parent are concerned about your child's health and weight, it is within your power as Mom and Dad to make the good decision for them and make fast food a once in a blue moon treat and make healthy eating and exercise the norm at your house. Set the example by giving up on some of the junk you eat. That will speak volumes.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Dinner Bell Rings Again
It is 4:30PM, the nightly drudgery approaches quickly..... what to make for dinner tonight? Tonight, 2 of the 4 members of my household are not here for dinner so it will be a slightly easier choice to make. My usual dinner choice flow chart looks something like this....what did we have last night? I don't want to repeat that....we can't have anything with gluten in it, it has to be healthy, tasty, something the kids will eat, not too fattening, if son #1 is home, no cheese, no dairy, oh and how many carbs is that meal going to be? (son #2 has diabetes & needs to know). This leaves me with a much smaller circle of options!
When I was growing up, I remember my Mom complaining not about cooking dinner for the 5 of us every night but about having to decide what to make every night. Back then, I never understood why that was such an issue for her. I would have thought the actual cooking would have been the real problem. She cooked once for the 3 kids and then again, when she and my Dad ate, much later. He took the train to and from New York City every night and was not home until 7:15 or later. So she cooked dinner twice every night but hated only the choosing what to make, not the act of cooking.
I now understand that emotion! Maybe this is an inherited hangup! We want to make wholesome, healthy, tasty meals that the family will eat and enjoy every night. In my family we have several dietary restrictions due to health issues. We all get stuck in a rut making the same few things over and over again. When I strike gold -try a new recipe that everyone likes- I then usually make it too much and as a result, everyone gets sick of it! Lately, I have been subscribing to a couple of cooking magazines...one that is all about simple meals, quick prep time, the other is about cooking lighter-fewer calories, healthier options. I have gotten some good ideas and have even tried some of the recipes. There have been some positives, and some neutrals. There have been no thumbs down, so that is encouraging. Maybe the family had grown as sick of my usual recipes as I was of making them!
So, for tonight, the choice is easy and obvious. The 2 family members who hate Mexican food, one who can't eat dairy ,will not be dining here. That leaves the 2 of us who like Mexican food, can eat cheese, need to count carbs and need to eat gluten free. Tacos it is. But healthier...ground turkey, light cheese, lots of veggies instead of just lettuce and tomatoes, light sour cream, healthy avocado.
Soon enough it will be tomorrow night and I will be back to that frame of mind. What now? Hopefully if I plan it right, there will be leftovers from tonight to solve tomorrow night.
The big picture here is that my family eats together most nights of the week. That is a big plus for us. I know a lot of families don't do that. We are able to keep involved with each other and air our issues before too much time goes by. So even though I struggle to keep it interesting and tasty the fact is that what we are eating doesn't matter that much. In the long run, they are not going to remember 99.9% of the meals I have cooked for them but they will remember that we took the time to eat together and stay connected.
When I was growing up, I remember my Mom complaining not about cooking dinner for the 5 of us every night but about having to decide what to make every night. Back then, I never understood why that was such an issue for her. I would have thought the actual cooking would have been the real problem. She cooked once for the 3 kids and then again, when she and my Dad ate, much later. He took the train to and from New York City every night and was not home until 7:15 or later. So she cooked dinner twice every night but hated only the choosing what to make, not the act of cooking.
I now understand that emotion! Maybe this is an inherited hangup! We want to make wholesome, healthy, tasty meals that the family will eat and enjoy every night. In my family we have several dietary restrictions due to health issues. We all get stuck in a rut making the same few things over and over again. When I strike gold -try a new recipe that everyone likes- I then usually make it too much and as a result, everyone gets sick of it! Lately, I have been subscribing to a couple of cooking magazines...one that is all about simple meals, quick prep time, the other is about cooking lighter-fewer calories, healthier options. I have gotten some good ideas and have even tried some of the recipes. There have been some positives, and some neutrals. There have been no thumbs down, so that is encouraging. Maybe the family had grown as sick of my usual recipes as I was of making them!
So, for tonight, the choice is easy and obvious. The 2 family members who hate Mexican food, one who can't eat dairy ,will not be dining here. That leaves the 2 of us who like Mexican food, can eat cheese, need to count carbs and need to eat gluten free. Tacos it is. But healthier...ground turkey, light cheese, lots of veggies instead of just lettuce and tomatoes, light sour cream, healthy avocado.
Soon enough it will be tomorrow night and I will be back to that frame of mind. What now? Hopefully if I plan it right, there will be leftovers from tonight to solve tomorrow night.
The big picture here is that my family eats together most nights of the week. That is a big plus for us. I know a lot of families don't do that. We are able to keep involved with each other and air our issues before too much time goes by. So even though I struggle to keep it interesting and tasty the fact is that what we are eating doesn't matter that much. In the long run, they are not going to remember 99.9% of the meals I have cooked for them but they will remember that we took the time to eat together and stay connected.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Resume Dilemma
To be truthful....to embellish? This is a dilemma we all face when remaking our resume. For some reason, if we try to limit our resume' to one page, it feels like some of the important information will slip out. The idea of using an 8 font in order to cram more onto one page is not appealing-there could be a baby boomer reading the resume' and then they may be too annoyed by the tiny print to bother reading it at all.
Being unemployed and looking for work is stressful enough without having to walk this moral tightrope. How can I make it look like I know more than I know, or that I did more than I did without lying? How much extra information will be too much and will be a red flag of resume' distortion? Is my work experience relevant to what they are looking for now?
You can list all of your work experience, and your education but how do you make them fit to the job you are applying for? It is not deception to simply switch things around and use buzzwords that you think the employer will notice. But buzzwords should be used sparingly. Too many may signal too much of an attempt to custom tailor the resume to the job opening. It too is a fine line.
The period of unemployment is a curious time. It is a time to reassess what you want to do, what you are capable of doing, and what you will not do again. It gives you time to take stock of where you are in your life plan. This is a good thing and a bad thing. If you are relatively close to where you want to be along your life plan, then onward you go to the next step along the way, the next job. If you have gone off course so far that you don't even remember your life plan, maybe it is time for a new plan.
For those of us who took time off from their (career) life plan to raise our children, the life plan has become hazy. We developed new skills as Moms and are not sure how they translate to a work setting. We had to mega multitask to even be able to get a shower in the early days of our kids lives. We had to mega multitask during the times of shuttle driving everyone around to their various activities and appointments. We have been the short order cook, banker, cleaning service, dog walker, taxi, social secretary, personal shopper, travel agent, health care advocate, and family coordinator all while being at home with the children. And for no pay at all! How do we put all of that on a resume'? The sad thing is, I don't think we can put any of it on there at all. It is one of those things that slips off the page in order to make the resume compact/one page.
For me, there is a large gap between work experiences. In December 2009 I was laid off from my job of 3 1/2 years, the first job I had since my children were born. Before that, the last time I worked for a paycheck was 15 years prior. On a resume' that may look like I sat around and ate bon bons and watched Judge Judy for 15 years. Anyone staying at home with their children knows this is completely not the case. In addition to the normal child rearing stuff, I had to manage a 3 year old with diabetes. That was a full time job in itself. I also volunteered my time at the school and have been doing fundraising for Juvenile Diabetes Research all along. It is unfortunate that this experience may not be important to my next employer.
I fall into that category of people who had a life plan and it was crap! I have learned over time that you never know where life is going to take you; you may have a plan and you may try to stick to your plan, but life may have other ideas for you.
My job now is to find out where my plan is leading me and to shape up my resume'. I will not lie on my resume', and I will choose not to embellish either. I may even have to use a larger font! I would like it to look like I was the CEO of something and that any company would be foolish not to hire me, but I will have to settle for listing my work experience, my volunteer experience and my education.
I will just have to wow them at the interview and then my resume' with the large time gap will seem irrelevant! In any case, I will choose to take the high road and let my experience and my personality speak for themselves without embellishment.
Being unemployed and looking for work is stressful enough without having to walk this moral tightrope. How can I make it look like I know more than I know, or that I did more than I did without lying? How much extra information will be too much and will be a red flag of resume' distortion? Is my work experience relevant to what they are looking for now?
You can list all of your work experience, and your education but how do you make them fit to the job you are applying for? It is not deception to simply switch things around and use buzzwords that you think the employer will notice. But buzzwords should be used sparingly. Too many may signal too much of an attempt to custom tailor the resume to the job opening. It too is a fine line.
The period of unemployment is a curious time. It is a time to reassess what you want to do, what you are capable of doing, and what you will not do again. It gives you time to take stock of where you are in your life plan. This is a good thing and a bad thing. If you are relatively close to where you want to be along your life plan, then onward you go to the next step along the way, the next job. If you have gone off course so far that you don't even remember your life plan, maybe it is time for a new plan.
For those of us who took time off from their (career) life plan to raise our children, the life plan has become hazy. We developed new skills as Moms and are not sure how they translate to a work setting. We had to mega multitask to even be able to get a shower in the early days of our kids lives. We had to mega multitask during the times of shuttle driving everyone around to their various activities and appointments. We have been the short order cook, banker, cleaning service, dog walker, taxi, social secretary, personal shopper, travel agent, health care advocate, and family coordinator all while being at home with the children. And for no pay at all! How do we put all of that on a resume'? The sad thing is, I don't think we can put any of it on there at all. It is one of those things that slips off the page in order to make the resume compact/one page.
For me, there is a large gap between work experiences. In December 2009 I was laid off from my job of 3 1/2 years, the first job I had since my children were born. Before that, the last time I worked for a paycheck was 15 years prior. On a resume' that may look like I sat around and ate bon bons and watched Judge Judy for 15 years. Anyone staying at home with their children knows this is completely not the case. In addition to the normal child rearing stuff, I had to manage a 3 year old with diabetes. That was a full time job in itself. I also volunteered my time at the school and have been doing fundraising for Juvenile Diabetes Research all along. It is unfortunate that this experience may not be important to my next employer.
I fall into that category of people who had a life plan and it was crap! I have learned over time that you never know where life is going to take you; you may have a plan and you may try to stick to your plan, but life may have other ideas for you.
My job now is to find out where my plan is leading me and to shape up my resume'. I will not lie on my resume', and I will choose not to embellish either. I may even have to use a larger font! I would like it to look like I was the CEO of something and that any company would be foolish not to hire me, but I will have to settle for listing my work experience, my volunteer experience and my education.
I will just have to wow them at the interview and then my resume' with the large time gap will seem irrelevant! In any case, I will choose to take the high road and let my experience and my personality speak for themselves without embellishment.
Monday, April 26, 2010
2 Thumbs Up for Arizona!
Ok, so I have already ranted on illegal immigration previously, but as we all know, nothing has substantially changed on that topic except that it is finally at the forefront of the national news because on Friday, Arizona passed a new tough illegal immigration law. As a border state, Arizona is on the front lines in this battle. They experience the downside of illegal immigration a lot more than most of the states in the middle of the country or those that are away from the southern borders. They have a very high crime rate and most of it is due to illegals sneaking in through their state.
I think all of the people that are threatening to protest this new law should really think about what they are saying by protesting. From my understanding of the new law, in Arizona drivers can be pulled over or questioned by police if they are suspected of committing a traffic violation or some other crime and then can be asked to prove their immigration status. This law was not meant as a free license to stop, detain, or pull people over JUST to ask for their immigration status.
So if you are protesting the police asking a potential law breaker for their immigration status, you are saying that everyone who is here in the US should get to stay here regardless of whether they are here legally or not and whether they are here illegally and committing crimes or not.
That concept defies national laws already on the books and defies our country's right to sovereignty. We have not only the right but the obligation to know who is entering our country; in case anyone forgot, we are AT WAR with radical Islamic terrorists who are overjoyed that at the moment they can sneak into our country carrying God knows what with them whenever they feel like it, and we don't have the stones to stop them from doing it.
As I have stated before, I believe in immigration. We are all the product of immigrants here in the USA unless your genealogy is pure Native American. If that is the case you can say you were here first.
We need to have a common sense policy where anyone coming here with the intent to stay will benefit our country, not drag it down. We don't need criminals coming here, or terrorists. We need smart, hard working people willing to live by our laws, speak our language, pay taxes to our government. We need to have a system that follows immigrants until they finish the process of becoming citizens. We need to know where they are and what they are doing. That is that. If you don't like being tracked, then you can leave, or just don't come here to begin with.
It is not cruel , or a punishment for the US to have a stated policy on immigration that it enforces. It is not aimed at anyone in particular other than those that would flout the law and sneak in here. It is ridiculous in this day and age of terrorism that we have a free flowing supply of nameless faceless humans crossing into the US and disappearing into cities all over the country and we really have no way to find them.
There are several ways to slow or reverse this trend other than arrest and deportation. That will not stop the desire of the people to come here.
What will stop them coming here illegally in addition to legal sanctions are instituting these practices:
1. If you are caught coming here illegally, you will NEVER be granted citizenship, ever.
2. If you are employing illegal immigrants, and thus avoiding paying payroll taxes, social security, etc, you go to jail and your business is seized by the IRS for non payment/compliance.
3. If you rent a house or apartment to illegal immigrants, you go to jail and your house or apartment building can be seized by the US government and sold at auction.
4. If you treat someone at the Emergency Room that has no ID, or is known to be an illegal immigrant, you must report that status to local authorities. They can take it from there.
5. If you apply for welfare, food stamps, section 8 housing, or any other government funded social program, you must show your immigration status. Illegal immigrants will not receive taxpayer funded government entitlements.
6. Allow our border patrol to do what they were hired to do. If they catch someone attempting to cross illegally, they need to be fingerprinted, photographed, and that information kept on file with the FBI. Then they can be shipped back by bus to the other side of the border. It is their problem to get home from there.
7. Illegal immigrants should not receive college scholarships, be allowed to get driver's licenses, or any other government permit.
8. Anyone seeking to become a citizen here must learn to speak English in order to pass the Citizenship test.
Times are tough for many people in the US. There are so many people out of work. YES, our citizens would take jobs that illegals currently fill, there just aren't any contractors hiring US citizens because they can get away with paying less than minimum wage to the illegals. There are plenty of citizens that would be happy to have a job right now, any job.
I am hoping that what happened in Arizona will spur our government to FINALLY do something about this situation. The people here illegally should not be rewarded with instant citizenship. They did it the wrong way and there are so many that waited and worked and became US citizens the right way. It would not be fair to those people who did it the right way.
This is a huge issue made bigger by the serious lack of desire to make the necessary changes and decisions by the last several presidents. No president wants to be "that guy that sends the illegals home." That will anger some large Latino voting blocks and thus will threaten future elections. I think President Obama is going to have to be "that guy" because the topic is now on top of the heap and is not going away anytime soon.
Maybe when illegal immigration is an issue with a plan, our country's financial situation will stabilize. There may be more jobs and industries that pop up with regard to new immigration policies. There may have to be a national ID card-and a company that produces it and the software to run it. There may have to be more border patrol agents, vehicles, cameras, fences, etc. Jobs will be created there. There will be many minimum wage jobs left vacant when illegals leave here because they cannot be hired and cannot find housing or get food stamps, welfare, health care.
The drain on our economy that is experienced by the taxpayers having to support all of the illegal families that are here (school costs and health care costs that are not paid by the illegals) may be reduced to a trickle. The savings to the social programs will be enormous.
Our President and Congress have to get a grip on this situation and DO SOMETHING instead of putting it off for the next president. Obama campaigned on immigration reform, so I am anxious to see that come to pass now. The ball is in his court and the court of our Congress. Maybe this time, they will do the right thing and pass SENSIBLE immigration reform.
Whether you agree or disagree with the new law in Arizona, you have to give them credit for bringing this issue to the top of the agenda. Kudos to you, Arizona. We may all be thanking you soon.
I think all of the people that are threatening to protest this new law should really think about what they are saying by protesting. From my understanding of the new law, in Arizona drivers can be pulled over or questioned by police if they are suspected of committing a traffic violation or some other crime and then can be asked to prove their immigration status. This law was not meant as a free license to stop, detain, or pull people over JUST to ask for their immigration status.
So if you are protesting the police asking a potential law breaker for their immigration status, you are saying that everyone who is here in the US should get to stay here regardless of whether they are here legally or not and whether they are here illegally and committing crimes or not.
That concept defies national laws already on the books and defies our country's right to sovereignty. We have not only the right but the obligation to know who is entering our country; in case anyone forgot, we are AT WAR with radical Islamic terrorists who are overjoyed that at the moment they can sneak into our country carrying God knows what with them whenever they feel like it, and we don't have the stones to stop them from doing it.
As I have stated before, I believe in immigration. We are all the product of immigrants here in the USA unless your genealogy is pure Native American. If that is the case you can say you were here first.
We need to have a common sense policy where anyone coming here with the intent to stay will benefit our country, not drag it down. We don't need criminals coming here, or terrorists. We need smart, hard working people willing to live by our laws, speak our language, pay taxes to our government. We need to have a system that follows immigrants until they finish the process of becoming citizens. We need to know where they are and what they are doing. That is that. If you don't like being tracked, then you can leave, or just don't come here to begin with.
It is not cruel , or a punishment for the US to have a stated policy on immigration that it enforces. It is not aimed at anyone in particular other than those that would flout the law and sneak in here. It is ridiculous in this day and age of terrorism that we have a free flowing supply of nameless faceless humans crossing into the US and disappearing into cities all over the country and we really have no way to find them.
There are several ways to slow or reverse this trend other than arrest and deportation. That will not stop the desire of the people to come here.
What will stop them coming here illegally in addition to legal sanctions are instituting these practices:
1. If you are caught coming here illegally, you will NEVER be granted citizenship, ever.
2. If you are employing illegal immigrants, and thus avoiding paying payroll taxes, social security, etc, you go to jail and your business is seized by the IRS for non payment/compliance.
3. If you rent a house or apartment to illegal immigrants, you go to jail and your house or apartment building can be seized by the US government and sold at auction.
4. If you treat someone at the Emergency Room that has no ID, or is known to be an illegal immigrant, you must report that status to local authorities. They can take it from there.
5. If you apply for welfare, food stamps, section 8 housing, or any other government funded social program, you must show your immigration status. Illegal immigrants will not receive taxpayer funded government entitlements.
6. Allow our border patrol to do what they were hired to do. If they catch someone attempting to cross illegally, they need to be fingerprinted, photographed, and that information kept on file with the FBI. Then they can be shipped back by bus to the other side of the border. It is their problem to get home from there.
7. Illegal immigrants should not receive college scholarships, be allowed to get driver's licenses, or any other government permit.
8. Anyone seeking to become a citizen here must learn to speak English in order to pass the Citizenship test.
Times are tough for many people in the US. There are so many people out of work. YES, our citizens would take jobs that illegals currently fill, there just aren't any contractors hiring US citizens because they can get away with paying less than minimum wage to the illegals. There are plenty of citizens that would be happy to have a job right now, any job.
I am hoping that what happened in Arizona will spur our government to FINALLY do something about this situation. The people here illegally should not be rewarded with instant citizenship. They did it the wrong way and there are so many that waited and worked and became US citizens the right way. It would not be fair to those people who did it the right way.
This is a huge issue made bigger by the serious lack of desire to make the necessary changes and decisions by the last several presidents. No president wants to be "that guy that sends the illegals home." That will anger some large Latino voting blocks and thus will threaten future elections. I think President Obama is going to have to be "that guy" because the topic is now on top of the heap and is not going away anytime soon.
Maybe when illegal immigration is an issue with a plan, our country's financial situation will stabilize. There may be more jobs and industries that pop up with regard to new immigration policies. There may have to be a national ID card-and a company that produces it and the software to run it. There may have to be more border patrol agents, vehicles, cameras, fences, etc. Jobs will be created there. There will be many minimum wage jobs left vacant when illegals leave here because they cannot be hired and cannot find housing or get food stamps, welfare, health care.
The drain on our economy that is experienced by the taxpayers having to support all of the illegal families that are here (school costs and health care costs that are not paid by the illegals) may be reduced to a trickle. The savings to the social programs will be enormous.
Our President and Congress have to get a grip on this situation and DO SOMETHING instead of putting it off for the next president. Obama campaigned on immigration reform, so I am anxious to see that come to pass now. The ball is in his court and the court of our Congress. Maybe this time, they will do the right thing and pass SENSIBLE immigration reform.
Whether you agree or disagree with the new law in Arizona, you have to give them credit for bringing this issue to the top of the agenda. Kudos to you, Arizona. We may all be thanking you soon.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Beer Pong 101?
We had "Quarters" and "Pass out", they have "Beer Pong" and "Ice Luges." College kids like to drink alcohol. It has been a fact of life on campuses for decades. But, it is time that colleges and society as a whole start to deal with college students and binge drinking in a sensible way. The way we deal with it now is not working at all.
Colleges walk a fine line between telling parents they have a zero tolerance policy for alcohol use among underage students, and then not wanting to have to arrest and expel students that violate the policy. Let's face it, if every underage student that was drinking on a college campus got kicked out of that college, the colleges would be vast ghost towns. They would all go bankrupt.
Back in the early 1980's when I was in college, there was student drinking, and plenty of it. The difference was that the drinking age in CT, where I went to college, was 18. There were liquor stores that were able to deliver kegs, cases of beer, wine, and hard liquor to the dorms legally. Nobody needed to drive anywhere. All you had to do was pick up the phone and order it and it would come to you.
If you wanted to have a keg party in the dorm, you had to get a "party permit," from your RA and you had a limit as to how many could attend the party that was usually held in the basement of the dorm. You were required to provide snacks in addition to the alcohol. It was fairly under control, the RA and RD that were on duty checked in with the party periodically throughout the evening and called security to assist if anyone got out of hand, or became ill. Nobody was driving because it was mostly on campus students that attended these parties. So drunk driving was not much of an issue. We also had a pub located on campus that hosted live music on the weekends. Again, it was a short walk from the dorms to the pub. And if you were too drunk, they cut you off. There was a shuttle bus to take you back to your dorm if you couldn't walk back.
One other University sanctioned event we had every year was a "Folk Festival." This was an outdoor concert complete with beer truck. We all sat around on blankets, had beers, food, and listened to music. Again, the school was in control of what went on and had security guards & EMTs stationed all around the event.
I am not saying these drinking situations were ideal. There were still kids that drank way too much, got sick, got hurt, became belligerent, got into trouble. That is the nature of drinking alcohol. I am saying that the university had a little more control over the situation since the drinking was going on for the most part at parties and events that were known to officials, and at the pub that was run by the university. Drinking was not taboo, therefore it was not something you had to sneak. You could bring a bottle of wine to your room and share with your roommates without worrying about "getting caught."
It is the getting caught that adds extra appeal to drinking for many teens. A lot of them have come from families where the mere thought of them trying an alcoholic drink before they were 21 was completely out of the question. I disagree with this approach. I see no problem with a responsible 19 year old that is old enough to vote and give his/her life for his country to have a beer with his/her Mom & Dad at home. I am not suggesting they get drunk, just that if he or she learns how to handle an alcoholic beverage in the safety of their home, and how it makes them feel, it may take some of the taboo appeal out of it. Too many parents just ban it and don't ever have the discussion. Far fewer parents set the example of responsible drinking by doing it themselves.
Recently, I read an article that said many of the elite colleges like Harvard and Yale have instituted alcohol amnesty policies. They are stressing how to drink responsibly and how to get help for yourself or a friend if they are in medical trouble due to drinking. They stress that the students will suffer no negative consequences for calling for this help. I think these University Presidents have come to the conclusion that they cannot stop the drinking, so they might as well have the student do it in a safer manner. You can read the article here.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20100421/ts_dailybeast/7665_harvardsalcoholamnestypolicy
I applaud their efforts because it is a reality of college life. Unless we establish Prohibition again, kids are going to drink alcohol, whether or not they are of the age to do so legally. They need to learn how to do it so they don't kill themselves/others and they need to feel comfortable enough to ask someone to be a designated driver or to be able to call a taxi or a sober friend to drive. They need to understand how important it is not to drive when drunk.
There is a balance here. I don't want the drunk driving statistics to go up, believe me.
I do think that lifting the taboo of drinking before the arbitrary age of 21 may reduce some of the abuse of alcohol, not all though. Parents play a large part in shaping their children's attitudes towards alcohol. And as far as colleges and universities, if they are going to advertise a "zero tolerance policy" for alcohol use by underage students, as most will tell you when you take the tours of campus, they need to enforce their policies or they will have zero credibility!
Colleges walk a fine line between telling parents they have a zero tolerance policy for alcohol use among underage students, and then not wanting to have to arrest and expel students that violate the policy. Let's face it, if every underage student that was drinking on a college campus got kicked out of that college, the colleges would be vast ghost towns. They would all go bankrupt.
Back in the early 1980's when I was in college, there was student drinking, and plenty of it. The difference was that the drinking age in CT, where I went to college, was 18. There were liquor stores that were able to deliver kegs, cases of beer, wine, and hard liquor to the dorms legally. Nobody needed to drive anywhere. All you had to do was pick up the phone and order it and it would come to you.
If you wanted to have a keg party in the dorm, you had to get a "party permit," from your RA and you had a limit as to how many could attend the party that was usually held in the basement of the dorm. You were required to provide snacks in addition to the alcohol. It was fairly under control, the RA and RD that were on duty checked in with the party periodically throughout the evening and called security to assist if anyone got out of hand, or became ill. Nobody was driving because it was mostly on campus students that attended these parties. So drunk driving was not much of an issue. We also had a pub located on campus that hosted live music on the weekends. Again, it was a short walk from the dorms to the pub. And if you were too drunk, they cut you off. There was a shuttle bus to take you back to your dorm if you couldn't walk back.
One other University sanctioned event we had every year was a "Folk Festival." This was an outdoor concert complete with beer truck. We all sat around on blankets, had beers, food, and listened to music. Again, the school was in control of what went on and had security guards & EMTs stationed all around the event.
I am not saying these drinking situations were ideal. There were still kids that drank way too much, got sick, got hurt, became belligerent, got into trouble. That is the nature of drinking alcohol. I am saying that the university had a little more control over the situation since the drinking was going on for the most part at parties and events that were known to officials, and at the pub that was run by the university. Drinking was not taboo, therefore it was not something you had to sneak. You could bring a bottle of wine to your room and share with your roommates without worrying about "getting caught."
It is the getting caught that adds extra appeal to drinking for many teens. A lot of them have come from families where the mere thought of them trying an alcoholic drink before they were 21 was completely out of the question. I disagree with this approach. I see no problem with a responsible 19 year old that is old enough to vote and give his/her life for his country to have a beer with his/her Mom & Dad at home. I am not suggesting they get drunk, just that if he or she learns how to handle an alcoholic beverage in the safety of their home, and how it makes them feel, it may take some of the taboo appeal out of it. Too many parents just ban it and don't ever have the discussion. Far fewer parents set the example of responsible drinking by doing it themselves.
Recently, I read an article that said many of the elite colleges like Harvard and Yale have instituted alcohol amnesty policies. They are stressing how to drink responsibly and how to get help for yourself or a friend if they are in medical trouble due to drinking. They stress that the students will suffer no negative consequences for calling for this help. I think these University Presidents have come to the conclusion that they cannot stop the drinking, so they might as well have the student do it in a safer manner. You can read the article here.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20100421/ts_dailybeast/7665_harvardsalcoholamnestypolicy
I applaud their efforts because it is a reality of college life. Unless we establish Prohibition again, kids are going to drink alcohol, whether or not they are of the age to do so legally. They need to learn how to do it so they don't kill themselves/others and they need to feel comfortable enough to ask someone to be a designated driver or to be able to call a taxi or a sober friend to drive. They need to understand how important it is not to drive when drunk.
There is a balance here. I don't want the drunk driving statistics to go up, believe me.
I do think that lifting the taboo of drinking before the arbitrary age of 21 may reduce some of the abuse of alcohol, not all though. Parents play a large part in shaping their children's attitudes towards alcohol. And as far as colleges and universities, if they are going to advertise a "zero tolerance policy" for alcohol use by underage students, as most will tell you when you take the tours of campus, they need to enforce their policies or they will have zero credibility!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
I say Eyjafjallajökull, you say volcano!
It isn't glamorous, it isn't exciting, but it is something we all need and need desperately. All countries, states, and localities need to have emergency management contingency plans in place in case of a catastrophe. We have seen what the lack of contingency planning looks like. Think of Hurricane Katrina. Think of so many of the earthquakes overseas-in China, India, Iran. There were so many more killed in these disasters because of a lack of resources and emergency management planning.
The volcano Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland has spewed ashes high into the atmosphere over much of Europe crippling its airspace for days. This has brought an economic tsunami to the region. There has been lost revenue due to airfares that will have to be refunded, business that was not able to be conducted, hotel rooms that sit vacant, restaurants void of patrons, taxis that sit idle; there are also secondary victims like department stores and Mom and Pop shops that rely on tourist dollars to thrive. There are now shortages of food that is traditionally imported to Europe from other parts of the world, like South American fruits for example and fish that is usually flown in from Asia.
One would think that Europe, made up of countries with modern economies and lifestyles would have mighty emergency management plans in place in case of a catastrophe. They have, after all, recently experienced terrorist attacks. Maybe they do have plans, but apparently they just didn't figure on a volcano closing their air space for days. When I think of Europe, I always think about all of the other modes of transportation they use instead of relying on cars the way we do. They have many more trains, water taxis and hydrofoils, a Chunnel connecting Britain to France, ferries. They use cars far less than we do because gasoline is so much more expensive there, so they rely more on public transportation.
So lets see now, we have throngs of people stuck at the airport with seemingly no way to get from point A to point B in Europe and out of Europe. It is really hard to believe that the train systems are unable to add extra cars to get people out of the ash stricken areas and into other countries that do have open air space. Not everyone in the ash stricken areas was looking to fly across the ocean. Many were just trying to get to another European destination or to Asia. At one point I read that the British Navy was going to use some of their vessels to ferry passengers from Great Britain to the European mainland so they could make alternate travel arrangements.
I find it hard to believe that any reputable emergency management plan didn't take into account what would happen if air space was shut down for a few days. That factor seems like a major player in the emergency planning process.
All we have to do is look back to our own volcano, or should I say hurricane, Katrina. Even though we have an agency dedicated to emergency management planning and disaster relief, FEMA, it was an unmitigated disaster when it unfolded and we were left holding the bag. Here we had the city of New Orleans that is largely at or below sea level, protected by a system of old levees, and a category 5 Hurricane was barreling toward it. The federal and state government knew for days that it was coming, they knew even if the intensity diminished it would still be disastrous. The Governor of Louisiana didn't force a mandatory evacuation until the day before it struck! They had the means to get people out of the danger zone for days before-by train and by school bus, but they didn't force them to go until the last minute and even then many many people refused to go! This left thousands in the direct path of the disaster. It made FEMA's rescue and recovery efforts infinitely harder and costlier. It also cost over 1,800 lives.Even though Katrina ultimately struck the Gulf Coast region as a category 3 storm, We were woefully unprepared to deal with all that this meant.
We didn't even know where to begin to help those that had stayed behind. For a few days, it felt like nobody was in charge. George Bush came on TV telling "Brownie", FEMA director Mike Brown, that he was doing a good job with the rescue/recovery efforts. We all scratched our heads with that statement. It didn't really seem like he was doing a good job. I remember the scenes of Geraldo standing outside the Superdome begging for help, for food, for water for the people that were taking refuge inside. That place became a living hell. The restrooms were unable to operate because of power outages and non functioning sewer systems. The flooding was so bad that the water table made sewage function impossible. So you had over 26,000 people that got food and water and needed to use restrooms. The halls of the Superdome became makeshift bathrooms. I will not elaborate but you can imagine the horror that created.
There had been a fleet of school buses in a parking lot in New Orleans that were not ultimately utilized for evacuation of residents. There were plenty of images of those hundreds of buses under water after the flooding.
Then there were all of those photos of people on rooftops looking for rescues. There were individuals and coast guard, along with other armed services members that went around in motor boats scooping up survivors as best they could. There were helicopter airlifts for some. It was to the spectator, disorganized and chaotic. There was rampant looting. People broke into stores and took large screen TVs and appliances. They did take food, water, health supplies too. There was a "wild west" feel to the situation in downtown New Orleans. It took a while and a coordinated effort to get things back under control and get people back onto the right side of the law. This hurricane was the costliest on record to the USA ($86 billion in recovery and repairs).
When you think about it, we suffer hurricanes almost every year. We know what damage they can cause and what the survivors will need in the aftermath. Why did Katrina go so wrong? Was it because it was so much bigger than any we had ever experienced? Not really . Hurricane Andrew hit Southern Florida as a category 5 storm in 1992 and brought massive destruction, but somehow, recovery and clean up seems to have gone smoother. Before that storm, over 1 million people were forced to evacuate the area, and 1,500 National Guard troops were stationed nearby to combat any looting that might occur in the aftermath. As a result, 65 people were killed in Hurricane Andrew versus 1,836 in Katrina. I guess the mandatory evacuations really help to save lives. The levees in New Orleans were not able to withstand the flood waters. That seems to be the crux of the problem, yet instead of coming up with another solution, we have simply repaired the levees ahead of the next potential disaster.
One other major factor here is that people need to take responsibility for their own safety. When you are told to evacuate or you will die, you should evacuate immediately. When you stay behind despite these warnings you not only put yourself in danger, you endanger those that have to come and look for you and rescue you. I kept hearing about how poor the residents of New Orleans were. Poor or rich, if someone offers you a ride out of the danger zone, you take it! Worry about where you are going or what will happen when you get there after you leave the imminent danger. Poor does not have to mean stupid.
Back to the European volcano and its aftermath. It is impossible for anyone to say with certainty how long this volcano will continue to erupt and put the ash cloud into the air over Europe. It could go on indefinitely or it could end today. That is the tricky part. One would hope that even though Europe seems to have been woefully unprepared for this magnitude of disruption in air travel, that they are learning as they go along how to cope and how to move the people to where they need to go by alternate means. This learning curve could help prepare them for a future volcanic eruption, or dare I say terrorist attack on an airliner.
Being prepared is not fun, it is not trendy, and it costs a lot of money. Emergency Management agencies have large budgets and a lot of employees. But in the long run, they save lives, save money and could save an economy from tanking once again when another disaster comes along.
The volcano Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland has spewed ashes high into the atmosphere over much of Europe crippling its airspace for days. This has brought an economic tsunami to the region. There has been lost revenue due to airfares that will have to be refunded, business that was not able to be conducted, hotel rooms that sit vacant, restaurants void of patrons, taxis that sit idle; there are also secondary victims like department stores and Mom and Pop shops that rely on tourist dollars to thrive. There are now shortages of food that is traditionally imported to Europe from other parts of the world, like South American fruits for example and fish that is usually flown in from Asia.
One would think that Europe, made up of countries with modern economies and lifestyles would have mighty emergency management plans in place in case of a catastrophe. They have, after all, recently experienced terrorist attacks. Maybe they do have plans, but apparently they just didn't figure on a volcano closing their air space for days. When I think of Europe, I always think about all of the other modes of transportation they use instead of relying on cars the way we do. They have many more trains, water taxis and hydrofoils, a Chunnel connecting Britain to France, ferries. They use cars far less than we do because gasoline is so much more expensive there, so they rely more on public transportation.
So lets see now, we have throngs of people stuck at the airport with seemingly no way to get from point A to point B in Europe and out of Europe. It is really hard to believe that the train systems are unable to add extra cars to get people out of the ash stricken areas and into other countries that do have open air space. Not everyone in the ash stricken areas was looking to fly across the ocean. Many were just trying to get to another European destination or to Asia. At one point I read that the British Navy was going to use some of their vessels to ferry passengers from Great Britain to the European mainland so they could make alternate travel arrangements.
I find it hard to believe that any reputable emergency management plan didn't take into account what would happen if air space was shut down for a few days. That factor seems like a major player in the emergency planning process.
All we have to do is look back to our own volcano, or should I say hurricane, Katrina. Even though we have an agency dedicated to emergency management planning and disaster relief, FEMA, it was an unmitigated disaster when it unfolded and we were left holding the bag. Here we had the city of New Orleans that is largely at or below sea level, protected by a system of old levees, and a category 5 Hurricane was barreling toward it. The federal and state government knew for days that it was coming, they knew even if the intensity diminished it would still be disastrous. The Governor of Louisiana didn't force a mandatory evacuation until the day before it struck! They had the means to get people out of the danger zone for days before-by train and by school bus, but they didn't force them to go until the last minute and even then many many people refused to go! This left thousands in the direct path of the disaster. It made FEMA's rescue and recovery efforts infinitely harder and costlier. It also cost over 1,800 lives.Even though Katrina ultimately struck the Gulf Coast region as a category 3 storm, We were woefully unprepared to deal with all that this meant.
We didn't even know where to begin to help those that had stayed behind. For a few days, it felt like nobody was in charge. George Bush came on TV telling "Brownie", FEMA director Mike Brown, that he was doing a good job with the rescue/recovery efforts. We all scratched our heads with that statement. It didn't really seem like he was doing a good job. I remember the scenes of Geraldo standing outside the Superdome begging for help, for food, for water for the people that were taking refuge inside. That place became a living hell. The restrooms were unable to operate because of power outages and non functioning sewer systems. The flooding was so bad that the water table made sewage function impossible. So you had over 26,000 people that got food and water and needed to use restrooms. The halls of the Superdome became makeshift bathrooms. I will not elaborate but you can imagine the horror that created.
There had been a fleet of school buses in a parking lot in New Orleans that were not ultimately utilized for evacuation of residents. There were plenty of images of those hundreds of buses under water after the flooding.
Then there were all of those photos of people on rooftops looking for rescues. There were individuals and coast guard, along with other armed services members that went around in motor boats scooping up survivors as best they could. There were helicopter airlifts for some. It was to the spectator, disorganized and chaotic. There was rampant looting. People broke into stores and took large screen TVs and appliances. They did take food, water, health supplies too. There was a "wild west" feel to the situation in downtown New Orleans. It took a while and a coordinated effort to get things back under control and get people back onto the right side of the law. This hurricane was the costliest on record to the USA ($86 billion in recovery and repairs).
When you think about it, we suffer hurricanes almost every year. We know what damage they can cause and what the survivors will need in the aftermath. Why did Katrina go so wrong? Was it because it was so much bigger than any we had ever experienced? Not really . Hurricane Andrew hit Southern Florida as a category 5 storm in 1992 and brought massive destruction, but somehow, recovery and clean up seems to have gone smoother. Before that storm, over 1 million people were forced to evacuate the area, and 1,500 National Guard troops were stationed nearby to combat any looting that might occur in the aftermath. As a result, 65 people were killed in Hurricane Andrew versus 1,836 in Katrina. I guess the mandatory evacuations really help to save lives. The levees in New Orleans were not able to withstand the flood waters. That seems to be the crux of the problem, yet instead of coming up with another solution, we have simply repaired the levees ahead of the next potential disaster.
One other major factor here is that people need to take responsibility for their own safety. When you are told to evacuate or you will die, you should evacuate immediately. When you stay behind despite these warnings you not only put yourself in danger, you endanger those that have to come and look for you and rescue you. I kept hearing about how poor the residents of New Orleans were. Poor or rich, if someone offers you a ride out of the danger zone, you take it! Worry about where you are going or what will happen when you get there after you leave the imminent danger. Poor does not have to mean stupid.
Back to the European volcano and its aftermath. It is impossible for anyone to say with certainty how long this volcano will continue to erupt and put the ash cloud into the air over Europe. It could go on indefinitely or it could end today. That is the tricky part. One would hope that even though Europe seems to have been woefully unprepared for this magnitude of disruption in air travel, that they are learning as they go along how to cope and how to move the people to where they need to go by alternate means. This learning curve could help prepare them for a future volcanic eruption, or dare I say terrorist attack on an airliner.
Being prepared is not fun, it is not trendy, and it costs a lot of money. Emergency Management agencies have large budgets and a lot of employees. But in the long run, they save lives, save money and could save an economy from tanking once again when another disaster comes along.
Monday, April 19, 2010
3 Cheers for the Red White and Blue
Happy Patriots' Day to the residents of Massachusetts and Maine. No other holiday seems as relevant to me this year as Patriots' Day. The definition of being patriotic has been open for debate this year more than any other time in recent memory.
The first thing that comes to my mind is the original patriots, those that fought for our freedoms and our liberty. They were the foundation for the country we all live in and thrive in. Many of these patriots made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live with religious freedom, and freedom to say whatever we think without the fear of the government coming and taking us away for expressing our opinions.
We have many rights and privileges here in the USA that are not afforded people that live in other parts of the world. We have had to defend our way of life against those that sought to destroy us several times in the 234+ years since this way of life was established. We have succeeded every time.
So many people around the globe would give anything to have the life and opportunities we have here. Mexico, and Central and South American countries are great examples. The rate at which people flock here both legally and illegally from those regions is overwhelming. They see that a person working hard can make an honest wage and support their family here; we also have laws that protect human rights. Many coming here from those countries don't enjoy these opportunities and protections in their home countries.
So what is a patriot? I will give you my opinion. You may agree or disagree, that is your prerogative, we live in the USA after all!
To me, a patriot is one who loves their country, would fight to protect their country and their freedoms, votes, pays taxes, follows the law, and speaks up when their elected officials, that are in office to represent them, go astray from the wishes of their constituents. It is not only recommended, it is mandatory that we let our elected officials know when they have gone off course. We want to keep our country great; want to keep it as it was intended to be back when it was established. The government of the people, by the people, and for the people needs to be upheld.
Lately, it seems that our government has gone slightly off of that precept. It is still "of the people"-when last I checked there were no aliens in the government, not any that we have been told about anyway. And we have elected those that are in office. The "by the people" concept still holds; I think we are still operating in a system we designed with the 3 branches of government running the whole. The part that concerns me is the "for the people" section. Our government has lost sight of who it is supposed to answer to.
The government has voted to make itself larger and larger over the years, adding social programs, going into huge amounts of debt to foreign (Communist) governments. It has passed laws that a majority of Americans were not in favor of because they felt they knew what is good for us better than we do. That is definitely not "for the people." It goes against it altogether. And as a patriot, I feel that it is our job to hold our elected officials responsible for the positions they have taken and the laws they have passed that we did not want. I am also very concerned about the amount of debt we are accumulating that we may never be able to reconcile. It is irresponsible to keep adding to the national debt while in the same breath telling Americans they need to cut back on credit card spending, and obtaining mortgages they can't afford to pay. It is time for a little "practice what you preach." I have mentioned in previous posts that I used to have a job where I would search government websites every day and I would see the kinds of things the government was buying. The amount of money wasted on minutia was incredible. It needs to stop. Just as we as individuals need to take responsibility and NOT go into debt we can't afford to crawl out of, so does our government.
The Tea Party has been in the news a lot. I am in favor of what they stand for at this time. I do not know what they will morph into in the future, but for now, they hold my opinions. It is just this Tea Party Movement that I think represents what patriotism is. They are peacefully protesting where they think our government has gone wrong.
I am a lifelong registered Democrat that has not been able to vote Democratic for quite some time. I am disillusioned with the far left wing ideals that the Democrats have come to represent. I now consider myself an Independent. I voted for Scott Brown because I felt he gave us a good chance to start the movement for change in Washington. As I get older, I have gotten more conservative in my beliefs. I am for less government intrusion into our daily lives, more for upholding the laws we currently have on the books, more for supporting our troops whether or not you believe in the war they are fighting, less for political correctness, more for personal responsibility, and much much more for protecting our borders from those who seek to come here illegally. Immigration is not a dirty word. We are all the product of immigrants. Illegal immigration however ruins the process for those who are doing it the right way and uses up vast amounts of our resources.
Too many Senators and Representatives have been in their posts too long. They have made it a lifelong career and that is hurting America. Once they are in Washington for more than one term, they learn the ins and outs, the back room negotiating, the bribery, the pork politics, etc. We don't want that kind of representation anymore. I don't think either Dems or Republicans like all of that but we find ourselves in a kind of gridlock to do anything about how business gets done and how laws get passed.
This is where I think it is imperative for all people that consider themselves patriots to speak up. Let your elected officials know how you feel on every issue they are voting on. Make them accountable if they go to Washington and do the opposite of what they campaigned on. You have a voice--it is your vote. If we are not happy with our Senators and Representatives, we can vote new ones in and give them a whack at it. That is what Massachusetts did this year and I am proud to say I live in a very blue state that voted red because they were tired of what blue was doing for us.
So, on Patriots' day, I say, here's to America, the greatest country on earth. There is no other country I would rather live in. It is a privilege for me to be able to say we have some work to do. We are a work in progress and I hope we progress in a positive way in the very near future.
The first thing that comes to my mind is the original patriots, those that fought for our freedoms and our liberty. They were the foundation for the country we all live in and thrive in. Many of these patriots made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live with religious freedom, and freedom to say whatever we think without the fear of the government coming and taking us away for expressing our opinions.
We have many rights and privileges here in the USA that are not afforded people that live in other parts of the world. We have had to defend our way of life against those that sought to destroy us several times in the 234+ years since this way of life was established. We have succeeded every time.
So many people around the globe would give anything to have the life and opportunities we have here. Mexico, and Central and South American countries are great examples. The rate at which people flock here both legally and illegally from those regions is overwhelming. They see that a person working hard can make an honest wage and support their family here; we also have laws that protect human rights. Many coming here from those countries don't enjoy these opportunities and protections in their home countries.
So what is a patriot? I will give you my opinion. You may agree or disagree, that is your prerogative, we live in the USA after all!
To me, a patriot is one who loves their country, would fight to protect their country and their freedoms, votes, pays taxes, follows the law, and speaks up when their elected officials, that are in office to represent them, go astray from the wishes of their constituents. It is not only recommended, it is mandatory that we let our elected officials know when they have gone off course. We want to keep our country great; want to keep it as it was intended to be back when it was established. The government of the people, by the people, and for the people needs to be upheld.
Lately, it seems that our government has gone slightly off of that precept. It is still "of the people"-when last I checked there were no aliens in the government, not any that we have been told about anyway. And we have elected those that are in office. The "by the people" concept still holds; I think we are still operating in a system we designed with the 3 branches of government running the whole. The part that concerns me is the "for the people" section. Our government has lost sight of who it is supposed to answer to.
The government has voted to make itself larger and larger over the years, adding social programs, going into huge amounts of debt to foreign (Communist) governments. It has passed laws that a majority of Americans were not in favor of because they felt they knew what is good for us better than we do. That is definitely not "for the people." It goes against it altogether. And as a patriot, I feel that it is our job to hold our elected officials responsible for the positions they have taken and the laws they have passed that we did not want. I am also very concerned about the amount of debt we are accumulating that we may never be able to reconcile. It is irresponsible to keep adding to the national debt while in the same breath telling Americans they need to cut back on credit card spending, and obtaining mortgages they can't afford to pay. It is time for a little "practice what you preach." I have mentioned in previous posts that I used to have a job where I would search government websites every day and I would see the kinds of things the government was buying. The amount of money wasted on minutia was incredible. It needs to stop. Just as we as individuals need to take responsibility and NOT go into debt we can't afford to crawl out of, so does our government.
The Tea Party has been in the news a lot. I am in favor of what they stand for at this time. I do not know what they will morph into in the future, but for now, they hold my opinions. It is just this Tea Party Movement that I think represents what patriotism is. They are peacefully protesting where they think our government has gone wrong.
I am a lifelong registered Democrat that has not been able to vote Democratic for quite some time. I am disillusioned with the far left wing ideals that the Democrats have come to represent. I now consider myself an Independent. I voted for Scott Brown because I felt he gave us a good chance to start the movement for change in Washington. As I get older, I have gotten more conservative in my beliefs. I am for less government intrusion into our daily lives, more for upholding the laws we currently have on the books, more for supporting our troops whether or not you believe in the war they are fighting, less for political correctness, more for personal responsibility, and much much more for protecting our borders from those who seek to come here illegally. Immigration is not a dirty word. We are all the product of immigrants. Illegal immigration however ruins the process for those who are doing it the right way and uses up vast amounts of our resources.
Too many Senators and Representatives have been in their posts too long. They have made it a lifelong career and that is hurting America. Once they are in Washington for more than one term, they learn the ins and outs, the back room negotiating, the bribery, the pork politics, etc. We don't want that kind of representation anymore. I don't think either Dems or Republicans like all of that but we find ourselves in a kind of gridlock to do anything about how business gets done and how laws get passed.
This is where I think it is imperative for all people that consider themselves patriots to speak up. Let your elected officials know how you feel on every issue they are voting on. Make them accountable if they go to Washington and do the opposite of what they campaigned on. You have a voice--it is your vote. If we are not happy with our Senators and Representatives, we can vote new ones in and give them a whack at it. That is what Massachusetts did this year and I am proud to say I live in a very blue state that voted red because they were tired of what blue was doing for us.
So, on Patriots' day, I say, here's to America, the greatest country on earth. There is no other country I would rather live in. It is a privilege for me to be able to say we have some work to do. We are a work in progress and I hope we progress in a positive way in the very near future.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Two-fer Friday
Tax Day has come and gone, thank heavens. April 15th is always a reminder how unfair and maddening our tax system has become. A simple way to raise revenue has turned into a yearly nightmare for one and all, at least for those of us who comply and actually file and pay our taxes.
The other 50% of Americans don't pay taxes but still get a vote, a say in how our government runs; they are probably pretty happy with the state of how the system works. All I can say to them is this--don't work harder, don't excel at what you do, don't try to make a better life for your family. If you increase your income to a level where you can breathe and can start to buy things for your family, and maybe save a little money for retirement, watch out. Watch out for the hand of Uncle Sam. He will be lurking and swooping in to take your hard earned money like a pick pocket; before you know it, your bank account will look like it did before you increased your income yet you will have worked harder for it. You will have nothing extra to show for it other than an IRS "taxes due" bill on April 15th. Oh and by the way, Congratulations! You will now be considered "wealthy" in America.
The system in which the IRS operates is so complicated that many IRS agents give out incorrect information on their own 1-800 telephone help lines (per a John Stossel investigative report on the topic). If they can't understand the thousands of tax laws on the books, how is the average American to understand it, file their taxes, and do it correctly? There are so many, many loopholes and deductions that it seems the more money you make, the more you can afford expensive accountants that know where these loopholes are and can reduce your taxable income by using them. Some of these methods are on the outer fringes of legality, but most people really don't care. The horrible system we have has created a nation of many tax cheats, people that refuse to file taxes at all. There was a list on a popular website of celebrities that owe the IRS over $1,000,000 in back taxes. Most were big names that had the money to pay, too. They are so out in the open, yet they flaunt their status as tax evaders. Something is wrong with this picture.
I could really get behind a total complete change in the way the US collects tax revenue from the citizens. I think that either a simple flat tax of a certain percentage of your income -deducted right at the time you get your paycheck, would completely simplify it all. There would be no need for an IRS, or filing taxes, or any deductions, exemptions, tax shelters, etc. Just take 10% (or whatever designated percent they come up with) off the top of every one's income and that is that. There would be no more loopholes, no more offshore accounts, no more hiding your money.
The other option to simplify this is a type of consumption tax. No more taxes based on income. That is too arbitrary. It is hard to say where to draw the line as to who pays and who doesn't have to pay. A consumption tax would focus on what we all buy, instead of how much we earn. The more stuff and the more expensive stuff you buy, the more consumption (or value added, as it is called) tax you would end up paying. That would mean that every single item you buy would include a value added tax in it's price or at the register. Then you are done. No tax filing, no payroll deductions. You earn what you earn. This system would discourage people on welfare and other entitlement programs from buying some of the items they could not afford, like cigarettes, and alcohol and focus on buying food and paying rent. This would tax the uber wealthy on luxury cars, high rise apartment buildings, private jets, vacation homes. If you were uber wealthy and you didn't like the value added tax, you could just stop buying so much expensive stuff!! It is very simple. It could go a long way to teaching people to live within their means. It would be in your hands how much tax you paid every week. And think of all the IRS salaries we would not have to pay. That would save the government millions, perhaps billions of dollars every year.
I think that it will take a lot longer for our government to come to this conclusion however. They are too stuck in this groove of tax, spend, spend, spend, raise taxes, spend, spend, spend, spend, raise taxes, raise taxes, dump 50% of the population off the tax rolls, tax the "rich" spend, spend, yada, yada, yada, spend. I am not sure how it will change or when it will change.
I do our taxes most years with Turbo Tax. It costs me $40-$50 to buy the software to file the taxes to find out how much MORE money we have to send the government. They should be paying for my software! They are the ones that want me to file this despicable form. I pay my taxes, and on time too!
On a similarly frustrating topic, the local government in my town of Franklin is in deep financial trouble, yet again. I have lived here for 15 years, and every single year there has been a "fiscal crisis." Many times, the town council has asked the taxpayers to allow for a proposition 2 1/2 override in order to increase our property tax more than the allowable percentage. The override has only passed once since I have lived here and that was to build and remodel a couple of schools. The yearly fiscal crisis always seems to abate and staff cuts are made, teachers are let go, programs are done away with. Yet despite our continuing financial crises other things happen in town that boggle the mind. I know that these programs have different funding sources, but the populace has no idea, and perception is reality to most of us.
In the last cycle of an attempted prop 2 1/2 override, when the town council was asking for several million dollars, telling us we had no money to level fund the schools, all of a sudden, a beautiful new $6 million dollar Senior Center was built. The perception is that- we had the money all along -see, they built the senior center. This is just one example of many where what goes on in our town seems to be a program of smoke and mirrors.
The latest threat is that unless there is an 2 1/2 override, all school athletics and after school programs will be eliminated. This threat has proceeded in a neighboring town, Mansfield. Eliminating these programs may happen, but the real fact here is that the teachers and town workers unions don't want to give up their sweet package of salaries, pensions, tenure, and benefits and be compelled to go on the state sponsored health care plan which they would have to contribute significantly more out of pocket for. This is what is crippling our town and many towns both around us and around the country.
Health care costs and towns continuing to have to pay pensions and benefits for life are crippling town budgets, plain and simple. In almost no other walk of public life, except maybe the military and high level government employees, do we see pensions continue for life. That does not exists any more in our world. Nobody can afford it. And to have to keep paying for health care for people who have retired from the system is another black hole that is costing us dearly.
Something has got to give here and again, I am not sure what it will take for everyone to be willing to make the necessary changes. Unions are not necessary in 2010 for non manufacturing jobs. There are no inherent safety and health issues working in town hall or in one of the public schools. Salaries should be based on MERIT, not tenure or some predetermined pay scale. Teachers and other town employees that don't perform well need to be fired, not reassigned to other schools or departments.
Between the IRS and the teachers unions, we are being royally ripped off and screwed. My property taxes have almost doubled in 15 years. We pay dearly for what we get and it is being squandered in ways in need not be. It feels like everyone has their hand in your pocket and you don't get a say as to how they spend what they confiscate from you.
Fear not, although it might feel that way, we are not helpless here. We can all vote; we can tell our governments, both local and federal what we want and what we don't want by who we elect. Scott Brown's election was no accident here. We all wanted the "Old Boys" network in Washington to be put on notice. Disregard our wishes at your own peril. We sent you there-both in Franklin and to Washington, to do what we want you to do. If you don't do it, we will remove you and send someone who will. Period.
In that vein, I hope the basic fundamentals of the Tea Party Movement create a giant ripple for change across the USA -change to get our priorities back on track to where we hope our country will be in 10 years, in 50 years. Change so our children can grow up and live in a country we recognize.
On that note, I step down from my soap box :-)
The other 50% of Americans don't pay taxes but still get a vote, a say in how our government runs; they are probably pretty happy with the state of how the system works. All I can say to them is this--don't work harder, don't excel at what you do, don't try to make a better life for your family. If you increase your income to a level where you can breathe and can start to buy things for your family, and maybe save a little money for retirement, watch out. Watch out for the hand of Uncle Sam. He will be lurking and swooping in to take your hard earned money like a pick pocket; before you know it, your bank account will look like it did before you increased your income yet you will have worked harder for it. You will have nothing extra to show for it other than an IRS "taxes due" bill on April 15th. Oh and by the way, Congratulations! You will now be considered "wealthy" in America.
The system in which the IRS operates is so complicated that many IRS agents give out incorrect information on their own 1-800 telephone help lines (per a John Stossel investigative report on the topic). If they can't understand the thousands of tax laws on the books, how is the average American to understand it, file their taxes, and do it correctly? There are so many, many loopholes and deductions that it seems the more money you make, the more you can afford expensive accountants that know where these loopholes are and can reduce your taxable income by using them. Some of these methods are on the outer fringes of legality, but most people really don't care. The horrible system we have has created a nation of many tax cheats, people that refuse to file taxes at all. There was a list on a popular website of celebrities that owe the IRS over $1,000,000 in back taxes. Most were big names that had the money to pay, too. They are so out in the open, yet they flaunt their status as tax evaders. Something is wrong with this picture.
I could really get behind a total complete change in the way the US collects tax revenue from the citizens. I think that either a simple flat tax of a certain percentage of your income -deducted right at the time you get your paycheck, would completely simplify it all. There would be no need for an IRS, or filing taxes, or any deductions, exemptions, tax shelters, etc. Just take 10% (or whatever designated percent they come up with) off the top of every one's income and that is that. There would be no more loopholes, no more offshore accounts, no more hiding your money.
The other option to simplify this is a type of consumption tax. No more taxes based on income. That is too arbitrary. It is hard to say where to draw the line as to who pays and who doesn't have to pay. A consumption tax would focus on what we all buy, instead of how much we earn. The more stuff and the more expensive stuff you buy, the more consumption (or value added, as it is called) tax you would end up paying. That would mean that every single item you buy would include a value added tax in it's price or at the register. Then you are done. No tax filing, no payroll deductions. You earn what you earn. This system would discourage people on welfare and other entitlement programs from buying some of the items they could not afford, like cigarettes, and alcohol and focus on buying food and paying rent. This would tax the uber wealthy on luxury cars, high rise apartment buildings, private jets, vacation homes. If you were uber wealthy and you didn't like the value added tax, you could just stop buying so much expensive stuff!! It is very simple. It could go a long way to teaching people to live within their means. It would be in your hands how much tax you paid every week. And think of all the IRS salaries we would not have to pay. That would save the government millions, perhaps billions of dollars every year.
I think that it will take a lot longer for our government to come to this conclusion however. They are too stuck in this groove of tax, spend, spend, spend, raise taxes, spend, spend, spend, spend, raise taxes, raise taxes, dump 50% of the population off the tax rolls, tax the "rich" spend, spend, yada, yada, yada, spend. I am not sure how it will change or when it will change.
I do our taxes most years with Turbo Tax. It costs me $40-$50 to buy the software to file the taxes to find out how much MORE money we have to send the government. They should be paying for my software! They are the ones that want me to file this despicable form. I pay my taxes, and on time too!
On a similarly frustrating topic, the local government in my town of Franklin is in deep financial trouble, yet again. I have lived here for 15 years, and every single year there has been a "fiscal crisis." Many times, the town council has asked the taxpayers to allow for a proposition 2 1/2 override in order to increase our property tax more than the allowable percentage. The override has only passed once since I have lived here and that was to build and remodel a couple of schools. The yearly fiscal crisis always seems to abate and staff cuts are made, teachers are let go, programs are done away with. Yet despite our continuing financial crises other things happen in town that boggle the mind. I know that these programs have different funding sources, but the populace has no idea, and perception is reality to most of us.
In the last cycle of an attempted prop 2 1/2 override, when the town council was asking for several million dollars, telling us we had no money to level fund the schools, all of a sudden, a beautiful new $6 million dollar Senior Center was built. The perception is that- we had the money all along -see, they built the senior center. This is just one example of many where what goes on in our town seems to be a program of smoke and mirrors.
The latest threat is that unless there is an 2 1/2 override, all school athletics and after school programs will be eliminated. This threat has proceeded in a neighboring town, Mansfield. Eliminating these programs may happen, but the real fact here is that the teachers and town workers unions don't want to give up their sweet package of salaries, pensions, tenure, and benefits and be compelled to go on the state sponsored health care plan which they would have to contribute significantly more out of pocket for. This is what is crippling our town and many towns both around us and around the country.
Health care costs and towns continuing to have to pay pensions and benefits for life are crippling town budgets, plain and simple. In almost no other walk of public life, except maybe the military and high level government employees, do we see pensions continue for life. That does not exists any more in our world. Nobody can afford it. And to have to keep paying for health care for people who have retired from the system is another black hole that is costing us dearly.
Something has got to give here and again, I am not sure what it will take for everyone to be willing to make the necessary changes. Unions are not necessary in 2010 for non manufacturing jobs. There are no inherent safety and health issues working in town hall or in one of the public schools. Salaries should be based on MERIT, not tenure or some predetermined pay scale. Teachers and other town employees that don't perform well need to be fired, not reassigned to other schools or departments.
Between the IRS and the teachers unions, we are being royally ripped off and screwed. My property taxes have almost doubled in 15 years. We pay dearly for what we get and it is being squandered in ways in need not be. It feels like everyone has their hand in your pocket and you don't get a say as to how they spend what they confiscate from you.
Fear not, although it might feel that way, we are not helpless here. We can all vote; we can tell our governments, both local and federal what we want and what we don't want by who we elect. Scott Brown's election was no accident here. We all wanted the "Old Boys" network in Washington to be put on notice. Disregard our wishes at your own peril. We sent you there-both in Franklin and to Washington, to do what we want you to do. If you don't do it, we will remove you and send someone who will. Period.
In that vein, I hope the basic fundamentals of the Tea Party Movement create a giant ripple for change across the USA -change to get our priorities back on track to where we hope our country will be in 10 years, in 50 years. Change so our children can grow up and live in a country we recognize.
On that note, I step down from my soap box :-)
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Hell That is the Massachusetts RMV
The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles did not get it's awful reputation undeservedly. I spent a lot more time than I planned on at the RMV in Milford, MA today and was fuming watching those morons "working."
The interesting thing about the situation is that things are more automated now; you take a number....and it has a corresponding letter depending on what you need to have done there. For example, Auto registrations are letter A and your number, Obtaining Driver's Licenses are B and you number, and so on all the way to letter H. I had no idea that there are that many other things you can do there, but so be it. Also, everything they do is computerized, thus, in theory, it should make it all easier and faster. HA!
I drew a number..it was A192. At the time I walked through the door, they were serving A181. Ok, so how long could it take to get through 10 numbers?
On my ticket it estimated a 24 minute wait time. That estimate is based on how long the average transaction takes with a NORMAL employee at the desk. They didn't take into account that the RMV employs the laziest, least intelligent, and least motivated human beings on the planet, at least they do in this state. I didn't take into account that there were also letters B-H that were being served in an order that I can only imagine is a very complex algorithm. I could not figure out how C380 went before A 182 or B256. It is a mystery. It is very possible that the workers there just choose a letter at random in order for the patrons that are waiting patiently not to figure out the system and stage a revolt. So I waited and observed. I was there at 11:30AM so each of the 9 windows that were available opened and closed during that time. They were rotating lunch shifts. Interesting. They know it is busiest at lunch, yet they allow 1/2 of the employees to take their lunch at that time. That is not helpful nor is it expedient. They could have lunch at 11 and then maybe at 1:30. But no, they have to close 3 windows at 12 noon!
The part that was really irritating was that when an employee appeared at a previously closed window, they were always chatting with the next closest employee, straightening out their work area, walking around aimlessly, etc. It took each of the suddenly appearing employees at least 10 minutes to start serving customers! That is infuriating. I am mostly a calm person, not prone to violence or sudden outbursts. But a waiting room full of frustrated people was watching those employees goof off and make us wait for them to finish socializing ; they would come over to their counter, look off into space for a few seconds and then leave for 5 minutes into some back room. Can anyone remember where the term "going postal" came from? If this isn't a potential scene of someone "going postal," I don't know what is.
Then there was the lady from India that decided she didn't need to take a number like the other 50 of us that were waiting and watching those counters like hawks. She strolled in with her daughter and granddaughter, skipped by the ticket giver, barely spoke English. She floated from counter to counter trying to get someone to wait on her. WAS SHE FOR REAL? Were we on Candid Camera? We have all been sitting here and she thinks she can just stroll in and get waited on because her English is not so good? Guess what she was there for? To get her driver's license photo. She has a driver's license in the good old USA and can barely speak English! How can she read the road signs? This was aggravating in and of itself. But the fact that eventually she did get someone to wait on her was even more so. You get to the point where you just want to throttle those workers. I bet if someone took my blood pressure at the RMV it would have been high, and mine is usually very, very low.
So, as my "expected wait time" of 24 minutes came, went, doubled, and kept going, I waited and waited. My transaction should have taken about 30 seconds. When my number was finally called, I went over to counter #7 and presented my registration. ( I would have done it all on line and avoided this hell, but the state required an insurance stamp, since our car insurance renews during the same month that the registration renews. Drat!) I had the registration, stamped by my insurance agent, and I also had my insurance card with me. I handed her the form and expected a few seconds of typing and then she would print me what I needed and hand me the date sticker. Well, she looked at me, sort of, I was not sure if she was looking at me or by me. She had a really odd look about her. It didn't look like anyone was home upstairs, AT ALL. Oh great, I was thinking, she will probably screw me over royally and I will never know unless I get pulled over by the police and they look up this registration.
She fiddled with her monitor for about 30 seconds. Didn't you work this out during your 10 minute pre-work waste of time? Apparently not. Then she typed in the name and sat staring at the screen and the paper I had given her for about 45 seconds. How hard is it? No changes, no updates, just give me the damn sticker and let me leave this hell hole. I was getting violent, but only in my head :-)
Finally, she gave me my print out and sticker and off I went. In all, it took 1 hour and 15 minutes of my life to do what should have taken less than 5 minutes. If I could have done it online, I most definitely would have.
The reason people hate this place, the RMV, is that it deserves the awful reputation it has. The whole process of using these branches could be infinitely more efficient if the RMV workers cared at all about moving people through in a reasonable amount of time. Nobody there seemed to care at all about that. They see it every day, all day long. The waiting room is always full and that is the way it is. They were all slovenly, slow, and not particularly kind.
I am sure they get their fair share of customers that complain and get belligerent, but I think they probably deserve it a lot of the time. I saw absolutely nobody that appeared to be a manager, or a person of authority that could better direct (human) traffic and cajole the workers to speed it up. They had no motivation to work hard, they are in a state job, with state wages, benefits, holidays, etc. They do the minimum amount of work they have to do to get paid, and no more.
If there is anyone working at the Milford, MA RMV that works hard, takes pride in helping customers, and is efficient, he or she must have been on their lunch break today while I was there!
The interesting thing about the situation is that things are more automated now; you take a number....and it has a corresponding letter depending on what you need to have done there. For example, Auto registrations are letter A and your number, Obtaining Driver's Licenses are B and you number, and so on all the way to letter H. I had no idea that there are that many other things you can do there, but so be it. Also, everything they do is computerized, thus, in theory, it should make it all easier and faster. HA!
I drew a number..it was A192. At the time I walked through the door, they were serving A181. Ok, so how long could it take to get through 10 numbers?
On my ticket it estimated a 24 minute wait time. That estimate is based on how long the average transaction takes with a NORMAL employee at the desk. They didn't take into account that the RMV employs the laziest, least intelligent, and least motivated human beings on the planet, at least they do in this state. I didn't take into account that there were also letters B-H that were being served in an order that I can only imagine is a very complex algorithm. I could not figure out how C380 went before A 182 or B256. It is a mystery. It is very possible that the workers there just choose a letter at random in order for the patrons that are waiting patiently not to figure out the system and stage a revolt. So I waited and observed. I was there at 11:30AM so each of the 9 windows that were available opened and closed during that time. They were rotating lunch shifts. Interesting. They know it is busiest at lunch, yet they allow 1/2 of the employees to take their lunch at that time. That is not helpful nor is it expedient. They could have lunch at 11 and then maybe at 1:30. But no, they have to close 3 windows at 12 noon!
The part that was really irritating was that when an employee appeared at a previously closed window, they were always chatting with the next closest employee, straightening out their work area, walking around aimlessly, etc. It took each of the suddenly appearing employees at least 10 minutes to start serving customers! That is infuriating. I am mostly a calm person, not prone to violence or sudden outbursts. But a waiting room full of frustrated people was watching those employees goof off and make us wait for them to finish socializing ; they would come over to their counter, look off into space for a few seconds and then leave for 5 minutes into some back room. Can anyone remember where the term "going postal" came from? If this isn't a potential scene of someone "going postal," I don't know what is.
Then there was the lady from India that decided she didn't need to take a number like the other 50 of us that were waiting and watching those counters like hawks. She strolled in with her daughter and granddaughter, skipped by the ticket giver, barely spoke English. She floated from counter to counter trying to get someone to wait on her. WAS SHE FOR REAL? Were we on Candid Camera? We have all been sitting here and she thinks she can just stroll in and get waited on because her English is not so good? Guess what she was there for? To get her driver's license photo. She has a driver's license in the good old USA and can barely speak English! How can she read the road signs? This was aggravating in and of itself. But the fact that eventually she did get someone to wait on her was even more so. You get to the point where you just want to throttle those workers. I bet if someone took my blood pressure at the RMV it would have been high, and mine is usually very, very low.
So, as my "expected wait time" of 24 minutes came, went, doubled, and kept going, I waited and waited. My transaction should have taken about 30 seconds. When my number was finally called, I went over to counter #7 and presented my registration. ( I would have done it all on line and avoided this hell, but the state required an insurance stamp, since our car insurance renews during the same month that the registration renews. Drat!) I had the registration, stamped by my insurance agent, and I also had my insurance card with me. I handed her the form and expected a few seconds of typing and then she would print me what I needed and hand me the date sticker. Well, she looked at me, sort of, I was not sure if she was looking at me or by me. She had a really odd look about her. It didn't look like anyone was home upstairs, AT ALL. Oh great, I was thinking, she will probably screw me over royally and I will never know unless I get pulled over by the police and they look up this registration.
She fiddled with her monitor for about 30 seconds. Didn't you work this out during your 10 minute pre-work waste of time? Apparently not. Then she typed in the name and sat staring at the screen and the paper I had given her for about 45 seconds. How hard is it? No changes, no updates, just give me the damn sticker and let me leave this hell hole. I was getting violent, but only in my head :-)
Finally, she gave me my print out and sticker and off I went. In all, it took 1 hour and 15 minutes of my life to do what should have taken less than 5 minutes. If I could have done it online, I most definitely would have.
The reason people hate this place, the RMV, is that it deserves the awful reputation it has. The whole process of using these branches could be infinitely more efficient if the RMV workers cared at all about moving people through in a reasonable amount of time. Nobody there seemed to care at all about that. They see it every day, all day long. The waiting room is always full and that is the way it is. They were all slovenly, slow, and not particularly kind.
I am sure they get their fair share of customers that complain and get belligerent, but I think they probably deserve it a lot of the time. I saw absolutely nobody that appeared to be a manager, or a person of authority that could better direct (human) traffic and cajole the workers to speed it up. They had no motivation to work hard, they are in a state job, with state wages, benefits, holidays, etc. They do the minimum amount of work they have to do to get paid, and no more.
If there is anyone working at the Milford, MA RMV that works hard, takes pride in helping customers, and is efficient, he or she must have been on their lunch break today while I was there!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tick-ing Me Off
Ticks are a total and complete waste of nature. They are here for no other purpose other than to make us, our pets, and the little creatures that wander the woods miserable for 8-9 months of the year. They are parasites that suck blood to propagate and they carry and spread diseases such as Lyme Disease, Q Fever, Colorado Tick Fever, Tularemia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ehrlichiosis, and Meningoencephalitis. All of those diseases from that darned little thing! It is astounding.
I have known many people that have been afflicted with both Lyme disease and even a couple that have suffered from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Lyme disease is very prevalent in New England; most pets have been exposed to it at least once. There is a vaccine they can and should get to avoid developing the symptoms of the disease. Lyme is a wily disease. It manifests itself in so many different ways that it is hardly ever suspected or detected on the first trip to the doctor. It usually takes many other blood tests coming back negative for a doctor to suspect Lyme Disease, and even then the Lyme testing is not 100% accurate, and is sometimes hard to interpret.
Logic would say we are SO big and a tick is So small that we should have the advantage over them, hands down. They have a secret weapon though. They have stealth on their side. They can attach to your head, or your back or your private regions where they can't be easily seen and can spend enough time sucking blood from you and depositing Lyme disease bacteria) or other diseases) before you detect their presence. I have had a few ticks attached to me and let me just say, it was NOT PLEASANT any of the times. I am a person who is slightly bug phobic, so having one stuck to me is a little scarier than having something just crawling on you. A flick to remove a bug is much less traumatic that having to have someone else pull half of your skin off to get all of the tick with it!
My Scottie, Lily, gets ticks on her face every Spring and Fall. She is a terrier and thus likes to use her snout to snuffle along the ground and in the leaves. The ticks LOVE the leaves and grass and they just hop onto her as soon as she sniffs nearby. We do use a chemical spot tick medication (Advantix) on her but for some reason, they still manage to attach themselves to her anyway and then we have to freak her out by getting them off of her.
As far as I can see there are no positives coming from these dastardly scoundrels. All they want is our blood and they leave us nothing good in return. At least bees give us honey and pollinate the flowers. They have usefulness.
I am unsure if there is any natural predator of the tick, I would have to consult my cousin Gerald, the bug expert, on that. It doesn't seem to be so; it seems that there are more and more ticks every year, and more and more cases of Lyme disease.
I said to someone the other day, we usually get one or two glorious days of Spring where nobody else seems to notice it's arrival. Then as soon as the rest of the insect world wakes up and thinks "hey, the weather is nice, Cowabunga," they all start to come out and annoy us.
It's like a parade of demons. Here come the black flies, and the mosquitoes. Followed quickly by the ticks and midges. Then, as soon as we get one really warm day, the carpenter ants start their campaign of harassment. Once the weather starts to stay warm, my nemesis, the Scarlet Lily Beetle, starts to eat all the leaves off of my Asiatic Lilies, and the grubs start to make their appearance in a back corner of the lawn. In certain parts of the country and for certain time periods, locusts and gypsy moth caterpillars appear and wreak havoc. I know I have painted a disgusting picture of bugs, and creepy crawlies. Sorry about that. I am getting itchy just thinking about all of them, and yet I am planning my strategy as to how to deal with each of them in the most effective way. I guess I could live in a bubble!
In summary, we have to learn to take the good-nice weather, no jackets required, spending time outside, fun family time- with the bad-bites, stings, dead plants, dead lawns, dry rot. Ticks happen to be one of the most annoying and hazardous things to share our space in the nice weather months.
Beware and please use your bug juice when you go out in the woods! Have someone check you over if you have been hiking or deep in the wooded areas. Wear long sleeves and socks if you can. Maybe someone will introduce a predator that will wipe these darned things out for good one day. We can only hope!
I have known many people that have been afflicted with both Lyme disease and even a couple that have suffered from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Lyme disease is very prevalent in New England; most pets have been exposed to it at least once. There is a vaccine they can and should get to avoid developing the symptoms of the disease. Lyme is a wily disease. It manifests itself in so many different ways that it is hardly ever suspected or detected on the first trip to the doctor. It usually takes many other blood tests coming back negative for a doctor to suspect Lyme Disease, and even then the Lyme testing is not 100% accurate, and is sometimes hard to interpret.
Logic would say we are SO big and a tick is So small that we should have the advantage over them, hands down. They have a secret weapon though. They have stealth on their side. They can attach to your head, or your back or your private regions where they can't be easily seen and can spend enough time sucking blood from you and depositing Lyme disease bacteria) or other diseases) before you detect their presence. I have had a few ticks attached to me and let me just say, it was NOT PLEASANT any of the times. I am a person who is slightly bug phobic, so having one stuck to me is a little scarier than having something just crawling on you. A flick to remove a bug is much less traumatic that having to have someone else pull half of your skin off to get all of the tick with it!
My Scottie, Lily, gets ticks on her face every Spring and Fall. She is a terrier and thus likes to use her snout to snuffle along the ground and in the leaves. The ticks LOVE the leaves and grass and they just hop onto her as soon as she sniffs nearby. We do use a chemical spot tick medication (Advantix) on her but for some reason, they still manage to attach themselves to her anyway and then we have to freak her out by getting them off of her.
As far as I can see there are no positives coming from these dastardly scoundrels. All they want is our blood and they leave us nothing good in return. At least bees give us honey and pollinate the flowers. They have usefulness.
I am unsure if there is any natural predator of the tick, I would have to consult my cousin Gerald, the bug expert, on that. It doesn't seem to be so; it seems that there are more and more ticks every year, and more and more cases of Lyme disease.
I said to someone the other day, we usually get one or two glorious days of Spring where nobody else seems to notice it's arrival. Then as soon as the rest of the insect world wakes up and thinks "hey, the weather is nice, Cowabunga," they all start to come out and annoy us.
It's like a parade of demons. Here come the black flies, and the mosquitoes. Followed quickly by the ticks and midges. Then, as soon as we get one really warm day, the carpenter ants start their campaign of harassment. Once the weather starts to stay warm, my nemesis, the Scarlet Lily Beetle, starts to eat all the leaves off of my Asiatic Lilies, and the grubs start to make their appearance in a back corner of the lawn. In certain parts of the country and for certain time periods, locusts and gypsy moth caterpillars appear and wreak havoc. I know I have painted a disgusting picture of bugs, and creepy crawlies. Sorry about that. I am getting itchy just thinking about all of them, and yet I am planning my strategy as to how to deal with each of them in the most effective way. I guess I could live in a bubble!
In summary, we have to learn to take the good-nice weather, no jackets required, spending time outside, fun family time- with the bad-bites, stings, dead plants, dead lawns, dry rot. Ticks happen to be one of the most annoying and hazardous things to share our space in the nice weather months.
Beware and please use your bug juice when you go out in the woods! Have someone check you over if you have been hiking or deep in the wooded areas. Wear long sleeves and socks if you can. Maybe someone will introduce a predator that will wipe these darned things out for good one day. We can only hope!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
A Snowball in April
A household project is never what it starts out to be. It starts out to be I need to buy a new "x" and before you know it you also need to paint, re carpet and buy all sorts of things to compliment the new "x." The new "x" will look so much better in new surroundings, but it ends up being a far costlier project than you had planned on, takes much longer than you wanted it to; but you do end up with a far better result than you anticipated.
This happened when we decided a couple of years ago to break down and buy a flat screen TV. The old TV was a 36 inch tube TV set and was inside a large armoire unit that would not work for a flat screen TV. That unit had to be relegated to the opposite corner of the room to be used as a audio, video, and stemware storage unit. But what could we put the new TV on? It had to be placed in the corner of the room. so we needed a corner unit. We ended up buying a corner unit for the TV to stand on but then that corner looked unbalanced with the other corner of the room that had a 72"tall armoire in it. So, my husband built a 2 shelf unit to go over the new TV to balance the room out. Suddenly, the paint, which had been a deep red, started to look shabby. The next thing you know, we are dragging all the furniture, both old and new, out of the room so we can paint these walls and cathedral ceiling and cover deep red with a robin's egg blue. That was a big project. When done, we replaced the carpet, since it was old and no longer went with the wall color. What started out to cost about $2500 ended up costing closer to $4,000. It could go higher, though because we just purchased new end tables and now the sofa and chairs are starting to look old and worn. Stay tuned to that project!
Enter Spring. Our house has a lovely 12 X 16 deck off of the family room that we use only to grill on. The reason we do not eat out there or spend any time out there is that it is way too hot most of the day. The sun comes around the back of the house shortly after noon and stays there until sundown. We do have a table, chairs and an umbrella, but it is hardly ever used. We have considered various options to allow us to use the deck: buy and awning--I don't like the looks of those; build a pergola--too much work, and sun still shines through; build a screened porch--way too much money and if I did that I would probably make it bigger so even more money.
Needless to say, this has left us with few options so we have not done anything.
Until.....last week, I was shopping at BJ's Wholesale Club and noticed a freestanding gazebo (I think it looks more like a cabana, but they called it a gazebo) that has 4 metal posts in the corners and fabric that can be pulled across for privacy and screening that can be used to filter out bugs. It has a pagoda shaped top and a hook inside for a light. Hmmmmmm....this got me thinking. We could set this up right on our deck. The gazebo is 10 X 12 so we still have 4 feet for the grill, we can sit out there, block out the sun, the bugs, and it cost slightly less than $500. Even if it lasts us for 5 years, it seemed like a pretty good thing to try and see if we can actually get some use out of our deck this spring and summer. Sold. So we bought the gazebo.
On the way home from BJ's however, the wheels started turning in my head. Our deck furniture is 15 years old, and pretty decrepit. It needs to be tossed. A nice new set of furniture would go so well with the new gazebo. We will need a light to light it up so we can sit there at night. My husband plans to crawl under the deck to staple some screening under the decking so the bugs can't get us from below; and while we are at it, the grill is getting kind of beat up from over use...a new grill would top it off just fine!! Ka-ching, Ka-ching, Ka-ching (cash register sounds from 1975) This is a total snowball project. It started as a way for us to use our deck and sit out there. Now we have to sit out there in style. Hopefully we won't decide we need to run cable out there for another flat screen TV.
This happened with our basement about 6 years. It started with us buying a $300 air hockey table to be used in the unfinished basement. It ended $8,000 later after 1/2 the basement was finished with walls, carpet, furniture, a TV, a stereo and the air hockey table. This snowball thing is a pattern with us.
I suspect this snowballing is a pattern with a lot of people. It is nice to change up your living space every now and then--it makes it feel new. It is a pattern that is keeping furniture stores, paint and home improvement stores, and flooring contractors in business.
So as far as the economy goes, snowballing projects are a win win for all!!
This happened when we decided a couple of years ago to break down and buy a flat screen TV. The old TV was a 36 inch tube TV set and was inside a large armoire unit that would not work for a flat screen TV. That unit had to be relegated to the opposite corner of the room to be used as a audio, video, and stemware storage unit. But what could we put the new TV on? It had to be placed in the corner of the room. so we needed a corner unit. We ended up buying a corner unit for the TV to stand on but then that corner looked unbalanced with the other corner of the room that had a 72"tall armoire in it. So, my husband built a 2 shelf unit to go over the new TV to balance the room out. Suddenly, the paint, which had been a deep red, started to look shabby. The next thing you know, we are dragging all the furniture, both old and new, out of the room so we can paint these walls and cathedral ceiling and cover deep red with a robin's egg blue. That was a big project. When done, we replaced the carpet, since it was old and no longer went with the wall color. What started out to cost about $2500 ended up costing closer to $4,000. It could go higher, though because we just purchased new end tables and now the sofa and chairs are starting to look old and worn. Stay tuned to that project!
Enter Spring. Our house has a lovely 12 X 16 deck off of the family room that we use only to grill on. The reason we do not eat out there or spend any time out there is that it is way too hot most of the day. The sun comes around the back of the house shortly after noon and stays there until sundown. We do have a table, chairs and an umbrella, but it is hardly ever used. We have considered various options to allow us to use the deck: buy and awning--I don't like the looks of those; build a pergola--too much work, and sun still shines through; build a screened porch--way too much money and if I did that I would probably make it bigger so even more money.
Needless to say, this has left us with few options so we have not done anything.
Until.....last week, I was shopping at BJ's Wholesale Club and noticed a freestanding gazebo (I think it looks more like a cabana, but they called it a gazebo) that has 4 metal posts in the corners and fabric that can be pulled across for privacy and screening that can be used to filter out bugs. It has a pagoda shaped top and a hook inside for a light. Hmmmmmm....this got me thinking. We could set this up right on our deck. The gazebo is 10 X 12 so we still have 4 feet for the grill, we can sit out there, block out the sun, the bugs, and it cost slightly less than $500. Even if it lasts us for 5 years, it seemed like a pretty good thing to try and see if we can actually get some use out of our deck this spring and summer. Sold. So we bought the gazebo.
On the way home from BJ's however, the wheels started turning in my head. Our deck furniture is 15 years old, and pretty decrepit. It needs to be tossed. A nice new set of furniture would go so well with the new gazebo. We will need a light to light it up so we can sit there at night. My husband plans to crawl under the deck to staple some screening under the decking so the bugs can't get us from below; and while we are at it, the grill is getting kind of beat up from over use...a new grill would top it off just fine!! Ka-ching, Ka-ching, Ka-ching (cash register sounds from 1975) This is a total snowball project. It started as a way for us to use our deck and sit out there. Now we have to sit out there in style. Hopefully we won't decide we need to run cable out there for another flat screen TV.
This happened with our basement about 6 years. It started with us buying a $300 air hockey table to be used in the unfinished basement. It ended $8,000 later after 1/2 the basement was finished with walls, carpet, furniture, a TV, a stereo and the air hockey table. This snowball thing is a pattern with us.
I suspect this snowballing is a pattern with a lot of people. It is nice to change up your living space every now and then--it makes it feel new. It is a pattern that is keeping furniture stores, paint and home improvement stores, and flooring contractors in business.
So as far as the economy goes, snowballing projects are a win win for all!!
Monday, April 12, 2010
My Pet Peeve Hall of Infamy
I previously blogged about parenting in March. The gist of that blog was that you need to parent and not try so hard to be your child's best buddy. That is still my position. I would like to add to that theorem with this offshoot. You need to parent, period.
One of my biggest pet peeves is parents that pay no attention to what their toddlers are doing, or let the toddlers do whatever they want, regardless of the dangerousness of their activities. This one is in my Pet Peeve Hall of Infamy: when I see a toddler standing up in the back of a shopping cart, or even worse, standing on the seat of a shopping cart, I want to throttle that parent or caregiver. I saw that very thing today and even worse, the caregiver of this little toddler was nowhere in sight. What is wrong with these people? Is it laziness or stupidity? I can't think of a third reason someone would walk away from their toddler standing up and leaning on the side of the shopping cart. AAARRRRGGGGHHHH. Not only do these toddlers have the chance of falling out of the cart, they also have the chance of the cart falling on them.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, falls from shopping carts are among the leading causes of head injuries in children 5 and under in the U.S. every year, and they occur most often when the child stands either in the seat or cart basket. Approximately 17,300 U.S. children are treated in the ER for injuries suffered while falling from a shopping cart. These injuries are totally preventable.
There are other examples of this laissez faire parenting all around us. We all see kids climbing on things in the mall, things that are not meant to be climbed on, plantings, walls, fountains, furniture, banisters,etc. It is almost like parents are taking a monkey to the mall with them. There are designated places for children to play, and that is where they can climb and explore in relative safety. For the most part, that is what playgrounds are for too(although there are some playgrounds that are decidedly unsafe). I never understood how and why people let their kids do whatever they feel like doing and don't correct the behavior to avoid disaster. Emergency rooms are filled with kids whose parents didn't feel like parenting that day. Just ask the doctors that work there!
When the Razor Scooter became popular about 12 years ago, there was a sudden increase in the number of kids coming to the ER with wrist fractures, cuts, scrapes, head bumps. The recommendation was for Razor Scooter riders to use helmets, knee pads, and elbow pads to help prevent injuries when falls occurred. Many may have started out using all of the safety equipment, but before long, the culture of "too cool for a helmet" did away with most of the protective gear for the kids old enough to squabble. Almost any day, you could drive through a suburban neighborhood and see any number of kids whizzing around the streets on their Razor Scooters with no helmets and no other protection.
When I was 12, I suffered a severe bike accident. I fell over the handlebars, and broke both of my arms, had stitches in my elbow, my knee was cut open with road rash and I got a slight concussion. If I had a helmet in those days, I would have at least avoided the concussion.
I realize that kids are going to fight parents on the issue of safety equipment, always. You almost never see older kids wearing helmets while riding bikes unless they have parents that insist on it. And they SHOULD insist on it. There are so many reasons a helmet can save your life and/or the quality of your life. Head injuries are common in bike accidents.
It is hard work to keep nagging your kids about issues like this. There are so many other things to fight about, I know. Believe me. The seat belt issue is another one. This is non negotiable in my house. It never has been negotiable. My kids and anyone that rides in my car wears a seat belt, end of discussion. If there are too many people for the seat belts I have, then we let someone out to ride in a different car. It has been proven over and over again, that seat belts save lives. If you raise a child to always use a seat belt, chances are they will automatically use one as an adult. If on the other hand, you send mixed messages on use of safety equipment, there is a greater chance that your child will think using safety equipment is optional.
Nobody ever leaves their driveway in their car thinking they are going to have a life or death car accident that day. We all assume that we will arrive at our destination unharmed and return home the same way. But we all also know that sh**happens everyday. You never know when some other driver not paying attention is going to plow into you or run you off the road and if you are seat belted in, you have a much better chance of returning home in one piece. So does that toddler in that shopping cart. They have a much better chance of returning home uninjured if they stay belted in and/or seated in the cart at all times.
I have only scratched the surface of my Pet Peeve Hall of Infamy,but a toddler standing in the shopping cart is near the top of the list. There is no sane reason for it, yet you see it everywhere you go. Wise up parents, protect your children, it is your job.
One of my biggest pet peeves is parents that pay no attention to what their toddlers are doing, or let the toddlers do whatever they want, regardless of the dangerousness of their activities. This one is in my Pet Peeve Hall of Infamy: when I see a toddler standing up in the back of a shopping cart, or even worse, standing on the seat of a shopping cart, I want to throttle that parent or caregiver. I saw that very thing today and even worse, the caregiver of this little toddler was nowhere in sight. What is wrong with these people? Is it laziness or stupidity? I can't think of a third reason someone would walk away from their toddler standing up and leaning on the side of the shopping cart. AAARRRRGGGGHHHH. Not only do these toddlers have the chance of falling out of the cart, they also have the chance of the cart falling on them.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, falls from shopping carts are among the leading causes of head injuries in children 5 and under in the U.S. every year, and they occur most often when the child stands either in the seat or cart basket. Approximately 17,300 U.S. children are treated in the ER for injuries suffered while falling from a shopping cart. These injuries are totally preventable.
There are other examples of this laissez faire parenting all around us. We all see kids climbing on things in the mall, things that are not meant to be climbed on, plantings, walls, fountains, furniture, banisters,etc. It is almost like parents are taking a monkey to the mall with them. There are designated places for children to play, and that is where they can climb and explore in relative safety. For the most part, that is what playgrounds are for too(although there are some playgrounds that are decidedly unsafe). I never understood how and why people let their kids do whatever they feel like doing and don't correct the behavior to avoid disaster. Emergency rooms are filled with kids whose parents didn't feel like parenting that day. Just ask the doctors that work there!
When the Razor Scooter became popular about 12 years ago, there was a sudden increase in the number of kids coming to the ER with wrist fractures, cuts, scrapes, head bumps. The recommendation was for Razor Scooter riders to use helmets, knee pads, and elbow pads to help prevent injuries when falls occurred. Many may have started out using all of the safety equipment, but before long, the culture of "too cool for a helmet" did away with most of the protective gear for the kids old enough to squabble. Almost any day, you could drive through a suburban neighborhood and see any number of kids whizzing around the streets on their Razor Scooters with no helmets and no other protection.
When I was 12, I suffered a severe bike accident. I fell over the handlebars, and broke both of my arms, had stitches in my elbow, my knee was cut open with road rash and I got a slight concussion. If I had a helmet in those days, I would have at least avoided the concussion.
I realize that kids are going to fight parents on the issue of safety equipment, always. You almost never see older kids wearing helmets while riding bikes unless they have parents that insist on it. And they SHOULD insist on it. There are so many reasons a helmet can save your life and/or the quality of your life. Head injuries are common in bike accidents.
It is hard work to keep nagging your kids about issues like this. There are so many other things to fight about, I know. Believe me. The seat belt issue is another one. This is non negotiable in my house. It never has been negotiable. My kids and anyone that rides in my car wears a seat belt, end of discussion. If there are too many people for the seat belts I have, then we let someone out to ride in a different car. It has been proven over and over again, that seat belts save lives. If you raise a child to always use a seat belt, chances are they will automatically use one as an adult. If on the other hand, you send mixed messages on use of safety equipment, there is a greater chance that your child will think using safety equipment is optional.
Nobody ever leaves their driveway in their car thinking they are going to have a life or death car accident that day. We all assume that we will arrive at our destination unharmed and return home the same way. But we all also know that sh**happens everyday. You never know when some other driver not paying attention is going to plow into you or run you off the road and if you are seat belted in, you have a much better chance of returning home in one piece. So does that toddler in that shopping cart. They have a much better chance of returning home uninjured if they stay belted in and/or seated in the cart at all times.
I have only scratched the surface of my Pet Peeve Hall of Infamy,but a toddler standing in the shopping cart is near the top of the list. There is no sane reason for it, yet you see it everywhere you go. Wise up parents, protect your children, it is your job.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Homage to Man's Best Friend
I was staring at Lily our little Scottish Terrier today and I thought of all the reasons she is an awesome part of our family. Some of you may think I am one of "those people"- a dog nut. You would be right. I have lived with dogs all of my life and I really do love dogs. They are fun and entertaining, they help with loneliness and share in your exuberance.There have only been brief periods of time when there wasn't at least one dog in my life. Those were not times I chose to be dogless. I was in college for one of those time periods and I was in a condo that didn't allow dogs during the other time period. Other than that, they are a permanent fixture in my life and I know they have made me a more caring and compassionate person.
I believe that if you have a dog, they must be treated as a member of the family or you won't get out of the relationship what you should get out of it. They have souls, they have hearts, and they love to be loved. To have a dog and to put it outside day and night is like owning property. I don't feel any dog is property, even if the law says they are. Having a family dog is almost like having another child. That is why it hurts so much when they leave us. Short of losing a human family member nothing hurts as bad as losing your beloved dog. I have been through it enough times to know that hurt, yet still, I want to always have a dog in my life even though I know it will ultimately end in this traumatic hurt.
I realize not everyone feels the way I do about dogs, but those of us that do feel this way can spot each other a mile away. We are the ones crying at the veterinarian when we get bad health news about the dog, we are the ones bragging about what our puppy did today. Other dogs even know when they can spot a dog lover. Every time I go to someones house that I have never been to, if they have dogs, their dogs seem to be drawn to me and to my family members. They know when they have found a kindred spirit.
Dogs are kinder and more forgiving than people and don't leave you for another owner. Dogs forgive your mistakes and still want to be around you when you are unhappy. Getting a puppy when my kids were young was one of the best things we could have done for them. They feel the same way about dogs as we do as a result of watching one grow up.
Give your dog a hug and kiss for me today!
The Reasons I love dogs more than I like most people:
1. They love you unconditionally
2. They are always happy to see you, even if you just left for a few minutes.
3. They are happy if you play with them for 5 minutes or 5 hours
4. They don't leave your side when you are feeling ill
5. You don't have to cook for them
6. You don't have to deal with hormonal teenager dogs
7. Their food is cheap and they don't need you to buy them clothes ( I know some people do buy clothes for their pets, but really, other than a winter coat, they don't NEED clothes)
8. They don't hold a grudge
9. They don't care if you are having a bad hair day or a feeling fat day. They still love you.
10. They can see you naked and will not laugh at you
11. They truly are man's best friend but they don't live nearly long enough.
12. They have pure souls and require little from us...a bit of food, a bit of exercise and attention and you have a friend for life.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Who's your (al-Ma)Dadi?
When will the US wise up?
Yesterday, a diplomat from Qatar on a flight that departed from Washington, DC decided he needed to smoke and did so in the first class bathroom several times while the plane was in flight. Smoking is not allowed on any domestic flight anymore and anyone that flies in the United States knows this. The illuminated signs tell you this in words and in pictures. The flight attendants remind you of this. But this dude thought he was cool and had the authority to do whatever he felt like doing because he was a diplomat!
The last time Mohammed Al-Madadi exited the bathroom, one of the other male passengers sitting near the bathroom door noticed smoke, as he had noticed each of the times this Mohammed had exited the bathroom. He asked him "why does it smell like smoke in there?" and according to news sources, the diplomat muttered that he was trying to light his shoes on fire. Supposedly this was said in a tongue in cheek way. However, he said this to the wrong fellow. YAY!! The man who he said that to was an Federal Air Marshall, one of 2 that were on this flight. Mohammed Al-Madadi was held until the flight landed in Denver where he could be investigated.
I am sorry to say that he has since been released and had gone on his merry way. You see, he has DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY!! Even though the authorities investigated the situation and found no evidence of bomb materials in his shoes, the fact that he was from a Muslim country and smoke was coming from the bathroom where he was located during much of the flight, the Air Marshalls had a good reason to be suspicious of this man. His arrogance and flagrant disregard for a Federal Regulation should have some consequences. He should at the very least have been booted back to Qatar ASAP. And if he thinks that saying what he said was humorous, he is really out of touch!
Whether the more liberal of us like to admit this, the free world is at war with radical Islam. We didn't ask for this conflict but baby, we are in it. They want to kill us, lots of us, as many of us as they can at one time. The airplane seems to be their weapon of choice over the last 9 years. They have tried and tried to get bombs and weapons aboard planes. They have buried weapons in their shoes, and in their underwear. They have brought liquids on board in water bottles. They are trying to use female suicide bombers with breast implants as a means to transport explosive liquids onto planes in order to then inject them with a catalyst and cause an explosion. They have attempted to attack people at airports. They have tried to use planes as missiles and have been somewhat successful doing that. When are people going to wake up to the fact that if we continue to obsess about political correctness, and don't do the things we need to do to keep us all safe, lots of us are going to die?
We need to profile, and we need to prevent these dirtbags from ever getting into the United States at all. If there is even the slightest doubt as to whether someone should be on a no fly list, let them stay home and not be allowed to come here. Too bad if we hurt someones feelings.
If they are already here in the US, we need to keep serious track of each and every follower of radical Islam. You want to create new government jobs, Mr. President? How about adding thousands of new intelligence agents to track all of our domestic enemies? Those are government jobs we need and those kinds of agents are in short supply. Those are government jobs we could get our heads around.
Back to the aggravating subject of Diplomatic Immunity. After a little research on the subject, I found out that this concept has been around for centuries in one form or another. We are, however, living in unprecedented times. Lots of countries have endured incidents that have featured diplomats committing crimes while out of country and being protected under the umbrella of Diplomatic Immunity. These have included but are not limited to parking and driving violations, drunk driving, vehicular homicide, drugs, murder, the list goes on and on. What is supposed to happen in these circumstances is that the mother country of the diplomat brings the offending diplomat home and deals with the crime committed abroad within their own legal system. That is what is supposed to happen. It is all up to the discretion of the diplomat's own country and that means sometimes, there will be no consequences at all and there isn't a darn thing we can do about it.
These days, we have enemies that are not operating under any particular flag...they are not an army against us, they are a secret band of terrorists from many nations with a common ideology that is diametrically opposed to ours. There is the possibility that a person posing as a "diplomat" could get in to our country and perpetrate a crime or a terrorist act and get away with it under that same immunity umbrella. That has to change or there has to be some exceptions to this rule. Diplomats are allowed to carry a "diplomatic bag or pouch" that has the same level of immunity. The bags cannot be searched or confiscated if they display the diplomatic seal on the outside. This could potentially allow someone who means us harm to transport a biological/chemical/radiological weapon into our country in a diplomatic bag and release it in a subway or crowded stadium.
When will these rules adapt to the realities of the world we now live in? The incident that occurred on that Denver bound plane yesterday may have ended with no harm, no foul but it could have gone another way just as easily. We need to keep one step ahead of those that mean to destroy our way of life. And as for Mr. Al-Madadi, I would like to see him banned from the US for life. How is that for starters?
Yesterday, a diplomat from Qatar on a flight that departed from Washington, DC decided he needed to smoke and did so in the first class bathroom several times while the plane was in flight. Smoking is not allowed on any domestic flight anymore and anyone that flies in the United States knows this. The illuminated signs tell you this in words and in pictures. The flight attendants remind you of this. But this dude thought he was cool and had the authority to do whatever he felt like doing because he was a diplomat!
The last time Mohammed Al-Madadi exited the bathroom, one of the other male passengers sitting near the bathroom door noticed smoke, as he had noticed each of the times this Mohammed had exited the bathroom. He asked him "why does it smell like smoke in there?" and according to news sources, the diplomat muttered that he was trying to light his shoes on fire. Supposedly this was said in a tongue in cheek way. However, he said this to the wrong fellow. YAY!! The man who he said that to was an Federal Air Marshall, one of 2 that were on this flight. Mohammed Al-Madadi was held until the flight landed in Denver where he could be investigated.
I am sorry to say that he has since been released and had gone on his merry way. You see, he has DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY!! Even though the authorities investigated the situation and found no evidence of bomb materials in his shoes, the fact that he was from a Muslim country and smoke was coming from the bathroom where he was located during much of the flight, the Air Marshalls had a good reason to be suspicious of this man. His arrogance and flagrant disregard for a Federal Regulation should have some consequences. He should at the very least have been booted back to Qatar ASAP. And if he thinks that saying what he said was humorous, he is really out of touch!
Whether the more liberal of us like to admit this, the free world is at war with radical Islam. We didn't ask for this conflict but baby, we are in it. They want to kill us, lots of us, as many of us as they can at one time. The airplane seems to be their weapon of choice over the last 9 years. They have tried and tried to get bombs and weapons aboard planes. They have buried weapons in their shoes, and in their underwear. They have brought liquids on board in water bottles. They are trying to use female suicide bombers with breast implants as a means to transport explosive liquids onto planes in order to then inject them with a catalyst and cause an explosion. They have attempted to attack people at airports. They have tried to use planes as missiles and have been somewhat successful doing that. When are people going to wake up to the fact that if we continue to obsess about political correctness, and don't do the things we need to do to keep us all safe, lots of us are going to die?
We need to profile, and we need to prevent these dirtbags from ever getting into the United States at all. If there is even the slightest doubt as to whether someone should be on a no fly list, let them stay home and not be allowed to come here. Too bad if we hurt someones feelings.
If they are already here in the US, we need to keep serious track of each and every follower of radical Islam. You want to create new government jobs, Mr. President? How about adding thousands of new intelligence agents to track all of our domestic enemies? Those are government jobs we need and those kinds of agents are in short supply. Those are government jobs we could get our heads around.
Back to the aggravating subject of Diplomatic Immunity. After a little research on the subject, I found out that this concept has been around for centuries in one form or another. We are, however, living in unprecedented times. Lots of countries have endured incidents that have featured diplomats committing crimes while out of country and being protected under the umbrella of Diplomatic Immunity. These have included but are not limited to parking and driving violations, drunk driving, vehicular homicide, drugs, murder, the list goes on and on. What is supposed to happen in these circumstances is that the mother country of the diplomat brings the offending diplomat home and deals with the crime committed abroad within their own legal system. That is what is supposed to happen. It is all up to the discretion of the diplomat's own country and that means sometimes, there will be no consequences at all and there isn't a darn thing we can do about it.
These days, we have enemies that are not operating under any particular flag...they are not an army against us, they are a secret band of terrorists from many nations with a common ideology that is diametrically opposed to ours. There is the possibility that a person posing as a "diplomat" could get in to our country and perpetrate a crime or a terrorist act and get away with it under that same immunity umbrella. That has to change or there has to be some exceptions to this rule. Diplomats are allowed to carry a "diplomatic bag or pouch" that has the same level of immunity. The bags cannot be searched or confiscated if they display the diplomatic seal on the outside. This could potentially allow someone who means us harm to transport a biological/chemical/radiological weapon into our country in a diplomatic bag and release it in a subway or crowded stadium.
When will these rules adapt to the realities of the world we now live in? The incident that occurred on that Denver bound plane yesterday may have ended with no harm, no foul but it could have gone another way just as easily. We need to keep one step ahead of those that mean to destroy our way of life. And as for Mr. Al-Madadi, I would like to see him banned from the US for life. How is that for starters?
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