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Monthly Archives: May 2012

What About The Real Bi-Partisanship?


A recent primary ended with a long time Congressman who worked with both sides of the aisle to enact legislation that benefitted ALL  Americans. The backers of the new candidate determined that the old-timer sided with the Democrats too many times and should be more “Republican”. Isnt the purpose of bi partisanship to allow each party to serve their constituents in the best way possible? The Tea party factions are simply single issue voters who have no interests other than their own. These “Oners” (single issue voters) do not care that their issue  are not in the best interests of all of us and that many of us have the similar issues but we understand that we cannot have exactly the way we want it. The problem we have with Congress now is the singularity of purpose that has delayed action on issues vital to us all. Our Congress overall has failed us time after time in spite of member like the now deposed Congressman who sought to achieve valuable action for all of his 35 years of service. The “tea partyers”apparently took issue with the Congressman relocating to Washington instead of spending public funds to travel back and forth to his home state. (doesn’t that action save taxpayer dollars). We have come to the point where  misinformation , personal gain and  any dishonesty is the order of the day for some voter groups. These groups cause more problems than they solve, they serve to elect people who in the end have an agenda unrelated to theirs since no newly elected official can appreciate the scope of the job until they actually get it.

Aging?


While I was relaxing and looking at Law and Order (rerun) , I had to get up to refill my coffee and noticed that I groan a lot more when I sit or stand after a period of stationary activity. That revelation caused me to think about other things that we do as we age. I have noticed that many of us gain a religious insight and sometimes fervor. My opinion on that for myself is that I am more spiritual than religious in the accepted sense of that word. There is nothing wrong with revisiting our religious roots but not for the sake any potential afterlife reward, I  daresay a better reason for conversion or reconversion is the achievement of inner peace and a connection with other people regardless of  their religious zealotry or lack of. The point is not religion or lack of but the aging process. We become more serious as we age in many ways, we pay more attention to our health and the signs that relate to that non stop process. We reminisce silently and orally about the good old days (our youth) and sometimes attempt to prove to ourselves that we can do some of he same things we once did. These feats of proof  usually do not end very well but we do it anyway and suffer the agony of defeat or at least the aches and pains of that effort. The best thing about aging is the ability to see all things clearer (even through cataracts) and hopefully pass them on to our children and their children.

Will WE Ever???


Will we  ever realize that our Congress has failed and will continue to do so until we as voters remove them from office. We have turned a blind eye to their ineffectiveness as legislators due to their sound bites that sound good but have no substance or value. The last election showed the true nature of our Congress when a man of  color was elected to the highest office. That election showed the covert bias in that legislative body as well as their willingness to detour from their sworn duties to fight a decidedly biased battle against Presidential proposed Healthcare and banking reforms. It was in our best interest to have our Congress accept these proposals and work out the snags rather than issue media statements against them using incomplete information and creating public distrust. Since portions of the Healthcare bill has gone into effect, there have been many beneficiaries who if left to our Congress would have had been in dire straits without it. We have for too long been 1 (one) issue voters and we need to start looking at the larger picture while ignoring the media show put on by our Congress.

Means to An End


Years  ago women in general were not expected to go to school beyond the 8th grade, gradually through persistence , advocacy’s and  a general change in public perception of the roles of women in America that has changed.  Recent information has indicated the more women go into higher education and eventually earn more money than men. The glass ceiling apparently is not as relevant as it once was. Is this the result of  changing standards and morals or evolution? As the American temperament changes (for the better)  we have many who came before to thank. As a beginning list: Pocahontas (I am sure there are other examples but I need to deal with the ones I know), Molly Pitcher,Sojourner Truth, Clara Barton, Susan B. Anthony,  Madame C.J. Walker,Jane Addams,  Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary McLeod Bethune and Rosa Parks. There are hundreds perhaps thousands who are known and unknown but relevant on many levels. Looking at this in a strictly biological way-no women , no men, no people. Our next step is to  coalesce into a Nation of PEOPLE  regardless of Race, Gender and Religious preferences.

Meglo Mart


My recent foray back into retail has revealed all of the good stuff and the bad stuff. First the good stuff: the very act of placing products on the shelves , in the right place with the labels facing forward and neatly placed is satisfying. As a customer  I like the idea of going to any store finding the product you want to buy, in the place on the shelf where it is supposed to be and having the correct price on that shelf. Modern stores have the prices (sale and regular) downloaded into the checkout registers so that the bar code can be scanned to expedite your purchase. When the product is not in the correct place, this creates a problem as most consumers look at the shelf price and make a buying decision based on that information. When the product is not in its correct place, the consumer is misinformed and that can cause a problem at the checkout which sometimes involves depart lead or manager. This brings me to the bad part of the experience: that is employees who have little pride in what they do. These miscreants are ones who “hide” when the work load is small and race through the work when it is heavy. These are two of the traits and reasons that cause the products be placed in the wrong place, price labels not being current and  customers not being served. These same folks are some of the first to yell when these events causes them to be inconvenienced in the same situation in another store. The stores are not at fault but upper , upper management is. The higher up you go there comes a disconnect that allows these folks to continue on the job with not enough mentoring. The other factors are corporate workers who have never worked in a store so do not understand the workings of retail and make decisions that serve only to make the shopping experience less than pleasurable (customer service). Then ther are the managers above the store managers who again have nor real idea of how retail stores work yet make decisions that impact the bottom line and do not have the nerve and knowledge to dispute  decisions made by Corporate when they affect the actual workings of the store.  We have a number of CEO’s who are managing retail companies and have no retail experience, this lack of experience has denigrated the operations of the store and consequently the bottom line. This  lack of experience has cost jobs. pensions and broken up families but the company board members fail to see the folly of their selection until its is too late! What I know about retail is:  Customer service is having the products on the shelf, having enough people in the store to keep the shelves stocked and to service the in store customers. The additional factor is tapping into the long time employees for their experience and abilities as they Have  worked in the stores! In the end the mega stores have only one thing over their competition and that is size and separation from their customer base.

 

Media Freedom


Freedom of the press has reached a new low in some circles. I have always thought the truth was worth something especially in the American press. It is expected that reporting is based in truth but it appears that some  journalists have allowed their personal views get in the way of facts. Every person has the right to their opinion and often those opinions change as facts are revealed yet some of the print and electronic reporters feel they have the right to inject their personal opinions in their reports thereby creating a false impression of the information they are  providing. We have had 4 years of the true face of our political leaders and aspirants, this along with  biased  media information  has brought out the worst in us as people. We have had so many hits on our economy and so many people finger pointing  until we believe any marginal lies that appear real on the surface. We are inundated by sound bites that offer the most salient bits of information in order to persuade us of its value. This is the track we have been on in this  modern  information age. There are no honest politicians apparently since all of them have secrets that do us harm under guise of public service. These secrets while sometimes “leaked” to the media serves only to allow  misleading information to be issued as facts from a reliable source. Media freedom has become synonymous with misinformation due to the less than reliable sources of that information and the insertion of personal opinion which should not be part of the story.

Health Care


A recent story about the Healthcare bill now under siege in Congress and being considered by the high court points out how ineffective our Congress our Legislators really are. The Gentlemen and Women of that Legislative body  have had several years to consider , change and make this legislation work and then explain  it to their constituents. With the recent media coverage  many people are more aware of this situation and are wondering exactly what does the law actually entail. Our Congress has spent valuable time  fighting political wars instead of doing their jobs. They have so divided and confused the voters that no one knows what the law covers and who it covers. Aside from dumping the whole lot of them (which we can do) we need to start calling and writing them to get the work done. They have created a division among the parties that has all but halted the legislative work. We as voters (their bosses) need to push their buttons and forget the politics as they (politics) do no more than create undue delays in getting their work done. If you tie this legislative boondoggle with the sound bites the spokesmen for each party issue after any of the Presidents speeches or talks, we have a bunch of people who need to be doing some other kind of work.