Moving On Up!
This is the last post on Right of Middle.
I am joining forces with several other writers and launching a new site, called Free Liberty Writers. There are quite a few of us out there who believe in saving the American Republic and who also know how to write clear and informative articles, with a desire to make them freely available to anyone interested. At the same time, in the true spirit of American capitalism, we want to make a little extra scratch from what we do. Wordpress does not allow us to collaborate easily with each other, and it doesn’t allow us to use a revenue generating program like Google AdSense.
So, we’re moving to a new site that allows us to publish our own material. Our readers will be able to focus strictly on each of us if they choose, or they can expand their horizons a bit and see who else is out there. And, we’ll get to make a little bit of extra spending money in the process. Certainly not enough to quit our day jobs, but enough to pay for the rise in gas prices perhaps, since the Comrade-in-Chief can’t seem to get an energy policy in place that will alleviate the problem.
Please visit the new site and bookmark it. If you are a subscriber here, you’ll need to create an account over there and subscribe to my blog to get notified of updates. The new site is still undergoing some construction, so there might be a few growing pains, but it is functional. All of the blog content that was here is now over there and ready for reading.
Thank you all for visiting Right of Middle, and a special thanks goes out to the faithful followers that have subscribed to the blog. I hope I will see you over on the new site!
Sean
Vanderbilt Bans Religious Group Individuality
I just saw this headline pop up on my Twitter feed from Fox News:
Wait…. what?
You read that right. Per Vandy’s non-discrimination policy, any religious group that is officially a part of the school may not discriminate based on religious beliefs. Anyone and everyone must be permitted to join any group they wish. It has required other actions, such as forcing the Christian Legal Society to remove Bible verses and the words “Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior” from their constitution.
We’re taking political correctness way too far. The whole purpose for any group’s formation is to bring people with like-minded interests together. By their own admission, the religious groups would not necessarily force those who are not of the same faith or beliefs to not join, but why would someone who’s not a Christian join a Christian based group? Or a non-Hindu join a Hindu group? Even more importantly, these groups look for leaders who share their same beliefs, and Vanderbilt is forcing groups affiliated with the university to allow members of any interest group to hold leadership positions.
Here’s a question for the Vanderbilt leaders: Would they allow someone who did not believe in the purpose and the mission of the university to hold a university leadership position? Honestly?
The students are hopping mad, and I don’t blame them in the least. This all got started when the Boy Scouts were forced to admit girls, and vice-versa. I am not at all condoning discrimination when it doesn’t need to exist, or shouldn’t exist at all. (Housing, public services, banking, etc.) But forcing gender-based special interest groups to allow members of the opposite sex, ethnic special interest groups to accept members of other ethnicities, and religious special interest groups to accept members from other religions is just plain wrong. I would not try to join a black female Baptist group, or an Asian female Hindu group, not because their beliefs don’t interest me as a white Anglo-Saxon male Catholic, but because I have nothing in common with them. There is no reason to want to join them. Their beliefs and experiences do not mirror my own.
The liberalization of this country continues to send it swirling around the hole in the bottom of the commode. Those who hold leadership positions in our “institutes of higher learning” are the worst offenders, and it’s sad to see that there doesn’t seem to be any relief in sight.
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If You Can’t Take The Heat…
…stay out of the hot seat?
Our youngest came home today and informed us that some kids at school were being “questioned” over questionable posts on Twitter about the new principal. This was followed by a piece on WHO-TV 13 about the same thing, featuring interviews with the principal and some of the kids.
The principal is Mr. Mollison at Valley High School. This is his first year in the big chair, and he’s instituted some changes at the school that have not been greeted warmly by the student body. In the old days, if kids didn’t like a teacher or principal, they would leave dirty messages written on the bathroom walls or notes would get passed around amongst the kids.
Welcome to the 21st century. Bathroom walls and paper notes have been replaced by Twitter and Facebook.
I decided to “follow” the parody Mr. Mollison on Twitter to see what is being said. Some of it is tacky, a few are pretty bad, but for the most part, it’s kids being kids. (Although whoever made the post about the Comrade-in-Chief and “public service” should really be careful, because the Secret Service takes a dim view to posts like that – even in jest.) The students are upset, and they are venting. Not all of them are tacky or demeaning. Some of the tweets are downright funny, and some are pretty intelligent.
The funny part in this is a discussion about how the West Des Moines school district is going to handle the situation. Maybe come up with a policy. Really? The school district cannot be in the business of enforcing policies off school property. Furthermore, posting on Twitter (so long as there is nothing that is a violation of civil rights, no overt threats, or information that incites a riot) is protected as free speech. As one student wrote, “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend your right to say it.” We want our students to learn about rights, liberty, and freedoms. We also want them to learn about taking responsibility for their actions. It has to start here. This is an excellent learning experience for both sides of the argument.
The sad part about this whole mess is the amount of bandwidth the school system is giving this, when students are tweeting – from within school walls – about bullying other students, a practice that is expressly forbidden. But the school administration has reportedly done nothing about it. School is for learning, not for texting. I fully support a policy that forbids cell phone use in the school, but how do you enforce it? You can’t block the airwaves, because that violates FCC regulations. You can’t pat down every student for a cell phone, because there’s not enough time or manpower to pull that off. But you can take action and confiscate a cell phone when you see one, and you can get involved and investigate a bullying incident when you are told about one. If it’s true that a student is being bullied and the administration is doing nothing about it, then they are being nothing short of hypocritical with the parody tweets of Mr. Mollison.
If you have a Twitter account, you should be able to find the parody Mr. Mollison account fairly easily. The best thing Valley High School, Mr. Mollison, and the WDM CSD could do is ignore this. Perhaps they should sit down with student leaders and discuss the changes. In the end, if the changes need to be made, the administration should know that they are going to take pot shots over it, but that’s life. Kids have been doing it since the first “school marm” ran a one-room school, and it will be going on for years to come.
Provided we don’t remove the ability for our kids to speak their minds. That’s how mind control and tyranny start.
UPDATE: 1/31/2011 – Apparently, the “Mr Mollison” Twitter account has been disabled or deleted. So now inquiring minds want to know! Why was it removed? If any of my readers know, please drop me a line and let me know.
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Occupy Protestors Continue to Tarnish Their Image
Not that they had a lot of good image to keep shiny in the first place, mind you… but stories published in the media continue to show the true colors of the “Occupy” movement. Starting with the “Occupy Des Moines” movement, right here in my backyard, where the occupiers have said that they will return to the Capital grounds this evening despite being told that they cannot spend the night there and having been evicted once before. According to the article, how the ISP handles the situation will play an important part in how this event turns out. In reality, there’s only one way that ISP should react, and that’s to arrest the protestors for trespassing.
In New York City, Occupy protestors sunk to new lows when they defiled church property. Ignoring the classic “don’t bite the hand that feeds you” proverb, protestors urinated on a crucifix in one church, and stole a baptismal font in another. These are churches that opened their doors to the protestors to give them a place to get out of the cold, and this is how their generosity and “humanity” is repaid. One of the church pastors gave the protestors two weeks to clear out. He’s a better man than I am, I suppose. I would have given them two hours, if that long.
Finally, up in Indianapolis, Occupy protestors – joined by union members – are threatening to disrupt Super Bowl activities if Governor Mitch Daniels signs into law new Right to Work legislation. Legislation that allows workers to choose if they want to belong to a union or not, and loosens the grip that unions have on companies and their workers.
So let’s recap a few things here. If you are an Occupy supporter, please by all means chime in and give your side of the story.
The Occupy movement is supposed to be about “democracy” and “power to the people over corporations.” Yet in Indianapolis, Occupy protestors and union members are fighting legislation that would do just that – give power to the people to make their own choices. It’s clear that none of these “learned scholars” (including an organizer who is a professor at Purdue) have studied how ineffective socialized societies have been over the course of mankind. It’s a travesty of the very laws and tenants that founded our country to see elected officials standing on the steps of a state capitol building supporting the values of the Occupy movement. Those officials should be removed from power for treason against the Republic.
Looking over the list of “needs” on the Occupy Des Moines website, I would ask the organizers one question if I could: “How do you think those items came to be manufactured if corporations are so bad?” It is sheer hypocrisy that these protestors are seeking good manufactured by corporations for their “comfort” and “basic needs” when those very corporations would not exist in the Occupy movement’s sad vision of utopia.
Finally, one thing that Jesus Christ has taught us is that we should always turn the other cheek. But to defile one of the Christian faith’s most holy symbols by one of the most base human functions (in fact, there is probably only one other way that it could have been worse), and to steal another is just about as low as these people can go. Turning the other cheek is good as far as it goes, but at some point, there is a limit, and these people found it.
Any attempts to classify the Occupy protestors as anything like the Tea Party Movement is totally off base. The only similarity is that it’s a grass-roots movement. Past that, Occupy protestors are selfish, ignorant people who either cannot or will not think for themselves and become productive members of society. My challenge is still out there – anyone who is an Occupy sympathizer is welcome and encouraged to refute me, and I will even give them space to do so right here on Right of Middle.
Got the balls to do so?
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The Hunger Games
On a recommendation from my wife, I spent the last two weeks reading a trilogy of books called “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. In case you have yet to read these books, I’m not going to discuss a lot of the plot here. I will say that these three books are an excellent read.
The plot is based around a central character named of Katniss Everdeen. She’s a teenager that lives in the wasteland of what used to be a thriving country but is now one called “Pamen” that consists of a “central capital” that exerts absolute power on twelve outlying districts. Panem’s capital sucks resources out of all twelve of the districts in order to keep the citizens of the capital living with relative comfort and few wants or needs. Many of the districts, though, are lucky to scrape by with anything that resembles a humane way of life – especially if the district is not one that is in “good favor” with the capital.
In her trilogy, Suzanne Collins shows us what a government that does not trust her citizens is capable of. Katniss lives in District 12, where basic human needs are barely met, and basic human rights no longer exist. Every aspect of life is managed by the government. There is no freedom of anything, and the residents have no way to defend themselves since the residents of the district have no access to weapons of any kind. In other words, Panem’s government is one that is big enough to give her citizens everything they want, and powerful enough to take away everything they have. And there is nothing that the District 12 residents can do about it.
Why is the trilogy called The Hunger Games? As a reminder of the government’s ultimate power over the 12 districts, all districts are required to send two children (one boy and one girl) chosen at random to “The Hunger Games” every year. At the games, all 24 kids are pitted against each other in an environment that changes from year to year, televised live to the nation. The games do not stop until all but one have been killed – sometimes by factors in the environment, but usually at the hands of the other players.
The trilogy takes the reader on several plot twists throughout the series, and the story is told completely through the eyes of Katniss. I found it hard to put down my Nook once I got deep into any of the three books. Many of the reviews on Amazon or Barnes & Noble praise the first two books and knock the third. I would agree that the ending of the third might have been slightly rushed, but not nearly as bad as some reviewers have complained about. In fact, the ending of the trilogy is about what I would have expected in a story that centers around war and absolute government power over a population that is basically enslaved.
If you’ve read the trilogy, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section. If you haven’t yet given it a read… you should.
UPDATE….
No, I didn’t know they were making a movie out of this. But I do now, thanks to Andrew Holland. So, I had to head over to my favorite movie site – IMDb – and sure enough, it’s set for a March 23, 2012 release. Here’s the movie’s page, which has trailers posted as well. I can’t wait – I just hope it lives up to the hype. It looks like the movie is going to cover the first book only, based on the plot and the character list.
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Right of Middle 2011 Stats
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 16,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Blog Update
I am making two changes to the blog, and I wanted to make sure all of my readers were aware of them.
The first change involves stories that deal with local gun rights issues. I am going to resurrect my Examiner page in an attempt to get more coverage for our work in Iowa. Since I am no longer an official part of IFC, I believe that I can pick up my writing for Examiner without a conflict of interest. Google hits Right of Middle pretty hard, and I come up fairly high in searches. But my overall readership seemed higher on Examiner, and as we enter the next session, it’s important that we (those who support the eventual restoration of our full constitutional firearms rights) reach an audience that’s as wide as possible. I will still post government, liberty, or national interest items here.
The second change involves stories about the Des Moines Buccaneers. I was able to get a page on Examiner devoted to coverage of the team, and I’ll be developing that over the remainder of the season. I receive one or two hits daily on the one post I already made about the Bucs, so I hope that I can do some good promotion for the team. They are an energetic group of young men, and getting them more exposure is only going to help them.
Please make sure you check out one or both of these pages, and if you like them, subscribe to them so you’ll be notified of any updates.
Merry Christmas to all of my readers! Remember that there wouldn’t be a Christmas without Christ.
New Pages
The majority of what I do here is blog. I have an idea, I sit in front of the keyboard, and I type. WordPress allows me to create some static pages, and sometimes I feel like that gets a bit lost in the blogging. If you look in the upper right corner, you’ll see where the static pages are shown. I recently added two new pages: Books and Training.
Books is a page that lists the books that I’ve read that will always have a place in my library. History, firearms, technology, fiction… anything that I found to be a good read.
Training is a list of training that I’ve been made aware of in Iowa. Right now, it’s focused on firearms training. However, if the page ever takes off and I get enough interest or information, I’d be happy to split it and put some technology related training in there as well.
I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of these other pages that might be of interest.
Occupy Iowa Shows Their True Colors
I’ve never been a supporter of the Occupy {fill in the blank} movement. Personally, I believe they are a group of spoiled, whiny, “think they deserve everything handed to them”people who need to grow up and get a grip, a life, and a job. I’m not happy with the way banks have acted in the past few years, but that’s not where the OWS crowd draws the line. They believe that ALL market-driven economy (“Capitalism”) is bad, and everyone should be on a level playing field.
What they don’t understand is that method has been tried over and over in history. It never works. Ask the Cubans. The Russians. Any Eastern Europe country. The haves always get more, and the have-nots never get anything. Socialism is a failure.
But to put a bow on the insanity, you only need to look at a recent article on KCCI. Apparently, a man was evicted from his apartment, and all of his belongings were placed on the curb. This prompted an all-out scavenger hunt from the nearby Occupy Iowa vultures, who proceeded to take anything they wanted from the pile of belongings.
The OWS movement has always tried to say they believe in the rights of people to remain in their homes, that foreclosures are part of the evil brought on by the banking industry, and if it weren’t for all the evil capitalist pigs out there, nobody would ever need to be evicted. Nice words, but it certainly didn’t take these sharks long to bite someone’s hand. Someone who was down on his luck and kicked to the curb with his belongings. Suddenly it’s a free for all, and the Occupy Iowa “protesters” figured they needed this elderly man’s belongings more than he did.
I loved this exchange:
“You said the political statement you are trying to make is you are fighting for people who are homeless and have been evicted so isn’t it hypocritical to come over here and take stuff from people who have been evicted just because their stuff was put on the street?” asked [KCCI reporter Marcus] McIntosh.
“I just don’t understand the connection you are trying to make,” said protester Bob Allen.
“You don’t understand the question or you don’t want to understand,” said McIntosh.
“I want to understand. I understand completely. I understand there is an issue trying to be made about us somehow stealing property that was put next to the street when in fact this is commonplace and happens everywhere,” said Allen.
English comprehension is not a strong point for the protesters, obviously.
Members of Occupy Iowa said the people who lived across the street were more than welcome to come to the park to see if any of their belongings were there.
How terribly nice of them. Once we steal your stuff, you’re welcome to come over and see if it’s yours, and maybe we’ll give it back.
Remind me again why we need to be sympathetic to the Occupy cause.
Maggots.
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Waukee Hires a PR Specialist
On my drive into work this morning, I was doing my normal routine and listening to WHO radio. Jan Mickelson had a guest in the studio who reported that the Waukee Community School District had recently filled a position that will be responsible for heading up the district’s public relations efforts. Oh, and the salary for the job is $62,000 per year. Plus benefits, undoubtedly.
Fortunately, I was still on an empty stomach, so there was nothing to come back up. But it was only 20 degrees outside, so it was pretty easy to get the blood boiling.
Upon investigation, sure enough a woman by the name of Nicole Lawrence was hired by the Waukee CSD as a “Communications Coordinator”. According to The Waukee Patch, her job duties “would entail coordinating all media and public relations for the district.”
Public relations? What kind of public relations does the CSD need? As a parent of kids still in school, the last thing I need to see is an emphasis on PR. Rather, it would be good to see more of an emphasis on actually teaching our kids the basics. According to Jan’s guest, schools don’t even teach multiplication tables any longer. That was a right of passage for anyone from my generation, and it is a basic skill that follows you for your entire life. So does basic phonics, reading, geography, and writing skills. Don’t even get me started on teaching our kids civics and the way our Government is supposed to work. How many of our kids have ever read through the Declaration of Independence? The Constitution?
Do the taxpayers of Waukee know that they are now footing a $62,000+ bill every year for a woman to improve the image of the school system? Or would that money be better spent on buying things like needed supplies? Maybe another teaching position?
Our school systems are out of control, and they are brainwashing all of us into believing that they have all the right answers. It’s frightening to hear things like rote memory drills are no longer being used to form the basic foundations, or that kids who have a difficulty with some aspect of learning are automatically shunted off to the “resource center” (aka – special education). I only got to listen to the first 20 minutes or so of Jan’s show this morning, but I’m looking forward to getting the podcast and listening to the rest. If you would like to listen to the show, here is a link to the podcast.
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This Is What’s Wrong With America
A few days ago, I read a story on KCCI’s web site that reported on a dispute between a local bakery and a couple that wanted to get married. It seems that the owner of the bakery – a small mom & pop type of wedding cake bakery run out of a home in the Des Moines area – decided that she didn’t want the business of baking the cake for the couple.
In this economy, you’d think that people would jump at the chance to make a buck, right? Not so fast. The baker was not going to handle the couple’s order because the couple was Trina Vodraska and Janelle Sievers. Two females, engaged to be married. The baker, Victoria Childress, is quoted as saying:
“I said, ‘I’ll tell you I’m a Christian, and I do have convictions.’ And I said, ‘I’m sorry to tell you, but I’m not going to be able to do your cake.”
This is where it should have stopped. The couple was looking for a baker, the baker refused based on her religious convictions, and that should have been the end of the story. But it wasn’t. The couple decided to cry the blues about it.
“I said that was fine and I appreciated her being honest,” Vodraska said.
“I don’t think either one of us knew what to say. We were just shocked,” Sievers said.
At least Vodraska seemed to get it. Her partner couldn’t seem to understand that sometimes, you don’t get your way. Any small business owner can decide who he or she wants to do business with, just as any customer can decide who to do business with.
Childress said it’s her right to refuse to do the cake.
“I didn’t do the cake because of my convictions for their lifestyle. It is my right as a business owner. It is my right, and it’s not to discriminate against them. It’s not so much to do with them, it’s to do with me and my walk with God and what I will answer (to) him for,” Childress said.
Amen. It’s not about being politically correct, it’s about doing what you believe in your heart is the right thing to do. It’s about not folding under due to liberal pressure to accept things just because someone thinks you should.
“It was degrading. It was like she chastised us for wanting to do business with her,” Vodraska said. “I know Jesus loves me. I didn’t need her to tell me that. I didn’t go there for that. I just wanted to go there for a cake.”
Cry the blues, Trina. You started out OK in the quote above, but you went downhill with this small tirade. Nobody was questioning Jesus’ love for you, nor were you being chastised for wanting to do business with her. She simply declined to do business with you. Yet you and your partner seem to think the right thing to do is get the media involved and shed a poor light on this woman.
For the record, I generally like KCCI for news, but it must have been a slow news day. I’m not sure how this could have even been picked up as a news story.
A director of local advocacy group OneIowa said it’s unfortunate anyone would be willing to turn away business because of their beliefs.
No, what’s unfortunate is that OneIowa can’t leave well enough alone. Nobody is discriminating against these two women over a job, a place to live, where to sit on a bus, where to enter the business, or where to get a drink of water. This is a very simple decision by a local woman to stick to her convictions and decide to turn down the opportunity to make some money based on her beliefs.
What’s wrong is that we seem to be turning into a country that accepts this kind of bad behavior – not by the baker, but by the couple. It’s almost like this couple seems to think they deserve to have the baker make them a cake simply because they darkened her doorstep. Wrong! She has rights as a business owner and she has her personal beliefs. Not everyone believes that same-sex marriage should be permitted, and frankly, I’m getting tired of the “we’re here to stay so you better get used to it” stance that some of them seem to take.
Kind of like the Occupy (fill in the city) movement. Mostly a bunch of younger adults who seem to think the world owes them something just because they are sucking up good air. It doesn’t work that way. It never has in this country, and if we intend to remain a strong country, we can never allow it to go there. It amuses me to hear them talk about never going away and their “right” to be in the parks that they occupy. They certainly have a right to free speech and to assembly freely, but they do not have a right to assemble on property that does not belong to them and become squatters. They do not have a right to trash property that does not belong to them. Most of all, they do not have a right to claim that the money I make to support my family and my lifestyle should be redistributed simply because they cannot get off their collective butts and be a productive member of society.
The world doesn’t owe anybody anything, except a nap in the dirt when we take our last breath of air. A baker doesn’t owe a same-sex couple a wedding cake, and the supposed 1% doesn’t owe the flea-baggers a thin dime.
Get over yourselves.
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Interesting Des Moines Site
If you live in the Des Moines area, check out this site:
Might be a good opportunity to post some conservative topics for discussion.
This Made Me Chuckle…
Over at KCCI, they’ve been reporting on the “Occupy Iowa” protest (copycats of the Occupy Wall Street) and how things have been shaping up at the Capitol. Reading the article, I couldn’t help but chuckle at some of the statements that were made.
Occupy Iowa protesters returned to state capitol grounds one night after dozens of their activists were arrested Sunday on trespassing charges.
Hmmm…. trespassing is a criminal offense. If you’re somewhere you’re not supposed to be, you can expect to get the attention of someone in charge, regardless of how “well intentioned” your protest might be. Occupy Iowa protesters are no different.
“I don’t know where it’s going to go, but I have confidence it’s going in the right direction,” former Rep. Ed Fallon said.
A prime example of what’s wrong with some of our elected leaders. I suppose the good news here is that Ed is a “Mister” now, and not a “Representative.” Thank God for minor miracles.
The first night of Occupy Iowa ended in chaos when 32 protesters were arrested Sunday evening after authorities said the activists refused to leave a statehouse park at closing time. Fallon, a Democrat candidate for governor, was one of them.
“The State Patrol was really out of line. There was no need to act with the heavy of a hand. We aren’t bothering anybody here,” Fallon said.
Were you someplace you weren’t supposed to be? That’s called trespassing, big Ed. If I came to your house, sat on your property, started a group protest and refused to leave, even though I wasn’t hurting anybody, would you be well within your rights to call the police and have me removed? Would you follow through and do it?
See, that’s the huge difference between the Occupy movement and the Tea Party. The left-minded Occupiers don’t care about laws, and they don’t care about what makes this country work. They care about themselves, and that’s about it. The Tea Party, on the other hand, cares more about the country and the core, fundamental values that make America what it is. Tea Partiers don’t get arrested for dust-ups with the police. They have their protests, make their noise, get some attention, then they clean up their protest area and go back to work. You can’t say the same for the Occupiers.
Iowa State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Scott Bright said troopers were only enforcing the law.
Truer words never were spoken.
“I believe we should occupy. I don’t believe we should necessarily follow the rules because that’s part of the problem,” said protester Andrea Morton.
Thank you, Andrea! You just proved my point. You don’t give a damn about laws. You care only about you. YOU are part of the problem. You should really learn how to protest effectively. You might try starting with a premise that makes sense. As you rail against “big corporations” and “unfair business practices,” make sure you look at what you use in your daily life. Starting with the car that you drive, the cell phone you carry, or the clothes that you wear.
“As a student, I’m optimistic there will be employment after college. But I want to make sure government is working for all people to get jobs and not just those who have some of the best jobs,” said protester Ryan Price.
I have to wonder if they actually teach civics in high school or college any longer? Do you think Ryan is able to show us where in the Constitution the government is given the responsibility of providing jobs?
<tapping Ryan on the shoulder>
Pssst… Ryan… YOU are the one responsible for getting a job. My tax money is not supposed to be used to help you sponge and get a job. Pick yourself up, grow a set of cajones, and get yourself a job.
No arrests were made Monday night. The group [sic] answer was to simply move across the street.
This part made me chuckle more than any other. What a simple solution. It’s amazing how it works out that way. I wonder if any of the local union bosses had to confer with each other to make that command decision?
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Ben & Jerry’s Occupies Nothing
As my wife and kids will tell you, I have a sweet tooth. I’ll share the food off my plate, unless we’re talking about the final course of the meal. Cake, ice cream, pie… nope, I don’t often share any of that. I also keep ice cream readily at hand in the home freezer for the late-night-before-going-to-bed snack. I tell my wife it helps with my acid reflux disease, but she seldom believes that.
One of my favorite flavors has traditionally been Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. That’s been tops on my list for quite some time. I knew that B&J had a “different” outlook on corporate life, but I never realized how different it was until today. Fox News had a report this morning about B&J’s support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Here’s an excerpt from B&J’s statement:
“We know the media will either ignore you or frame the issue as to who may be getting pepper sprayed rather than addressing the despair and hardships borne by so many, or accurately conveying what this movement is about. All this goes on while corporate profits continue to soar and millionaires whine about paying a bit more in taxes. And we have not even mentioned the environment.”
Dear Ben & Jerry’s – if you feel so strongly that corporate profits are soaring needlessly, and that millionaires are not paying their “fair share” toward government, here are a couple of open suggestions to you.
First, you are more than welcome to pay your employees even more, or sell your product for even less. Either way, the folks that run your company will make less, and that will even things out.
Second, you are also more than welcome to “donate” any amount of money to the IRS that you feel is appropriate for paying your fair share. Like Warren Buffett, you probably feel that you should be paying more. However, lost in all of the rhetoric is the question nobody seems to be asking: have you actually stepped up to the plate and sent more money in to the IRS? They won’t stop you, trust me. They’ll be happy to take any dollar amount you want to send them.
B&J’s is like every other whiny baby that supports making the system “more fair” (as in – more like a socialist economy). Corporate America makes too much, the little people don’t make enough, and there needs to be a more fair system of income redistribution.
So step up, Ben & Jerry’s! Show us how to do it! Instead of being snotty little brats like the folks in the Occupy (fill in the city/state) movements who expect things to be given to them, show us how to redistribute! Lower the wages of all management, raise the wages of all the line workers, and make the salaries equal across the board. Donate your earnings to the IRS so you will feel like you are paying your fair share. In fact, I’ll sit back right here and wait for it to happen, because when it does, I’ll issue a full retraction and even buy a case of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to share with my friends.
Until that happens (and I suspect I will win the lottery before it does), Ben & Jerry’s will never see the inside of my freezer again. I would challenge the rest of you to do the same. Ben & Jerry’s is a prime example of hypocrisy at it’s finest: whine and complain about the very system that allowed their company to grow.
Snivelling little small-minded idiots.
“But we realize that Occupy Wall Street is calling for systemic change. We support this call to action and are honored to join you in this call to take back our nation and democracy.”
Get a clue, B&J… we are a Republic, based on freedom and liberty. All of us have the freedom to be as successful as we aspire to be. Or not. None of us has the requirement to bail out those who choose to sit on their collective butts, camp out for days on end instead of working a job and making a living, and sponge off the unions and the government. It’s high time for the occupiers to take some civics lessons, read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution (not to mention the Articles of Confederation) and learn what this country is supposed to be all about.
Oh wait… that would require effort. They’ll just wait for the movie version to come out instead. With our luck, Michael Moore will produce it.
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Unemployed, or Unwilling to Work?
It’s no secret to those that know us personally that both my wife and I changed jobs recently. I stayed in the IT field, while my wife left the corporate office and is now managing a retail store in our local mall. She enjoys the interaction with the customers, and she likes being busy. But – there’s a limit to being busy, and her store is just dying to find people to fill open sales associate and assistant manager positions.
All we hear about is unemployment issues. People searching for a job just to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Is there a lot of money working retail? No. That’s traditionally one of the lower paying jobs. But it pays more than nothing, if you are struggling to make ends meet.
Maybe the problem is really one of giving up unemployment benefits (aka “being on the government dole”) in lieu of making an honest paycheck. My wife needs two assistant managers and three part-time sales associates. Yet the “Help Wanted” sign sits outside her door, day in and day out, and no applications ever come in.
Right there is an opportunity for five people to help make ends meet. Are people just afraid of working anymore? Or have the unemployed become too dependent on taking the free check from the government, or too picky to take a job simply to help pay the bills until something better comes along?
It’s not just her store, either. Many stores at the mall are seeking people to fill their empty slots, only to have them continually go unfilled.
I just don’t understand how we can be worried about unemployment while jobs are out there just waiting for people to step up and fill them.
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Women’s Intro to Trap Shooting
I received an e-mail from a reader who wanted me to publicize an event coming up at the Ankney Izaak Walton League. The event is called “Women’s Introduction to Trap Shooting” and is scheduled to be held on Saturday, October 1, 2011 at their range, located south of Elkhart, Iowa. More information on this event can be found by clicking here.
The event last year had over 50 ladies stopping by, ranging in age from teenagers to “seasoned citizens.” Shotguns are provided by the DNR for those who don’t have their own.
It sounds like a great event.
Cartoonists Remember 9/11
OK, I admit it. When I pick up a newspaper (which is very often anymore) one of the first things I want to take a glance at is the comics section. Unfortunately, none of the local papers have anything close to the comics section that I grew up with (The Washington Post and for a little while, the late Washington Star).
Today, on the 10th anniversary of a modern “day that will live in infamy,” cartoonists from all genres have released memorial strips for their readers. If you want to take a look, you can find the entire line up on the website Cartoonists Remember 9/11. I found some old favorites in there, along with some new ones I’d never heard of before.
Enjoy. And never forget.
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Catching Up – Watch Your Privates!
I’ve been away from the blog for a few days. I went down to Dallas to revamp and expand the network in our office down there, which meant some 12-16 hour days. Frankly, I didn’t feel much like getting on the computer while in the middle of all that.
On the way back today, I read an “interesting” article in USA Today, and saw some interesting things from the airplane.
Once again, the importance of firearms safety cannot be over stressed. If you doubt this, just ask Joshua Seto, 27, of Chandler, Arizona. You see, Mr. Seto decided to put his fiance’s gun in his waistband instead of a holster. Unfortunately for our hero, he found out that a holster is really the right way to carry a firearm, as he managed perform a negligent discharge, shooting his thigh and his… penis.
I’m not sure which is the worst injury, to be honest. But either way, the message is the same: firearms carried in public belong in a holster, not in a waistband. Try to learn from the mistakes of others, folks.
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It was hot in Dallas this weekend. Hot as hell on earth, honestly. The heat index might have been in the 115-120 range here in Iowa recently, but the air temp was only in the upper 90′s to around 100. And while we’ve had a couple of dry weeks in the greater Des Moines area (until this past weekend), other areas of the state have seen their share of rain.
Not so down in Dallas. Daytime temps all weekend were well above 100, with temps around 110 being common. (Before I got there, 115 was not uncommon.) Making matters worse is the streak of 100+ days, which made it to 38 while I was there, and will almost certainly beat their old record of 42 days, along with a complete lack of rain. Looking at the landscape while over DFW, I couldn’t help but notice that the predominant color was brown. Landing back at home in DSM, green was the norm.
Even the birds are struggling. Turning in my rental car, I noticed a Grackle trying to bathe in the puddle of water left behind from another car’s AC unit.
The Missouri River - Untamed
But just as there’s a fine line between enough water and a drought, it can easily go the other way. Folks all along the Missouri River have been fighting a different battle – flooding. Many communities lost the battle this year, and entire livelihoods were washed down the Mighty Mo. Flying over the Kansas-Missouri border, near the towns of Weston, Kickapoo, and Sadler (I believe), it was all too obvious that the battle with Mother Nature was lost by many along the river. I suppose the most telling feature was seeing a water tower totally surrounded by the river.
The picture on the left shows the where the river is currently running. Look closely – you can see a dark line running through the flooded area. that’s where the river is supposed to be.
Looking up and down the Missouri, this was a common sight. And frankly, a sad sight. If only you could take some of this water and send it south, in a controlled manner, to help the folks in Texas who are dying of thirst, right?
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Our Comrade-in-Chief has been doing a great job of sending our economy straight down the crapper. The Dems are blaming the Tea Party for all the country’s ills. The ATF and the TSA are still up to their usual methods of stomping on rights.
Ah, it’s good to be home.
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No Respect for Life
If you need any further proof that the drift away from morality, christian values, and simple knowledge of right versus wrong is having a negative impact on this country, take a look at this story reported on Fox News this morning:
California Good Samaritan Shot While Delivering Food to Homeless
A man, delivering food to the homeless, with his wife and two kids in the car with him, shot dead with no warning and no discussion.
Put aside for a moment that this occurred in the People’s Republic of California, where the saying “when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns” comes to life on a regular basis. That’s a whole ‘nother discussion for a whole ‘nother time.
No, I’m focusing only on the fact that a good Samaritan, ostensibly not even looking for trouble, and trying to make a difference in someone’s life – small as it may have been – is brutally killed. His 3-year-old child is also shot. For what purpose? His wife was very slightly injured, and their other child was not injured at all. Obviously this story could have been even more tragic than it already is.
I’m astounded at the total lack of respect for life that appears to exist in our culture. There will always be serial murderers among us, and so long as human beings exist on this planet, there will be homicides. Some events just seem to be much more callous and unable to be explained or reconciled than others.
This is one of those events. Rest in peace, Brother John.
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Second Amendment Rally
In just less than 36 hours, the Iowa Firearms Coalition, along with the NRA, will be holding their second annual Second Amendment Rally. The rally will be held at the Brownell’s Big Springs Range in near Searsboro. Starting at 9:00 AM, firearms enthusiasts and supporters of the Second Amendment can get together and share some fellowship. There will be many different shooting demonstrations at the event, such as trap, class III weapons, IDPA, and cowboy shooting. Steve Hensyel from Hawkeye Firearms Instruction will provide a training class for those who need to attend a class in order to apply for an Iowa Permit to Carry Weapons. Guest speakers from the Iowa Legislature will be present, and there will be door prizes and a firearms raffle.
It’s going to be a warm day, but if you can make it out to Searsboro, you should find the time to do so. There’s no better way to celebrate our firearms rights in Iowa. For more information, visit the Second Amendment Rally page on the IFC website.
Hope to see you there!
More Entitlement in Iowa City
The Press-Citizen is full of good information today!
An article in their online edition talks about a picket taking place at a construction site in Iowa City. According to the article, union workers of a Chicago-based concrete firm have been replaced by non-union workers from another out of state firm.
Horrors! These Chicago union workers are entitled to hold their positions at the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute construction site! How dare anyone come in and find people willing to do the job for (most likely) less money! According to a union boss:
“[This action] is undermining our local area wage standards.”
Translation: bringing in people who will do the job for less money cuts into the artificially high wages that are being paid to union workers and padding corrupt union bosses’ and legislators’ pockets.
Try to follow the logic…
A construction company can pay workers less money to do the same job, lowering overall construction costs. This in turn causes other companies to start construction projects that they might not otherwise begin, because the costs are lower. This in turn actually stimulates the economy, because there’s more work to do. In turn, more workers can be hired, which knocks down the unemployment figures. Skilled workers eventually become harder to come by, causing wages to increase in something called “supply and demand” economics.
And all that takes place without union interference, entitlement schemes, and artificially high wages.
[...] the picket is designed to inform the public about the matter and will continue as long as the non-union firm is on the job.
Because we all know how much work gets done walking a picket line.
This isn’t about unfair labor practices. This isn’t about dreadful working conditions. This is all about one company’s decision to use a non-union company to get the job done. And like spoiled kids, the unions complain when they don’t get their way. If they spent as much time fixing their internal problems and acting like business people, they would be viewed in a more favorable light. Pickets like this are just plain silly, and serve no purpose at all.
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Self Defense or Aggression?
A 64-year-old teacher is backed against the door of the classroom by a larger, younger high school student. The student is yelling at the teacher, in her face, and evidently acting in an aggressive manner. The teacher throws two punches, connecting on one of them, causing the student to back down. All of it captured on a cell phone camera, and now making the rounds on national news. (Here is a link to the story on Fox News.)
Self-defense or aggression?
There used to be a time that our teachers command respect in the classroom, and what they said was the law inside their walls. Heck, I went to a Catholic school for 10 of my 13 years, and you didn’t dare get any of the nuns irate or you’d find out exactly what corporal punishment meant! And yet, I turned out (arguably) OK for the experience. It seems like our schools are becoming more of a social atmosphere these days, with less emphasis on instructional activities and learning anything of substance (how many of our kids even know all 50 states?) and more emphasis on showing up and looking good.
What do you think after watching the video? Was the teacher justified here?
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Back In Town
I’ve been out of town for a week, and have been too busy with work stuff to make any posts. I’ve missed quite a bit. I’ll get back into the swing of things again this coming week.
End of the Week
Spent most of the day today working on routers for two customers and bringing their VPNs online. I think the next thing I want to do is consolidate the VPNs and eliminate all of the Cisco routers, and instead, place all of the VPNs onto the Juniper firewall cluster. Less equipment and higher redundancy.
It seems the NRA is very unhappy with Iowa Carry right now. The NRA seems to think the Shall Issue situation is fairly administered, which could not be further from the truth. Yet when confronted on it, NRA State Representatives berate us for our lack of support for them. The truth hurts! The NRA has no idea about the true situation in Iowa, and they consistently turn their backs on us when we try to tell them the way it is. All you can do is keep trying – and that’s exactly what we will be doing. Never give up.
The US Presidential elections are less than a week away. Current poll numbers continue to show Obama in the lead. He has certainly played the “Hope” card, and stirred up the emotions of the younger generation. I think back to the old saying of “be careful what you wish for, because you might get it.” More and more it seems like the general population expects the government to be the giver of handouts. Government entitlement. If I can’t (or won’t) stand on my own two feet, I expect the government to be there to bail me out. We’re growing soft. Government wasn’t created to give handouts; rather, government’s function is to provide sevices used by the entire populace and to provide for national defense. I wonder what kind of future we are leaving for our kids if we continue to expect the government to provide more and more entitlements. Unfortunately, I don’t think either party is the best choice. I believe that politicians have lost touch with the population. It would be refreshing to see someone lead the country without having the influence of special interest groups, and get us back to the foundation that built this county – our Constitution. But I doubt that will ever happen, and with each passing year, that dream continues to fade. So long as we have our sports, XBox, MTV, and all of the other luxuries of our culture, we will continue to slide down the slope toward total dependence on the government.
Another warm and sunny day in Iowa, with a few more still in the works. It’s nice while they last – keeps the heating bill down. I figure in a few months well be longing for this warm weather.
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