SPRING WEATHER: Michigan style Spring weather...

I was checking up on my friend in North Carolina after 62 tornados hit his state and actually I have been checking up on various friends around the country that have been getting hit with bad weather lately and always being thankful for living in Michigan where we seem to be protected from Mother Nature’s worst weather tirades BUT…

This morning, we here in Michigan were reminded not to plant our flowers too early because no matter how green the lawn…we can get dumped on at any given moment and we did…2-4 inches when we woke up…surprise!

Related articles

• Tornadoes Devastate South (online.wsj.com)
• Storms and tornadoes that hit the southeastern US over the weekend have left at least 47 people dead in six states. (theolgalednichenko.wordpress.com)
• Tornadoes pummel Southern US, 43 dead - Reuters (news.google.com)
• "Storms Rip Central North Carolina" and related posts (alabamawx.com)

NATIONAL BUDGET: No new taxes before wasteful spending eliminated...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

No doubt you have been following the battle of the national budget going on in Washington, DC.

On the one hand are the Republicans, being pushed by their Tea Party partners, to cut wasteful spending to the bone and on the other hand, Obama and his Democrats trying to pay for the wasteful spending by raising taxes on the rich or people making more than $250,000 a year.

On the surface, doing the right thing appears to be quite clear but this is politics where everything and anything is far from clear. You see, for politicians it is about getting re-elected and holding on to power and not about doing something good for the country and its people and I am talking about both Republicans and Democrats.

I look at the national budget the way I look at my own finances; I don’t spend more than I bring in… our government spends trillions more than it brings in.

To cut spending is a no brainer especially when there are federal reports showing billions in “wasteful” spending, spending that brings the country absolutely no benefit and should be stopped but is not…why…politics.

The Democrats have always been spenders, one social program after another, which is their basic philosophy…welfare nation. But to pay for all that largesse, they need to raise taxes on their favorite targets, the so called rich (>$250,000); the 10% of wage-earners that already pay 75% of all taxes.

The Republicans, haters of taxes, but spending fools under Bush would rather cut benefits to Americans rather than stop spending billions a day on wasteful wars. They also feel that cutting funding to Planned Parenthood / abortions will solve our budget crisis.

So there you have it…a bloody mess with a bunch of bloody fools in charge of fixing it…hopeless? – Sure seems that way to me.

We will be talking about this issue at some length as the battle rages because I think it is extremely important to our welfare and the welfare of our children and grandchildren and will influence how we vote in 2012 but I will start with one principle that I will be stressing to my representatives in Congress:

NO NEW TAXES UNTIL WASTEFUL SPENDING IS ELIMINATED FIRST…

CATHOLIC BISHOP: It was just a little intimate game...

As Catholics worldwide celebrate Palm Sunday and the Pope’s birthday, the stain that is the priestly sexual abuse scandal just won’t wash away and in fact, is getting darker and darker every day.

The latest on the scandal involves Bishop Roger Vangheluwe (74) of Bruges, Belgium. He resigned as Bishop of Bruges in 2010 after admitting that he had sexually abused a nephew for 13 years until the boy was 18. He was suspended from performing mass and other public services but by Vatican law, a bishop is bishop for life and cannot be removed from that title, so he enjoys his status in a wooded Catholic retreat in the French countryside.

What brought his story to my attention is the TV interview he gave recently where, it appears to many, he either defended his actions or at least, minimized them as insignificant and he is probably not the only Catholic cleric that thinks…what’s the big deal?...and that is very significant and disturbing in the whole scheme of things.

The bishop denied he is a pedophile saying he was never attracted to children that way and he described his sexual abuse of his two nephews as “a little game” of fondling but no “rough sex” and no “real sexuality”. He called it a little bit of intimacy but “I was never naked” and he later concurred that it (fondling) was probably not quite right.

This is the speech of a sexual adolescent which I believe many priests and bishops are because they join the priesthood at an early age when they are not sexually mature and never really become sexually mature after becoming priests; they remain sexual adolescents even into old age.

This is what I maintain is the problem with the path to priesthood; the priests that emerge are not normal mature men, they remain sexually ignorant but curious boys and that needs to change if this problem is to be tackled realistically and the only way this can be realistically tackled is to allow priests to marry and allow married men to become priests.

It now become obvious why the Vatican and a string of Popes under whose watch these abuses occurred did nothing, remained quiet and swept everything under the rug; they did not think the abuses were a big deal because they were all a bunch of adolescent, sexually immature twits, playing their little sexual games while proclaiming to be vicars of Christ on earth…how twisted is that?

Happy Palm Sunday?

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY: 40th at ZAZIOS in Birmingham, MI.

Celebrated our 40^th wedding anniversary in high style this Saturday.

My daughter Tanya and her husband Peter took us and the in-laws here from Scotland to ZAZIOS in Birmingham.

This was really a treat and an adventure as we sat at the CHEF’S TABLE where the food was prepared by two chefs in front of us and the five courses served with accompanying selected wines. The chefs also described everything they were doing so it was a kind of cooking class as well.

A fine time was had by one and all…

IRAQ: Keep our troops there forever?

Image via Wikipedia

I have been blogging about the Iraq War since the very beginning. I considered the war as senseless, perpetrated by a delusional President Bush who imagined building democracies in the Middle East and it cost us gobs of money and thousands of dead soldiers and countless thousands of dead civilians.

I remarked then that the country of Iraq needs to be divided into three regions (Shia, Sunni and Kurd) and the oil business to be nationalized and profits distributed on a per capita basis to all of Iraq, otherwise a civil war will take place and may involve other powers (Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey).

Now I hear that our government is taking a second look at pulling our troops out of Iraq (47,000) which it promised to do and maybe leaving them there on a permanent basis?

Why? To avoid a civil war which, as I have stated over and over, is inevitable? Protests have already arisen in Baghdad against leaving our troops there; they want the civil war to start so that they can garner power and create a new Iraq, most probably, one run by clerics as in Iran.

Should we go or should we stay…well, we can’t afford to keep troops there…maybe if Iraq paid us for the service?

Does it make sense to prevent a civil war? -If a civil war ends in Iraq becoming another Iran…maybe.

It will be interesting to see what others think…

Related articles

• Shiite cleric threatens action if U.S. forces stay in Iraq (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• The Possibility of US Troops Remaining In Iraq Past 2011 Grows (mydd.com)
• Pentagon backing away from Iraq withdrawal deadline (capitolhillblue.com)
• "Al-Sadr Threatens Mahdi Army Revival if US Troops Stay" and related posts (juancole.com)
• Iraqi cleric threatens action if US forces remain (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Pentagon Having Second Thoughts On Iraq Withdrawal (huffingtonpost.com)

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: Averted...abortion really?

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I just have to say a few words about the antics of both political parties on the road to a government shutdown.

Obviously you heard that a shutdown was averted in the last second when Obama agreed to more cuts and the Republicans dropped their abortion/Planned Parenthood attack.

In my last blog on the subject, I was totally beside myself that an imminent government shutdown hinged on a social issue; abortion and not an economics issue.

I have mentioned in the past that the TEA PARTY may tell us that they are all about the economy and how to cut waste in the government but underneath lays the far right religious agenda meant to establish a Christian hold on the government and all the people in this country.

Is that a little too much conspiracy theory? I don’t think so.

I think that once the Democrats announced to the public that what was holding up the deal on the budget was a social issue and not a spending issue (since funding Planned Parenthood is 0.00000000000000000001% of the budget), the Republicans had to save face and beat a fast retreat to save the Tea Party image as budget cutters and not flaming religious nut-cases.

As far as the real issue of spending cuts is concerned, the Democrats are going to have to agree to spending cuts which is against their philosophy especially with social programs and the Republicans are going to have to be willing to cut some of their own sacred cows like defense.

Related articles

• GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: Beacause of abortion issue...bite my ass! (jmszyszko.blogspot.com)
• Planned Parenthood, Abortion and the Budget Fight (abcnews.go.com)
• On Shutdown Budget Fight, Planned Parenthood and Abortion (genzpad.com)
• What Social Issues "Truce"? (alternet.org)
• Is there Going to Be a Government Shutdown Over Planned Parenthood? (rortybomb.wordpress.com)
• Government shutdown: Will Republicans throw women under the bus? (slate.com)
• Sen. Jon Kyl's False Claim About Planned Parenthood (jonathanturley.org)
• Planned Parenthood: Funds to Planned Parenthood called shutdown factor - latimes.com (policyabcs.wordpress.com)
• Planned Parenthood, abortion and the budget fight (sfgate.com)
• Planned Parenthood funds fueled budget rift (boston.com)

FREE TRADE PACTS: Obama / Unions blocking pacts...

Image via Wikipedia

For those of you who care about such things, I want to comment on Obama’s handling of various trade pacts which I consider essential to growing our economy on a global level.

I think all people, including politicians; accept the fact that free trade is the best approach (as opposed to protectionism) to growing our economy. We have to ad the proviso that free trade must also be fair trade; everyone playing by the rules.

The have been trade pacts signed with Columbia, Panama and South Korea on the president’s desk and yet he has not moved on them…why?

It appears that our friends, the unionists, are blocking these trade pacts especially the ones with Columbia and Panama…why?

These trade pacts would make it easier for us to sell our goods into those countries and visa versa…again…good for the economy especially the export business in this country.

The unions are always against these free trade pacts because they know that U.S. goods made by union labor do not have a chance at competing with Columbian or Panamanian goods made by non-union labor.

So the unions here are demanding that the language in the trade pacts include provisions for unions to form in those non-union countries with the goal of eventually making the cost of producing goods in the U.S. and Columbia / Panama, equal…get it?

And President Obama does what the unions tell him to do…

The unions defend their position or opposition to the trade agreements by saying that all they want is for foreign workers to enjoy the same wages and benefits as U.S. union members do…violin playing in the background.

It seems to me that for capitalism to function properly we must keep trade free and if other countries have a cost advantage over us because they have cheaper, non-union labor, so be it.

I don’t know if you noticed but in China, the export leader, wages are starting to go up because the people there, having tasted the fruits of capitalism, are demanding more and getting it.

Manufacturing companies around the world are looking for cheaper labor (Vietnam?) but eventually cheap-cheap labor will not be available and what the U.S. unions want to happen will happen but naturally through the capitalist system and not through union intimidation in the U.S.

Obama – quit being a union stooge!

Related articles

• Obama: labor deal paves way for U.S.-Colombia trade pact (reuters.com)
• US, Colombia reach deal on free trade pact (chron.com)
• Will the Colombia Free Trade Agreement finally get approved? (faustasblog.com)
• Ohio's senators disagree on Colombian trade pact (dispatch.com)
• Colombia to Change Labor Laws in Trade Pact (online.wsj.com)
• AP Sources: US, Colombia reach deal on trade pact (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Obama to approve free-trade pact with Colombia (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

SYRIA: What do the rioters want?

Image via Wikipedia

We have all been reading about the upheavals in the Middle East where peoples in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain rebelled against their governments for freedom?

Being the products of the American Revolutionary War where our ancestors fought for freedom from English tyranny and the right to pursue happiness on their own terms, we obviously feel for the plight of the oppressed around the world and especially now for those in the Middle East.

Before we get too caught up in our fight for freedom type emotions, let us remember some realities.

In the 1960s, it was all about countries and peoples rebelling against their colonial rulers, especially in Africa and in Asia. For some it turned out well for others like Rhodesia / Zimbabwe, among others, things actually deteriorated and the people suffered under a new, less benevolent dictator, even though he was one of them and not a foreigner; remember Idi Amin?

Same thing in Iran; threw one dictator out and got another but this time a religious dictator and not a secular dictator; which one is worst? – I think the people want the old one back.

Syria has been under the strong hand of a dictator for over 40 years; first Hafez al-Assad and then his son Bashar al-Assad.

Syria has been a pain in the ass for the U.S. because it supports all sorts of terrorist organizations including Hamas, Hezbollah, etc. The irony is that Syria is a secular state, no religious radicals allowed, but it supports Islamic religious terrorists.

The current rioting in Syria has resulted in many deaths usually people shot by the Syrian police forces. But what is it these rioters are rioting for?

The government has given in to some of the demands like dropping the ban on wearing Islamic veils for teachers in Syrian schools; yes, the people want the return of burquas?

The other demand was to close all casinos. Is this something I would be willing to risk my life for?

It appears, at this stage, that the people rioting and dying are being led by religious zealots similar to the clerics in Iran. If this is true, the country and its people could be in for a rough ride.

Syria, like other countries in the Middle East, were drawn up by Western powers (French in this case) after WWII and encompassed a variety of peoples. Syria is 74% Sunni, 13% Shia with an Alawite sub group, 10% Christians and 3% Druze, of all people.

A democratic or parliamentary form of government would be ideal for Syria but it does not appear that Syria is headed in that direction.

I could be wrong and I hope I am wrong because the Syrian people have been severely oppressed for a long time.

An interesting side note: People in Syria  were recently allowed access to the internet. Is this the new revolutionary tool of the world?

Related articles

• Does anybody know what time it is? (powerlineblog.com)
• What Is Happening In Syria? (powerlineblog.com)
• Syrian unrest worsens with losses on both sides (philly.com)
• Syria has heard all this reform talk before | Brian Whitaker (guardian.co.uk)
• Report: Syria to crack down on protests (edition.cnn.com)
• Timeline: Protests rock Bashar al-Assad's Syria (reuters.com)

ISLAM: Burning a Quran does not justify killings...

Image by The U.S. Army via Flickr

We have all heard about the riots in Afghanistan that killed many U.N. personnel in Afghanistan there to help the Afghan people, all because some twit pastor with no real congregation decided to burn a Quran / Koran or however you spell it in Florida.

Some people in the U.S. including General Petraeus blamed the idiot pastor for the slaughter of innocent people in Afghanistan; how stupid is that.

I don’t care if he burnt thousands of Qurans or if Muslims burned thousands of Bibles, what the hell does it matter; they are only words printed on paper. How can you justify killing a human being because some nitwit burned a book or drew a unflattering cartoon of someone that you care about…so what!

For someone like General Petraeus to put the blame on the idiot in Florida instead of laying the blame at the feet of the idiots doing the rioting and the killing is totally absurd; the general was justifying the slaughter due to the actions of a deranged religious idiot in Florida?

As more news comes out of Afghanistan about the incident, it appears that specific people like members of the Taliban, enraged the mob by showing them YouTube videos of the burning and convincing the mob that only the killing of infidels would appease Allah.

We can equate that to a mob of vigilantes in a western movie getting liquored up and someone with a rope saying lets go and hang that varmint.

We have to start laying the blame for these despicable actions where it belongs, on the people that carry the actions out, the people that incite these riots and the religion(s) and religious leaders that condone those actions. One cannot respect a religious leader or a religion that espouses that kind of behavior.

Islamic leaders in the Detroit / Michigan area came out against the riot almost immediately, defending the religion of Islam which forbids the taking of innocent life and condemning the atrocities. Islamic leaders have been criticized in the past for not speaking out against the violence committed in the name of Islam and obviously, they have taken the criticism to heart and have acted on it.

I just hope our own leaders get the message and start reacting appropriately instead of trying to be too bloody diplomatic when no diplomacy is warranted…call it like it is, a bunch of loonies on a killing spree that need to be prosecuted as murderers and not some religious vigilantes.

Related articles

• Lindsey Graham Doubles Down On His Disdain For The First Amendment (outsidethebeltway.com)
• General Petraeus: Koran Burning Has Put War Effort At Risk (sayanythingblog.com)
• Why Afghanistan War Strategy Must Change (duanegraham.wordpress.com)
• -Afghanistan: Violence Continues Over Quran Burning, 5 More Dead (answersforthefaith.com)
• Afghan Riots (nationalspacestudiescenter.wordpress.com)
• Taliban uses burned Quran as weapon (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• -Quran is Burned in Florida 8 are Killed in Afghanistan (answersforthefaith.com)
• Qur'an burning free speech in America? (rt.com)

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: Beacause of abortion issue...bite my ass!

Image via Wikipedia

We have been hearing about the imminent government shutdown if the Congressmen don’t agree to a budget soon. Yes, it is all about politics and can drive you crazy especially if you have plans to be at Yellowstone National Park in May and a government shutdown would close all national parks.

I can understand playing political chicken to the last minute about how deep to cut the budget but when I am told that the only issue holding up a compromise on the budget is about ABORTION, I go absolutely nuts.

The issue is federal funding for PLANNED PARENTHOOD, an organization that does a lot, on a national basis, for women and teens and only a small portion of what they do concerns abortions but all these Republican ass-holes can see is that federally funded abortions must be stopped – why – so you can federally (taxpayers) support unwanted children for the rest of their lives?

In the Wall Street Journal (very conservative) a number of Republican conservatives paid for a full page ad in the journal defending the Planned Parenthood organization and all the good that it provides women in the whole country.

The ad outlined the reproductive education that they provide to teens, their parents and their teachers with the aim at preventing unwanted pregnancies. They also provide Pap tests, cancer screening, breast exams and birth control to women that cannot afford it.

Planned Parenthood’s mission is to wipe out or control STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) which usually occur in the ranks of poor women.

I have supported Planned Parenthood most of my adult life and will continue to do so because I believe in what they do.

I get down right livid when I see stupid politicians attack an organization that does so much good for political reasons and believe me, the abortion issue is all about politics.

I have stated many a time that I don’t know anyone that is pro-abortion including myself but to be anti-choice is to deny a person(s) the freedom to be in charge of their own bodies and to tell a married couple that they cannot plan their lives themselves without interference from strangers is to me, abominable.

Please also remember that abortion is legal and the law of the land so quit trying to circumnavigate it.

If you want to bring faith and God into the issue I can only remind you that no one and I do mean not one person, knows or has known what God thinks or wants. The only reason some Christians and Catholics think they know what God wants is because they invented Him (made Him up) according to how they think he should be and so of course THEIR God is going to think like they do.

My God (Mother Earth) cares about the humankind that inhabits Her and allows it the freedom to grow, prosper and be happy; something some religious kooks can’t seems to agree with.

I am all about FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY but how can I vote for Republicans when they are such despicable morons when it comes to social issues…I NEED A POLITICAL PARTY OF MY OWN!

Related articles

• What's The Proper Framing? (talkingpointsmemo.com)
• Should Abortion Be Part of the Budget Discussion? - ABC News (blog) (news.google.com)
• GOP Should Stop Bashing Planned Parenthood (dekerivers.wordpress.com)
• Hugh Hewitt: The Effort To Defund Planned Parenthood Is A Spending Issue (hughhewitt.com)

UNIONS: Bob King, UAW Pres., needs to face painful reality...

Image by cliff1066™ via Flickr

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

        The Detroit News

        “Unions, middle class under attack by GOP”, Bob King

Bob King in his article “Unions, middle class under attack by GOP”, 4/6/11 would prefer to live in the past, even if by force, than face the economic realities of the present and the future.

Yes, the 50s, 60s and 70s were great. That era, with the help of union power, enabled uneducated and unskilled workers in the UAW to demand wages and benefits far above those of workers with the same skill level but not in the UAW. That was possible then but it is not possible now since the advent of the global economy; now we have to compete with the world to survive.

In that past era, public union workers could also demand wages and benefits and get them automatically. Well, times have changed for them also because workers in the private sector, as taxpayers, can no longer afford to support the excessive demands of public unions.

Bob King turns a blind eye to the situation in formerly strict socialist countries like the UK where they can no longer afford their socialistic largesse and now have to face fiscal reality and responsibility even in the face of a protesting public.

There will always be a middle class in our economy. It may not look like the middle class of the 50s, 60s and 70s but it will be a middle class made up of those who have earned their place in the middle class through hard work and dedication and not through intimidation and coercion. The old days are gone because they have to be gone and Bob King needs to accept that and move on.

DETROIT: many have left...will new people come?

Image via Wikipedia

I have been amazed at all the articles that have surfaced after the Detroit census came out and I am talking articles in the new York Times, Wall Street Journal and other “national” media.

Most of the articles by columnists and various academics, discuss all the whys causing the precipitous drop in the city’s population through the years to end up today at a mere 713,000 residents.

Many are saying that the city did it to itself and in many ways that is true but what about looking forward?

I grew up in the city but hung around the suburbs where many of my friends lived. After marriage, I bought a house in my old neighborhood but after the birth of my daughter I could see the writing on the wall. Crime was rampant and educating my children in Detroit was not an option even then; my daughter’s kindergarten teacher advised us to leave as soon as possible. That was then (70s) but things today are even worst.

There are many ideas floating around as to how to bring the city back and many are just pipe dreams but some, those that are brutally realistic, may have some potential.

I admire Mayor Bing for not giving up and just calling it quits. His de-sizing the city has some merit but he is being opposed by those who don’t want to change or to move (remember Einstein’s definition of insanity).

There are actually people out there, mainly young professional people, who like city life and want to move into the city; they don’t like suburban life and my daughter is one of them. She bought a condo in the Wayne State area (Midtown near Avalon Bakery) and lived there for a while. Now that whole area is booming with people that work in the area (Medical Center, Veteran’s Hospital, Wayne State, etc.) while others are being encouraged and even subsidized to relocate to the area by local employers and businesses.

To attract people, the city must become attractive and right now it is not. The services are crap, taxes are high, crime is still rampant, schools are shit and many in city government are corrupt or just plain incompetent; the culture of entitlement is still strong and unionism is entrenched.

The national economy is starting to recover but individual states are cash strapped and unable to afford handouts to municipalities. Detroit has lost residents and its tax base and yet still has an outlandish budget that has risen as the population has decreased.

Many are saying that the city should be put under an emergency financial manager’s control. The new powers given to these managers could easily dissolve union contracts, privatize services and dissolve locally elected boards. Many think that this dictatorial approach is the only way to really change things and who is to realistically argue against that proposition.

The only arguments being voiced against a take-over are those of the entitlement culture who want to remain in power and in control as the Titanic sinks. These are the very people who are responsible for the mess the city finds itself in today.

One possible solution to some of Detroit’s problems is IMMIGRATION.

Detroit was at its highest point when you had Polish, Italian, German neighborhoods. You could eat off the sidewalks in those days. There was a work ethic then and crime was not tolerated.

We recently sold my mother’s house in Detroit to a family from Guatemala. The father is a talented carpenter and remodeler and speaks good English. His wife and three children do not speak English…yet. They bought my mother’s house because it was very close to an elementary school (Priest School).

They have been living in the house only a short time but you can already see improvements to the house and grounds. BUT if the crime around them is not controlled and the schools made viable, they too will move because they will have to.

So if Detroit controls crime in its boundaries and improves the school system, will people come?

Related articles

• Detroit Population Plunges to Century Low (businessweek.com)
• Detroiters attribute population decline to crime, poor schools, few jobs - Detroit Free Press (news.google.com)
• White Detroit Homesteaders Lead First Influx Into Inner City in a Century - Bloomberg (news.google.com)
• Detroit: The Ultimate Ruins (theundergroundconservative.wordpress.com)
• Mayor hopes police take offer to return to Detroit (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Police Or Schools: Detroit Mayor Makes Tough Choices (plastic.com)
• Mayor hopes police take offer to return to Detroit (sfgate.com)

DEFINITION OF INSANITY: By Albert Einstein...

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There is an old quote that came to mind recently maybe because it has so much relevance when discussing many of our issues today. The quote is by Albert Einstein and it is known as his definition of insanity:

INSANITY: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

The definition become quite apropos when many are trying to change things for the better but are being opposed by people who want the same change but are unwilling to change the way things are done…think about it…

UNIONS: Michigan teachers ready to strike?

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In my varied ramblings about unions and especially “public” unions, I have not addressed a specific union that has been in the news lately, namely the Teacher’s Union or the Michigan Education Association.

I count a number of teachers as friends and family and know what a great job they are doing amidst day to day struggles not only with unruly students but with school administrators that can be a pain in the ass and make the job harder than it already is.

Some teachers were very instrumental in people’s later successes and/or failures. We all remember the “bad” teachers; in my case the teachers were nuns who did not take kindly to my rebellious nature (I asked questions I should not have asked) but also “good” teachers that made learning an adventure and inspired us to aim higher and higher.

My concern is not individual teachers or the teaching profession, no it is teacher unionism and as in unionism in general, there are the pros and the cons.

The newspapers are reporting that here in Michigan, the Michigan Education Association (MEA) is preparing for a strike vote just in case our Governor Snyder and our state legislature does something the MEA does not like.

It is illegal for teachers to strike in Michigan but teacher strikes are quite common here. Sometimes the courts will issue warnings and sometimes fines against the union for breaking the law and the contract it signed promising not to strike but all in all, the law is unenforceable and students suffer.

Some legislators are proposing adding some teeth to the existing law namely allowing the state or school district to decertify striking teachers…now that’s some teeth!

Some teachers will argue that without the strike option, they have no bargaining power and they are correct in that.

But the law is the law and it was written specifically in the case of certain public union contracts when the safety and/or well being of the public could be compromised during a strike.

Many cite the Traffic Controller Strike under President Reagan where obviously the public was put in danger when the union struck, plus the union was acting illegally and so President Reagan fired all 11,000 traffic controllers.

I am not addressing whether teachers deserve their pay and benefits, my concern today is about finding another way where teachers can state their demands and have them seriously heard without resorting to an illegal and damaging strike.

I am also concerned with the MEA influencing elections by supporting Democratic candidates who when elected, are obliged to give the MEA what it wants since they helped elect the individual.

These are serious issues that I think need to be addressed in a civil manner and calling for a strike vote, to me, is just plain inflammatory and may bias some normally reasonable people.

Related articles

• Michigan: Teachers Trying to Hide Union Activism in School Email Accounts (chicagonow.com)
• Teachers Unions be Gone! (socyberty.com)
• Respecting Teachers in the Sunshine State by Marcus A. Winters - City Journal (gloucestercitynews.net)
• No April Fools' joke. IEA circulates anti-MEA faux news. (preaprez.wordpress.com)
• Civility (fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com)
• Michigan's Crazy Drunk Uncle - Kyle Olson - Townhall Conservative (gds44.wordpress.com)

PAPACY: Alexander VI on SHOWTIME...

I had to call COMCAST today and add the SHOWTIME channel because THE BORGIAS (9 episode feature) will start tomorrow.

For you that really don’t know about Catholic history and especially about Papal history, this will be a revelation.

The Borgia family (Spanish) was a notorious family with huge power and wealth. In 1455 Pope Callixtus III was the first Borgia pope and in 1492 Roderigo Borgia became Pope Alexander VI and he is the one that the series is about.

Alexander was actually a pretty plump guy but he will be portrayed by a skinny actor, so much for keeping close to historical fact but maybe they could not find a fat actor that looked like a pope.

Yes there are many stories about this papacy and the fact that he had children, liked women a lot and loved to party are all documented BUT you know how people can get carried away especially those making movies or elaborate cable movies; makes for a bigger audience.

Alexander was not a bad pope he just liked a certain life style and why not but if you want to know the historical truth, you need to actually read some serious books about him and the Borgias…you will be fascinated.

For now, enjoy the series, the previews are fantastic…

Don’t forget CAMELOT started yesterday on STARZ.

Related articles

• Showtime Soap Opera Features History's Bad-boy Pope (huffingtonpost.com)
• Jeremy Irons Stars in Showtime's 'The Borgias' (abcnews.go.com)
• "Borgias" doesn't let facts get in way of sexy story (reuters.com)
• Jeremy Irons On Playing Pope for 'The Borgias' & the Trouble With Wearing Pants (VIDEO) (tvsquad.com)
• Sex, violence and the Church: On set with The Borgias (canada.com)
• Murder, orgies all in a day's work for "The Borgias" (reuters.com)

AIRLINE UNION BILL: Unfair...

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With my mother in and out of the hospital lately, not much time for blogging. Hopefully, we can get her stabilized and return to some semblance of normality in our daily lives.

Here is a quick union note: a bill passing through Congress wants to change the language as to how airline unionization can occur.

Right now, a clear majority of airline employees are needed to establish a union or to not establish a union. The new language calls for all airline employees to be counted in the vote with the ones that did not vote counted as a no vote.

In the U.S. people can vote or not vote; it’s their option. If we counted the people that chose not to vote as “NO” votes, would that be fair and/or democratic?

I will have to say NO, that would not be fair. Elections to me are counting the votes cast with the majority winning the vote…period.

The president has threatened to veto the bill as it is presented and I can see why.

I would consider the language in THIS bill as definitely anti-union and unfair and therefore I am against it…see?

Related articles

• White House threatens veto of anti-union FAA bill (dailykos.com)
• Anti-union push in FAA reauthorization gets help from Delta (dailykos.com)
• Anti-union amendment added to FAA reauthorization bill; will Obama veto? (shortformblog.tumblr.com)
• Union-busting provision in FAA bill prevails in House (dailykos.com)
• W.H.: Obama may veto FAA bill (politico.com)