It was the Best of Times..........

It was the best of times ,it was the wost of times. This was another name for my years at a Catholic school.St.Paul's.

This will be an ongoing story about my years in the blue uniform and under the instruction of the Catholic Church and a wonderful group of Nuns.

We went to Confession at least once a week on Fridays or was it every two weeks?  Sorry but I just can't remember.  It was done during school hours so everyone had to participate. If you are not Catholic ,Confession is the rite that you used to confess your sins in front of a priest and ask for forgiveness from God. The priest gave you council and a list of prayers to say as penance. It was done in a small cubicle so the priest could not see your face.

Our teachers would prepare us every week by listing kinds of sins that most young children would be tempted to commit. I was a good son and caused my parents very little trouble. I did have a hard time some weeks trying to think of more than one or two sins I had committed. I don't know what other students did but I usually made a list of small sins and confessed to them. I did not commit most of them but it seemed safer to confess to a moderate list instead of acting like a saint in the confessional.

My  list of sins was fairly consistent. I would confess to sins like lying to my parents,  using bad language, and a few others. I always ended with confessing that I abused myself 10 times a week. I was not sure what that meant but it sounded good.  I always changed my voice in case the priest would recognize me. I copied the voice of Alfalfa from the Little Rascals on TV.

Because we were in a Catholic school we had no sex education.  I had no idea that self abuse was masturbation or the fact that almost everyone else did not consider it a sin but normal behavior.

In the 7th. grade a nurse gave our class a talk where I was able to connect self abuse and masturbation as the same thing. You must remember I was not always the sharpest tack in the box.

When I put two and two together I thought " Holy crap Gary you have confessed to masturbation hundreds of times to the priest.  He must think you were a little pervert."  Then I remembered my Alfalfa voice and relaxed. Alfalfa was the perv.

Later, as I grew I never confessed to any sexual act or dalliance. I figured I had already confessed to far too many sins I did not commit. That is why I have always been a big believer and supporter in Sex Education in the schools. Children should never grow up ignorant and always be armed with the truth and facts on every subject.

People think the founding fathers wrote a perfect document. They did not

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. This is the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. One sentence that has caused so much controversy over the years. I would like to use a little common sense in a very small post today.

People think the founding fathers wrote a perfect document. They did not.The Cinstitution did not allow anyone other than men with land the right to vote. Women were not allowed the right to vote. People of color were not granted freedom from slavery. They were not even counted as a full human being for the purpose of representation. Citizens were not even allowed to vote for their own Senators. The office was often sold to the highest bidder.

The one thing they did right,some may even say the genius of the document,was the ability to change it in order to make it relevant to the times as the country grew. By doing this the Founders were trying to write a Constitution whose rights were not intended to be absolute.In fact,many of the mistakes in Article one were corrected with Amendments 11 through 27.

Any person with half a brain must admit that these Founding fathers could not have envisioned the kind of weapons we would develop today. Any person with half a brain must see that by closing gun show loopholes and stopping the sale of assault riffles or guns with clips tat hold 40-50 shells is not infringing on a citizens right to bear arms .  Could we all agree that some steps need to be taken since 50% of all guns are sold without a background check. Common sense gun laws are even an issue supported by a majority of NRA members.

When the hell will we wake up and stop this madness. President Obama must grow a spine and do something. The country is behind him. At least the sane ones are.

Wake up Dummies !

As I crawled on my knees in the dust of our attic I saw the old brown looking suitcase in the back corner.  I reached for the handle and pulled it closer to me. I brushed the dust and dirt of many years of non use and slowly flipped the latches to the open position.  As I lifted the lid I remembered the childhood toy hidden inside.  It was an old puppet of a man dressed in a suit with a wooden face . As I placed my hand inside the back he opened his mouth and screamed at me "  Wake up Dummy"

As he continued to speak I started to listen to the words. Social Security and Medicare are not in trouble. Without going into details he said that Social Security was solvent and running a surplus with only a 1% administration cost.  Medicare problems could be fixed by controlling the high cost of care ,drugs,and increasing the FICA cap from $106,000.00 to a million.

He explained to me how the lower middle class and the working poor relied on these programs to live out their years with some security and dignity. These people did not invest in Wall Street. Wall Street ,on the other hand, had greedy eyes on that money and wanted control of all of it. It was as simple as that. The Republican party had always hated these programs since many of the wealthy did not need them and resented having to support them with their money.  All they had to do was to scare the public with debt talks and slowly burden these programs until they just fell from their own weight. "Brilliant "he said. When will you dummies wake up?

Walmart Sucks !

Walmart today will throw a few bones to shoppers with some low prices than go back to normal. Walmart is a Food Stamp job employer ... Just remember, most of the Walmart employees are probably on food stamps and paid for by you, the tax payer... You are indirectly giving Walmart money ... So, good luck their low prices .... and to al my friends that think Walmart employees are mobile and can quit and move any time they want I would like to say to them; " you are truly lacking in life experiences and the plight of the American worker through out history"." Some are old,others sick some lack ducation,and still others are alone with no family support". Not everyoe can get a govenment job that offers support,health care , and benifits". I ask for compasson and support for these workers. They work hard and deserve a future. If you have a good job be thankful and try not to judge others. These people are only trying to make a better life. I have hd 17 different jobs in my life and the unskiled ones were by far the hardest.

One Courageous Walmart Worker's Strike Story

www.huffingtonpost.com

There was an employee walkout at a Walmart Supercenter in St. Cloud, Fla., on Wednesday morning, but even if you were shopping there when it happened you probably would have missed it. The walkout included just one worker -- Vanessa Ferreira, age 59.

 

 

 

My Favotite Football Teams and Why

I always comment on Facebook each week about my favorite football team and if they won or lost.  I thought it would be fun to explain why they are my favorite teams.

Kent is my Number one team because it is the Alma mater of me my wife and my daughter. The team is 10-1 this season and will be going to a bowl game for the first time since 1972 when Gary Andres ,Barbara Brooks and Jack Lambert were students there.

I like Youngstown State. This is the school my son received his engineering degrees from. They also gave him a scholarship that helped pay a good part of his expenses. They also have won four division 1A national titles.

Third I like Mount Union of Alliance Ohio.  The Purple Raiders have won 10 division titles and they are located 10 miles from my house.

My fourth favorite team to follow is The Ohio State. They are the biggest college in the state and everyone follows them . I love their games against Michigan every year. I also like the history their program has.

My fifth favorite football team is the University of Notre Dame. I is hard not to attend a Catholic school and not be a fan of the fighting Irish. Their history also attracts my loyalty. The Gipper ,Rudy, and Knute Rockne and his famous record.

When teams play that I am not a fan of I usually pull for the state school not the private one. An example of this would be the UCLA game against USC. I would pull for UCLA.

There is one team I do not like and that is the University of Alabama.  When I left basic training in Texas I took a bus ride to Biloxi Mississippi. I was shocked to still see people of color picking cotton in the fields. This was 1966 for cripes sake. It was explained to me that they were sharecroppers. While stationed in Mississippi I took many weekend trips to Alabama and Dolphin Island.  I did not like seeing Rebel flags everywhere.

I became aware of the University of Alabama watching the news while in high school. One event really turned my stomach.

In a vain attempt to halt desegregation  by the enrollment of black students Vivian Malone and James Hood, he ,Governor Wallace,stood in front of Foster Auditorium  at the University of Alabama, on June 11, 1963. This became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door". After being confronted by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbachh, and the Alabama Army National Guard, Wallace stepped aside. What many don't know he did this a couple more times at other state schools.  The picture of these two students ,with books in arms, being yelled,spit upon and threatened will stay with me forever.

One would think that things have changed over the years. To some extent they have. A recent poll though said that 42% of all Republicans would favor secession from the Union makes me wonder.  Since Alabama is a very red state that is a lot of people. I believe that without federal laws and oversight things would slowly return to Jim Crow era.

A proud American !

I have kept my mouth shut during the elections and just watched the process unfold. I did this because I was tired and felt adding my two cents to the din was just a waste of time .

I am also a four year veteran but I never really paraded it around .  This is the first Veterans Day that I posted my self in uniform. I generally never fly the flag except for holidays. I usually try and use civil language when I talk and write. I do this because there is a very large part of my being and behavior that is conservative. That is about to change in this post.

I just finished listening to the Dan Rivers show on my radio and the conversation centered around the real possibility of states using secession from the Union as a weapon against President Obama.  This was the final straw my friends. I have taken as much shit as a human can stomach.

I sat by for eight years when George Bush was President. I knew a lot about the history of the Mid East and knew that the policy of the United States was to use Iraq as a buffer between the Suni Muslims and the Shiites from Iran. Saddam had control of his largely Shiite population and kept them from joining the forces of Iran. I knew this policy of containment was very delicate and an invasion of Iraq was a bad idea. This was exactly what Osama Bin Laden wanted. Still we did attack and all hell broke lose.

I kept my mouth shut and just went about my business.  Then President Obama was elected and the shit started falling. They attacked his church,his place of birth,his loyality,and even his citizenship and said he had secret Communist plans for America.

Then the poor man made a big mistake. He passed a Health Care Act . How dare he resort to Socialist principles they said. I kept my mouth shut.

President Obama won reelection and now there is a petition to have him impeached.  There are petitions in every state to withdraw from the Union. Companies are fighting the new ACA by laying off workers to punish them.  The speaker of the House still refuses to put tax hikes for the wealthy on the table and dares the President to take us over the so called fiscal cliff.

I thought the election was over and we could live in peace for a while. No we can't. The Republicans just can't leave it alone. They are going to attach until they split this country in half.

I am going to fly my flag everyday and if I hear anyone talking about leaving the Union or picking up their guns I will punch them in the nose. I am an American and I will fight for my country with enemies both foreign and home grown. In closing I would like to say to all of you babies that lost an election to get over it and support your country or just shut the hell up. I have heard enough bullshit this week to last a lifetime. I would ask are you Republicans or Americans ?  I am an American.

A Sad but True Story.

I know that I wanted to keep my mouth shut until the election was over but I had a visit from a neighbor yesterday. He is a nice man who works for a small company with under 25 employees. He and his wife both have two children. They also have Sugar that affects their health. I runs in the family. They are both lucky to have employer covered health Ins.

A while back a third child was born with severe medical problems. This child spent many months in a children's hospital to save her life. Her parents rung up a bill of $3,000,000. Their ins. Company paid the lifetime limit of $1,000,000 and the couple had to declare bankruptcy. The child was born four months before Obama care's lifetime limit was eliminated. .



Their Insurance company was not very happy with a large bill and changed coverage for the small company to a plan with a very high detectables for all employees and with high co-pays. The other workers are upset but what is my neighbor to do ? I tried to explain to him that very soon exchanges will be set up so his company can join thousands of other workers and get better coverage from another Ins. company. He just did not seem to understand and blamed Obama for his trouble. He said that if Obama is elected again his employee said he would lose all coverage.

I tried to tell him that if that happened he would be able to buy Ins that would not look at his families past health issues and it would be subsidised by the federal Gov. so he could afford it. He told me he still plans to vote for Romney. He can't even understand that there will be no coverage for his family that he can afford and that at retirement age he and his wife will not be able to afford Ins at all with their past health problems.

I just gave up because he seemed to understand nothing at all about his current problems or that if Romney wins he will never be able to afford coverage at all. He can't see that his problem is connected to the birth of his sick daughter. He would rather blame President Obama. I am not mean enough to wish that he gets what he deserves. I pray that President Obama wins and my neighbor's future would look a little brighter.

There are just too many stupid ads and lies on TV and not enough explanations about programs like the Affordable Care Act.

I am keeping my mouth shut for a while.

The few of you have not heard from me for a while. The reasons are twofold. Nothing in my past or present life seem to be of much interest to me at this time and I have taken a break from writing about politics until after the election. I already made my views and points known. I do not believe either candidate has a plan for this country and see the next four years as bad ones for most working Americans. Neither Candidate seems willing to have the courage to either stand up for or propose programs to move this country forward. All anyone seems to care about is money and how to get more of it for as little work as possible.  The ignorance of comments that I have read in the last month only sadden me. The media will not ask tough and thoughtful questions of either candidate as they both just try and score points with sharp biting comments that mean nothing at all. Is that because their audience lacks knowledge? I just don’t know. I do know that I will vote. I have no choice. I must hold my nose and pull the lever for the President.  I am not a big fan and just see him as the Devil I know and Romney as the devil I don’t. 

I must confess that I have been watching TV and listening to local Radio shows. This could be the reason I feel so out of it. People seem so mean and uninformed about issues that affect all our lives.  Even simple facts get distorted by both sides and people just eat it up.  I could go into detail but what would be the point.  As I start my mini hiatus I say adios amigos.

I love the majority of the bottom 47%.

I have taken all week to process the statement made by Mitt Romney on the 47% who need some help from the government. I have listened to the Republicans try and spin his comments. These were kind of funny. I have listened to the Democrats discuss all the corporate welfare and tax breaks that the wealthy receive pale in comparison.  Instead of commenting on these points I thought I would like to look at this issue from my own life experiences.

I have often said that if I counted my two paper routes I have held 17 jobs in my life.  I worked in high school and even held part time jobs while in the service. Some were easy and some were hard.  There are two that are at the bottom of the list.

One of these jobs was a four year stint in the foundry at a local pump manufacture. I started working in the Core Room where I had to bake sand cores in huge furnaces on the night shift. It was hot work. The sand often got in my eyes and the oil used to hold the sand together always stuck to your skin. The noise was deafening. When I would leave work at night and the quiet of the night hit my ears I would almost faint. One of my brothers worked with me and he had the job of working on the swing table. This table was elevated and when the hot metal was poured around the sand cores it was his job to use a jack hammer and blast the hard sand from the pump casings. He did this all night long and the vibrations almost killed him. Not too many men lasted too long on that job. Hours before work he would start to get sick just thinking of the shift he was about to work.

The second job that I remember, with dread, was a job at the local meat packing plant. Trucks would come in from Chicago, Texas, or other slaughter houses, with beef cattle cut up into four 250-300 pound pieces.  They were really ¼ of a cow. I took a year off of college because I needed transportation and money does not grow on trees. My job, along with a crew of six men, was to done two smocks and heavy gloves. These were to keep the blood off your cloths. The quarter sides of beef were hanging from the truck on large hooks. My job was to place two hands under the beef and raise my legs and toes up to unhook the beef. The beef would press against my chest and I would shuffle my feet to the end of the truck where a man with another hook attached to an overhead rail system awaited me. I had to bend my knees push forward and release the meat in order to hook it on his hook. I did this all summer and our crew usually did 6-8 trucks a day. We had to change of smocks and gloves every truck because the meat was bloody and slippery.

I ended each day with big blood blisters on my chest from the pressure. Luckily I was able to bid on another job as a selector loader. The damage to my body had been done though. The veins in my left leg started to hurt and are really bad today. If I had to do this kind of work my whole life I would have be in a wheel chair 10 years ago.

I had the GI Bill to fall back on and was able to go to school. Many people do not have these options and do hard work their whole lives. I often watch the helper on a garbage truck holding on the back as the truck rumbles down the road in the dead of winter. These kinds of men are heroes to me. Much like my father many are just trying to pay the bills and raise a family.

Not everyone reaches the age of 62 in the same physical shape. Many have had a hard life and deserve health care, disability, and a decent retirement program like Social Security. This is the reason I support the Affordable Care Act and President Obama. This is the reason I will vote for Democrats and against snobs and wealthy men who do not realize their luck in life but think their shit smells like roses.  I am proud of the majority of the 47% Mr. Romney speaks about. I look at him and a man like Newt Gingrich and see two men who never have worked a day in their lives, served their country, and generally look down their noses at the rest of us. Of all the decent people I have met in my life very few have had great wealth or had huge bank accounts. People like my Uncle Jack, my dad, George Andres, and my brother Steve are the real assets and backbones of this country not people like Mitt and his country club pals. They are just users mooching off of the hard work of others.  They are not special but the real users and cheaters in our country.

Sure there are people who are lazy and cheat the system and most of them are from the wealthy class. Remember this wealthy class of old money profited off the free labor of the backs of slaves for almost 400 years. These workers were used and thrown aside. If we don't demand better treatment or let men like Romney speak to us that way we will get the same treatment.

I was guilty of suckling at the Government teat, and I liked it!

The 1944 bill--among the most significant pieces of legislation ever passed by the U.S. Congress--included much more. Its education benefits threw open the doors of élite academies to the masses: in 1947, veterans made up almost half the nation's college students. It also offered low-interest, no-money-down mortgages, backed by the U.S. government that allowed millions of families to purchase their first homes. The move helped spark the postwar baby boom and the suburbanization of America in the 1950s: it effectively created the American middle class. With no or little education and a wish to have his own family my father was able to secure a home load for the purchase of a $13,000 ranch home in 1955 that made his simple dream come true. He then took night classes to learn a trade. He became a Hear Treater.

By 1956, when the initial program ended, close to half the nation's 16 million veterans had either gone to college or received job training. A generation flourished. The current situation presents far more difficult choices. With the U.S. military stretched thin, President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain--a veteran's veteran if ever there was one--oppose the latest version of the GI Bill over fears that its educational opportunities will reduce the number of soldiers re-enlisting for further tours of duty. But supporters of the new bill point out that duty runs both ways. As Webb puts it, "This is about taking care of the people who have taken care of us."

After months of debate, Congress finally passed a new GI Bill – the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act – which went into effect in August 2009. The new GI Bill significantly expands veterans’ education benefits, offering up to 100 percent tuition and fee coverage at institutions of higher learning, a monthly housing stipend, up to $1,000 annually for books and school supplies, and the option to transfer benefits to one or more immediate family members. And it has made the reality of higher education more attainable than ever for today’s veterans.

Without the GI Bill I would still be on the loading docks picking up ¼ sides of beef from Texas and hooking them on rails with hooks.  I did have to quit school for a year and work in order to buy a car but did finish my education in five years.  The GI Bill gave me enough money for tuition,books,1/3 of my rent and utilities. I had very little left for food but worked every summer and ate a lot of cereal. I must confess that in the winter of 1973 I was so hungry that I applied for, and received, food stamps for 20 weeks. 

I owe the Government and the American Tax payers for my schooling and career. I do not see it as a right but a gift from a grateful nation. I feel blessed. Without the GI Bill I would be a shell of the person I am today. Being able to go to college opened my eyes and made me a more rounded and compassionate person able to see all sides of an issue or problem. I am also a better person for my experiences. Thanks America and sorry Mr. Romney.

Out of Touch !

Here is a little story about a woman who gets a job at Wal-Mart. She starts out at $9.00 an hour. She is lucky and gets to work 40 hrs. a week for 50 weeks a year. That is $18,000 a year! She must pay 7.65% in FICA taxes .That amounts to $1,300. She must pay a state and local sales tax plus taxes on her car plates. I an guessing that she pays  up to or around around another 7%. That amounts to $1,260.  She must pay Ohio gas tax that will be an extra %.028 a gallon and with limited driving would add up to $500.00 a year. So far she pays taxes of $3,060.

That leaves her around $15,000 a year or around $1,250 dollars a month to live. Remember she has no health care but still must buy a car, pay rent, buy food, and pay utilities. She must also buy clothes for herself. All this and I am pretending she has no children.

Do we really want to make her pay federal taxes? If we place these taxes at only 15%, like Romney pays, that would be an extra 2,700 dollars a year.

There is no way that She can afford extra taxes and this is one of the reasons we give low income earners tax deductions that allow them to pay no federal taxes.  These are a part of the lazy, unmotivated 47% Romney attacks. Another group is the elderly but I will leave that for another time. Can anyone spell “OUT OF TOUCH”?

Obama and "Drill Baby Drill"

Darn you Barack Obama for only quadrupling the number of oil drilling rigs in the US! Yes. You heard me right.  The drilling boom is being driven by a variety of factors. New technologies have allowed companies to tap vast new oil reserves in places like North Dakota, Texas and, most recently, Ohio. High oil prices are making once-unprofitable fields more tempting.

All that drilling is helping to boost U.S. oil production. The U.S. pumped 3.9 million barrels a day from onshore fields in March, up 5.9% from a year earlier and the most in nearly a decade. Has that helped gas prices? NO ! Interesting huh.

Another interesting point is why the Bush/Cheney years were marked by ever declining oil production in the good old USA? Yea you heard me ! This happened at the same time oil companies like Exxon spent rising profits on share buyback instead of exploration causing their total oil production to decline as well.

Do big oil and their Grand Oil Party really want increased production? Or do they want increased oil profits? In the new economic world of peaking oil, increasing production isn’t the way to maximize profit margins. Scarcity is. This may confuse FOX viewers, but almost everything does. Still the Republicans are upset with the President .

 Maybe what big oil and GOBP really are upset with Obama about is that he called their bluff and is exposing the fact that increased production isn’t the solution. Gas prices falling---No,not yet.

The fact is that production is up everywhere and still I see signs that say “Drill Baby Drill”. Some Republican supporters really hate President Obama. They refuse to listen to or believe facts that go against what FOX is filling their empty heads with every day. I have even heard some say they would never buy a GM product again because of the Auto Bailout.  Although Ford did not need money from the $80 billion bailout program, Ford did receive $5.9 billion in government loans in 2009 to retool its manufacturing plants to produce more fuel-efficient cars, and the company lobbied for and benefited from the cash-for-clunkers program. Would this cause them to buy a car from China?

This makes me ask a question that I really hate to pose. Are some Republicans so full of hate that a Black man is in charge that they are willing to place bigotry and hate over their patriotism over common sense? I just find comments about buying a car the President likes or supports offensive and un-American.  I even hear Republicans pick on the Chevy Volt because the President said he would buy one.

Politics is one thing but when the election is over it is important that all Americans support the winner and move the country forward. I watched Bill Clinton treated in much the same way and I am tired of the signs, lies, and backward un-American thinking. I have had it!  To all of you with such ignorant signs and ideas I say......may God bless and help you.

A very small look at the history of Iran.

Reza Khan declares Iran a neutral power during World War II, Iran's British-controlled oil interests are largely maintained by German engineers and technicians, and Khan refuses to expel German citizens despite a request by Britain. In September 1941, following British and Soviet occupation of western Iran, Reza Shah is forced out of power. His son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, succeeds him on the throne.

Nationalist Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq attempts to nationalize the British-owned oil industry. The shah opposes Mossadeq and removes him from power, but he regains power and the shah leaves Iran. This is a victory for the people of Iran and democracy.

The shah returns to Iran when Gen. Fazlollah Zahedi -- with backing from the Central Intelligence Agency -- overthrows Mossadeq in an August coup d'etat. This is a victory for the oil companies with help from the CIA.

In 1957, according to the Federation of American Scientists, U.S. and Israeli intelligence officer’s work with Iran to set up SAVAK, an Iranian intelligence organization later blamed for the torture and execution of thousands of political prisoners and violent suppression of dissent citizens. This is bad for the citizens of Iran.

The shah implements "The White Revolution," an aggressive campaign of social and economic Westernization that is met with intense popular opposition. Popular nationalist Ayatollah Khomeini is arrested in one of many crackdowns on the shah's opponents. By the late 1960s the shah relies regularly on SAVAK to quell dissidence.

Iranians resort to rioting, mass demonstrations and strikes to protest the shah's authoritarian rule. In response, he enforces martial law. The shah is forced to flee the country.

I could go on and on but the point I am trying to make clear is that the western governments have been interfering in this and other Islamic countries for years resulting in torture and death. All done in the name of OIL. This is why they hate us Sean Hannity and FOX news. Remember we armed both sides in the Iraq and Iran war that resulted in the loss of a Million people. When will we learn?

Even now we have attacked two countries in this region and still have boots on the ground. If I was Iran I would want a nebular bomb too. They are the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism and a lot of it is our fault. We helped create the modern Iran.

Good Luck Chicago.

I remember that when I started teaching school every shop in the city,where I lived, paid a better wage than I received. Every teacher had to have a second job. We are not paid in the summer months.  Yes we do get checks but that money is taken out of our regular pay and put into escrow to be given out to us slowly each summer. In fact that money is already earned and belongs to us.

In the beginning of my teaching career I worked for a bus company in Canfield Ohio. I fixed broken seats for school busses six days a week. After that job was completed I serviced new busses and worked painting older busses. I did that for four years.

My next summer job was as a yard labor for Deming Pumps in Salem Ohio. I did general labor for two years and then spent three more summers in assembly and the foundry. I usually worked in the core room or filling in for men on vacation.

I spent the next three years selling and installing carpet. During this whole time I never had a vacation. I remember one of my brothers telling me that no one told me to go into teaching.  During this whole time our state and local union became more powerful and we were offered better pay and better working rights. Soon we were not only at par with most shops but ahead of most. We were starting to be treated like the professionals we were. No more summer jobs !

We fought and scraped for every benefit and pay increase we were entitled to. We even had a six week strike over contract language and teacher rights.

At the end of my career I watched as new teachers took for granted all the pay and benefits we fought for. Some even abused benefits like sick days.  Many I worked with often voted against their own interest for candidates that were outwardly against public schools and teachers unions. I watched as slowly our rights and benefits were being eroded. We were forced to take attendance and use a computer for grades but were given no computer for our desk. More and more secretarial paperwork was placed on our shoulders. I was happy to retire and often wondered how long it would take for the anti-union politicians to break the strength of the union.

When Gov. Kasich was elected I knew the end was starting. Teachers in Ohio will soon lose their seniority, tenure, and the ability to strike. All of this happens while teachers sit behind their desks and watch it happen. Many will support Kasich and Romney during their next elections. The once mighty OEA also stands by and watches these erosions take place. If I was still teaching I would not belong to the OEA because of their inability to fight back for teachers and call for a complete work stoppage state wide.

In fact, the only teachers I see taking a stand are the teachers in Chicago. They are standing up for their rights with little or no support. Even President Obama is not in agreement with them. They will soon lose their fight I fear. At least they had the guts to try. Teachers in Ohio should at least unite and take a stand against these new rules. I feel that all the time and work we put into our struggle to obtain and secure teacher rights are just being pissed down the drain by the teachers of today

Union President #2

The year before I became President of our teachers union I spent two years as Vice President. My President was involved in coaching so a lot of the grievances and little problems were left for me to handle. I remember one case where a teacher from one of our four elementary schools was transferred from the one she taught at for 15 years to another one miles away.  Our contract allowed the Board of Ed. the power to make these decisions because we had no seniority rights. I met with this teacher and she informed me that the other teachers in her building did not like her because she was older and kept to herself. She told me they put pressure on the Principal to transfer her to another school and replace her someone else. She said that she lived next to her school and the transfer was to a building 10 miles away.  After talking to her I arranged a meeting with the Principal who told me that although she was a good teacher she did not blend in well with the other teachers. She did nothing wrong and he considered her a benefit to the district but felt keeping the peace among his staff was important. I met with her and told her we did not have a legal leg to stand on but were scheduled to present our case in public at the next school board meeting. I gathered parental support to speak for her. I advised her to let me do all the talking and keep her cool.

During the public meeting I felt that our side was making enough points to get the Principal's decision overturned. I became hopeful when the Principal told the board that the other teachers just did not like her and that was bad for moral. At this point she lost her composure and told the Principal to shove it and handed them her resignation and stormed out. Later she told me she just could not stand being treated in such a manner. I was shocked and really felt bad for a long time. No one else seemed to care much. Soon the incident blew over and things returned to normal. 

During a contract negotiation both sides never try to rewrite or agree on a new master contract.Every two or three years a new contract was put into place. To start from scratch would be too time consuming. Each side would usually make a list of eight to ten issues or points that were important to their side and negotiate on these issues.  We would usually start early in the spring of the contracts last year and finish up during the summer.  Many tears we would vote to accept a new contract on the first day of school.

Needless to say seniority, with bumping rights, was on our list during the next contract. In fact this section of our master contract became the backbone of teacher’s rights for years until the shit hit the fan years later. Stay tuned for the middle of my story. That will come when the mood hits me.

Obama or Romney ?

First off I should state that I believe that officials of the Bush Administration are guilty of Major war crimes.  Without going into too much detail I believe that attacking the civilian population areas of a country is a war crime. It is a crime especially if the country you attack  has not attacked you or given any reason for such attack. I also believe that any violation of treatment of prisoners is a war crime. Treatment of prisoners is outlined under the Geneva accords. The same ones our government used to convict German and Japanese after WWII. Wateboarding, sexual pictures, and killing innocent families seem to be some of the charges leveled at the Bush Administration.

President Obama promised that if elected he would put a stop to internment camps, like Abeu Grab, and assinations. He made a promise to end all wars and bring the troops home. Since he has not fulfilled these tasks I find myself wondering if he really was the man for the job. He is just as guilty on some of these charges. Why do we still have private contractors in these countries. Is it legal to send drones to assinate men without any trial?

My disappointment in his actions extended in his willingness to give in to Conservatives on issues important to me. It seems at times he still is worried what the money men think of him and if they will support him. I could list all the disappointments but what would be the point. I would have to write a book. To say I find his inability to stand up for me and the promises he made to be a disappointment .

I find myself having the distasteful task of either voting for another candidate as a protest or holding my nose and voting for him. I found myself in an argument with a friend who plans on using his vote as a protest. I explained that having the Romney, Ryan ticket in the White House could do more harm to this country.

 I told my friend that by sitting out this election or using you vote as a protest will result in the same thing that happened when others sat out the 2010 elections - Republicans will gain power, and things get worse.

If you don't think things can be worse, you're deluding yourself. Complete dismantling of the Dept. of Energy, the Dept. of Education, the FDA, the EPA, a significantly Conservative Supreme Court for the next 30+ years, the re-introduction of anti-homosexual policies in all aspects of life, the decision to go to war with Iran, Syria and any other country the right thinks is in their way.

Our government has stalled for the last 2 years. It's because of people like you and your decision to "vote your conscience" or even worse, to not vote at all, so you want to prove a point to yourself so you can "sleep better at night” be my guest.

Except, what ramifications did your selfishness create? Your desire for a clean conscience is just as self-indulgent and greedy as any hardcore right-wingers vote to cut all taxes so their pockets can get fatter. When you choose to vote in a way that you know will emphatically, without doubt or question, cause damage to other Americans, you're as guilty as the side you oppose.

You want it better? Vote down-ballot. Vote Green or Independent or whatever the hell in local, state, regional elections - so that you change the shape of congress. A strong third or fourth party starts at the grass roots level, but cannot and will not ever start at the top. Because the stakes are simply too high and the money required simply too large.

A vote for Obama is a vote against Romney - it's a vote against Plutocracy, against Corporatism, a vote in favor of recognizing the concept of human civil liberties, workers’ rights, progressive taxation, and a government which is here to help the people of this nation, not simply those who have made the most money.

Don't fool yourself into thinking you're doing something right & good by sitting this one out or voting for a lesser candidate as a protest. That foolishness has nearly destroyed our country for the last 2 years. If it happens again, you will be responsible for finishing the job. Damn you for it.

I find myself looking at the platform of the two parties and voting for the one that helps keep America the free and safe country I grew up in.

Liar,Liar Pants on Fire.

 

 Most Americans  know that Congress is doing nothing to make the economy better. This is why, despite Democrats having a slim majority, people state in poll after poll that they dislike Republicans, and blame them more than Democrats for what's going on in Washington. Like Biden said, a majority used to be 51, now it's 60, and Republicans make a point of filibustering everything, solely for the purpose of creating chaos and obstruction.

All Republicans are doing is proving beyond a doubt that they do not have the best interests of our nation at heart, that they are happy to do actual harm to our nation and our citizens in order to simply impede the progress the voters voted for. They have nothing to offer except the same bad old ideas that got us into the mess we're currently struggling to get out of, a struggle which they do their best to make even worse in hopes that it will cause harm to the Dems. The Republican party in its current incarnation (and they haven't always been like this!) has been taken over by an extremist, anti-American faction who are willfully setting themselves up as enemies of the state and everybody in it. I hope voters are motivated to do something to end their strangle-hold on our nation in November. I don’t believe they will though.

Here is an example of the bills that have been filibustered by the Republicans.

 46 Senate Republicans voted against President Obama’s American Jobs Act. With 60 votes needed to end the Republican filibuster against the act that would create as many as 2 million new jobs and keep 280,000 teachers from being laid off. This bill is unlikely to see any other action.

The 99 percent of our country who want jobs now should take note of how each and every senator voted  on the American Jobs Act but they won’t.. And we should ask each one who voted no—what is your plan? How would you put our country back to work and give hope to our nation’s families? Because the truth is the Republicans who unanimously blocked this courageous bill have no plan and seek to profit politically from the country’s pain.

Along with the 2 million jobs, the American Jobs Act would:

 •Prevent 5 million workers from losing their unemployment benefits;

•Make immediate investments in rebuilding and upgrading America’s highways, transit, rail, airports, bridges, ports, schools and communications and energy infrastructure;

•Make sure the wealthy contribute their fair share to fixing our economy; the American Jobs Act is paid for by a 5.6 percent surtax on millionaires

The Republicans than have the balls to blame the President because of his lack of ideas to get the economy on the right track.

Before Rep. Paul Ryan left the stage Wednesday night at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, journalists took to Twitter for some real-time fact-checking.

Soon after, several media outlets, including The Huffington Post, called attention to misleading statements from Ryan's speech. The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn asked if it was the most dishonest convention speech" ever. New York's Dan Amira described it shortly before midnight as "appallingly disingenuous and shamelessly hypocritical," with his colleague Jonathan Chait -- who claims to have "the equivalent of a master’s degree in Ryan lie-ology" -- later calling out the Republican candidate for "brazen dishonesty."

At around 12:15 a.m., the Associated Press hit the wire with a piece detailing "factual shortcuts" on issues like Medicare, economic stimulus, and the closing of a GM plant in his hometown of Janesville. The majority of the speech was full of lies but no one seems to care.

With the "Win At Any Cost" philosophy that the Romney ticket is subscribing to, it doesn't matter if the statements are true, as long as there are enough people out there who will believe them - at least enough to tip the scales in their favor.  The fact that the media and voting public aren't completely outraged by the hubris of the bald-faced falsehoods that are being fed to them is a sad commentary on how far we have fallen.

Here is a partial list of lies told last night.

Accused President Obama’s health care law of funneling money away from Medicare “at the expense of the elderly.” In fact, Medicare’s chief actuary says the law “substantially improves” the system’s finances, and Ryan himself has embraced the same savings.

Accused Obama of doing “exactly nothing” about recommendations of a bipartisan deficit commission — which Ryan himself helped scuttle.

 Claimed the American people were “cut out” of stimulus spending. Actually, more than a quarter of all stimulus dollars went for tax relief for workers.

 Faulted Obama for failing to deliver a 2008 campaign promise to keep a Wisconsin plant open. It closed less than a month before Obama took office.

Blamed Obama for the loss of a AAA credit rating for the U.S. Actually, Standard & Poor’s blamed the downgrade on the uncompromising stands of both Republicans and Democrats.

I guess that money ,obstruction,voter suppression,and lies are the keys to power in the future. I still blame the corporate media and the inability of Americans to read and research policies and facts. I have no faith in the public and predict a victory for ignorance and liars

Why vote against your interests ?

In my posts I have been arguing with retired military men about their feelings toward Democrat. These men seem to feel that the Government spends too much money on the poor and helpless.  I thought a few facts are needed on this issue.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is not a partisan group, but and advocacy organization working for Veterans issues on behalf of vets from the recent wars. And the facts speak for themselves - Democrats, especially the more progressive, care for the troops after coming home much more than their Republican counterparts. 

Republicans support sending the troops to war, they support undermining them with thousands of civilian contractors often acting independently, and they support wasteful Pentagon spending. What they don't support are the men and women coming home. They are only pro-troop when it suits them, and helps an agenda.

Of the 94 members of Congress who got an A or A+ from IAVA for standing with this generation of American veterans, 91 are Democrats, only 3 are Republicans. On the other side, of the 154 who got a D or an F, only 12 are Democrats, 142 are Republicans.

Yet Military men support Republicans at a much higher percent than Democrats.  Look it up for yourself. Republicans vote against most bills designed to help Veterans once their duty is completed.

The election of 2012.

I get so sick when I hear people talk about how wise our founding fathers were and what a wonderful Constitution they wrote. Here are a few facts. The Founding fathers did not want a real democracy but wrote a constitution that protected the rights of wealthy land owners but did little for the rights of women, Blacks, and working people. In fact they went out of their way to make sure the right to vote was limited to as few Americans as possible.

The Electorate only had the power to elect members of the house for two year terms. Senators were appointed by the states.  The President was not elected, and is not today, by popular vote but the Electoral College. The Judicial branch of the Federal Government is also appointed. In effect we have very little control of our leaders. The 17th. Amendment did change the constitution to allow the majority to directly elect their Senators.

We had the first slave delivered to Virginia in 1605 and the Constitution allowed it to continue until the Civil war. President Andrew Johnson bent to pressure from Southern Democrats to withdraw Federal troops after the Civil War and this act put an end to reconstruction and again put the Black man under the thumb of White land owners.  Their rights were still denied for another 100 yrs.

The Federal Government allowed Jim Crow Laws to keep people in a kind of bondage, legally, even though the 13^th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865. Amendment 14, passed in 1868 was to guarantee Civil Rights to all Americans. Again it was ignored in the South.  Blacks were given the right to vote in the 15^th. Amendment in 1970 but poll taxes and other tricks still denied them their rights.  Finally in 1920 Amendment 19 allowed women the right to vote.

Amendment 24 eliminated poll taxes in 1962.  The Civil rights act passed to finally give Black people their rights. This Law had to be enforced though by federal troops .

As you can see the Constitution, as it was written, needed to be changed many times before it protected the rights of all Americans.  Today we see a push by the Republican Party to put barriers and obstacles in the way of minority voting using the pretext of voting fraud. As Americans we must remember our strength lies in our diversity and differences not in how many millionaires we have.

I have had very little to say about this Presidential race because important issues are not being addressed and the news media is covering slop and horseshit.  I actually have no comments on this silliness and just wish the imbecilic comments I read from other people can’t be serious. Can they?

The Towers at Salem Hospital

I went for a checkup this week and the Doctor seemed concerned and wanted to observe me in a hospital setting for a few days. I refused because I have high deductibles in my health coverage and an 80-20 plan. I also pay out of pocket for my wife’s care and premiums all from a small pension. Needless to say I have burnt through a lot of savings.  I refused and the Dr. convinced me to travel STAT to the local hospital for a CAT scan and blood work. I agreed to go because I just became eligible for Medicare part A and outpatient costs have a lower out of pocket expense.  There were not a lot of patients there and I observed a lot of x-ray tecnicians lying around because of lack of work.

There seems to be a trend that a lot of people, with insurance, are not using the system as much as they did because of reduced coverage and higher costs.  I know it is true in my case my wife and I have to pay almost $11,000 out of pocket before our INS starts to kick in.  The passage of the ACA has helped a little because a lot of tests are now covered at 100%.

I wrote a post last week that if Romney wins in November big changes are coming to our safety net. If Obama wins the obstruction in Congress will continue for another four years and then the Republicans will surly take over and things will finally go their way in their quest to create a two class society.

I noticed that our little hospital in Salem was undergoing a huge construction project. After asking around I found out that they were in the process of building a large tower of private rooms to accommodate wealthy people who could afford the difference between what Medicare would pay in the future and what their bill would be. The hospital seems to know that in the near future the bulk of their business will come from people that have money and the hospital wants to be ready to service them.

This ,my friends, is what a voucher system to Medicare will do to coverage. A $7,000 coupon will help the rich pay their INS premiums while a $7,000 voucher will not do a thing for the poor and middle class. They will not be able to pay the difference between $7,000 and a 12-15 thousand policy. The result would be a lack of medical services to the lower economic class.

Health care in the future is being crafted to take care of the upper class. There will be better care, better rooms and a lot more donated organs from the middle class and poor who will be excluded from quality care and therefor die early. What a bunch of sucker we are. The facts are staring us in the face and still hordes of us will vote to cut our own throat. It's not like Mr. Ryan and Romney are keeping their plans hidden. They are telling us what they plan to do and yet their support among working people stays strong. I just shake my head everyday.

The Real Entitlement Programs

I have spent the last week becoming disheartened by all the political discourse spewn out by the Republican candidates.  Most, if not all, is unclear, misleading or outright lies. Let me review and comment on a few.

First of all the wealthy Americans get a lot more free money from entitlement programs than the poor or middleclass.  I know that many, in the Media don’t report on this fact and many people don't know that in America we have far more entitlement programs for the rich than for the poor. In fact the rich do very well in America and they repay the country by paying very low or no taxes.  There are far too many entitlements to list so I will list a few that should be changed immediately.

Capital Gains Tax: The Capital gains tax benefits the rich far more than the middle class and poor. When one group gets ALL or most of the benefits from a program that is an entitlement. It also robs the US treasury of needed money to run the government. Rich people who own tens of millions in stock and other assets like real estate can sell these assets and they pay 15% on their gain. Keep in mind that over 75% of all wealthy Americans got their money the old fashioned way they INHERITED IT. So capital gains rewards the rich and lazy who didn't work for their money.

The rich have this tax capped at $106K. So for Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and all those making over $106K are allowed to avoid this tax. Brian Williams makes $10 million in salary and he pays the tax on just 1% of his wages. The CEO making $50 million per year pays Social Security tax on just one day's wages. The Wal - Mart mother pays on all her wages. Sounds fair to you ? So the top 1% who own 50% of all financial assets and make 25% of all income pays the tax on about 1. % of their wages while the middle class and the poor pay the tax on 100%, all their wages.

US government programs designed to help the poor are used by the rich too and they get more benefits. A recent study showed Medicare provided over $100 billion in payments to people who are rich. These people had heart operations and other operations and the taxpayers paid the bill. Why? Everyone pays the same Medicare premiums - rich and poor. There are virtually hundreds of tax laws that help the rich. We need to get rid of these. Our current government system is of by and for the rich - not the people. Those of you who claim to be Christians need to start following the instruction of JC."

A glance at some of the recipients of farm subsidies in shows that many of those receiving these subsidies clearly do not need them. 12 Fortune 500 companies received farm subsidies .Subsidies to the four largest of these recipients -- Westvaco, Chevron, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance, and Caterpillar -- shattered their previous record highs. This is a joke and must be addressed in a later post because of the depth and complexity of this free program.

As always our Republican leaders want to make cuts in programs that help the poor while lowering taxes on the rich and leaving their free entitlement programs alone. It is almost too much for a same person to stomach. Why do we, as voters, allow this? We allow this because the Tea Party leadership has convinced a large group of people that they are looking out for their needs while President Obama is not.

I can show an example of how destructive the Tea Party has become. In the debate and negotiations over the health care bill, the ACA, the discussion started with a framework designed by the Republicans in the 80’s. In an effort to get a bill passed Democrats bowed to pressure from the opposition and added and or stripped sections that would make the bill more Republican friendly. In essence it was a bill crafted and approved by Republicans. The Democrats gave in on almost all of their ideas to strengthen this bill. They negotiated with the Republicans to get some kind of protection for sick Americans. In fact the President took a lot of heat from his own base for giving too much away.

In steps the Tea party and in an effort to destroy the President, pressured Republican leaders to vote against their own bill just to try and stop the President’s agenda.

Next the lies started and it would take many pages to describe all of them in a small post. I fear that if Mitt is elected there will be too much power in the hands of the Tea Party and our country will go downhill fast. If Obama is elected there will be another four years of obstruction and America will continue to decline.
I just wish people would wake up and take their country back from the wealthy or soon we will all be in the same position as our predecessors of the 20’s and 30’s.  In bread lines.

Here We Go Again !

Here we go again.  Mitt Romney has selected Paul Ryan as his running mate and this has ignited the discussion on the future of Medicare. The Republicans will tell you that it is unfixable and will ruin this country. I say Bull Shit.

Medicare started in the early 60’s when it became apparent that retirees could not afford adequate medical care. Those were days when an office visit cost $5.00 and a day in the Hospital cost $125.00.

The law called for a payroll deduction of 1.45% with an equal employee match. The working people would fund the medical costs of those retired.  Since the law passed the cost of medical care has risen through the roof  when compared with stagnant wages. The fact is that medical cost have risen at an alarming rate while wages have flat lined.

No one ever talks of ideas to cap the rising cost of services delivered to the public. That is the answer. Do tests and medicine need to cost so much?  The Presidents Affordable Care Act makes an attempt to stem the higher costs by cutting between 500-750 billion from Medicare over 10 years. It is not the answer but an attempt to try to improve the program. The Republicans have tried to spin this telling older people that President Obama wants to cut their services under Medicare.

False.  First of all, under the health care bill, Medicare spending continues to go up year after year. The health care bill tries to identify ways to save money, and so the $500 billion figure comes from the difference over 10 years between anticipated Medicare spending (what is known as “the baseline”) and the changes the law makes to reduce spending. The savings actually are wrung from health-care providers, not Medicare beneficiaries.

Lies and lies piled on top of lies. When I try to explain this to people they think I am lying to them. Some believe a false Email that tells them that the so called Obama care will cost them $160.00 a month more.

I really get tired of gullible stupid people who will not take the time to learn issues and facts but will watch TV and believe what they hear. Don’t watch TV, it will rot your brain.

If retirees lose Medicare they will suffer and die early. You can take that to the bank. Maaybe that is their plan all along . As yourself this question; Who do the wealthy spend time with and who would a wealthy president represent and protect?  You ?

Just a Community Organizer !

One of the things that make me really mad is the way Republicans like Sara Palin, Rudy Giuliani.  And now Mitt Romney made fun of President Obama for the decision he made to become a community organizer after he graduated with his undergraduate degree from Columbia.  After listening to this crap for over four years I thought I would set the record straight once and for all.

So here is what Giuliani, Romney and Palin didn’t know: Obama was working for a group of churches that were concerned about their parishioners, many of whom had been laid off when the steel mills closed on the south side of Chicago. They hired Obama to help those stunned people recover and get the services they needed–job training, help with housing and so forth–from the local government. It was, dare I say it, the Lord’s work–the sort of mission Jesus preached (as opposed to the war in Iraq, which Palin described as a “task from God.”) What a moron!

This is what Palin Romney and Giuliani were mocking. They were making fun of a young man’s decision “to serve a cause greater than himself”.  Obama served the poor for three years, and then went to law school. To describe this service–the first thing he did out of college, the sort of service every college-educated American should perform, in some form or other–as anything other than noble is cheap and tawdry and cynical in the extreme just like the attacks and moronic jokes made by Republicans .

Catholic Democrats, like me, are expressing surprise and shock that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech almost four years ago mocked her opponent’s work in the 1980s for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.  She belittled Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s experience as a community organizer in Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago, work he undertook instead of pursuing a lucrative career on Wall Street.  In her acceptance speech, Ms. Palin said, “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”  Community organizing is at the heart of Catholic Social Teaching to end poverty and promote social justice. This kind of service to your fellow man is the kind of compassion and service we should expect from our potential leaders. The Right has a problem with this kind of service because they do not believe in social justice but do embrace, to the death it seems, tax cuts for business and the wealthy. They show their true colors and what kind of people they really are. Selfish and self-absorbed with money and power. We must stand together and deny them the power they desire this fall

Issues that are a stupid waste of Time

Ann Coulter on Sunday argued that comments made by Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy "wasn't an anti-gay thing." "He said, look, all the founders of this company are married to our first wives," she said on a political roundtable during ABC's 'This Week'. "It's genuinely a pro-marriage position to oppose gay marriage. Really Ann?  You forgot to mention that Chic-Fil- A's owner supports Exodus International a group that supports the “Kill the gays" bill in Uganda while millions of Christians are in line supporting his business

 In an interview with "Fox & Friends," Priebus put all his cards on the table, continuing to hammer the Senate Majority Leader.

"There's no triple down in blackjack, but I'll triple down on my comments from yesterday," Priebus said. "It's just the truth. What else do you call somebody who goes onto the Senate floor and claims that someone hasn't paid taxes in ten years, a complete lie, and uses his official office to do it?" He’s a dirty Liar.

Fox News had one burning question to raise after Gabby Douglas' gold medal performance at the women's gymnastics individual all-around competition in London: how is the athlete showing her patriotism if her uniform lacks stars and stripes?

The Winston-Salem Journal reports North Carolina State Rep. Larry Pittman (R) sent an email to colleagues in which he accused the family planning provider of "getting wealthy on murder for hire."

"Out and out politicians are anathema to rock-n-roll, so I hesitate to attempt to connect the two," he replied. "But on important issues, I am saddened to admit that Obama represents everything bad about humanity and Romney pretty much all that is good. It is really that stark.  Nugent's disdain for Obama entered the public sphere in mid-April. At a National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis, he blasted the president's administration as "vile," "evil" and "America-hating." "If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year," Nugent added.

People try and tell me that there is no difference between parties. I disagree. These are just some of the crazy things coming out of the Republicans and Tea party’s mouths the last day or two. They also are proud that they have kept the economy in bad shape by not working with the President on any plan that would improve jobs. They are not secretive about wanting to raise taxes for the bottom 90% and continue to cut taxes for the top 10%.

What shocks me is the fact that morons are going to vote against their own interest and make things worse.  If Obama and the Democrats had a super majority in the senate and the House this country would turn around in two years. As it stands now all we stand for is ignorance.

Union President !

I started to teach in 1975 after four years in the Air Force and five years in college.  After being on the job only two years I was asked to become a building representative for my teacher association called B.L.E.A.

After the association was allowed, by Ohio law, to become a recognized union I ran for the job as vice president. After serving in that capacity for a couple of years I was elected President of over 120 members.  We had a master contract and my job was to protect our teachers and make sure the administration followed the contract and did not violate teacher’s rights.

Late one night in 1981 or 1982 I received a call from a teacher who was attending a meeting of O.P.S.E. That was the Ohio Public School Employees. That union represented all other employees in the school district. This union was comprised of cooks, secretaries janitors repairmen and bus drivers. The teacher who called me was also a bus driver and a member of both unions.

He told me that because they had no contract they were going on a wildcat strike the following morning. I was a little peeved not to hear from their President ahead of time. I didn’t know much but I did know that I could not let the teachers show up for work the next day and see picket lines and not know what to do.

I called the members of my executive council and started a phone chain to all members. I also obtained the use of a union hall near the school for a 6:00 meeting the next morning.  After much soul searching I had decided to tell all of the union members to go to work and not to cross the picket lines. After a heated discussion teachers were advised to get out of their cars and wait 30 min and then return home. It had been decided that our union would respect the picket lines of our brother union.

I knew we had a legal contract and that I was taking a big chance. The school board could and would sue our union if this mess went on longer than a day or two. I went home too and as soon as I entered the house my phone rang and the Superintendent was on the line. He yelled at me for a while and insisted that we all report to work the next day. I informed him that I did not scare easily and it would be in his interest to settle his dispute with the outer union. He told me that he could have me put into jail. I had no idea if he was right or not but I told him he was wasting valuable time talking to me when he could fix this problem by sitting down with the other union.

After he hung up I spent a tension filled day fielding calls from teachers wanting to know what was going on. I was a little worried because I only had a two year contract and I was putting my job on the line to support our union brothers and sisters.

To my relief I received a call late that night that said the strike was over and things could return to normal. I started the phone chain again and all seemed well. I felt good because I thought that by supporting the O.P.S.E. Union we had forged a bond with  a union who would support us when and if we ever had need. Boy was I wrong: To be continued.

Gods Punishment ?

I just don’t see myself to be as judgmental or negative as some of my conservative friends. I never attacked George Bush personally. I never questioned why, as a Christian, he seldom went to church. I never thought that he was evil or un-American or that he was out to ruin the nation.

I did take part in the loyal opposition the Constitution talks about. I think Democrats worked with him on tax cuts and gave him a lot of leeway when it came to going to war without raising taxes. They did manage to keep the President from destroying Social security but allowed him to expand Medicare without funding it properly. I always called him my President and never treated him with any disrespect.

I did have some problems with some Republicans because of the way they attacked the Left as unpatriotic or un-American. I had trouble with the way evangelical preachers would blame Aids on the immoral lifestyle of gays or blame each and every natural disaster as a revenge act from God to teach us a lesson.

That is why I find this week’s statement by the owner of Chic-Fil-A that gays are not traditional couples but people that are not following a good Christian lifestyle.  Then this morning I read that Donald A. Perry, the vice president of corporate public relations for Chick-fil-A, died of a heart attack on Friday morning.  I do not connect this death with the position of the owner or see it as punishment from God.

I have a feeling though that if this had happened to a Democratic gay rights supporter the Right would not be as kind.

Lies ,Falsehoods,and Other Stupid Charges.

I have been getting into discussions with people I don’t even know. When friends on Facebook make a comment I get to see comments of their friends and then the trouble starts. I just can’t leave falsehoods and lies alone. I have to stick my nose in and get involved in arguments with morons I don’t even know.

Recently a retired military man started to spread stories about President Obama. He wrote a comment that said that the President was not an American citizen. Experts of the “Donald “said his birth certificate were fuzzy. This individual also stated that the reason the President’s school records were sealed was because in order to get a Fulbright Scholarship to attend Occidental College the President used his birth certificate from Kenya. He also said that the President had the SSN of a dead man from Connecticut. I wrote a comment back that asked him if the school records were sealed how did he know about them! He never did answer me so I did a little research of my own and found out that all of these charges resulted from an investigation done by Donald Trump. 

Here are a few of my findings. First of all the Fulbright Scholarship is intended for graduate students only and the President did two years of undergraduate work at Occidental before transferring to Columbia so he wasn’t even qualified for this scholarship because he was not foreign born or a grad. Student.

The SSN was not from a dead man but a dead man who actually had a different number. All of the charges were stupid and ridiculous. This is the reason I never answered their charges. You can’t argue with an idiot. I just blocked their posts and walked away. They probably think I gave up to superior debaters but I don’t care what they think. I just could not lower myself to argue with crazy people. I can’t waste my time either.

I am sorry but I always thought that Right wing radio and TV would confuse voters and be the death of this country. Add the morons from the Tea Party and we, as a country, are headed for a real mess.

Y.M.C.A !

If you read one of my last military posts you will recall that after I left Radar school I was sent to an isolated remote radar base in Northern California.  It was called the 776^th Radar Squadron and located in Point Arena California. Although it was located only 135 miles north of San Francisco it took over five hours to reach it on the famous and beautiful Highway 1.  The first six months there I was still saving for a car. It was hard to go anywhere without any transportation. There were times when my friend in Motor pool, David Giagos, would sign a van out to a group of us to travel to San Francisco for the weekend. We were allowed to drive it from one military base to another so we had to check in at the world famous fort; the Presidio.  We would leave the van at the fort and catch a cab to the heart of the city. There were usually five or six of us. We had little money to waste so we always went to the Y.M.C.A. for a cheap room that would accommodate all of us. The cost was only about $2.00 a night per person. The other guests, all men, were a little shady but we were in a large group and spent very little time at the  facility.  Usually we would get drunk and attend a concert a Bill Grams famous Fillmore Auditorium. After the concert we would go to more bars and generally wonder around the city on foot. Once we were at White Castle at closing time and they served these little pies. One night at closing time we were in the parking lot when a worker carried a tray of pies to the trash bin. We asked him what the heck he was doing and he informed us they had to destroy all pies at the end of each day. We asked if we could have some and he said it was against the rules. In they went. No problem for a bunch of young, stupid drunks. We just climbed in and ate what we wanted. They were not bad.

One night we were on our way back to the Y when we had to go through a bunch of prostitutes who gave us a little trouble. One of our Latino Airmen started calling them dirty whores and grabbed the breast of one of them. We pulled him away and went to our room on the fourth floor. Out little Mexican buddy opened the window and started a verbal war with the ladies of the night. They yelled at him and showed him their middle finger. Being quite drunk he yelled back and grabbed a fist full of those little hotel soap bars and started to fling them at the young women. Next he started to throw pillows and finally we had to intervene when he had half of a bed out the window. The police were called and entered the room just as one of us was in the process of reliving ourself in the sink.  Naturally we were asked to leave. We spent the rest of the night on the street.  We ate an early breakfast and caught a bus back to the presidio. We never were allowed to stay at the Y again. We also never went anywhere with our little Mexican buddy or got him drunk again.

I took many more trips back to the city the next two and a half years with many more stories to tell and a few I can’t