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Monthly Archives: October 2010

Faith and Trust?


Faith and trust, are they separate, equal or the same but in different ways? The political system in this country is full of people newly seeking office or attempting to retain the one they now occupy. All of them are sending  the same message, trust me, have faith in me and I have experience. During the election seasons there is so much mud-slinging, character assassination and finger-pointing that the real work is going undone. As voters we have been caught up in these races and the political bantering to the point of missing the main messages.The speech writers, slogan producers and other wordsmiths are out to put a positive spin on negative messages to our detriment. The public needs to avoid being swept up in the mire of politics and see what is really going on. We have for too long listened to the sound bites and seemingly plausible explanations that we no longer recognize the truth. If you consider that many legislators are lawyers then think about the phrase : “reasonable doubt”. The phrase is what lawyers attempt to instill in juries along with any facts in order to exonerate or convict someone. Our lawmakers are creating reasonable doubt to stay in office. We voters have to see through the smoke and mirrors and begin voting the long-term and poorly performing legislators out. I would rather have someone new and inexperienced who can learn the job rather than a long termer who has the baggage of political debt which ultimately costs the public money and proper representation.

The Band Wagon


What is it going to take for the voters to realize that our legislators have failed us? Recently many of them from both parties have jumped on the budgetary bandwagon with an assortment of ideas. Not one has offered to take a pay cut or alter their current pension and perks status. Compare the band wagon to a circus parade, it is meant to attract attention to the upcoming event (the Circus). These elected officials are still busily promoting themselves and their parties for the next election run. They are not addressing the fiscal problems of the Nation, State and local governments. This has become the ultimate insult as they seem to believe the voters are so wrapped up in the budgetary problems and how they are affected by it that we will ignore their disingenuous posturing and wordplay. The political system is the primary cause of the problems we are experiencing since the “Scamocrats” and”Dupublicans” are still doing business as usual instead of doing what they are elected to do. We the Voters need to take action and demand proper action from this band of gypsies. Write them, call them, visit them (if you can find them) and join together in small groups , large groups to get them out of office or get them to do the work they are being well paid for.

Aptly Said


I recently received from a colleague a quote from ancient source that properly describes where our situation or more aptly where we should be:
“The budget should be balanced, the treasury refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt,”
During the past 50 plus years the United States Government has been operating in the “red” this has caused essentially the individual states and municipalities who rely on Federal funds to also operate in the “red”. What is the chance of our elected officials heeding this advice and getting on track to correct the ills of the past? As elections near, the fields for various offices are full of new and near new office seekers who, to garner the votes of the public have filled the airwaves with charges ranging from personal attacks to verbal assassination. What ever happened to the truth? The truth however unpleasant can be a most powerful tool! When people can trust what you say you have an edge and at this time I have yet to see 1 (one) elected official on any level who I feel can be trusted. We have more Officials seeking election for the power and prestige rather than for the service part of the job These are the very people that we have elected because we trusted they would deliver on their promises and have at some point shown a glimmer of those promises but the promises have never reached fruition.
These are the times when we the voters can win for a change, this is done by casting out the old guard and trying some one new (much tike trying new clothes, if they fit you keep them).
michaei abrams

Medicare et al.


The Congress of the United States aside from their formidable lack of ability to serve the public that has elected them time after time, has again shuffled around the issues that affect their constituency. Since the Congress pays nothing into Social Security, has an excellent health care plan and a pension that rivals many private companies high up executives, there is no apparent incentive to take care of us. We Americans will tsk-tsk the leaders of other countries that treat their citizenry as second class on an ongoing basis but we are currently living in similar conditions. Our standard of living has been so high for so long that we did not realize that we were being treated the same way. The Congress has received their COLA without fanfare or discussion (it’s part of their contract- which they wrote). Now when pressed to solve the Social Security mess (and many others) there is much shuffling of feet and dodging of responsibility while trying to please enough people to get reelected. There is no bi partisan Government, it is just a group of elected officials scratching one another’s back while stepping on ours.

A Comparison


The so called ” tainted election” of a “Suspect” leader in Afghanistan points out how close they are to the styles of- not so honest elections in America. The challenger to the incumbent dropped out of the election after more wrangling and electoral misdeeds were reported around the world, this allowed a controversial leader to continue with a flawed and possibly fatal governing policy. The elected officials in America have no corner on the market when it comes to political misdeeds but they certainly have raised it to a new level. The current “ins” have spent precious time sniping, pointing fingers and passing blame rather than working on the issues that
requires their collective attention. The issue of health care has become a springboard for electioneering for the upcoming election season. The idea that these people have one of the best healthcare plans and retirement (even after 1 term) but cannot seem to take care of their constituents in these financially trying times. My question is: Why do we continue to elect them to represent us? The current political parties (“Scamocrats” and “Dupublicans” ) are mirror images of one another with a liberal sprinkling of independents. This combination is like mixing oil and water with a bit of detergent it mixes initially and then separates into it’s individual parts. We (the voters) need to keep shaking this mixture up to make this group work as it should. Remember these factions depend on our complacency to stay in office while pointing out. the flaws of the other groups. Our complacency allows them to continue to do business as usual on our behalf.

Political War


We are coming down to the wire in this election campaign (and indeed it is a war). How can we trust any of the candidates when they spend so much time trying to convince us (the voters) that they have the answers while trashing the views of their opponents. Consider that all of the candidates have a platform (although illusionary in its truth) and it is really no better than anyone else’s but carefully worded and structured to appear so. If candidates or perhaps more to the point (each party’s) truth is so much better why are we in the state we are in and why are they bashing the views of others along with speaking half truths and innuendos? It seems that the main focus here is not to improve the state of our nation but to gain an office where no matter how much experience a person has , the winner still is involved in “on the job training”. The real “bosses” (voters) of our country have been mislead for years and personally as I see it we need to regain control with our votes. Please read between the “lies” and hold the politicians accountable.

Mission Statement


Why do some companies, corporations and agencies spend tons of money on creating a mission statement that they  often do not follow.I understand that part of starting a business is to have a mission statement but what good is it if it’s not followed but used as just a good sound bite that rolls off the tongue into open ears. The advertising agencies and other creative entities are paid big bucks to create these statements to entice, lure and often subtly cajole us in to using or approving of the statement’s user.Lets look at the purpose of the Mission Statement: It is supposed to in several short interest grabbing sentences garner your support for their product (whether its services or hard goods) and in most cases donate to a cause or buy the product and/or service.In reading several mission statements I have concluded that quite of few need revising to state the true mission and allow the public to understand their true mission. For instance I would rather have some one tell me “we are going to as little for you as possible but we  will receive money from for it”. Maybe if some is selling a product why not just tell me I want to sell you something but it may not be the best thing for your use. I see the mission statement as equivalent to the words of a carnival Barker extolling the virtue of spending money to see something unusual that may not be.

Racial Stages


The current wave of so called Racist remarks by an assortment of organizations political and non political have all but shut off any reasonable dialogue that would enable this country to move forward in a positive manner. Each of us is opposed to something or someone due to natural selection or conscience acceptance. When anyone reads a letter to the editor , an opinion by a known pundit or news presenter, there is always an opposing opinion or notion about what was said or written. We as people have by nature the ability to learn and think on an individual basis yet many of us continue follow a group mentality because it is convenient and easy. No one person can remedy, alter or remove the innate or learned biases but each individual can remedy themselves by getting the real facts and information on other races, religions and cultures. This does not mean that you have to accept any of those other facets of humanity, it only means that you are willing to understand and accept the differences without bias or negativity. This common act is uncommon now on a large scale and was uncommon earlier in our history. Politicians and nationally known people have for centuries used bias as a tool to wage wars, harm humanity while fufilling their own needs. Occasionally an organization appears that purposely works to upend that type of thinking but is battered due to their public face speaking the words that show that they (the public face) have not risen above the ordinary and should not be in that position. This racial, religious and social divide will be the ultimate downfall of humanity if left unchecked and it can only be checked by the common men and women of the world who are willing to rise above the fray created by biases based on race, religion and public status.

We have had the smoke now the mirrors


Each day I read an opinion from someone who either assails on the President, Congress or one of the major parties. This is all honorable and better than silence but what happens in the voting booth? If only one quarter of the eligible voters would vote outside of political party lines, ignore the innuendos, sound bites and other semi truths we could end up with better quality representatives. Each of us would love to see our own ideal representative in office but it just won’t happen. These office seekers are human beings as we all are and are capable of the same failings. Keeping this in mind while trying to glean some truth from the seemingly endless assault from the seekers on the airwaves, on yard signs and posters is difficult at best when it is time to actually vote . The only thing we have to remember is that if an office holder exceeds more than two terms and we allow it, then we are at fault. The longevity of an office holder term is a gateway to failures and mistakes that have long range effects. We can talk about what this party does or does not do compared to another until the election arrives and after but that is why we are deluged with the media ads and in your face signs. This is the smoke and mirrors of politics.

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Termination to Unionization


recent (June 2010) news article reported that 200 employees of a local non profit were “terminated”. This was explained by a member of management as normal procedure when in fact it was not normal procedure. Normal procedure was to “lay off ” workers until the fall session and recall them. This new action was in response to a recently enacted portion of the National Health Care bill, which requires employers to pay for part of the “laid” off workers COBRA. This would have been an 18 to 20 thousand dollar expense. It was also stated that most of those terminated would be called back in the fall session however after that mass termination, 8 employees were summarily “sacked” some with 18 years of quality service. Thereafter some 22 more positions and employees were eliminated when the terminated and still employed decided to unionize. This last mass termination fueled by the assault of management against unionization allowed the employees to use the Non profit’s mission statement as the tool to unionize.