Woof!

An interview with John Elder Robison, Living Boldly as a “Free-Range Aspergian”

Good stuff here!

Mom

Memories of my Mother. Such a complex person! So I’m just going to post her picture and tell you that I loved her very much. And I miss her. 

My Nana

 I was reading Mature Landscaping the other morning and Nance’s topic, her grandmother, immediately made me think of my Nana. Eava (or Eva) Seymour was born in the Iron Range town of Tower, Minnesota in 1890. When I look at her school picture I have to admit that she was funny looking little kid. Time moves on and she grew up tall (for those times) probably 5’7 or 5’8. She would have been considered a beauty; petite women were considered ‘pretty’ in those days and she was tall. A classical beauty. She was wooed and won by a handsome Scot, an immigrant and a scoundrel. He was also my grandfather, William B Dunn. She soon had two children, my Aunt Jessie and my father, another William B. Then, in the early 1920’s, the scoundrel came up with the idea of taking the family to California to live. Which he did and then promptly disappeared, going back to Minnesota and another woman, leaving his small family alone and broke in San Francisco. Nana had to get a job if they were going to survive and she found it almost impossible to find work in those days, but they did survive. Dad told me of stealing bread and fruit during the leanest of times. Eventually they made it to Los Angeles and that is where Dad finished school, graduating from John Marshall High School. She didn’t like to talk about the past so I only received bits and pieces of her story as I was growing up. I remember my dad always referred to her as ‘Tilly’, short for “Tilly the Toiler’, a popular comic strip character from the 1920’s that was described as a ‘Stylish working girl…’. I do know that she worked for J.W. Robinson Co., a high class department store in downtown Los Angeles. For years she worked as a saleslady on the 7^th floor, in the  Lamp Department. Sadly, she made a mistake when she went to work for them because she listed her age as being 10 years younger. I think she was afraid of age discrimination. All was well until it was time for retirement and then she had to continue working until she was 75 if she wanted the pension. Of course she did.  And she worked till the day she died…    

My favorite memory of Nana was a day when my younger sister and I had taken our red wagon out to find bottles to collect for their redemption value. We lived near the beach and discarded bottles were hard to find. I was 6 years old at the time and my sister just 3. We had been lucky and after a long day had found enough bottles to cover the bottom of the wagon. We were right in front of our house when three older kids came walking up and demanded that we give them the bottles. We protested of course and just as tensions reached a peak, the screen door of the house flew open and Nana came to our rescue. I had never seen her with her hair down before and I was quite startled to see her magnificent cloud of gray hair flying into the air behind her as she grabbed the hose, turned the water on and raced toward us, directing the spray at our tormentors. “Shoo!’ she yelled. “Shoo, you kids and don’t come back!” Well, they shooed all right and we were saved! It was the one and only time I can remember her raising her voice. Our hero! 

From Mature Landscaping:

She Never Had Nothing

This is some classic material from Nance...what a great writing voice!

Of course I couldn't help but think of my Nana, my most loved grandmother. During the next 24 or so hours I have to come up with a post of my own about my Mother and my Nana. I have already shared their photos with the family, via Facebook and I can use those here tomorrow as well.

The High Cost

of Low Teacher Salaries - NYTimes.com

I read this yesterday in the Times and said 'Yes!' to myself. This is what I've been saying for years and I was quite happy to see that someone with writing talent was bringing these thoughts to the pages of the NYT. A good one!

Makers

Download for Free

Cory Doctorow and I have the same thoughts regarding copyrights but he is able to do something positive about it while I can only cheer him on.

I read a review of this book a little while ago and then downloaded the html version. Three pages later I'm hooked. I'm actually looking at some of the URL's and thinking about following them with a cut and paste...but wait, this is fiction!

Warning! I read in the review that there are a few x-rated sections in the book. Do what you wish with that information. I'm taking the risk because I love geek books. I love technology. And I love an author who dares to speak the the truth about copyrights. (no, the book is not about copyrights...only the author is!) By the way, you can even buy the book if so inclined.

It’s dark out there

It is early and that's no surprise. I was in bed for about five and a half hours before I gave up and decided to make a pot of coffee. Now I've had a cup and browsed the internet as I usually do about this time. My feed reader told me that there was something new to read on a friends blog; Mature Landscaping. Nance has a great way with words. And her posts prove it. If you read carefully you might notice a small reference to pain. Her pain. From what I can tell, she is at odds with severe pain on a regular basis and still appears to be a winner. She handles pain with much grace. Enviable grace.

Speaking of pain as I was... in about a month, I will be talking to the surgeon who will do the Spinal Cord Stimulator implant. Surgery will follow within a week or two? A month or two? Whatever! Then, with any luck at all, I will be able to wirelessly dial up the necessary pain relief any time I wish. Electronic wizardry sending messages from the embedded controller and up my spine; these fool the brain by scrambling the pain message. What a wonderful time to be alive!

Of course I don't get off the hook of pain completely. I now count 'Trigger Finger' as something new to plague me. Luckily it is my left hand ring finger and so, being right handed, I'm not incapacitated by it. I was able to get my wedding ring off before the swelling became too bad and now the ring sits here in front of me, looking a little lonely, waiting to go back on someday.

On a different subject; I've been researching Asperger's Syndrome during the past half a dozen years. I had always thought that I had ADD/ADHD. (I'm seventy years old. It doesn't make a lot of difference now.) But as I read about that I began to see references to Asperger's and so I explored some more. I took the usual on-line tests and each time I did I came up with scores that indicated that Asperger's was definitely a part of me. And this (self) diagnosis explained so much about my childhood! And my adult life as well. Such as the fact that I have a problem looking anyone in the eye. I remember all of the meetings I had to attend and the silent commands to myself, "look him in the eye...you have to or he won't believe you!" It was one of those 'John Wayne' things...you simply couldn't trust a 'cowboy' that wouldn't look you in the eye. I failed so many times. I can't do it for more than a second or two, so I've learned to look at eyebrows instead! And then there is my boring recitation of facts that only I would enjoy. I often see my unwilling audience's eyes glazing over as I interject with yet another useless fact from my never empty treasury of facts. I used to read the dictionary for fun; Aardvark to Zymurgy. And then I would read it again. And again.

There are plenty of other signs of Asperger's, enough so that during the time with my Tuesday morning painting group, I mentioned the fact that I was fairly certain that I had Asperger's. One of my friends there, nodded her head  and said, quite firmly, "I knew it! I knew it!" She works with developmentally challenged kids at the local high school and knows quite a bit about Asperger's. (I'm developmentally challenged in ways you would not notice at first glance.) Asperger's, or Aspie's, as some call themselves, usually have higher than normal intelligence. I have an IQ of 138 or 143, depending on who you want to believe. Those numbers did not make me a rocket scientist; I was a carpenter! Having a higher IQ and having Asperger's makes for a very uncomfortable life at times. I can't always make use of the intelligence in ways that society understands. And when I was younger I was constantly being flogged with those numbers by counselors who thought I needed more motivation.

Being a carpenter was really a blessing as I could usually work by myself if I needed to. Plus, I could work out construction problems in my head while I was alone and come up with better methods for building. That 'talent' soon promoted me to foreman and superintendent. I was still an apprentice when they made me foreman as well. (That didn't win me a lot friends) But, being deeply introverted, I had to come up with a different way of leadership as I simply couldn't yell and threaten to fire anyone. I did find a way and it worked for me for many years. I would give them the 'look'…without actually looking at them, of course. I would exude disapproval without ever saying a word. Devastating!

As I said earlier, I'm over seventy years of age and whether or not I have ADD or Asperger's…or a bit of both, makes no difference now. Except for the fact that I'm now aware of some of my more irritating 'habit's' and will try to moderate them for the sake of friendships. Just don't ask me to look them in the eye

Disappointed

I just read that our President has released the "long form' of his birth certificate. He should never have done it. He's playing right into the wacko's hands with it. Now they will claim it's a forgery...'it must be, otherwise he would have shown it earlier.' These fools won't let up. You watch...

Buzzfeed says...

Pay Your Taxes? These 10 Companies Didn't. [PIC]

From injaynesworld: i

it's the "Sunday Recap - Late Edition..."

I didn't get around to this till the early hours of Tuesday...but it's still fresh stuff!

Love the 'Toenail' story!

Remember when?

I ran across this bit of wisdom (satire) and just had to share it...

"Remember when teachers, public employees, Planned Parenthood, NPR and PBS crashed the stock market, wiped out half our 401(k)’s, took $trillions in taxpayer funded bailouts, spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico, gave themselves $billions in bonuses, and paid no taxes? Yeah…me neither. Pass it on." 

Tweetit

Have I become immature, or has Twitter matured? I prefer the latter. All I know for sure is that I have suddenly started following and reading all sorts of tweets on my once dusty Twitter account. It started, I believe, when I picked up on the John Kyl story and I just had to read Stephen Colbert's tweets on the subject of 'Not intended to be a factual statement'. Here's a sampling (44) of these great tweets that still make me laugh. Can you believe that Kyl is still a Senator? How can he have the nerve to pick up a paycheck? But I digress...I started looking around the Twitter world and have begun following lots of people and organizations. I'm up to 71 now and still looking for more to follow. But, what I don't understand is...why do people follow me? I rarely have an original tweet; I am a habitual re-tweeter, just doing my bit to spread the news...

Todd Lamb

Notes From Chris

This is one of the 'Treasures of the Day'. Too bad our town is so boring. No one here would even look twice at these notes...

Argh!

« The Spinning Dancer Illusion »

This Modern World

Language is a virus

Soylent Green. Coming to a theater near you...soon

Sorry, you have to be of a certain age for this to make sense...

(One of Charlton Heston's worst films)

Tax myths

and misunderstandings - Chico News & Review:

A clear and concise story on the 'Reagan Ripoff'.

Why doesn't a Republican give us a verifiable accounting of how successful Supply Side Economics works? Because they can't. It's the same old lie and repeated endlessly.

9 Things

9 Things The Rich Don't Want You To Know About Taxes

It's just nine little lies explained. Nine little lies that you need to know about...and who said them!

Colbert

Colbert twittering silly John Kyl into oblivion:

"Kyl, like so many on the Right flaps his gums and lies so much he has to have someone else call his dog. "

Now that's funny! (And true!)

A special report on pensions:

Falling short | from The Economist:

The second paragraph of this story told me just about all I needed to know... "The employers who promised higher pensions in the past knew they would not be in their posts when the bill became due. That made it tempting for them to offer higher pensions rather than better pay." It was simply criminal and no one has gone to jail for it yet. Maybe the CEO that signed the agreement is gone but the company isn't and they are responsible for those sins. Someone...lots of someones need to go to jail. They lied. And they knew it when they signed the agreements. And until someone is punished I don't intend to believe anything they have to say.

In the past five years we have lost half of our wealth. Stolen. Theft by the manipulations of Wall Street and no one has gone to jail for those crimes either. But we were lucky as I had a Carpenter's Union pension. When the Dow Jones collapsed, I didn't hear a word of complaint from the Carpenter's fund; the checks continued to arrive. On time and for the full amount. If they hadn't, we might have had to live with our children!

And now someone, lots of someone's, want the gullible to put their retirement savings into 401(k) plans? Why?

Enough griping...the rest of the articles are fascinating but must be taken with lots of salt.

From Street Talk:

Another Haley Barbour Hunkers Down on K Street : Roll Call Lobbying

I know...and I'm sorry for it. Sort of. But take a look at this guy (and read the story of course) and imagine him as President. He wants to be. Appearances shouldn't matter but Mr. Barbour needs a year at a gym and elocution lessons. Hopefully he will be eliminated in the first round.

A good read

I've been reading the book The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason. It's a crime novel set in Iceland, the home of the author. I'm not finished with it but I'm thoroughly hooked. I was hooked enough to open up Google Earth and descend, virtually, on the small island of Iceland and tour some of the spots described in the book. Such as Hafnarfjordur. Say that three times, fast. Heck, say it once! The photos don't tell me the temperatures but they are uniformly lovely. The aerial views seem to indicate that everything is 'neat and tidy'. And the roads! Wide roads with beautiful sweeping interchanges, but where are all of the people? The photos almost all show deserted vistas both in towns and out on the highways. Unfortunately, Google hasn't sent their camera cars to Iceland so you can't take a virtual tour street by street at ground level, but you can click on the hundreds of photo opportunities and get a good sense of the place. Enough so that I want to go. Unfortunately I will have to go alone as my wife had already read the novel and sensed that it was never 'really' warm in Iceland (Duh!...it's called Ice-land for a reason!). For her, vacations are in warm places.

In the book, the police detective, Erlendur Sveinsson, is not at all like any detective novel 'hero' that you read about before. He is a tormented and lonely soul. His children hate him and he's hated by his ex-wife. Odd, but he reminds me a great deal of Kurt Wallander, the Swedish detective in the novels by Henning Mankell. That's another author that's a favorite of mine. Maybe it's the long dark winters of the sub polar regions that gives these authors such a tortured view in their books. Iceland sits astride the Arctic Circle and isn't all that far from Sweden…and it's really dark all winter long. In fact, the author notes that depression is a major problem in Iceland.

But I'm going in the summertime when the sun never sets! I guess I'll have to bring my wife some souvenirs…

California's Republicans:

Dead, or just resting? | The Economist

Hopefully the former. It's just one more good thing to love about the Golden State.

American Fascism

Henry A. Wallace's Warning of American Fascism

This was written in 1944, believe it or not. 67 years ago and it reads as if it were written yesterday. I came across it on True Blue Texan's blog and after reading it, I just had to post it. Read it and see if you don't see some truths...maybe even more than 'some'.

Hopeful

Yippee! I think I'm finally emerging from a three month Fentanyl holiday. I'll take my pain plain from now on…straight up thank you! Hopefully, this new feeling will last for awhile and I can get on with living again. I had been in a creative slump for the past few months but last night, just before bed, I whipped out the watercolor crayons and my big sketchbook/art journal and started drawing with big strokes and big color. Added water and then more color. I let it dry and then I started in on it again this morning. All very abstract of course but I have featured a big Rx with black slashes through it.

Somewhere in my reading this morning I came across this bit of wisdom…why is it that the Republicans have successfully focused the righteous anger of public opinion on the costs of the public sector employees and have pulled a curtain across any view of the crimes of the banking industry whose excesses have cost us far more than the public sector? How dumb are we? And don't get me started on the wars. Three trillion dollars for the Iraq war and now the Afghan war, the longest war in our history at over ten years…we haven't even begun to calculate what that will cost us all in the end and it's all because of the power of the military/industrial complex, the bad boys that Ike warned us about. Oh, Ike…if only you could see it now. You would weep. I know we should. But we continue to watch TV, that gentle soporific machine, and our lives glide along undisturbed. We need the draft! Yes, if we want out of the current wars and to avoid the future ones, we need to put ourselves in harm's way. I guarantee you if we thought that our son's and daughter's, our grandchildren, wives and husbands were in danger of being sent to fight in some senseless war, we would rise up and demand that it stop…now! We have not been attacked by any nation and yet we have laid waste to two nations and alienated ourselves with countless citizens of the world. Disgusting.

I better go back to my painting…

Of the 1%,

by the 1%, for the 1% | From Vanity Fair

An educated look at the inequality crisis...

Battery technology:

Highly charged |From The Economist

I sat down to eat my eggs this morning and started reading this. After I finished, (the article and the eggs) I had to go to the computer and share it...

This is the kind of stuff that gives me hope for the future. Our future.

From Mad Mike...

Millions of Americans cannot read this:

This is from an older post but nothing has changed. These people vote and they get all their information via television. Guess which channel?

"Every year, at least two million adults considered to be functionally illiterate swell the ranks of Americans unable to read. If this critical problem isn’t addressed soon, society will most certainly pay the price.

Illiteracy Statistics

42 million American adults can’t read at all; 50 million are unable to read at a higher level that is expected of a fourth or fifth grader.
The number of adults that are classified as functionally illiterate increases by about 2.25 million each year.
20 percent of high school seniors can be classified as being functionally illiterate at the time they graduate.
Source: National Right to Read Foundation

Where Illiteracy Leads

70 percent of prisoners in state and federal systems can be classified as illiterate.
85 percent of all juvenile offenders rate as functionally or marginally illiterate.
43 percent of those whose literacy skills are lowest live in poverty.
Source: National Institute for Literacy"

Speaking of weather...as I was

in the previous post...here's some stats. 744" of snow! And more to come...AccuWeather.com - Weather News | Excessive Sierra Nevada Snow and Agricultural Impacts

Speaking of Art

What fun. I picked up a check for $48 yesterday. Payment in full for the $60 abstract painting I had in a local show. The curator made $12 off of it. It wasn’t even supposed to be in the show as I didn’t like it and only included it when my wife said, “aren’t you taking that one?” So I did. I don’t even have a photo of it and I’m hoping to forget that I ever painted it. But…now I’m thinking about the fact that someone paid $60 for it. My first painting sold for $20 and it felt more like a donation. Small canvas and small subject. But $60 means something serious in these times. Should I paint some more that are just as mundane as that was? If I wasn’t just a retiree enjoying himself, then I would probably do that. That would become my new favorite style. For the $bucks$. But a style in art is ephemeral unless you get lucky.

Speaking of luck. Bad luck. The big time art world is being rocked by a judge’s decision regarding a ‘school’ of art. It’s called ‘Appropriation Art’. Really. As I understand it, one ‘artist’ would take copied photographs from another artist’s book and then add things to the photos such as painting guitars and glasses on the subjects in the photos. And then sell the results for millions. Yes, millions. I’ll never understand the major art world because these were really ugly paintings. Sorry, photos. The problem lies in the fact that the judge interpreted and made her decision based on what she thought were the motives of the artist. Bad art or not, no one can know what motivates an artist. (Certainly not a judge with a S and J in their MBTI. Artists are almost always N and P with some F thrown in.) Then to make matters worse, she says that the gallery had an obligation to determine the motives of the artist. In the meantime the pictures in question are not to be shown in any manner…do the new owners (yes, someone bought them) cover them with velvet and only lift the velvet late at night when they are certain that no one is around to see the transgression? What is certain is the fact that these pictures, because of the notoriety, are now worth even more…if that is even possible. Can I include a photo here? One stolen from the internet? Sure, why not? Millions have already seen them.  

I was reading some of the comments on the case and it was brought out that almost all artists are ‘guilty’ of appropriation at some time or another. We take ideas and styles from other artists all of the time. And now that I’m working on some collage pieces…I’m definitely guilty!

I have a large collection of digital images of art. Whenever I see a piece that interests me, I right click on it and save it to a folder of other images. I have some artist friends that are afraid to display their work on-line because someone might steal it. A thief like me, I suppose. But what would I do with it once I had stolen it? I use my collection as a screen saver…guilty again. Please note; I'm deleting the photo above from my hard drive. That's simply ugly.

It’s just a few more days now and then I get my trial Spinal Cord Stimulator and I’m eager! I’m already imagining the luxury of being able to dial out the pain whenever it strikes. And once it’s surgically implanted and the doctors dismiss me, I will be free to do…what? It’s been so long since I’ve done so many things I don’t know where to start. Driving will be a big thing for me. Long walks will be another. I should be able to paint again. Currently, I paint in spurts. No, not spurts of paint but spurts of energy. The drugs make me manic one minute and then I’m off for a nap or off to do something else. I can’t concentrate long enough to do more than five minutes at a time. On Tuesday mornings, when I paint with our group, I do pointillism. Not because I like it, but because it can be mechanical and I can appear to be normal to my friends. I’ve been working on the same piece for a month now and I really don’t care if I ever finish it. But, once I’m off the drugs, I may change my mind and find it to be fascinating once again.

This has been an amazing month for weather. It’s still snowing in the mountains to the east of here; where our son and grandchildren live. The Sacramento River has gone a full foot over flood stage locally and that means water is released into strategic areas to take the pressure off the river. Some rural roads are now flooded and will stay that way till the river level falls. As we cross the river at Hamilton City, we can see a house located about 50 feet away from the river and the river is now lapping at the lawn that slopes away from the house. Today we will probably see rain once again and it’s forecast to rain all of the way past the end of the month and into the next. This is a weather pattern that climate scientists have predicted. Exactly. We even had a tornado touch down about 20 miles from here. All part of global warming. The same global warming that our congresspersons deny as they pander to the right wingnuts. Oh, don’t get me started…     

venting

Aargh! My Trigger Finger problem is most irritating this morning! It's also very common and I hate to have 'common' problems. The more exotic the better!

It's just a little after 5 and I've been up since 3. All very much normal for me. Sigh. And now it's time for another cup of coffee.

Okay, coffee is in my hand…in a cup. And I've made the painful walk between here and there to get my cup. It's only on the return trip from there that I feel the pain. It must be the added weight of the coffee. And the cup. And speaking of pain, it's less than a week now until I receive my trial Spinal Cord Stimulator. Yippee! And then, after I receive the final install of the SCS, maybe, just maybe, I can think of reducing the amount of drugs I'm taking for pain. I have a love/hate relationship with Fentanyl, Norco and Neurontin. Yet, I can't imagine life without them. I have to. They aren't the first drugs I've had to divorce myself from so I'm quite optimistic about it. Though…at my age I certainly don't need a painful divorce. And now with a case of 'Trigger Finger' to contend with, I wonder when will it (the pain) all be over? It's been three years now and it's starting to feel 'normal'. I don't need that!

Our group of painters has put together another show at the sports club and this time I'm absent from the show. I helped to hang it yesterday and was truly relieved to have nothing there for others to judge. Yes, I sold a painting at the last show but it was one that I wasn't happy about and never should have shown it. I am not ready for another experience like that.

Until Sunday, I was all set, or had talked myself into believing that I was…ready to hang two pieces in this show. Then I saw through the haze of drugs and decided to gesso right over them. Done. These pain killers might give you inspiration, or something that passes for inspiration but they don't give you talent.

I've begun some new pieces but I'm going at it quite slowly and not letting the inspiration get ahead of what I'm able to do. I'm still looking for some way to express myself adequately. That's why I'm taking a Papier-mâché class next month. As I said - still looking!

Some quotes I pulled from the net…

Artist's Quotes

There is in every artist's studio a scrap heap of discarded works in which the artist's discipline prevailed against his imagination. Robert Brault.

 

To sum up, I work without a theory. I am conscious above all of the forces involved, and find myself driven forward by an idea that I can really only grasp bit by bit as it grows with the picture. Henri Matisse. 

 

I paint in order not to cry. Paul Klee. 

 

But the Devil whoops, as he whooped of old: "It's clever, but is it Art?" Rudyard Kipling.

 

No great art has ever been made without the artist having known danger. Rainer Maria Rilke.

 

Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue. Henri Matisse.

 

Not only do I not know what's going on, I wouldn't know what to do about it if I did.  George Carlin.

 

What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art. Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

 

An artist's career always begins tomorrow. James McNeill Whistler.

 

One must beware of a formula good for everything, that will serve to interpret the other arts as well as reality, and that instead of creating will only produce a style, or rather a stylization. George Braque.

 

If I knew what I was doing, I'd be doing it right now.  Keith Urban.

 

Truth and reality in art do not arise until you no longer understand what you are doing and are capable of, but nevertheless sense a power that grows in proportion to your resistance. Henri Matisse.

 

ThinkProgress

Ending The Afghan War Would Save Taxpayers 40,000 Times More Money Than Defunding NPR

The Republicans are idiots! Especially our own Wally Buffoon. In Butte County, NPR has been voted the best radio station year after year after year. Yet he voted to silence it...

Of course it won't work. Federal funds make up such a small amount of the budget and I'm certain that the citizens of Butte County will make up the difference.

What this whole symbolic tempest shows us is that our congress is busy chasing the mythical demons that bother them and not paying attention to the people's business. They hate NPR because it consistently reports the news in an unbiased manner. More people trust NPR than any other news source and that just cannot be tolerated by the Republican Brownshirts.

This bill will go nowhere this year or the next. It's just foot stamping by the Brownshirts...but in the years to come?

Modified version

of original post written by Josef Oehmen | MIT NSE Nuclear Information Hub (http://web.mit.edu/nse/)

Would you care to read some non-sensational news about the nuclear reactors in Japan? The ones that have been damaged? This is written/edited by MIT and I think they can be trusted to give us accurate information. It's not as exciting as the stuff given to us by any one of the many talking heads on television but I think it's our duty to try and find the truth rather than accept the headlines and this is as close to the truth as I will get...I love the internet!

Something I found

As I was wandering this morning, I came across this chart.

You may have to magnify the image to see detail but I can tell you one of the things you would see...that after 15 years of working as a teacher, your salary would rank 23rd out of 29 nations.

I've been saying this for years; teachers are underpaid! You get exactly what you pay for! It's so basic...why is it so hard to understand?

From Citizen K.:

Youthful Idealists Need Not Apply

I must have been busy...or asleep yesterday because I missed this post until this morning. At first I thought it must be a joke. I know that Republicans are mean spirited, but there are limits and I thought they would respect them. Obviously not.

Diana's

Diana's Innermost House

We've been thinking of downsizing...

Firepower

Calling the shots | The Economist:

"".....the policing tradition is rooted in 19th-century Peelian principles: the police are not supposed to impose order on an unwilling populace, but to operate with the consent of the community. The display and use of force is meant to be minimal."

And it works!

"LESS than 5% of police officers in England and Wales carry a gun on duty. Infinitely fewer fire one, and fatal shootings by police are vanishingly rare (there were two in 2009-10)"

"To a degree that many Americans find incredible, this fairly violent country is policed by men and women who might, on a difficult day, pack a baton and a can of tear gas."

Here's a model of policing that works...so why don't we try it? Our own methods haven't worked in years. Actually, they never have. 

And on a different subject...I have a new post on Peppers, the art blog

photos by Martin Schoeller

photos by Martin Schoeller

Scroll down through the photos. All very startling. Do I 'know' all of these people? I have to admit that I have only seen about 70% of them.

Embarrassed Republicans

Admit They've Been Thinking Of Eisenhower Whole Time They've Been Praising Reagan

"'I never understood why everyone elevated him to the level of a party icon,' said 89-year-old Nancy Reagan. 'Ronnie was certainly sweet and I loved him very much, but let's face it, he was a terrible president.'"

Furious!

I was so mad. Really mad. That was yesterday and I had just received the latest issue of Mother Jones magazine. (Smart. Fearless Journalism) They have a article titled 'Plutocracy Now' and in the article, at the beginning of the article, I found this…

"Princeton political scientist Larry Bartels studied the voting behavior of US Senators in the early 90's and discovered that they respond far more to the desires of high income groups than anyone else. By itself, that's not a surprise. He also found that Republicans don't respond at all to the desires of voters with moderate incomes. Maybe that not a surprise either. (it isn't) But this should be: Bartels found that Democratic Senators don't respond to the desires of these voters, either. At all."

Okay, I know that the study is almost twenty years old now. I would also be glad to bet that the behavior of the Senators has not changed. In fact, we're probably talking about the same Senators! They won't retire when they should and we're stuck with Senators that are stuck in the 20^th century. That's another conversation altogether…

The article, which you should buy and read for yourself, goes on with another 6 or more pages of facts and figures that tell you just what kind of a government our inattention has brought us. For instance, we know or we have heard that there is a growing in equality in income…

    The average income per family

        The top 0.01% $27,342,212.

        The top 0.01-0.1% $3,238,386

        The top 1% $1,137,684

        The top 1-10% $164647

        The bottom 90%
$31,244

The BOTTOM 90%. How do you support a family on $31,000? Don't they get it? Who did they vote for? Why are they on the bottom? Because of how they voted! Or didn't vote…(it makes me want to bang my head against the wall when I think of these facts)

These figures show so clearly that if the bottom 90% were paid decently and had decent benefits, they would be able to buy that new TV or a new car or – Gasp! – a new home. Henry Ford, bless his perverted fascist heart, knew that you had to pay labor if you wanted them to buy. Doh! Just think about the $$$billions that would flood into the economy if these families were paid…10% more? Okay, $3,100 per family in increased wages. That's a lot of buying power if millions of families start to shop again. More tax revenue! Millions more! Probably enough to revive the budget of any state

Before Reagan and his voodoo economics came into power (which one was Bonzo?) we had a decent economy because we had union labor buying into that economy. We could have that economy again if we would just rid ourselves of this current blood sucking government. We need new Senators and Congressmen. We need to vote!

Musings

I've been reading the book, Yellow Dirt
by Judy Pasternak, the story of how the Navajo nation was exploited and abused because it was our nation's desire to have more uranium than any other nation on earth. And so we do. Tons and tons of it. Far more than we could ever conceivably use. They've done the math and the War Department has quietly stored it away; next to the mountain of $200 hammers that was ordered and never used. Okay, the hammer part isn't true. But it could be.

As I read about the cover-ups and outright lies by government agencies once it was discovered that mining uranium might be harmful to your health, (Duh!) I couldn't help but think that that was another time where Wikileaks was needed. But it hadn't been 'invented' yet. As one agency after another discovered what was happening to the health of the miner's and their families, they quietly put the files away and pretended that they had never seen them. Shameful! There are still some people that think that revealing those kinds of secrets is unpatriotic; those people should have to live in radioactive homes, drink radioactive water and breathe radioactive air. Just as the Navajo people have had to.

Speaking of illness and of governmental agencies; yesterday we had to buy another month's supply of a pain med. We paid $14 for what the pharmacy said was over $400 worth of Gxxxxxxxxn. It's close to $15 a day. It's almost the same with Fxxxxxxl as we pay $45 for $300 worth. That would be $10 per day for that one. Medicare was taking up the slack. And this is just two medications out of the half dozen or so that I take. I haven't added it all up but I would imagine that without Medicare we would have to spend over $800 a month for meds. From what I've read, the $800 figure is low and that many others would have to pay much more than that on a monthly basis. Lucky us. We're also lucky because there is just one of us taking medication right now. What happens ten years from now when, hopefully, we'll both be around and taking meds? I can imagine that if it weren't for Medicare, we would be spending 2k a month or more.

Where am I going with all of this? Still musing.

When it comes to Wikileaks I am a fan. The fact is, you cannot trust your government. Ever. All governments lie. Big or small, they all lie. Think about the citizens of Bell, California. Those people would have LOVED a Wikileaks story about the grand scale theft that was taking place in their little town. Look at our own national history. It's been one lie after another and that's just the ones that have been caught. Caught without Wikileaks. I'm not saying that we are not a wonderful nation. We certainly are. And I cannot imagine living anywhere else. But we can only go downhill if we ignore the lies and tell ourselves that that's the cost of freedom. No, it's not! You certainly can't tell the people of Guatemala that ignoring the lies of Dulles, the CIA and United Fruit Co. gave them any freedom. (1954)

Maybe it's my imagination, but I don't think it is…I think that we have become far too accepting of lies. Politicians lie routinely because they are not being called to account for the lies. In 'my world', news media would be tasked with ferreting out the truth. A politicians story would never make it to print or broadcast without the basic research being done. And when I say politician I mean every government spokesperson. Dog catcher to President. Everything that goes into a newspaper or news broadcast, including letters to the editor, should be verified. How can you call it 'news' if the basic tests for veracity aren't followed? The way it is now, the 6:00 O'clock news should start this way; "Good evening. Welcome to KWIZ's 6 O'clock Opinion".

Back to the topic of Medicare and Social Security (SSI). Okay, SSI isn't going away today or next year or the year after that. It's good for another twenty years at least. And with minor tweaks…adjusting the tax rate so that upper income earners pay into it just as much the lower income earners do. Basic fairness. The program will go on easily into the next century. But there are those who see 'fair' as being socialism or worse. People who don't know anything at all about socialism. These same people want SSI to go away. And they are trying to convince my children and grandchildren that it makes sense to throw away the lifeboats on a ship that might sink. Now we happen to be quite lucky as I have a pension from the Carpenter's Union and my wife has one from her teaching days. We add that to our SSI and we're doing okay. But…the same people that want to throw away the lifeboats also want to sink the unions. I don't like imagining life without SSI or my union pension. But that is the life these con men want for my children and grandchildren.

I didn't grow up in a union family. But I did grow up in a family that respected labor. I was the first union member in the family and no one thought it was odd that I was. If, at the time I became an apprentice, I had a choice between union or non-union and I chose non-union…they certainly would have thought it odd. Or stupid. But I became a union carpenter apprentice and then a journeymen, foreman, superintendent, etc, etc. And I paid into my pension all of those years, just as I paid in to my SSI account. I used to see the dollars for those two benefits on my paycheck stub and I would often wish that I had the money right then. I needed it! But I couldn't have it and somehow, through the years, we got along without it. Now I'm retired and there isn't the smallest possibility that I could go back to work as a carpenter…but my pension and my SSI are here for me. I paid for them to be here. They aren't coming to me freely. It's actually my money. Money that the union wisely kept for me and money that the government was supposed to do the same with. I certainly wouldn't have done it. In fact, I was surprised when I did retire and asked for my union pension. I thought I might have a few bucks. I had more. I praise the union every time I think about where we might be if they hadn't looked after me.

Some Medical News:

Arizona Mulls Checking Hospital Patients' Citizenship -

Arizona's state government is considering new legislation that would prevent hospitals from giving nonemergency treatment to suspected illegal immigrants.

Suspected? This lets anyone be the judge. "Hey! I suspect you! And you...and you." Where does that kind of power stop? And to make the hospital that judge? That shouldn't be their job. Ever. Nor should it be the job of the druggist or the grocer or the baker or candlestick maker.

More

The more I read about the double dealing on Wall Street and the criminal negligence on the part of the Republican and Democratic parties as they allow these thieves to get away scot free...the more I think it's time for the American people to demonstrate to our representatives just how serious we are about change. Real change! (Don't t even mention the Tea baggers; those people are mindless fools who don't even know that they are owned and controlled by the Koch brothers. Robots!)

I want to march! Tell me where and when... Egyptians did it, why can't we?

Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail?

From Rolling Stone

Went to the post office the other day and picked up my copy of Rolling Stone. I'm 70 years old; why am I subscribing to Rolling Stone? Matt Taibbi is the reason I signed up for it. I have a feeling that I'm the only subscriber here in the 'Red' city of Orland. Anyway; you should read the article. If you want to look at the article about the cover boy, Justin Bieber, go ahead. I wouldn't recommend it though. It just might make you gag.

PolitiFact says

Mitt Romney tells CPAC that more are out of work in U.S. than employed in Canada:

This meeting of the Conservatives is like a meeting of the Liars Club...can you top this one? Why doesn't the media ever call them on these blatant lies? Because the news media belongs to the Right Wing.

Here's what an economist said, a Conservative economist at that...

"Frankly, I don't see that Romney's comparison makes much sense, whether it can be backed up or not,"

Oh, 'Mitt', do we have to listen to your fabrications for the next year and half? Why don't you go home now and spare us the pain?

First things first

A quiet morning. I read the news and then the blogs. I decided that there was nothing out there that I could fix so I moved over to the Google Reader feeds for Art and stole some more of the art I liked. Steal is a harsh word...I Copy it to a folder on my Desktop and then set my Screen Saver to display it. OC as I am, I now have about 1,400 pieces of art to look at.
Speaking of art, I found a piece of mine that needed finishing and so it is done. I put it on my art blog. 
I was cleaning things up in the studio when I found that one...and many others. I also made myself some new 'supports' for painting. A 3'x4' and a 2'x2' hardboard surface on a wood frame. They have gesso on them and now it's time to come up with an idea to cover them with. But why do I make new surfaces when I have so many that are not 'finished'?
On another note; we have used up all of the leftovers and have begun using Trader Joe's odds and ends for dinner. Not that TJ's ingredients are below par; they definitely are not! But it is time for a real meal again. This cooking for two is difficult enough, but when you're using prepared meal ingredients such as Chimichurri Rice or Sweet Potato Fries, the container always holds 4 or more servings and it's easy to be tempted to use the whole package. Anyway, back to my real meal. I defrosted some chicken thighs and a few minutes ago I deboned them and have them ready for the next step. I don't know what it is yet, but I have time. And in the meantime, I have the bones and skin simmering on the stove as I make some rich chicken broth. I credit YouTube for  my knowledge of deboning a chicken thigh. 
What did we do before the internet?
Well, we read and I'm still doing a lot of that. I'm reading the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and I'm just finishing up Jesus War: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 Years, by Philip Jenkins. This one is exciting, but a tough slog. There are far too many names to remember in this ancient but true drama. (One name stands out; Timothy the Weasel, Patriarch of Alexandria.) Of course it could be the meds I'm taking that has me drooping after ten or twenty pages. I have a Fentanyl patch on my shoulder that keeps me in a gray zone most of the time.
Speaking of gray, I recently got a catalog from The Duluth Trading Co. and after reading about their Longtail T's, the Solution to Plumber's Butt, I decided to try them out; mainly because I was tired of the nagging I was getting every time I bent over. Okay, they are pretty good. Really nice. And I got a gray one. No, I'm not getting anything from them, I just thought I would share the info. 
I better go...I have to check the chicken broth. If I can remember why I'm in the kitchen.

Funny Stuff

I wasn't the first one to steal it so here it is...
The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

And the winners are:

1.Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.

2.Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.

3.Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4.Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5.Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.

6.Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.

7.Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.

8.Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9.Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

10.Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.

11.Testicle, n.. A humorous question on an exam.

12.Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13.Pokemon, n.. A Rastafarian proctologist.

14.Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15.Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16.Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Whilst

the populace celebrates the natal holiday of Saint Ronnie, some of us are still naysayers. Boo to you Ronnie! And whilst I was surfing the intertubes this morning I happened upon some data that makes my position quite clear. I was present at the time these robberies took place but the majority of the populous seemed oblivious to the fact that they were at a crime scene...and they still are.

The Paradox

of Corporate Taxes in America - NYTimes.com

This is a very good piece on taxation and one that ought to be read and understood by all. I've griped about it for years. And the author is right. It's well concealed. No one wants to write about it or address it. The Republicans use the official corporate tax rate as some sort of bludgeon to use on the Left...when in fact, no corporation pays the 'official' rate. But you can't get a Republican to talk about it. lalalalalalalalalalala.

I've noted here before that the small corporation I worked for changed themselves to a Subchapter S corporation and saved $6 million a year in taxes. Guess who paid the $6 million? And what our corporation did wasn't a secret...every CFO knew about it and used it when they could.

Finally

I got around to posting something on my art blog

From Matt Taibbi: T

The Crying Shame of John Boehner | Rolling Stone Politics

Sure, Matt has an agenda here...but it coincides with mine so I found it great fun to read.

Numbers

Some numbers to think about…

20% decrease in violent crime from 1980 to 2007

1.8 million people in the US under correctional supervision in 1980

7.2 million people in the US under correctional supervision in 2007

13 percent of illicit drug users are African American

35 percent is the number of drug related arrests that are of African Americans

17,000 is the number of deaths annually from illicit drug use

103,350 is the number of deaths (annually) from alcohol related causes

256.2 per 100,000 is the rate for which black adults are imprisoned for drug offences

25.3 per 100,000 is the rate for which white adults are imprisoned for drug offences

Less than 1% is the difference in illicit drug use rates between whites and blacks

 

And the Republican's are looking for ways to cut the budget? Oh, I forgot. Republicans are big believers in the corrections system that we have and wouldn't mind adding to it. With private prisons. Who pays for those?

From Citizen K.:

A Rush to Judgment...

This is well worth reading! Click on it...

Asian medical innovation:

Life should be cheap | The Economist:

"America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is excessively risk-averse: it often takes twice as long to approve a new medical technology as European regulators do. America’s confusing approvals process deters upstart medical-technology firms, since they typically lack the deep pockets and army of experts required to navigate it. And for a device to succeed in America it must be blessed not just by the FDA but also by the bureaucrats who oversee Medicare and Medicaid, the two huge government health-care schemes. Obtaining that blessing can take years."

The worlds finest health care?

"A night in an American hospital typically costs 25 times as much as a night in an Indian, Brazilian or Chinese one; a night in a European hospital typically costs four times as much."

Something

else I found...so true!

Things I saw this morning

The FBI

Failed again. I read that they raided over 100 known mobsters last night and there wasn't a Senator or Congressman among them. Somebody had to have tipped them off...

At Last!

The Health Care bill repeal has passed in the House! Tomorrow's plan is to repeal gravity. Followed the next day by a bill repealing, black people, brown people, red people and yellow people. (this excludes carrot colored people...The Boehner Amendment)

It's wonderful to watch our government in action!

Winner

Yes, I play Lotto. $1 a game. That's about $100 a year and don't tell me how poor my chances are. I know. But the facts are this; someone wins. And on Saturday night someone won $32 million. On a whim, I decided to investigate a little further and read that there was one winner and they picked the winning ticket at a convenience store in Orosi, California. I've been to Orosi. It's memorable because of the poverty that is endemic in that part of the San Joaquin Valley. Here's a link to the stats on Orosi. If you read the stats you will see that the income levels are far below the California average. The population is over 80% Hispanic and I can tell you from personal experience that most are employed in agriculture as pickers. I would guess that there is a large percentage of that number that are undocumented. Lots of citrus and lots of grapes harvested here. In a previous life I enjoyed some church mission trips here; to Lemon Cove, Corcoran and to Ivanhoe as well. All poor. Agriculture breeds poverty. I can guarantee you that this new millionaire will be the only one within a twenty mile radius. Only the workers live here. The corporate farmer doesn't come to Orosi.
 I didn't win but I'm glad someone from Orosi did.

Progress Notes from

- Doctors for America

I was reading Dr. Kevin Pho's newsletter and ended up on this site after reading one of the articles...some good reading here! The one that caught my eye was entitled "It's easier to get a gun than mental health care: mass shootings are a symptom of our broken health care system."

From the Upper Left:

: I hate to say I told you so…

Me too. I need to be included in the long list of people who 'told you so'.

Hey! It's only a $1 billion wasted. If they had kept it up, it could have turned into some serious money!

Social Security Sense

Social Security Benefits are Modest —

Short article with good data and the truth as to why the conservatives are trying to sell you and your future down the river...charts too!

Everybody likes charts.

Guns and more guns

It's a national bad habit.Our children and our grandchildren have toy guns in their hands as soon as they can stand and toddle. 99% (I'm making that % up) of the people/characters seen on television by those children, has a gun in their hands at one time or another. The amount of filmed gun violence seen by our children grows along with them until by the time they are old enough to watch R rated films, murder and mayhem are almost, but not quite, boring to them. They've seen it all.


Then if they choose to go into the military, they can use guns for real! Big guns and little guns but all very real. Did you know that we are now buying bullets from Israel because we can't make them fast enough for our grown up kids. They are averaging over 250,000 bullets per enemy dead! 


I went to Cabo San Lucas in 1990 and was surprised to see militia with rifles over their shoulders at the airport and walking around town. Shocking! A couple of years later, my wife came on a trip to Cabo with me and I warned her ahead of time about the 'guys with real guns' that she would see. Even prepared, she was scared when she saw them. We had nothing like that at home and we figured it was the sign of being in a third world country. And it was. Now we see automatic weapons routinely at our airports and other public venues. Just a sign of being in a third world country I guess.


I have hunting weapons but I gave up hunting many years ago. The weapons are in the back of the closet and I suppose I should look at them and dust them off every now and then. But I never get around to it. And hunting isn't necessary. It's expensive, dangerous, and we have all the food we need at the store. Is there a good reason to hunt? I don't know what it might be. When I stopped hunting, I thought of it as growing up.


Pistols are a real problem for me. If you're not involved in some form of law enforcement, I see no reason to have one. If you must have a pistol; can't bear the thought of doing without...do you really need one that holds more than, let's say...six bullets? Of course not. Actually just one is enough to kill a loved one by mistake or in a fit of anger. 


Well, I can vent here and could even write to 'Dear Wally', our congressman but I doubt that with his siege mentality he would be interested in addressing the issue of gun control. So I'm just venting a little. 

Incredible!

I saw this a few minutes ago and had to say Whoa!

Dinner Time

I made a great dinner last night. We agreed. And it was easy…although it does require some shopping at Trader Joe's for some of the ingredients.

 

½ cup of TJ's cubed Pancetta bacon

½ cup chopped sweet onion

½ pkg of Baby Spinach, rough chopped – TJ's

8 mushrooms, sliced – TJ's

5-6 eggs, beaten till well blended – TJ's

Crystal Hot Sauce

TJ's 21 Season Salute - seasoning

 

Using a medium sized frying pan, cook the Pancetta on medium heat. Add the onions when the bacon is almost done, about 4-5 minutes. Add the eggs and begin to stir while lowering the heat to medium low. After a minute or two, add the spinach and stir in well. As the eggs begin to firm up, add the mushrooms, 4 generous dashes of Crystal and 4 shakes of the 21 Season Salute. Turn the heat up to medium/medium low and cook the mixture slowly for about 5 minutes. Use your own sense of when it's done but the eggs need to be moist and not rubbery. This takes the proper heat and more time stirring the mixture. If you want the very best taste, put the heat on low and stir for about 20 minutes. But, if that's boring, just turn the heat up a little and stir for about 5 minutes. You can see how well you are doing by looking at the bottom of the pan as you stir. No matter how you prepare scrambled eggs, they need to be cooked as slow as possible. Remember; you don't want rubbery eggs! Ever!

Sheriff Clarence Dupnik: “

Sheriff Clarence Dupnik: “We Have Become A Very Angry Country”

I have a feeling that this sheriff never gets together over a beer and talks shop with 'Sheriff Joe' of adjoining Maricopa County...

Still Alive

The good news, so far, is that Rep. Giffords is still alive. I'm still certain that the shooting was caused by the Tea Party (Koch brothers) and the Republican Party. Certainly not directly, but just as certain by their hate filled rhetoric that they have flooded the nation with during the past two years. And longer.

Yes, Rep Giffords is still alive but six have died and 12 more are wounded. Each of the six were important people. Equally. And all were injured or killed by a man with a gun. A mentally ill man with a gun. Hello, NRA?

The Republican Party has always gone out of their way to attract those who were mentally ill; Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Michelle Bachman are the most obvious. I won't include Rush in the list of those who are ill because he doesn't really deserve any sympathy. He knows what he is doing to make a buck and he would flip in a minute if he could get more cash as a Democrat. He doesn't have beliefs, he has a shtick!

Speaking of the NRA as I was; where do we stand with the NRA argument that says that we are safer when good citizens have guns…guns that can be used to shoot those who would inflict violence. (That whole argument makes my head spin) I guess all of the good citizens were home that day or out at the shooting range.

More on Giffords

U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head while holding a public event in Tucson, according to multiple news reports

 

Fox News said Giffords was shot point blank in the head by an unidentified gunman who also indiscriminately shot at least 11 others. The network said the gunman is in custody.

 

Giffords, 40, a Democrat, is married to U.S. astronaut Mark Kelly. She took office in January 2007, emphasizing issues such as immigration reform, embryonic stem-cell research, alternative energy sources and a higher minimum wage.

 

Isn't Arizona a 'open carry' state?

And I can see where the issues she emphasized might lead…

Education

I was reading, once again, about the problems of the schools. I decided to do some research as to how much we value teachers and came up with these figures from the US Government, Department of Labor & Whatever. These are the annual pay figures for the year 2009. Today's figures will be lower, of course. I included some pay figures from other occupations just for comparison.

 

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education $30,500    

Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education $56,660    

Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education     $61,230    

Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Vocational Education $61,370    

Vocational Education Teachers, Middle School $51,310    

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Vocational Education $63,860    

Vocational Education Teachers, Secondary School $61,620    

Special Education Teachers, Preschool, Kindergarten, and Elementary School $63,440    

Special Education Teachers, Middle School $65,140

Special Education Teachers, Secondary School $67,390

Adult Literacy, Remedial Education, and GED Teachers and Instructors $70,410

Self-Enrichment Education Teachers $41,410

Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary School    $103,600    

Education Administrators, Postsecondary $100,830    

Education Administrators, All Other $84,530    

Athletes and Sports Competitors $126,200    

Fashion Designers    $81,490

Hoist and Winch Operators    $67,000    

Boilermakers    $69,620    

Insurance Sales Agents $76,520    

Real Estate Brokers    $84,510

Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance $72,290    

Fish and Game Wardens 65,730    

Physical Therapist Assistants $56,820

Public Relations Specialists     $66,690

 

"According to the Census Bureau, over an adult's working life, high school graduates earn an average of $1.2 million; associate's degree holders earn about $1.6 million; and bachelor's degree holders earn about $2.1 million."  Unless, of course, you have a bachelor's degree in education.

 

I was hoping to find the wage figures for a high school coach. A football coach to be exact. But that figure was not to be found and I'm not surprised. By the way, did you ever notice that during heated discussions about school finance, cuts to the athletic department are never mentioned? Okay, if they are mentioned…they are dead last!

 

Automatic

I just read this news bulletin 5 minutes ago…

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona Reportedly Shot in Tucson
A Democratic congresswoman from Arizona was shot along with
several others during a public event at a grocery store in
Tucson, according to news reports. The condition of
Representative Gabrielle Giffords remained unclear. The
Tucson Citizen reported that Ms. Giffords had been shot at
close range in the head.

 

My first thought? Tea Party. Why did I think this way? Rep. Giffords is a Democrat. Isn't it a shame that the events of the past two years have made me think this way?

I'm thinking

...now that the Tea Bag people have government mandated health care under fire and seem poised to destroy it altogether, that it would make sense for them to look at some other socialist plots and put them on the list to destroy as well. The most obvious of these socialist schemes is/are the Public Utilities. Electricity, gas, water and, in a minor way, phone service. The government has long interfered with them, stifling their profits in the name of 'the public good'. Who are they kidding? It's time to take the shackles off and let the utilities seek their own level of profitability in the market place. I'm also thinking that there are a lot more government mandated services out there that need to be investigated...

But, wait...I'm thinking again; wouldn't that endanger peoples lives if they couldn't afford the new and higher rates? Health care isn't as important as electricity? As water?

Just wondering

I was scanning the Google Reader and trying to sort the wheat from the chaff as the websites flew by as fast as I could scroll…and then I spotted this from Stephen Colbert.

 

If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

-Stephen Colbert

 

I don't know when he said this but I do know that when I stopped and scrolled down to the comment section there was plenty of rage going on. Rage from those who felt singled out by Mr. Colbert. Rage from those who were sure it was just Democratic liberal clap trap. So I read it again. Hmmm? The quote doesn't contain a single word regarding liberals, conservatives or ? So, how were his words political? Why did these obviously conservative Republicans start foaming at the mouth?