Ten Years After

As I write this, it has been exactly ten years since American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. I was in Seattle, about to start work at Nordstrom.com. I was in the break room, waiting for my start time, watching TV. Matt Lauer broke in on the KING 5 news, saying that a plane had hit the tower. Not knowing the utter horror that was about to unfold, I laughed. Not knowing anything yet, I thought some moron in a Cessna had caused a small amount of damage. Little did I know…

I had to start work at 6:00 AM Pacific time, so I couldn’t keep watching. It was about two hours later, when I got my first break, that I found out just how horrible it all was. I learned that a second plane had hit the other WTC tower, the Pentagon had been attacked as well, and United Flight 93 had plowed into the ground in Shanksville, PA.

Everyone at work would rush to the break room at every opportunity to catch up with the news, at this point wondering if it were ever going to end, if there were more planes out there about to plow into other buildings around the country, worried that someone we knew, or even ourselves, were about to die. It was truly awful. They showed video of what I later learned was the second plane hitting the tower, but when I first watched it, I thought a gas line had broken inside the building. I distinctly remember the absolute and utter shock that the scene brought to me.

Even now, ten years since the events of that horrible day, I cannot long watch news stories about it, nor can I read the books that have been written. It’s just too much.

I live in Federal Way, near a high school named for Todd Beamer, one of the heroes who stopped United 93 from hitting the terrorists’ intended target in Washington, D.C.

From 9/11 to 5/1

OBL is dead. I do not rejoice in that fact. Yes, the news was welcome when it came last night, and I, like many others around the world got caught up in the hooplah, but after some twelve hours have passed since the news broke, I find myself… well, I can’t really put it into words how I feel, but it’s not elated. I wish we had been able to capture him alive, so that he could have been put on trial for his crimes against the US and the world at large. I wish that he and the others with him in the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan hadn’t hidden behind a woman, like the cowards that they were. I wish that our intelligence had been better 10 years ago, so that we could have stopped the horrific events of September 11 before they took place. Unfortunately, none of those things are true.

These will be my last words on OBL. Any further justice or mercy he may be due will be meted out by God, who is much wiser than I could ever be.

Mayday protests

Tomorrow is May 1st. Protesters are scheduled to march in Seattle, upset at what they see as racial and cultural discrimination. These protesters are, from what I can determine from KING 5 news broadcasts, predominately immigrants, both legal and illegal, from Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and other countries south of the border.

One child profiled in the broadcast was born here, so he is an American citizen, but the announcer said that he was culturally Mexican. This is the problem. If you’re going to come here, for whatever reason you left your old country because it could not meet your needs, either financially, religiously, or for some other reason. Your old country was lacking in something. Why would you come here and not embrace the culture of your adoptive country? Why live in Seattle if you are just going to bring Mexico with you? Mexico (or Nicaragua, or Guatemala, or England, or France, or Germany, or WHEREVER) sucked so hard, you LEFT it. Leave all of it, be American.

The nanny state run amok

A Chicago area school has banned brown bag lunches. Where in the world do they get off? I am so angered by this obviously unconstitutional power grab.

It is not the state’s business to dictate what our children eat or don’t eat. This is something that should be left to the parents. If they want to feed their child a peanut butter sandwich on white bread with a handful of Oreos and a Pepsi, that’s their decision.

I really hope the parents at this school bring the hammer down on the administration. The government, and the schools are absolutely part of the government, is there to protect our rights, not dictate every little facet of our lives. The founders would be appalled at this atrocious infringement of our rights.

Donald Trump and the Birthers

President Obama was born in Hawaii in August of 1961. There is no credible evidence from any source to the contrary. There is, however, an overabundance of proof that he was.

There were birth notices in both of the Honolulu newspapers, announcing his birth at a local hospital. A former Governor of Hawaii, who knew both of Obama’s parents, has come out on the record that he was born there. A Certificate of Live Birth (how in the world can anyone say that a document that contains the words certificate and birth is not a birth certificate?) that is publicly viewable, as well as a detailed debunking of the issue on the internet says he was born in Honolulu in August of 1961.

Notwithstanding all of that evidence, it doesn’t matter where he was born. As my seventh grade civics teacher taught me, anyone who is born anywhere in the world of at least one American parent is a natural born American citizen. Obama’s mother was an American citizen, so he is too.

And lest we forget, John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, not in one of the 48 (at that time) United States. No one has questioned his qualifications for President based on his birth place. If it’s good enough for the goose, it’s also good enough for the gander.

Donald Trump is a moron for questioning this issue. I won’t be supporting him in his possible run for President, because being a moron is an automatic disqualification in my eyes.

Charlie Sheen

I’ve been watching this guy on the Today Show, and he comes off as an absolutely arrogant, narcissistic boob. He claims to be underpaid, yet he receives somewhere near $2,000,000 per episode. That’s about $40,000,000 per season. And that’s only a 22 week season, which would leave him some 29 weeks of the year to do other projects and earn even more money.

He also complains about not getting a vote to put the show on hold or not because of his actions. Last time I checked, Charlie, you have no ownership stake in the show. It’s owned by Warner Brothers and Chuck Lorre Productions, not Charlie Sheen Incorporated.

He claims that the producers are trying to take away his family by denying him a chance to earn money. I would submit he’s made so much money over the last eight years, and has many millions more to come from syndication deals, that he would probably never have to work again, and would not have any problems meeting his financial obligations far into the future if he would get his obvious alcoholism and drug addiction and misogyny under control, rather than blaming the other guy for his failings.

Oh, and Another Thing™. The show is “Two and a Half Men”, not “Look At Me, I’m Charlie Freaking Sheen”. I don’t know why you got put up as the star of the show. It’s clearly an ensemble show that wouldn’t be the same without Cryer, Jones, Farrell, Taylor, Hinkle, and Lynskey. Why don’t Cryer and Jones insist on MFN status in their contracts? Once again, it’s “Two and a Half Men”.

He says Chuck Lorre is lazy. Please. There is no way that someone who is Executive Producer on three hit comedies at the same time is lazy.

Get some real help, Charlie. Before it’s too late.

Wisconsin

I don’t even know where to begin. Wisconsin teachers have abandoned their jobs, opting instead to go to Madison and scream and shout “This is what democracy looks like.” Too bad we don’t live in a democracy, which means mob rule. We live in a representative republic, which is a VERY different thing altogether.

Democracy happened in November, when the citizens of Wisconsin chose their Representatives, Senators, and Governor. I believe that the voters knew and understood who they were voting for. They knew what their positions were, and the policies those positions would engender. Elections have consequences. Sometimes those consequences include things a lot of people aren’t going to like.

According to an editorial by Michelle Malkin, Governor Walker is asking the state’s public employee unions pay a larger share of the costs for their healthcare and pensions. Right now, the union members pay less than 5% of the costs of their health insurance. Governor Walker wants them to pay 12.4%. That is a big increase, but it’s still less than 85% of the private companies in the Milwaukee area. He’s also requesting that the union members pay 50% of their pension costs. I don’t know what they’re paying now, but I’m fairly certain it’s far less than most people in the country pay. In my personal experience, I have been responsible for the VAST majority of my retirement funds. When I had a job, I would contribute to a 401K, usually whatever the employer would match, so that I could maximize that benefit. I would be surprised to find out that that example widely differs from the norm. Governor Walker also wants to limit collective bargaining agreements to include only wages. The unions (particularly the teacher’s unions) are vociferously against this.

The simple fact is the states can no longer afford to provide everything they’ve done in the past. Cuts HAVE to be made, particularly when state constitutions require a balanced budget. Governor Walker should be applauded for sticking to his promises to reduce taxes and spending. Hopefully, the cowardly Democrats who abandoned their jobs will return and accept the consequences of the election.

Lawrence O’Donnell seems to be a MORON!

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell seems to not have the brains of a stale donut, or the deductive reasoning God gave a box of hammers. On Morning Joe, O’Donnell questioned the very idea of spending cuts in the federal budget.

“Why are we cutting spending in a recession? The recession has not included a jobs recovery yet. I don't think it makes any sense for the government to be downsizing while we don't yet have the jobs recovery.”

How can O’Donnell not follow his statement to its logical end that we have been spending hundreds of billions of dollars over the last two years, and yet WE STILL DON’T HAVE A JOBS RECOVERY! The spending levels we have endured have not resulted in their desired end, not even close. President Obama promised us that if we passed his recovery bills, then unemployment wouldn’t get above 8%. Of course, we now know that that was false. Not only did it get above 8%, it rose above 10%, and hasn’t gotten down to 8% yet. And now, we’re hearing reports of employers rejecting the unemployed outright.

O’Donnell continued in the conversation with this tasty tidbit: “The deficit never, in fact, never has to go to zero. There’s never a requirement to balance it. No one in real life lives that way. We all have mortgages. You know, you don’t – there’s plenty of things that need to be paid for over time, and then there are things that need to be paid for as immediate consumption.” Of course, this ignores the fact that eventually, the mortgage is PAID OFF. Your car payments eventually go away, and you own the car outright. Unfortunately, if we continue on the path we’re on, we’ll never be free from the slavery of debt. Neither will our great grandchildren’s great grandchildren.

Clean like an Egyptian

I've, like you I imagine, been watching all the goings on in Egypt over the last three weeks, and I was amazed at what happened after Mubarak stepped down. The protesters actually got busy cleaning up after themselves, putting Tahrir Square back into shape, repairing the damage they committed. They didn't wait for the government to do it. They seemed to know it was the right thing to do. I hope more people in America pick up on that example.

Sea change

This blog started out as a place for me to share my thoughts on Flash Forward. Since that show is now dead, and in fact has been for some time, that's right out. Now, it's a place for me to share my thoughts on the issues of the day. I know I'm no great pundit, and may never have any followers, but I do have something to say, even if no one else is listening.

For those who don't know, I'm a conservative. Staunchly so, in fact. I believe that conservative principles provide the widest opportunity for happiness to the widest number of people. I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that unless you accept Him, you will not see Heaven. I believe that Islam is an amazing force for evil in the world. Any belief system that says you can reach the truth by lying to those who don't share your belief system is fundamentally flawed.

I believe that abortion is, in most cases, the absolutely wrong thing to do. It is FAR better that the child be born, and if you cannot for whatever reason care for the child in a responsible way, that it be given up for adoption, so that someone who can do so, does.

I don't know how often I will be posting, but I hope that when I do, it makes sense and helps you think about what is going on in the world.

Teacher pay - What is right and fair.

This chart shows the state of Washington's payment plans for teachers:

http://tinyurl.com/2vuar2z

If a beginning teacher starts out with a salary of $36,875 (assuming only a teacher's certificate, which takes an additional year of schooling to obtain) and only has to work from early September to mid-June, along with significant off time for Christmas break, Easter break, etc., makes that kind of money, then that would be a starting salary of $53,263 based on a 12 month work year in a non-teaching job. This doesn't include any other benefits that may be included in their compensation. You cannot tell me that that teacher is underpaid. If I made that kind of money, I'd be quite well off at 24 years of age.

Of course if you've got a master's degree or higher, along with more experience, then your salary would be higher. For example, a teacher with a master's plus 90 credits or a PhD and 16 year's service would be making 92,000 per year based on a full year's work. Doesn't sound like any teacher in Washington State is underpaid