Enlightened Conversation.
Category: LifeStyle
Who enslaves who and how.
Some simple facts about who champions who. Revisionist history is rife and people seldom seem to check the facts..
Here is a web site that has the facts.
Enjoy!
http://theblacksphere.net/2013/07/civil-wrongs-lyndon-b-johnson/
After doing a little research on prisons, I have come to the conclusion that there are huge financial gains for “thinking outside the box” on this issue.
The average cost to house a prisoner is $20k per year, give or take. These include statistics in states where there is over crowding and states where there is not.
What if we took all prisoners with non-violent offenses, although I would start with the 75 thousand non-violent drug offense inmates and made farmers out of them? This could be their choice but, time off for good behavior while learning how to farm and become productive would be a win! Monitoring of them could be easier and less expensive with technology i.e. drones or proximity devices etc.
The simple facts are that this cost “the tax payers” tons of money each year, both at a state and federal level.
If we were able to get the 75 thousand currently sitting in prison on non-violent drug offenses off the prison role and working on a farm being productive, that alone is $1.5Billion a year of tax money that could be used for something else.
Now how many are in prison for other non-violent offenses?
Factor into this the folks that are on welfare that can work and don’t, as well as the street folks who might want to take part in this, (comes with a place to live, heat and food.)
Lets get them to grow staples that the country needs and then they all of the sudden are a “profit center” if you will.
Between making a business out of housing criminals, entitlement spending and spending on aliens that are here illegally; tax payers bear one hell of a burden. We really need some “out of the box thinkers” to address these problems.
We really need some of these thinkers for the illegal alien issues here in this country. I really hate to use that terminology for them. If I lived there, I would do my best to come here as well. While I would do my best to come through the front door, that is certainly a lot easier said than done. Some of the basic arguments that I read are false however. There are plenty of “white people” that will do those jobs. There are plenty of “Americans” that will do those jobs. To say that white people and or Americans are too lazy to do them is a blatant falsehood and offensive to me. If you need work, you will do what you have to. If the government is paying you not to work, well that is really the cruckst of it, isn’t it? Who would dig ditches if the government will pay you stay home and watch The View or some other absolute mind-rotting nonsense?
Propaganda comes in all shapes and sizes. It comes from those that you “trust” on the nightly news, to shows from Disney with fuzzy little creatures. Third world countries are not the only ones brainwashing their citizens. While we can still get multiple views on certain topics, some countries have state run everything so the only “view” that they get is whatever the “government in power” wants them to have.
Currently we have the first amendment (free speech.) That however is under attack by the political correct police. This needs to be stopped. If what you say offends others let them not listen to you. They have the right to not listen just like you have the right to make a complete and utter ass of yourself. If I can control what you say under the guise of political correctness, than I can have free reign on a myriad of subjects and you cant say anything bad about. Friends, that is not right and “UN-American!”
The real trick is finding the multiple views as for some reason the media is in love “or in bed” with the progressives in this country. I personally read news from all over the world as there is always something going on that other countries find newsworthy. The BBC which is liberal is for the most part “right” of most of our media.
It would be refreshing to have objective journalist again. It would seem that the only time that they are tough on the government is when the GOP in charge. I am not saying that the GOP is right, what I am saying is that we need objective standards in the media. If the president drew a crowd of 5000 at some event, both FOX and CNN should say 5000, not “that there were only a few thousand” or “there were absolutely THOUSANDS that showed up for the event!” Both statements are correct, and both are misleading.
There are thousands of folks out there “speaking of thousands” who have probably thought about these issues from time to time. Let’s noodle this around a little and see what we can come up with. Let’s have a little “enlightened conversation.”
-Best to you and those that you care about!
Today I want to talk about the uber poor.
Currently there exist three classes of folks; The Rich, the middle class and the poor. I would argue that there are more than this. I would argue that there are five classes, the Uber rich, Rich, middle class, poor and very poor.
Anyone with over a Billion dollars is Uber rich. When you get into this club you have enough “gold” to make the rules.
The rich are really just upper middle class as they cannot make the rules and must live by the ones created by the uber rich however; since they are in the upper middle class they know some of the folks who make the rules and can have influence.
Before you write me and tell me uber rich don’t make the rules, I know congress makes the laws / rules but I am also savvy to Avenue K and lobbyist and who hires them…
I am skipping the middle class at the moment to jump to the poor.
The poor have apartments, houses, cable TV, one or more televisions, at least one computer and have most likely figured out how to get enough government assistance or other “invisible income” to make up the difference between being poor instead of very poor. I would argue that these folks are really middle class; they for a large part just pay taxes as if they were poor or living in poverty.
Then there are the very poor, they are street folks who live under bridges and basically exist on the benevolence of others, charitable organizations or what they can find on their own.
Now we have the middle class. These are the folks that strive to be upper middle class or rich and really have too much pride to be anything else. These are the people that get up every day and go to work whether they feel good or not. These are the folks that take two jobs, take their kids to soccer, and do all of the other stuff that most do but they are driven to press on, to get ahead, to give their kids a “chance” at something better than what they have.
Some would argue that their eye might not be on giving their kids something better but on having more “do dads, or gadgets” or trying to keep up with the millionaires.
These are also the folks who have little to no control over the rules. These are the folks that try to vote for the right person, do the PTA thing, and use whatever influence they have to make a difference.
These are also the folks who are most taken advantage of, not only by the rich and uber rich, but the poor as well. These are the folks who the 9000 pages of tax code screw the most because they don’t have enough power to anything about it!
These are the folks who get the Cable, satellite radio, cell phones with data plans and other do dads to fill voids in their lives that life quite frankly is not fulfilling. These are the folks who have the “universal fees” taken out of their ass-pocket, not knowing that they are one of the government’s ways of redistributing wealth!
I was in a park not long ago. While there, a guy, “street person” walked by me. He smelled bad and was a good distance from me. That is not however what got my attention. He was talking on a cell phone. He was in fact calling 911 because one of his fellow street people had taken his trash bag full of stuff or so he alleged. I am certain that the local police were really happy that this gentleman was able to call 911 with his “emergency.”
This is the uber poor or poorest of the poor. Not only is he relegated to living on the street, carrying his stuff in a trash bag but, he has no support system. Even though this is Texas it still gets cold in the winter. Instead of getting these people phones, would they not be better served with some other assistance? Let’s start with clean dry clothes and a warm place to sleep and some warm food. Let’s get them some medical care, including mental health. Let’s teach them what constitutes and emergency. While I am certain that was an emergency to him, that call could very well take away from a real life and death situation. There are other numbers for non emergency stuff and that should be the number he used. Truth be told if he had called sanitation he most probably would have learned that they pick up and discard full trash bags left alone.
Some folks are there on the street because that is where they want to be, I get that. Some are there because of mental illness. Some are there because they have no training to get a job or are wrapped up in some sort of substance abuse problem and waiting to hit “true bottom.” Some are undoubtedly there because of “shit happens.“
These folks don’t need a cell phone or internet, they need help! There is no money to be made in helping these folks however; giving them something tangible like a cell phone and allowing them to vote without a picture ID makes perfect sense to the government, and creates “more useful idiots.”
The purpose of this diatribe is to offer a solution to the problem. Unlike Washington and the uber greedy, I think outside the box. So, take that cell phone money and cable TV money and all of those other “universal fees” that Carter started, Clinton pushed through and Obama expanded upon and do this.
Set aside government land outside of large cities that is “farm worthy.” Enlist faith based groups, and other groups like habitat for humanity and set these folks up farms.
I am not talking about buying $150K tractors, just land and some modest accommodations and some hand tools while they make it a working business. A mule pulling a plow worked for our forefathers, maybe that could be located until they could earn their own stuff. Using the habitat for humanity model, they must put in sweat equity… I would say they must stay clean, pass drug test etc but that is just common sense, isn’t it?
Farming is not rocket science but, it is becoming a lost art. Kids today who grow up on the farm are leaving it at alarming rates. Involve the Aggies in teaching these folks the principles of farming. As the population continues to grow, does it not make sense that we could use some more farmers?
Offer this to the street people that don’t want to be on the street.
Offer this to the poor and downtrodden trapped in desperate situations; in neighborhoods that are virtual war zones with drug and gang activity. Offer them a way out, a hand up.
Find leaders among these people to self police themselves. Assist these folks to regain some sense of self worth.
First, get them medical help including mental and drug rehab. Part of that is learning how to farm. They can learn to farm, run a business and sell their product on the markets. Subsequently they can make profits and purchase tractors and what have you. If they could just feed themselves, that would be a huge win! It would be a “shot!”
I would also offer these types of programs to the 75 thousand currently in prison for non-violent drug offenses. Put ankle monitors on them and give them a chance to re-deem themselves. Prison is no place to “rehabilitate oneself.” Prison is a good place to learn how to be a smarter criminal. What if we had them help the others to become something more than a lost soul.
If we could get 75 thousand out of prison which the American people are currently paying to house,feed and manage, as well as help the poor to re-gain their lives and self worth, would this not be “giving them a shot” Mr. President? Would this not be “spreading the wealth,” in a way that makes sense?
Wealth is not just money Mr. President, it is knowledge. If I give poor people money and phones and other stuff I am enabling the poor to stay poor and in effect, I am crippling them. I am giving them a handout, instead of a hand up! All they learn is how to take.. Kennedy said, “ask what you can do” (paraphrased) Should we not teach them to fish?
If I take currently non-productive people and give them a sense of purpose; is that not giving them a shot?
Instead of kicking this can down the road people, we need to take ownership of it and make it our problem; instead of our grandchildren’s’. We need more givers than takers and it starts now.
There are smarter people out there than I, and possibly with enough “think tank” collective from the American people, maybe something good can happen. We have enough bad things on the news each and every day, it is time for something good, don’t you think?
Here is the challenge to you the readers. I am not trying to get anything out of this. This is my way of giving back. Writing a letter to the white house would end up in file 13…the bin. One voice in the wind is one voice. I need millions of voices. The only way that this has a chance is to re-blog, re-post, re-tweet and make it as viral as possible. If enough read it, someone with some “influence” will get this to the right person or people. Maybe some Hollywood type that is tired of his or her tax dollars going to keep non-violent drug offenders locked up might think outside the box as well.
Let’s give this administration a positive way that they can “fundamentally transform this country in a good way” by teaching those that need help, how to help themselves.
Yes there are details that need sorting out and I would offer that private citizens do it. Maybe, just maybe some benevolent Capitalist might have some good ideas or contacts, or a way to help. If the government gets involved too heavily with the details, we will have another 9000 pages of tax code, 60 thousand earmarks, amendments creating turtle tunnels in the tundra, and nothing will ever happen to help these people. This process needs to be streamlined and someplace like Detroit might make a good pilot as that place “like Chicago” is a war-zone.
These kids need an out and learning how to take from the government is not it. Learning how to not get shot walking to school, or how to look innocent in a lineup is not what they need to be learning.
This would also work at the state level. How about it Mr. Perry, can you make this work and show the Country /World how Texans take care of things?
Some prisons have farms already, are some of those inmates candidates to teach others?
-Best to you and those that you care about, now get reposting… Thanks!
It would seem that “Pride cometh before a fall” is something that is lost on most people who work in IT.
As someone who has been working with computers from about the time Bill Gates was buying an operating system from some poor guy in Washington State, and Steve Jobs was phone phreaking; There is just not much that escapes me.
I was doing some consulting for a company that was simply put together with bailing wire and scotch tape. They had a huge pipe to the internet and were getting a dribble through by the time it hit the desktop.
Loading WireShark (a free protocol analyzer) examining the broadcast packets it was easy to see why. The OS was literally working with NetBIOS to route packets.
A quick examination of the “server room” found the switches all tied together with Fiber and, patch cords going from one switch to another causing untold amount of routing loops etc. While the picture above is a stock photo the room in question looked very much like this.
My job however was not to fix their networking issues as this was the task of the guy I was “helping.” He was the System Administrator. I sent e-mails to him alerting him to my findings so he could take the appropriate steps, which for some reason he discounted and did not do.
The weeks went on and the problems persisted several times a day where people were kicked off of the network or files were corrupt or lost etc. His response/fix was to release and renew the IP address. Putting one band aid on the problem day after day I guess gave him a sense of accomplishment but the problems were looming and like the 500 pound gorilla in the closet, soon to get out.
One of the things that I learned many years ago is to work with VARS. Value added resellers have years of experience to draw upon. They know which products are buggy and to stay away from and which are tried and true. If you are a business don’t try and save money via internet stores as you will get what others can’t sell for one reason or another. They are on sale for a reason…
When I asked him for his vendor contact list to include in his DR plan, there were no VARS on the list. Everything was from internet companies or local retail locations. He in fact had no fallback plan if the $hit hit the fan.
The hardware purchased looked as much. There were no standards anywhere. There were high end SANS tied to cheap switches. The workstation of choice was whatever he got a good deal on making mass deployment of anything just about impossible. Hardware was way past its lifecycle and the list just went on. Because of his pride; he was not willing to listen to anyone regarding anything IT. If he does not change it will be his undoing.
This is not my first rodeo and certainly not my first encounter with arrogance. As a manager I can deal with it, as a consultant one must work around it and if it becomes too big of an impediment, bow out. There is no reason to sully your name with a situation like this when the outcome will likely somehow be your fault.
Always hire people smarter than you are and have the humility to acknowledge that you are not the end all be all. There is simply too much information out there to know it all. Wisdom is; knowing that you need help and to leverage VARS and consultants is simply smart.
-Best to you and those that you care about!
Home Foundations
I find it amazing what “greed” will cause man to do.
Here in Texas we have hot summers and of course cold winters. Not as cold as some of you, but we get our fair share of cold weather. The difference between our cold and some of you folks up north is ours last a few days and then we are back to 80 degrees. The snow and ice that we get generally is here just long enough to cause pot holes large enough to loose small cars in and serves as a constant reminder of just how ill equipped people are regarding their skills for driving in same.
During the summer months we are asked to conserve water. The lawn suffers, landscaping suffers, and worst of all the foundations suffer as we have a type of soil where I live that has high levels of clay content. As it dries it shrinks causing the homes to move not only up and down but, sideways or back and forth as well. Homes in the area can sink as much as a quarter inch per year and not recover fully during the wet season “spring” as gravity works.
It is expensive to build homes the way that they should be built, on piers, so they just don’t do it. Piers driven to the bedrock with a house built on top of them will survive the harsh summers here much better allowing one to plant drought resistant landscaping and actually conserve water. Not rocket science just common sense. As the home ages and the doors start sticking etc the foundation repair specialist are called and then they install the piers at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars and depending upon where they install them they may bore through interior floors. As you might guess they make a huge mess which the homeowner must contend with for several days. Installing piers after the home is built is always more expensive than before it is built and if you live here, your home will at some time need piers!
Some of these foundation experts are college kids with a small amount of training and are tantamount to used car salesman. The goal is to scare you enough to get you to sign on the dotted line. One of these companies hired this gorgeous young lady. By day she sold foundation work and I would bet that by night she worked as an exotic dancer! She looked more like a Bambi than a Gloria; if you catch my drift. I knew more than she did and she was clearly there to simply get a signature.
After calling many foundation people for estimates you will get all kinds of “engineers” to give you all kinds of solutions with different prices all over the map. Cement piers vs. Steel etc. Unless you yourself are an engineer, you need to have many come out and take notes as to what they say and look for common qualities or solutions in what they are proposing. Then talk to others in your area for information regarding who they used and why, how long ago and are they still happy. It is an arduous process but it musts be adhered to as this is a lot of money that you are spending and it is on your home which, for most people their most valuable asset.
Do not be tempted by the cheapest solution as it is most probably the solution that will need to be “adjusted” the most in years to come. Keep in mind that if you home sinks on one side or back or front and the other does not this damages not only your foundation but the structure of the home. Let’s say your home sinks 2 inches on one side but not on the other. The 2 inch difference on the floor translated to what is happening in the attic could be 8 or more inches depending upon the size of your home. That pulls things apart in the attic which of course most builders put together with as few nails and boards as possible.
I am reminded of the American Airline proposition to save money. They found if they removed one olive from each salad they would save some astronomical amount of money. Of course they went several steps beyond the olive and just cut out salads all together unless you are in first class.
One note about the repair process is this; they will never get the home to level again. They do what is acceptable to them and cosmetic, meaning an inch or so of slope is acceptable.
A word about “future adjustments”: Companies will sell you a solution that says that they will install the piers to X amount of pounds of resistance. They will tell you that if the home shifts X inches they will come adjust it for free for the lifetime transferrable warrantee. Here is the gotcha, the shifting will not have anything to do with their piers already installed or if it does it will be negligible. They will tell you that now you need more piers in other parts of the house and give a quote including discounts for customer loyalty or some such non-sense. If you are victim of this, call a few more companies to make certain that what they are telling you is the truth and get it in writing. Some of these folks are nothing more than opportunist, much like roofers that flock to a city after a bad storm. Use people that are listed with the BBB, that are in the yellow pages and have been in the area for some time.
After the foundation repair folks finish you are cautioned not to repair the cracks in the walls for at least a year as the house may settle some more on the new piers.
One of the last aspects of foundation repair is, people don’t think about plumbing. As the house shifts it can cause plumbing to become pulled apart causing a leak under the slab. Depending upon if that leak is on the supply side or not will give the homeowner a chance to determine that A they have a leak and B how bad is it. The supply side will alert the homeowner either with high water bills or standing water where there should not be any. It could manifest itself in other ways as well but, most probably will be detectable before it does too much damage. On the sewer side of the plumbing, a slow leak will cause the ground underneath the home to become saturated over time and cause a lifting effect under the home. While this too is easily detectable it happens over time and because of that may be ignored as normal movement until the damage is significant.
A monthly walk around your home looking for cracks in the brick may clue you in that there are issues. For those of you without a brick veneer keep on the lookout for sticking doors or windows or, doors that open or shut themselves as the house is no longer level.
A plumbing test before and after a foundation repair is not only a good idea but should be mandatory by state law. If not, insist on one, call your own plumber and have it done.
Moral of this story is this. If you are building a home, see about having it built on piers. Yes it will raise the cost of your home but the issues down the road will be lessened and the resale value of your home will be increased.
Currently there is a new neighborhood being created not far from here. This was farm land for some time. The people prepping the soil have removed all of the vegetation and leveled the land with huge equipment. Now they are going to poor slabs on it and the dirt will settle over time and those folks will have issues. There was also a stream that went through that land into a pond. That too is filled in and houses will go on top of that. The stream although not on the surface will still be there under the homes. The pond that was filled in will still collect water underground. Not an expert in this area but, that water comes from a huge lake not too far away. Just because its surface path has been covered up; I am doubtful that it will just stop to exist.
So, if you own your home already, place soaker hoses around the foundation and do your best to keep the area around your home hydrated. You should not see cracks in the soil around your home. By the way, a sprinkler system is not enough.
As we continue to place homes and businesses on every square inch that the city owns or has control over, with insufficient resources to handle what we already have, the problems will only get worse. The City does this for more tax revenue and could care less if you are inconvenienced “once you are here.” I would guess that the state is the same way, once you are here; you are a revenue stream for them as well. If you can’t water your yard or fill your pool they don’t care. If there is not enough electricity to go around on cold or hot days, they don’t care. They cater to business at that point as they pay a larger part of the taxes.
Case in point, we have been under water restrictions for the last few summers. Stage 1 or 2 or what have you. Recently a large spa with pools and all sorts of water using amenities was built. It is owned by Koreans and in their culture one must remove all of their clothing and shower before getting in the pool, hot tub etc. This is a public shower and this again is part of their culture. No issues there however; how many thousands or tens of thousands of gallons of water go down the drain daily! Yet the homeowners are asked to conserve… If it were truly about our resources, that permit would never have made it through the city approval process.
Maybe I am old fashioned and possibly delusional but I happen to believe that the Citizen comes first, before the needs of business. When decisions are called fore, someone should be asking “will this help or hurt the citizens of this city?” And that my friend is why it is important to vote in local elections.
-Best to you and those that you care about!
Those words were spoken by our not so illustrious AG, not so long ago. I don’t know where this man got his degree but, I firmly suspect it came out of a package with a little blue man with a dog by his side as the logo.
The problems in our society are not a mystery as to how they happened and the “fix” is really not that esoteric either. The simple facts are that there is no easy fix.
To repair the problem one first has to identify where the problems started and reverse the trend. Any pilot knows that when you get into trouble or off course or what have you the first thing is not some knee jerk response but, slow small course corrections.
It still boggles my mind that we are where we are at and the AG makes such a lame statement on national TV. The answer he says is to “give minorities a pass. Don’t correct them as harshly as you would someone who is not a minority.”
There are two basic problems. The breakdown of the family unit, (no dad around) and the schools have been neutered by those that feel that grading with red pens or reprimanding children or heaven forbid, spanking a child is just simply not done! You might damage their self esteem! The parents have gone as crazy by giving into their children’s empty threats of “give me my way or I will hurt myself, I will cut my self and then you will be sorry!” “Oh ok honey, here is your iPhone back and I have upped your data plan, please don’t hurt yourself.” Kids have taken “I will hold my breath” one step further to cutting or worse. If they do this parents, they need more help than you can give them with your parenting skills, seek help!
Consistent boundary setting is a lost concept today. “Explain to the “child” I really wish you wouldn’t do that because there will be consequences to your actions if you do but, that is your decision. I am keeping the phone for X weeks as I told you, because you did not do what you were supposed to….”
When you set their expectation that “if they do or don’t do” as the case may be the consequence will be X,Y,or Z than you must follow through each and every time.
The legal system is real good about setting boundaries for all of us in that if we speed, and get caught, we will get a ticket which cost us money, time and yes it could be embarrassing.
When I was in school if we did something that was even slightly egregious, it usually meant a visit to the dean, coach or principal which usually ended up with a few swats and depending upon the offence, may be followed up with after school detention.
If you check the charts of people in prison in this country today you will see that there is a direct correlation between that rise in prison population and this drive to neuter the teachers from disciplining your child! There are 2.2 million people in prison in the US, 75K from non-violent drug offenses. If you could do the math you would quickly see that we have made an industry out of housing inmates!
Let’s take that one step further, of the people that are currently on the government dole, how many of them could have benefited from a little “course correction” in school? There is such a thing as character, and I think that between missing dad’s or sperm donors; and the lack of programs for young people and quite frankly the “Stuff” that these teachers are forced to teach, you have the elements for the perfect storm of mediocrity and or “failure as a people.”
For instance, if we could re-direct some of that money currently going out to welfare or to house prisoners and put it towards the space program, we no doubt would have people living on MARS by now. Instead we have to waste our precious resources housing prisoners and paying people not to work.
How about educating those “Americans” that would like to learn, before worrying about educating illegal aliens? This is not a diatribe against Hispanics or others who come here to have a better life; it is however a statement that those that are here “legally” should have fist shot and not the other way around as we are currently doing in Texas and Mr. Christie is proposing doing!
The goal of school is to turn out taxpayers. School by definition is part of the process and tax payers invest in you, your children and so forth in hopes that you will be a productive citizen. While I doubt few get up in the morning and say, “today I want to be a better criminal,” there are probably some who do, and that is a real loss, not only for them but for all of society.
Give the schools the power to discipline all children equally. That means make the course correction in a way that will get through to that child. If the consequence is embarrassing and painful enough, the odds of the kid doing something to earn it again are much lower than if you simply throw them onto the street! You were right about one thing MR AG… We need to show these kids that “we do love them and care for them, and one way you do that is by not sparing the rod!”
The numbers don’t lie and I am aghast that no one has put it together and done something about it. So get out those red pens teachers! Not everyone wins a trophy and some need to see a big red “F” to get their attention. No child needs to be on the street or swept aside in some “program” that is indeed a pathway to prison. Make some course corrections before it gets that far. How about spending some of that money allocated for “prisons” on programs aimed at working with those families with “no dad at home.”
It is not rocket science MR Holder but, if we would take some steps now, just maybe we could get to teaching “rocket science” instead of “how to look innocent in a lineup.” What kids see at home today they will no doubt re-peat in their lives thus adding to the already growing prison populations, broken families and homes and “Detroits,” all over America! Stop the madness!
Happy 2014!
Greetings to you and so long 2013!
I have spent a number of years on eBay and for the most part been happy with the services and products. Having said that a few stand out in my mind and I thought an airing of the facts might help someone else.
Sites like eBay have accountability built in however; many of us don’t leave a negative rating when the person deserves it, thus skewing the results. Some of us leave them a bad mark because the item was defective or what have you when it was clearly marked “as is no returns.”
I have been known to leave them a positive feedback but then voice my concerns for their way of doing business in the comments. For instance one fellow sold me something and then just threw it into a “if it fits it ships box, no packing and barely any tape. Why the post office took it is another story but it did make it. The box did not survive and the device inside looked as if the Cowboys used it for a football. Anyone reading his feedback will see that he needs to step up his shipping game.
Here is my argument, see what you think. I have always felt that we are too litigious of a society, we are “sue happy.” Anything goes wrong and there is some lawyer somewhere looking to make some money and will take the case no matter how petty the suite. Much like sharks; the more hungry the beast, the more appetizing a license plate or old shoe looks as opposed to a “wrongful death suite” that just don’t fall into “everyone’s” lap..
Is there a time to sue and is there a time to leave a negative rating? The answer is yes to both. If you are suing someone because you see it as a way to make money; (much like the lawyer,) than probably not. However; if you are bringing legal action as a way to hold the entity accountable, and possibly get them to change the way that they do business, than I believe that you are not only justified, but you should. The same is true about not leaving five stars.
Did they earn it?
Was the description accurate?
Was the product or service delivered as expected?
Was the shipping “normal” or was it high?
Was the item packed correctly?
If there was a problem, did they go out of their way to make it right?
Did they communicate with you until it was resolved?
Online buying has evolved over the years and I would suspect that the day of shopping via printed catalogue will be history in the next few years. With companies like Amazon, and others, it seems that the market place is much larger, only limited by internet access and access to the mail, or UPS or what have you.
I collect, purchase and refurbish old radio’s, purely as a hobby. I visited a re-cycle plant a few years ago where I saw home electronics being shredded, ground up, pulverized etc. While there is a need for this, I really would like to salvage some of “Americana” via its technology of the 50’s and 60’s and before, for the next generations. This quest has me looking for and purchasing unique antique e-stuff and than looking for the parts to repair it. Few young people today know what a tube is or how it works. We have managed to pack a video camera into wristwatch that still tells the time and only a few years ago (60) the transistor was replacing the tube allowing for smaller power supplies and of course smaller radio’s. We got the first transistor radio in 1954 which was a combined effort of Texas Instruments and Industrial Development Engineering Associates. A year later over 100,000 pocket radios were on the market. That is when Raytheon jumped in to make a better radio hence came along the 8 TP 1 which basically was a radio that doubled the amount of transistors incorporated from 4 to 8 allowing for better sound.
eBay seems like a natural place for this as it is rife with all kinds of these things.
Here are some things that I learned over the years that may help you and or might guilt the person or person’s who practice this type of behavior to stop it.
When selling an old “transistor radio” the seller said, “I am not sure how to test this.” Translated “I have done everything that I know and this thing is dead.” If you are incapable of installing a 9volt battery and turning a couple of knobs to see what happens, than perhaps you should not be selling on-line.
“I put a battery in and just static, there are no AM stations in my area.” Unless you live on the moon or in a cave or a solid brick building, there are radio stations that you can hear, that is especially true if you have the internet and cell phone. Translated, “this thing is screwed up and I will say this in hopes that someone will buy it.”
I guess what I see most of is that “I got this at an estate sale and have no way to test it.” Folks, the most idiotic person out there knows that it is worth more money if it works and most people who buy at an estate sale know more than just a little about what they are buying. So, translated, “I did everything that I know, called all of my normal resources and this thing appears to be dead so I will say I don’t know how to test it and it will be someone else’s problem.”
A few others that I have received over the years are “for parts or repairs.” Now this is fair game. Accompanied along with pictures so people can see what they are bidding on, I now know that it is dead, that you don’t know how or don’t want to repair it and you want to move it. Here is where the rub comes in.
I have bought many such radio’s to find that someone had opened them up and removed parts to repair another radio and then sold what they did not want as “for parts or repair.” Translated, “I took what I needed, but I am not going to tell you that there are parts already gone.” The real problem is that I can’t prove that is what they did, but I can watch them and not purchase from them again.
Another “parts or repair item” is this, electronics that have been under water. Folks, it is dishonest to sell something as “unknown condition,” parts or repair, I don’t know how to test etc if the item has been under water! It is ruined if that is the case. Case in point, I purchased a “lot of 3” RCA radio’s from the 50’s. Three radios’ that were of an unknown condition, “for parts or repair.” There were fuzzy pictures of the cases and that was about it. By the time you bid against others looking for these little collectables, pay shipping to find out that they are worthless well; that is just wrong on so many levels. Not only were parts missing out of the three, each and every one was filled with mud. The cases are not pristine so I pretty much threw away money and have nothing to show for it.
My last bone of contention is really the first radio that I bought like this. As a long time Ham I started my radio hobby with a borrowed Hallicrafters SX-99 back in the late 60’s. If you have not experienced what I am going to relate, you have missed out. There is something magical about sitting in front of a radio such as this and listening to stations from all over the world; bask in the glow of dial lights, knobs and meters swaying with the signal strength. It is as if you are somehow connected to the station on the other end. I remember listening to a station in Hawaii and for a few moments I was there. Shortwave used to be much more influential than it is today. I think it was used as a propaganda method as well as a way to get information into areas that were blacked out by their local government. To control the people, you control what they hear, see, read and so forth. We still do it today but that is another blog.
I think a huge part of the success of eBay is people, much like me, trying to reclaim that lost moment through an old radio or trinket or favorite toy. I started my search looking for one of these radios. They are popular these days so the bidding gets intense and they frequently go for much more than they are worth.
Found one and bid on it. After an intense bidding war I got it from a local store and by local I mean in Texas. Bad news there, not only did I pay premium dollar but, I had to pay sales tax. Good news, I arranged to pick it up some weeks later when we were both going to be at the same event saving me $40 in shipping.
At first glance the case was not right; I could tell that it had been dropped. Looking through the top cover everything else seemed rough but workable. The money I paid for this the radio should have been turn key but alas, it was not.
After getting it home I pulled the case off of it thinking I would straighten it out, to discover that this radio must have sat in a barn where water was allowed to enter it every time that it rained and stay until it evaporated. My guess is that it was in this barn for years. A restoration of that radio would mean replacing each and every control, the capacitors and who knows what else. These things are very old and finding parts for them is not as easy as one might think.
The person, who sold it to me, took it on trade. The person who traded it to him is likely the person who knew its history, and just did not care.
So here is my last bit of eBay advice, if they took it on trade, you may want to think about looking elsewhere as that is another escape clause if you are unhappy. “No returns, all sales final etc” are just things that I tend to stay away from. Now I know why some take no returns as there are those out there who need a part and will buy your item, take the part that they need from it and than send it back to you as a DOA. You are then held hostage by your eBay rating.
I would rather eat a bug than take advantage of someone or a circumstance or in this case, steal from someone. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone felt that way?
Watch their feedback, if it is less than 100%, why is it that way? If you get had by someone; warn others by leaving them less than positive. eBay has a good resolution center which I have used before but this was really only when someone sold me something that they did not have to sell. This happens more than you might suspect.
Hope that you have a great New Years and that you can use this to your advantage or at least to protect yourself, friends and family from the less than scrupulous people out there. And by the way, some of the junk on eBay really does need to go to the e-cycle place, especially if it has been under water.
Best to you and those that you care about and Happy Bidding!
I have not written in a while. I have received multiple e-mails asking me about it.. So, here is my most recent rant… Hope you enjoy it or at least it gives you something to talk about with others.
With the upcoming elections in 2014 the spin is in full swing in the media. Create a schism or perceived schism between anyone and everyone is the end goal. They must have Americans divided on all issues so they, the democrats can make the conservative groups look like the bad guy in some form or fashion. Instead of looking for things that we have in common and building a relationship on those things they seek to divide everyone. That in and of itself is a travesty of everything that America stands for. To promote hate and discontent among Americans is well, Un-American!
Hollywood is complicit as well. When you are a “celebrity” you have a responsibility to watch what you say. To guard what you say as truth and not to put forth an agenda for political parties. Too many times we see celebrities “actors” acting as if they know something. They don’t and if you listen to them you will see that they are speaking to people who don’t read, don’t care but recognize them and if they say what to do, they do it.
This week CNN released two articles; one pitting blacks against whites and one pitting rich against poor. The articles were pure opinion and crap! Simply not true but, some people will read them and agree with this “writer.”
Somewhere women’s rights issues will rise back up and it wont be about killing 5 month old babies but somehow giving women some perceived right to not be inconvenienced with a child! What did Obama say, “I would not want my child to be “punished” with having a baby that she did not want.” He talks about pregnancy as if it is a disease like measles. Teach your daughters about safe sex Mr. President. Teach them that there are consequences to your actions. Sometimes those result in an unexpected pregnancy and sometimes, in some sort of STD or worse. When you say things like this your “character or lack thereof, is showing.”
We as a nation have drifted away from the simple fact that our actions have consequences. We are in fact held accountable for them, and should be. We as a people especially mothers protect their young from any and all harm. It is instinctual. Is there a safer place for a child than in its mother’s womb? What kind of people have we become that we would allow some “person” to suck the brains out of our 5 month old child crushing its skull and then rip it out of the womb because we are too busy to be bothered with a child? Those actions bespeak of a monster; both the person who would allow it and the “person” who would profit by doing it.
The ends do not justify the means. To further divide this country, manipulating everyone in the process is nothing less than evil. They cannot run on morals as they have none. They cannot run on character because theirs is corrupt beyond hope. So, they paint the republicans “or the other guy” as the bad guys.
A large majority will not pay any attention to the facts. They will in fact take the bait that celebrities, news outlets and others are spewing out to divide the country on any lines that they can. We have a complicit news media that I cannot figure out for the life of me why? Why are they in bed with this administration? What happened to journalistic integrity? What happened to reporting things objectively, as they are? Today you really have no idea if the news is actual news or some fantasy that is made up to sell subscriptions, or air time, or simply to pander to the current regime in order to get one on one interviews in the oval office, or possibly first question in the morning press meetings.
The political system today is a complete farce. We have law makers who make laws for us that don’t pertain to them. We have law makers that use your money to make money for them selves by manipulating public companies and practicing insider trading. They do this so they can live in opulence, while you and I barely scrape by. We have an administration that is crippling 50% of the country by not teaching them to fish. (Metaphor) We have an administration that wants to corrupt the voting process, so people of ill-repute can vote multiple times. They cannot win in a fair contest so they manipulate the votes, use the IRS to screw conservative groups, and who knows what other evil lurks. What other Chicago politics are under the surface?
We have people who call you a racist if you don’t agree with, and step in line with the thinking of the current administration. If “Stupid” is a race Mr. President; than I am proud to be a racist! We are being held hostage by those that scream political correctness at every opportunity! Screw that! We need to call it what it is and not sugar coat it so someone who has done some real stupid things doesn’t get their feelings hurt!
Every day we read in the news of corruptions within our government, corruptions that got Nixon impeached, today are child’s play. Where are the checks and balances?
Every issue turns into a political football. The game that they play is true brinksmanship, at its best. The result of their posturing and actions could very well put Americans at risk not only in this country but abroad.
We really have some dangerous, serious issues today and we should be focusing on dealing with them instead of winning yet another election. There are laws that need to be changed and they should start with restricting the power of the government. They have obviously forgotten that they work for us.
This film did not disappoint. The effects were great, best seen in 3D.
Amy Adams is always a thrill to watch, talented young lady. It was also a treat to see Kevin Costner. I am glad that they found a way to bring Russell Crowe into the movie on several occasions.
The plot was predictable and really no big surprises. Special effects and cast make this movie worth seeing. Special kudos to the writer with the sense of humor, regarding the sign with number of days without an accident.
I give this movie a thumbs up, if you like lots of action this movie is for you.
As a hiring manager for the best part of the 90’s and well into the 2000’s I could not help but notice a difference in the candidates that would walk through my door.
I would put on a suit and tie, make sure that my shoes were polished as well as the rest of the personal hygiene in check if I were interviewing. I was surprised by those who did not. If they did not respect me or the company enough to try and look respectable, what would they look like and or act like if I were to hire them. There is this whole etiquette thing involved in obtaining a job, and it starts with how you look. You only have one chance to make a first impression.
With Mom and Dad both having to work to make ends meet, generation “Y” was most likely raised by “Big Bird,” or an older brother or sister, or possibly some retired family member. The TV with hundreds of channels made a great baby sitter; and then there was the “game boy.” This generation is addicted to “screens.” While I appreciate “screens” as well, I also enjoy a good book, a walk in the park, watching the ocean, talking with friends and family on the front porch and going to a baseball game. There is nothing wrong with FaceBook or World of Warcraft, it is simply a matter of balance and not a way of life, or substitute thereof.
While negative attention is better than no attention, I suspect that many who pushed the envelope did so for attention. “Look Ma, I am doing drugs! Don’t you care enough to even slow down to talk to me?” From drugs they may turn to self-injury, or getting some sort of tattoo, or some of this wonderful body jewelry “through their nose.”
They in fact must have never heard the words “self effacement.” “I suspect that Hubris has taken the place Humility.”
We have shows on TV glorifying “INK.” We have celebrities who have more ink than skin. Our kid’s role models are broken people. When your kids look up to “broken people” where do you think that will lead them? Your kids should be looking up to you, not Madonna!
It is my opinion that many are drawn to “ink” and alike purely for the sake of attention. If they cannot get the good attention they need at home; mutilating ones body will certainly draw a crowd at school, the mall, and of course with siblings. And it most certainly will draw that negative attention from your guardians or other authoritarian figures…
There is another school of thought; these folks are insecure and again “ink,” mutilate, or act out audaciously, in an effort to get people to leave them alone as “they are bad.”
I also think that there is a subset that does it, purely to spite their family or friends and peers either at work or school or what have you. These are the folks that are so insecure that they are giving their-selves a rhinectomy. “I will show you, I will cut off my nose!” In the end they are only really hurting themselves currently and in the future as well as some of these things are really quite permanent!
Once these folks are disfigured, they drastically limit their options for employment and possibly a choice in friends and or spouse. If you present yourself for employment with visible body jewelry that is “out of the norm” there is a high probability that your “resume” will be trashed the second you hit the door.
I would guess that the same could be said for over the top tattoos. My thinking and I am certain most hiring managers thinking would be, if they make these types of decisions for themselves, what kinds of decisions are they going to make for me?
Unless your aspirations for employment are to work your way up to busboy, or maybe become a tattoo artist, I would strongly suggest keeping the ink under cover; at least from 8 to 5.
There is a group which I have not mentioned that may very well be so artistic that they want this “Art” on them to wear into perpetuity. The problem with that my pet, is simply this; as we age we loose collagen. Our young looking skin gets wrinkled and becomes thinner and pretty soon the artwork looks like a used painter’s pallet, instead of the masterpiece that you paid for. Think about it this way, do you own an outfit that you would wear everyday, day in day out for the rest of your life? I know of no clothing that I would want to wear everyday, and night; forever!
If you make bad decisions with permanent outcomes in your youth; those will have an effect on you as you mature. Some if these decisions lead to depression, and eventual suicide as they cannot live with what they have done, and the guilt overcomes them. Addictions often end in self destruction as they practice the addiction and then deal with the guilt for what they have done. To get rid of the guilt they do more of the addiction and spiral downward; until they either become outcast and wake up in the gutter or decide to end it all. Very few “see the light” and decide to choose not to do what they have been doing. Society tends to let these folks slip away which is probably normal programming.
If one were to follow the lives of the “rich and famous” they would quickly discern that with their lifestyle comes a price. When these people admit that they have been strung out on recreational chemistry, why are they not investigated criminally? Dealers are so bold that they don’t even try to keep their deals under cover. I was at the gas station the other day. In the next lane there were two people in a car, motor running taking up one of the spots to purchase gas. Before I finished a women pulled up behind them, got out and fussed at them for making here come “all the way over here.” They transacted their business and then both were soon gone their separate ways. I would imagine that the rich and famous get delivery, much like the Pizza guy delivers food and they don’t have to go to the gas station.
This culture is invasive to our way of life. Along with all of the other trappings that seem to come with this entitled generation, recreational chemistry seems to be one of the trimmings that not only effect the rich and famous, but the not so rich and famous.
All addictions are chemical. What many fail to realize is that all addictions are chemical in nature. When we smoke or drink, chemicals are released in the brain which we find appealing. Recreational chemistry is not only externally chemically induced but also causes a release of chemistry in the brain so in fact, one might get a double dose of “feel good” chemistry. I suspect that is why Cocaine is so addictive. Pornography can be a chemical addiction just like chocolate or food. If whatever you enjoy releases these chemicals, you can become addicted to it, and not know why or even know that you are. One of the most common addictions is adrenalin. We have rides at amusement parks which cause the release of this chemical as well as speeding or racing a friend, to even fighting in school. If we were to really study the kleptomaniac, we might learn that is a chemical addiction as well and we might treat the condition differently than simply locking them up. Other criminal endeavors like car jacking or what have you, may not only serve the purpose of obtaining money; but the perpetrator might very well enjoy the high from the release of adrenalin. I suspect that many of the “crimes” that people do today like flashing, or being a peeping tom, or simply being an exhibitionist, might very well be because of the release of some hormone or endorphin.
My guess would be that the BDSM community would also fall into this category.
Criminals are not the only people to enjoy this “high,” as I suspect firefighters, policemen, fighter pilots or even bull fighters might very well do this, because they are adrenalin junkies, and may not even know it. If you have ever listened to the police scanner when there is a chase going on or perhaps the firefighters when they are fighting a fire, you can hear it in their voice.
If I were to guess why middle school is so tough, it would be that this is typically when (puberty) hormones are released in abundance and young people experience this and really don’t know what to do with it. Male dominance may break out (and be manifested as fights) as young men try to establish their place as the “alpha” male. Young ladies also have their chemistry issues and those manifest mostly as sniping, spreading rumors and trying to become the “queen B.” We are not so different from the animal kingdom and those that think that we are simply are fooling themselves, as they don’t like the idea of being related to “animals.”
Pain can be an addiction. Endorphins are released with pain so cutting, burning or other forms of self-injury could not only be a cry for attention, but also feeding an addiction.
The other issue with Generation Y that puzzled me is “sagging,” tell me what the hell satisfaction one gets by wearing their jeans down to their crotch, walking around with one hand holding them up so they don’t fall down the rest of the way? We all know where the trend started and somehow adopted and glorified by the hip-hop crowd but really, you think that we want to see your underwear? I watched a young man run across the street to catch his bus. He tripped over his pants that were falling down the rest of the way and did a face plant in the middle of the road in front of the bus that he was running to catch. Either this kid was trying to prove that Darwin was correct or he was trying to prove how stupid it actually is to do that. Does this trend bespeak of letting your peers know how cool you are or the rest of the world know how stupid you are? Had the bus driver had a little slower reaction time, those sagging pants would have cost that person their life. He quite literally would have been thrown-under-the-bus.
Like “ink” I think that “sagging” is just one more way of young people expressing their objection or rebellion to the main-stream mores of the day. Instead of getting an education and working to change the system to make it better, it is much easier and simpler to call people’s attention to you underwear. The trouble here is that most people will not see past how lame you look, and that will be as far as it will go. And ladies, we really don’t want to see your “wale tail” either.. Underwear is just that, clothing that stays under other clothing. It can be audacious as you like, but keep it your secret, “really…”
Our youth is mesmerized by shows like American Idol. Millions of people watch that show. How many do you think imagine them-selves doing it, winning the top spot? We have become so egocentric as a people, that narcissism seems to be a way of life. “I made it through school, now where is my corner office and how much are you going to give me to sit here and look pretty?” Not really exaggerating too much here.
You can decide to be one of the leaders of tomorrow, or live in the shadows of society; it really is your choice. Many will blame their circumstances on where they are in life, but if they were truthful with themselves, they would know and admit that their lot in life in most cases is their own doing.
There are too many rags to riches stories all through history. Look up how they did it and see if you cannot apply some of their techniques. Or, you can learn how to stay warm by using discarded newspapers as insulation; it really is up to you. If you are reading this; you have at your fingertips all of the information that you could ever need to do anything that you want to do. Any subject that has ever been invented is here. Knowledge is power, and while that cliche may seem tired, trust me it is more salient today than ever before.
Figure out where your talents lie, or what you are passionate about and than search through history and see how others that did what you want to do, managed to do it.
I would not have “win the lottery” as my retirement plan, I also would not put all of my eggs in the rock star basket, or country star, or movie star. The odds are very much against you.
Before you spend your hard earned money on ink, or permanent jewelry, you may want to think about the future just a little bit. The hiring manager will most probably not be sympathetic to facial jewelry or ink. There are millions of folks looking for employment. If you and another are equally qualified but the other person has adorned him or herself with accouterments, most likely you will get the job. Is that fare? Nope, life is not fare, get used to it and live with it. The system is what it is, either work to modify it by legal and moral means, or adjust your way of life into the system. Rebelling against it by wearing your pants around your ankles, or getting every inch of skin inked or pierced is your problem; and society will pass you by.
-Best to you and those that you care about.
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