I haven't been following politics as much as I once did. The reason is equal parts disgust with the mockery that has been made of "civil discourse" on both sides of the aisle and distrust of the press to truthfully report the news without bias or spin. I have a hard time listening to what passes for news anymore. When I do make the effort, I'm cynical and skeptical enough that I have to read several sources and average it out to get a sense of what might really be happening.
I have not yet been able to muster up enough flying flips to watch any of the Democrat Party primary debates so far. From what I have been able to gather from reading the morning after recaps, they have been a big waste of time and money thus far. The sad fact of the matter is that no one actually debates anymore. Not that you can really have a debate with 10 or 20 people on the stage. With that many "contestants", there is no time to really conduct a proper debate under those circumstances even if they had the desire and skills to do so. It would take over an hour to get through a proper statement, response and rebuttal type debate for just one question with that many participants. Not that any of the candidates cares to do such a debate. They seem to be content to talk in circles and sound bites dodging whatever question or topic while claiming to be "perfectly clear" about the topic at hand.
With the New Hampshire Primaries just four short months away, I thought I would go out on a limb and get my predictions in early for the likely opponents in the big show next November.
For the Republicans, this is a no brainer. Incumbent President Trump has no serious contenders waiting in the wings to unseat him as the GOP standard bearer for 2020. Of the currently declared candidates, John Kasich probably has the best chance of any of them by which I mean none. The current impeachment inquiry drum beating trying to stick Joe Biden's dirty laundry on Trump is pretty pathetic even by the standards of the Democratic Party for the last couple of years. My prediction is that the Democrat controlled House of Representatives drags out the impeachment inquiry until November in hopes of keeping Trump on his heals. Trump, being Trump, will continue to do what he does best and use every opportunity to make his opponents look like bumbling incompetents.
For the Democrats, the three ring circus isn't nearly as up for grabs this time as one would expect without Hillary Clinton in the mix. From what I can tell, this is really a 3 maybe 4 person race with Joe Biden leading the polls followed by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders polling better than 10% depending on who is doing the stats. None of the other currently announced candidates are polling well enough or have the fundraising ability to stay in the race for long even assuming they stay in until February.
Creepy Uncle Joe, for all his faults and dirty laundry, is, for want of a better option, the front runner here. To moderate Democrats, Biden is "safe" for certain values of safe. He is not an ultra liberal nutcase; and, having been in political office for the majority of his life, he knows who is who and how to make deals in the swamp (which, let's face it, can't be drained to the extent it needs to be). No one in flyover country will ever leave Joe alone in the same room as their daughters, but he can also be counted on not to go full retard. Yes, he will engage in pay for play antics and generally do whatever he can to advance the interests of his donors and the party over what is good for the country as a whole, but he's not likely to honeymoon in Moscow or Havana either.
That brings us to Bernie Sanders. If Joe Biden is the creepy uncle everyone tolerates, Bernie is the crazy uncle to whom no one admits being related. That is not to say that Bernie isn't a contender this go round. Quite the opposite. The Bern is most popular with a certain demographic which just happens to be reaching ascendancy as the majority of the working and voting population: Millenials. Boomers, Xers and Yers underestimate this demographic shift at their peril, and it is no coincidence that the Liberal wing of the Democratic Party has spent the last 40 years with a death grip on public and higher education for the sole purpose of shaping entire generations to achieve their agenda. To them, Bernie is their ideological hero who shook the pillars under Queen Hillary's throne before discovering that the game was rigged. Unfortunately, recent reports have him taking a break from campaigning because of health issues.
Elizabeth Warren is competing with Sanders for the liberal wing of the party and, based on current polls, has a credible chance of upsetting Biden at the convention. That said, she's no Hillary and does not have what it takes to be the first woman president.
That, in my opinion and absent an as yet unannounced dark horse candidate, brings it back to the "safe" choice for the donors and moderates. Unless the Ukraine deal rears its ugly head and bites Uncle Joe in the naughty bits, I see a Trump vs. Biden match up in November.
What says the peanut gallery?
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Friday, August 24, 2018
Source Material
The Queen has been out on her annual fall trek through the thrift stores hunting clothing and other apparel for our upcoming trip (hopefully Haweewee if it doesn't get blown off the map by the hurricane currently spinning up in the Pacific). So, she sends me a text at the office with the a photo of the following t-shirt:
She allowed as how it was the perfect shirt for me...since I typically refuse to accept much of anything without critically assessing the facts and source material.
I can't help it. I come by my flaw honestly as I was trained that way by a wise, old, Jesuit priest turned history professor in my history methodology class. The man had to be in his 70s at least at the time, and that was...more than a few years ago. Let's just say, if that man is still creeping around this old mud ball, I'm shooting him in the head on general principle. You can't be too careful to prevent a zombie outbreak.
God will sort it out.
Anyspeculation, there was a point to this post. I'm sure of it.
Oh yes...critical assessment of facts and source material.
That old Jesuit had all us wannabe history majors do a project (a research paper really) the main point of which was an annotated bibliography. He didn't really care what the subject of the paper was as long as the bibliography was annotated with a critical assessment of the source material including whether it was primary, secondary, tertiary, etc. He also wanted us to take it a step further and assess whether the source material exhibited any bias (this came back to bite me in the butt with my African history professor, but that's a story for another time).
Fast forward mumble, mumble years, and that is one the lessons that has stuck with me to this day. Unfortunately, I think this lesson has been lost on an entire generation (or more) of people.
Case on point. The other night, I come home from work to find two, brand new, freshly purchased boxes of Cheerios (M&M's preferred breakfast cereal) on a pile of stuff being gathered for donation. I queried The Queen as to the reason suspecting something was afoot.
The Queen informed me that my father-in-law, Opa, had told her that he had read an article somewhere that claimed Cheerios contained dangerous levels of a particular pesticide residue. Opa is one of those people for whom a little information is a dangerous thing (no, seriously, he's never met an internet scare of conspiracy theory that he hasn't latched onto). He really should not be let loose with an internet connection without a minder.
This revelation, as one would expect, caused my eyebrows to raise and set off my facial tics just a touch.
I set about investigating the claim du juor. Opa was questioned regarding the source of the Cheerios Challenge. After much fumbling about the dustier corners of his memory, we were able to tease out the source of the pesticide proposition. It was a news article from the Detroit Free Press linked to from the Natural News website referring to a study done by a group called Environmental Working Group.
Now we were getting somewhere. I start doing my due diligence on EWG. EWG claims to be a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment. A laudable goal to be sure. Funding is primarily from grants and individuals. Notable names among the donor list is the Walton Family Foundation (think Sam Walton of Wal-Mart fame) and The Turner Foundation (Ted Turner - CNN Founder). They also have corporate partnerships with many of the bigger names in organic foods.
Nothing about this is particularly alarming. It's not like George Soros or the Koch Brothers are involved. Having said that, did I mention EWG has a lobbying arm? Silly me. That must have slipped my mind. And regarding what issues do they lobby? Environmental, agricultural, food, toxic chemicals, etc.
So, they are environmental advocates. Again, nothing particularly wrong with that, but it could color their findings on certain topics or influence their reporting of facts. We'll get back to that in a minute.
I tracked down the article EWG posted about glysophate levels in foods. Glysophate, for the uninitiated, is theevil active ingredient in RoundUp (created by the nefarious mega corporation Monsanto...yes, I'm being a tad tongue in cheek). It seems that EWG commissioned a laboratory study of glysophate levels in common breakfast cereals. The article published by EWG reporting the results of the lab study started with a link to a recent California jury verdict in which Monsanto was ordered to pay $289 million to a plaintiff dying of cancer allegedly caused by exposure to glysophate. They then get into a discussion of the levels of glysophate in food allowed by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (1.1 milligrams per day for a 154 pound average person), the EPA (not specifically noted by referenced to be 60 times higher than the CA state allowable level) and the EWG's calculated "one in a million" cancer risk of 0.01 milligrams per day.
The original article I read did not "show their work" on the math, but it seems to have been corrected as they now report that a person would have to eat a 60 gram serving of food exceeding 160 parts per billion glysophate concentration to reach their calculated risk level of 0.01 millgrams per day (which, by the way, is 110 times lower than the level the state of California says is too much which in turn is 60 times lower than what the EPA says is too much). So, just to put a bow on the math, EWG is saying that the safe level of glysophate in foods SHOULD be 6600 times lower than the level currently allowed by the EPA. They don't make a convincing case for why the level should be 6600 times lower than the EPA or 110 times lower than the state of California. Instead, they seem content to make the argument that it is a chemical linked to cancer and is therefore bad in any quantity.
For the record, I'm not volunteering to drink or otherwise consume 1.056 million parts per billion (that's 160 parts per billion times 6600) concentrations of glysophate in my daily Cheerios; and, truthfully, EWG may not be wrong in their conclusion. I just take issue with the manner in which they are presenting their information.
Back to the report on the study results. First off, the article currently on their website has been drastically revised from the version I read a few days ago, and I really wish I had a screen capture or PDF copy of the original to compare and contrast. The current version shows that EWG took samples of 45 conventional breakfast cereals and 16 organic breakfast cereals and tested them for glysophate concentration. They then report the test results in concentration parts per billion for each sample. All fine and dandy so far. Where things really went off the rails in the original article was that samples results were grouped according to which ones had unsafe levels (color coded in red...for contrast I'm sure). The thing that really bugged me in the original was that they did not make it clear that the table of results categorized each product according to EWG's much lower concentration level.
To clarify further, the report starts out talking about concentration levels in milligrams per weight before shifting to parts per billion in the lab results table. The revised article does now provide a brief conversion from milligrams per serving to parts per billions, but the original article did not.
Even in the revised article, if someone is not reading carefully, they might miss that critical distinction. The skeptic in me suspects that was EWG's intent in order to advocate for a new, lower standard for safe concentration levels.
Another, in my opinion, glaring omission from EWG's article is the results of other scientific testing on glysophate, a discussion of the MSDS sheet on the chemical, etc. For instance, it took me literally seconds to find out that the WHO and UN studies on glysophate determined that mammal animal models suggest that concentrations as high as 2000 milligrams per kilogram of body weight was not associated with genotoxic effects. There's more detail out there than I'm willing to transcribe or cut and paste here. Bottom line is that you would probably have to ingest enough to drown yourself before you'd be at a legitimate risk of getting cancer, and you'd probably puke it up before you got close to those dosage levels.
After I pointed out these little details, the Cheerios mysteriously reappeared in the pantry.
Now, this is just one little drop of questionable information in a practical galactic ocean of information floating around the internet. Why should you care? Well, the president attacks CNN almost daily accusing them of being fake news. Fox News claims to be fair & balanced. Alex Jones gets banned from social media for making wild claims reported as news. For every EWG, there is a company or interest group lobbying for the opposite position. And let's not forget all those companies out there trying to make a buck selling snake oil and legitimate products.
Everyone, it seems, is publishing information at the speed of light. The incredible quantity of information being published everyday makes it impossible to fact check it all. That is why it is so incredibly important to learn to critically assess source material.
So, the next time you hear someone ranting about the latest scandal, conspiracy theory, social justice melt down...etc. Take a step back and dig into the source material with a critical eye. I'd bet that, more often than not, you'll find discrepancies in the reporting that will be most illuminating.
She allowed as how it was the perfect shirt for me...since I typically refuse to accept much of anything without critically assessing the facts and source material.
I can't help it. I come by my flaw honestly as I was trained that way by a wise, old, Jesuit priest turned history professor in my history methodology class. The man had to be in his 70s at least at the time, and that was...more than a few years ago. Let's just say, if that man is still creeping around this old mud ball, I'm shooting him in the head on general principle. You can't be too careful to prevent a zombie outbreak.
God will sort it out.
Anyspeculation, there was a point to this post. I'm sure of it.
Oh yes...critical assessment of facts and source material.
That old Jesuit had all us wannabe history majors do a project (a research paper really) the main point of which was an annotated bibliography. He didn't really care what the subject of the paper was as long as the bibliography was annotated with a critical assessment of the source material including whether it was primary, secondary, tertiary, etc. He also wanted us to take it a step further and assess whether the source material exhibited any bias (this came back to bite me in the butt with my African history professor, but that's a story for another time).
Fast forward mumble, mumble years, and that is one the lessons that has stuck with me to this day. Unfortunately, I think this lesson has been lost on an entire generation (or more) of people.
Case on point. The other night, I come home from work to find two, brand new, freshly purchased boxes of Cheerios (M&M's preferred breakfast cereal) on a pile of stuff being gathered for donation. I queried The Queen as to the reason suspecting something was afoot.
The Queen informed me that my father-in-law, Opa, had told her that he had read an article somewhere that claimed Cheerios contained dangerous levels of a particular pesticide residue. Opa is one of those people for whom a little information is a dangerous thing (no, seriously, he's never met an internet scare of conspiracy theory that he hasn't latched onto). He really should not be let loose with an internet connection without a minder.
This revelation, as one would expect, caused my eyebrows to raise and set off my facial tics just a touch.
I set about investigating the claim du juor. Opa was questioned regarding the source of the Cheerios Challenge. After much fumbling about the dustier corners of his memory, we were able to tease out the source of the pesticide proposition. It was a news article from the Detroit Free Press linked to from the Natural News website referring to a study done by a group called Environmental Working Group.
Now we were getting somewhere. I start doing my due diligence on EWG. EWG claims to be a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment. A laudable goal to be sure. Funding is primarily from grants and individuals. Notable names among the donor list is the Walton Family Foundation (think Sam Walton of Wal-Mart fame) and The Turner Foundation (Ted Turner - CNN Founder). They also have corporate partnerships with many of the bigger names in organic foods.
Nothing about this is particularly alarming. It's not like George Soros or the Koch Brothers are involved. Having said that, did I mention EWG has a lobbying arm? Silly me. That must have slipped my mind. And regarding what issues do they lobby? Environmental, agricultural, food, toxic chemicals, etc.
So, they are environmental advocates. Again, nothing particularly wrong with that, but it could color their findings on certain topics or influence their reporting of facts. We'll get back to that in a minute.
I tracked down the article EWG posted about glysophate levels in foods. Glysophate, for the uninitiated, is the
The original article I read did not "show their work" on the math, but it seems to have been corrected as they now report that a person would have to eat a 60 gram serving of food exceeding 160 parts per billion glysophate concentration to reach their calculated risk level of 0.01 millgrams per day (which, by the way, is 110 times lower than the level the state of California says is too much which in turn is 60 times lower than what the EPA says is too much). So, just to put a bow on the math, EWG is saying that the safe level of glysophate in foods SHOULD be 6600 times lower than the level currently allowed by the EPA. They don't make a convincing case for why the level should be 6600 times lower than the EPA or 110 times lower than the state of California. Instead, they seem content to make the argument that it is a chemical linked to cancer and is therefore bad in any quantity.
For the record, I'm not volunteering to drink or otherwise consume 1.056 million parts per billion (that's 160 parts per billion times 6600) concentrations of glysophate in my daily Cheerios; and, truthfully, EWG may not be wrong in their conclusion. I just take issue with the manner in which they are presenting their information.
Back to the report on the study results. First off, the article currently on their website has been drastically revised from the version I read a few days ago, and I really wish I had a screen capture or PDF copy of the original to compare and contrast. The current version shows that EWG took samples of 45 conventional breakfast cereals and 16 organic breakfast cereals and tested them for glysophate concentration. They then report the test results in concentration parts per billion for each sample. All fine and dandy so far. Where things really went off the rails in the original article was that samples results were grouped according to which ones had unsafe levels (color coded in red...for contrast I'm sure). The thing that really bugged me in the original was that they did not make it clear that the table of results categorized each product according to EWG's much lower concentration level.
To clarify further, the report starts out talking about concentration levels in milligrams per weight before shifting to parts per billion in the lab results table. The revised article does now provide a brief conversion from milligrams per serving to parts per billions, but the original article did not.
Even in the revised article, if someone is not reading carefully, they might miss that critical distinction. The skeptic in me suspects that was EWG's intent in order to advocate for a new, lower standard for safe concentration levels.
Another, in my opinion, glaring omission from EWG's article is the results of other scientific testing on glysophate, a discussion of the MSDS sheet on the chemical, etc. For instance, it took me literally seconds to find out that the WHO and UN studies on glysophate determined that mammal animal models suggest that concentrations as high as 2000 milligrams per kilogram of body weight was not associated with genotoxic effects. There's more detail out there than I'm willing to transcribe or cut and paste here. Bottom line is that you would probably have to ingest enough to drown yourself before you'd be at a legitimate risk of getting cancer, and you'd probably puke it up before you got close to those dosage levels.
After I pointed out these little details, the Cheerios mysteriously reappeared in the pantry.
Now, this is just one little drop of questionable information in a practical galactic ocean of information floating around the internet. Why should you care? Well, the president attacks CNN almost daily accusing them of being fake news. Fox News claims to be fair & balanced. Alex Jones gets banned from social media for making wild claims reported as news. For every EWG, there is a company or interest group lobbying for the opposite position. And let's not forget all those companies out there trying to make a buck selling snake oil and legitimate products.
Everyone, it seems, is publishing information at the speed of light. The incredible quantity of information being published everyday makes it impossible to fact check it all. That is why it is so incredibly important to learn to critically assess source material.
So, the next time you hear someone ranting about the latest scandal, conspiracy theory, social justice melt down...etc. Take a step back and dig into the source material with a critical eye. I'd bet that, more often than not, you'll find discrepancies in the reporting that will be most illuminating.
Friday, February 3, 2017
I Seem To Have Hit A Nerve
Yesterday's open letter to the mainstream media has 942 page views recorded by Blogger so far. That's about 10 times my normal page view count for a single post and doesn't include people reading via a feed reader. Me thinks I tapped into a little pent up anger there. Thank you everyone who came by to take a look.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Dear Mainstream Media
While you are busy getting over having your pants yanked down around your ankles and your underwear pulled up to your ears by the new administration, can we have a moment to discuss a few things that the American public would like you to know?
1) No one trusts you anymore. This may come as a shock to you, but the days when the American public accepted the word of a reporter as gospel went out the door a long time ago. I'd venture a guess that ship sailed when Edward R. Morrow retired; or, maybe, when Walter Cronkite signed off the air for the last time with "...and that's the way it is." If you want someone to blame, go look up Dan Rather and ask him why HE felt the need throw away his journalistic integrity in favor of bias and partisan politics. The 2016 election demonstrated vividly just how biased and "in the tank" for progressive liberalism you have become, and we are sick of it. Here's a novel idea: how about you stick to reporting FACTS without spin or bias and let us feeble minded folks in the audience form our own opinions.
2) Words have meanings, you have access to dictionaries, put two and two together and start acting like you know the English language. A RIOT is not a PROTEST. Martin Luther King staged peaceful protests. So did Ghandi. (Insert tantrum throwing group of the day here) destroying public and private property, beating people who disagree with them and basically engaging in an anarchistic orgy of destruction is a RIOT and a CRIME. Someone who enters this country on an approved visa and applies for legal resident or citizenship status is an IMMIGRANT. Someone who crosses the border ILLEGALLY and makes no effort to apply for legal resident status or citizenship is an ILLEGAL ALIEN or an INVADER. One is a CRIMINAL and the other is a threat to NATIONAL SECURITY. Get it straight if you ever have any hope of regaining any measure of trust from the people you serve.
3) We understand that there is a lot of news to cover and that not everything is "newsworthy", but be aware that what you choose to cover and not cover is as much a part of journalistic integrity as is the language you choose to report the news. The "Fast and Furious" gun running scandal should have been extensively covered, and Eric Holder should be in jail over that. Ditto for Hillary's email server scandal. Donald Trump's locker room comment from 10+ years ago...still relevant but not nearly as critical as mishandling of firearms or sensitive government information by senior administration officials. While we are on the subject, repeating the same news every hour on the hour on a 24 hour cable news network is ridiculous. Use some of that time to air a few more note worthy stories.
4) The media should treat all politicians equally: suspiciously at best and preferably like lying, thieving, conniving dirt bags. It is disingenuous to suddenly give a flying flip about abuse of executive orders when you've been conspicuously quiet about it for the last eight years. Journalistic integrity demands that no one gets soft ball questions, evasive answers need to be challenged, and no one should be immune from close scrutiny. You can complain about Donald Trump's decade old locker room comments when you publish Barack Obama's college transcripts.
5) We the people really do not care what a Hollywood or sports celebrity thinks about politics, national security, little green men or global warming unless they just happen to be running for office, quitting the NFL to join the Army, was abducted on live TV or has a Ph.D in climatology. We want facts and not airheaded opinions from someone to whom we pay good money to "Shut up and Dance Monkey." Using celebrities to forward an agenda is playing to vanity, and it is part of the reason the public's trust of your services are in the toilet.
In closing, the media has an awesome responsibility to be guardians of the public trust. Use it wisely or lose it forever. We are watching.
Sincerely,
Daddy Hawk
1) No one trusts you anymore. This may come as a shock to you, but the days when the American public accepted the word of a reporter as gospel went out the door a long time ago. I'd venture a guess that ship sailed when Edward R. Morrow retired; or, maybe, when Walter Cronkite signed off the air for the last time with "...and that's the way it is." If you want someone to blame, go look up Dan Rather and ask him why HE felt the need throw away his journalistic integrity in favor of bias and partisan politics. The 2016 election demonstrated vividly just how biased and "in the tank" for progressive liberalism you have become, and we are sick of it. Here's a novel idea: how about you stick to reporting FACTS without spin or bias and let us feeble minded folks in the audience form our own opinions.
2) Words have meanings, you have access to dictionaries, put two and two together and start acting like you know the English language. A RIOT is not a PROTEST. Martin Luther King staged peaceful protests. So did Ghandi. (Insert tantrum throwing group of the day here) destroying public and private property, beating people who disagree with them and basically engaging in an anarchistic orgy of destruction is a RIOT and a CRIME. Someone who enters this country on an approved visa and applies for legal resident or citizenship status is an IMMIGRANT. Someone who crosses the border ILLEGALLY and makes no effort to apply for legal resident status or citizenship is an ILLEGAL ALIEN or an INVADER. One is a CRIMINAL and the other is a threat to NATIONAL SECURITY. Get it straight if you ever have any hope of regaining any measure of trust from the people you serve.
3) We understand that there is a lot of news to cover and that not everything is "newsworthy", but be aware that what you choose to cover and not cover is as much a part of journalistic integrity as is the language you choose to report the news. The "Fast and Furious" gun running scandal should have been extensively covered, and Eric Holder should be in jail over that. Ditto for Hillary's email server scandal. Donald Trump's locker room comment from 10+ years ago...still relevant but not nearly as critical as mishandling of firearms or sensitive government information by senior administration officials. While we are on the subject, repeating the same news every hour on the hour on a 24 hour cable news network is ridiculous. Use some of that time to air a few more note worthy stories.
4) The media should treat all politicians equally: suspiciously at best and preferably like lying, thieving, conniving dirt bags. It is disingenuous to suddenly give a flying flip about abuse of executive orders when you've been conspicuously quiet about it for the last eight years. Journalistic integrity demands that no one gets soft ball questions, evasive answers need to be challenged, and no one should be immune from close scrutiny. You can complain about Donald Trump's decade old locker room comments when you publish Barack Obama's college transcripts.
5) We the people really do not care what a Hollywood or sports celebrity thinks about politics, national security, little green men or global warming unless they just happen to be running for office, quitting the NFL to join the Army, was abducted on live TV or has a Ph.D in climatology. We want facts and not airheaded opinions from someone to whom we pay good money to "Shut up and Dance Monkey." Using celebrities to forward an agenda is playing to vanity, and it is part of the reason the public's trust of your services are in the toilet.
In closing, the media has an awesome responsibility to be guardians of the public trust. Use it wisely or lose it forever. We are watching.
Sincerely,
Daddy Hawk
Thursday, January 19, 2017
New Venture
Well, it's been an interesting week so far.
It started off a week ago today. Mid afternoon, I get a meeting invite from the boss' boss entitled "Discussion". Just me and him. Set for 9:00 AM Friday. Location: the HR conference room. Insert ominous music here. Whichever one floats your boat. The JAWS theme works for me.
I accepted the invite (like I had much of a choice) and went in search of the boss. I asked the boss lady if she has any clue what the meeting is about. She professed blissful ignorance of any meeting or the reasons for same. In hindsight, I think she should be nominated for an acting award, because there is no way she could not have known what was coming next. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
I start to freak out a little. I've seen this movie before, and it doesn't end well for our hero.
I corner the boss lady's boss at the end the day and innocently inquire if, perhaps, I should prepare anything for our morning meeting and if he might share the topic of said meeting. He somewhat mournfully declined to offer any clues.
Now, our hero, yours truly, has been hard at work, flogging the other wage slaves to achieve impossible results. How impossible you ask? The year 2015 ended with our hard working claims adjusters blowing the legal expense budget by a significant percentage (13% if memory serves me correctly which translates into 6 figures worth of excess money flying out the door). Hard questions were asked. I analyzed the data, explained the facts of life in the heartless world of litigation and pleaded for a larger budget for 2016. My efforts were rewarded with small DECREASE in budget.
You have got to be kidding me.
To make matters worse, we get all new senior management a month into the year. Everyone is immediately on the alert as heads start rolling. Interestingly, senior management ignores my area for about 9 months. That's 9 months without any real direction or leadership from on high about what's expected. The only direction I was given was: 1) be in the files, 2) focus on early resolution, and 3) keep a close eye on the legal budget. The self same legal budget that had been cut from 2015.
Okay, let me just pull out my Mister Wizard instant miracle hat.
Through some magical confluence of of coincidences, my team manages to bring in legal expense under budget by 2.5%. That's a 15% improvement over 2015. Hip, hip, hurray. The crowd goes wild. Cheering was heard. There might have even been confetti.
Sorry. I have digressed. So, I spend all Thursday night trying to figure out why I must report to the HR conference room Friday morning. I haven't made any advances to anyone at the office (for The Queen is a jealous Queen, and I like skin attached to my body). I don't tell dirty jokes at the office. I don't do anything to run afoul of company rules and regs. Performance numbers look good. That leaves only a couple of possibilities.
Any puzzlement, I roll into the HR conference room at 9:00 AM to find boss lady's boss in the room with the home office HR person on video conference. The first words out of my mouth are: "This can't be good."
Sure enough, the net result is: "position eliminated". Nothing to do with performance, thank you for your efforts, strictly an organizational realignment, here's what we plan to do for you for severance, blah, blah, meaningless blah.
Long time readers will recall this has happened before. No, it's not any easier the second time around. I will say I am handling it better this time though. I made it to the car before I started having my own private meltdown.
That lasted for about 2 hours. During that time, I got the shock and hurt out of my system. I tried hard listen to what God was telling me. It was then that I came to the realization that the time had come to move forward with the plans that The Queen and I had been discussing for about 6 months.
Ever since we went to The Bahamas last year, we've been talking about what we can do to achieve a little more freedom to raise M&M together instead of me always having to disappear for 10+ hours a day to a commute and office. There are things we want to do together as a family, and 3 weeks of paid time off a year don't always cut it. Answer: start my own home based business.
So, effective today, I have an LLC registered with the state, a EIN with the IRS, a website, and I'm developing marketing materials and other essentials. Those of you who know me in real life will have seen the announcement on my personal FaceBook page. Details are unimportant as far as this post is concerned. Basically, it's me providing specific services relating to litigated claims. In the interest of professionalism, I won't be using this blog to plug the new business.
I already have a helper too.
He can't type worth a flip, and he generally just hangs around, sleeps, eats and leaves messes for me to clean up. But, he works cheap and keeps my neck warm.
It started off a week ago today. Mid afternoon, I get a meeting invite from the boss' boss entitled "Discussion". Just me and him. Set for 9:00 AM Friday. Location: the HR conference room. Insert ominous music here. Whichever one floats your boat. The JAWS theme works for me.
I accepted the invite (like I had much of a choice) and went in search of the boss. I asked the boss lady if she has any clue what the meeting is about. She professed blissful ignorance of any meeting or the reasons for same. In hindsight, I think she should be nominated for an acting award, because there is no way she could not have known what was coming next. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
I start to freak out a little. I've seen this movie before, and it doesn't end well for our hero.
I corner the boss lady's boss at the end the day and innocently inquire if, perhaps, I should prepare anything for our morning meeting and if he might share the topic of said meeting. He somewhat mournfully declined to offer any clues.
Now, our hero, yours truly, has been hard at work, flogging the other wage slaves to achieve impossible results. How impossible you ask? The year 2015 ended with our hard working claims adjusters blowing the legal expense budget by a significant percentage (13% if memory serves me correctly which translates into 6 figures worth of excess money flying out the door). Hard questions were asked. I analyzed the data, explained the facts of life in the heartless world of litigation and pleaded for a larger budget for 2016. My efforts were rewarded with small DECREASE in budget.
You have got to be kidding me.
To make matters worse, we get all new senior management a month into the year. Everyone is immediately on the alert as heads start rolling. Interestingly, senior management ignores my area for about 9 months. That's 9 months without any real direction or leadership from on high about what's expected. The only direction I was given was: 1) be in the files, 2) focus on early resolution, and 3) keep a close eye on the legal budget. The self same legal budget that had been cut from 2015.
Okay, let me just pull out my Mister Wizard instant miracle hat.
Through some magical confluence of of coincidences, my team manages to bring in legal expense under budget by 2.5%. That's a 15% improvement over 2015. Hip, hip, hurray. The crowd goes wild. Cheering was heard. There might have even been confetti.
Sorry. I have digressed. So, I spend all Thursday night trying to figure out why I must report to the HR conference room Friday morning. I haven't made any advances to anyone at the office (for The Queen is a jealous Queen, and I like skin attached to my body). I don't tell dirty jokes at the office. I don't do anything to run afoul of company rules and regs. Performance numbers look good. That leaves only a couple of possibilities.
Any puzzlement, I roll into the HR conference room at 9:00 AM to find boss lady's boss in the room with the home office HR person on video conference. The first words out of my mouth are: "This can't be good."
Sure enough, the net result is: "position eliminated". Nothing to do with performance, thank you for your efforts, strictly an organizational realignment, here's what we plan to do for you for severance, blah, blah, meaningless blah.
Long time readers will recall this has happened before. No, it's not any easier the second time around. I will say I am handling it better this time though. I made it to the car before I started having my own private meltdown.
That lasted for about 2 hours. During that time, I got the shock and hurt out of my system. I tried hard listen to what God was telling me. It was then that I came to the realization that the time had come to move forward with the plans that The Queen and I had been discussing for about 6 months.
Ever since we went to The Bahamas last year, we've been talking about what we can do to achieve a little more freedom to raise M&M together instead of me always having to disappear for 10+ hours a day to a commute and office. There are things we want to do together as a family, and 3 weeks of paid time off a year don't always cut it. Answer: start my own home based business.
So, effective today, I have an LLC registered with the state, a EIN with the IRS, a website, and I'm developing marketing materials and other essentials. Those of you who know me in real life will have seen the announcement on my personal FaceBook page. Details are unimportant as far as this post is concerned. Basically, it's me providing specific services relating to litigated claims. In the interest of professionalism, I won't be using this blog to plug the new business.
I already have a helper too.
He can't type worth a flip, and he generally just hangs around, sleeps, eats and leaves messes for me to clean up. But, he works cheap and keeps my neck warm.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Stop Hitting Yourself
Dear Texas Republican Party Members (and you folks at the National Party HQ need to listen up too),
I'll make this simple: STOP HITTING YOURSELF! Seriously. Put down the shovel, go take a bottle of Tylenol and reread the Bible and the Constitution when you wake up.
Sincerely,
Daddy Hawk
I'll be the first to state that, as a conservative Christian, I believe the Bible is very clear on the subject of homosexuality. The Bible is also very clear about not judging others, accepting people as they are (while loving them and encouraging them to sin no more) and looking after your own problems before you try to solve everyone else's. I'll also be the first to admit that I do not understand the "cause" of homosexuality anymore than I do particle physics, and I'm pretty sure no one living has a decent grasp on that subject either. We can debate genetics and nature versus nurture until the end of time; but, if you listen closely, you can just make out the sound of God laughing at us for thinking we have a clue.
So, it strikes me that these well intentioned folks are suffering from a special form of stupid to think that 1)homosexuality can be "fixed" through therapy, 2) that it's any of the government's business in the first place, and 3) there ought to be a law to do something about it.
Do you want to take a stand on moral issues? Fine be me. Live your life according to those morals. Be the example you want others to follow. Talk to people about why you do what you do when offered the opportunity. Talk to them out of love and be respectful of that teachable moment.
Do you want to make a difference in state and national level politics? Fine by me. Stick to things that are defined by the Constitution as being the government's business. Let's talk fiscal policy. Let's talk foreign policy. Let's talk about securing the borders. Let's talk about taxes. Let's talk about how entitlements are bankrupting the county. Let's talk about the ideas you have to make Texas and America stronger (or strong again depending on your point of view).
Let's stay out of people's bedrooms. Let's stay out of people's minds. This isn't Orwell's 1984. There should be no political correctness. There should be no hate crimes or thought police. You don't fix racism by inciting riots and perpetuating the "us vs. them" mentality. You change people's hearts and minds by being the best example you can be.
[dropping mike and stepping off soap box]
I'll make this simple: STOP HITTING YOURSELF! Seriously. Put down the shovel, go take a bottle of Tylenol and reread the Bible and the Constitution when you wake up.
Sincerely,
Daddy Hawk
I'll be the first to state that, as a conservative Christian, I believe the Bible is very clear on the subject of homosexuality. The Bible is also very clear about not judging others, accepting people as they are (while loving them and encouraging them to sin no more) and looking after your own problems before you try to solve everyone else's. I'll also be the first to admit that I do not understand the "cause" of homosexuality anymore than I do particle physics, and I'm pretty sure no one living has a decent grasp on that subject either. We can debate genetics and nature versus nurture until the end of time; but, if you listen closely, you can just make out the sound of God laughing at us for thinking we have a clue.
So, it strikes me that these well intentioned folks are suffering from a special form of stupid to think that 1)homosexuality can be "fixed" through therapy, 2) that it's any of the government's business in the first place, and 3) there ought to be a law to do something about it.
Do you want to take a stand on moral issues? Fine be me. Live your life according to those morals. Be the example you want others to follow. Talk to people about why you do what you do when offered the opportunity. Talk to them out of love and be respectful of that teachable moment.
Do you want to make a difference in state and national level politics? Fine by me. Stick to things that are defined by the Constitution as being the government's business. Let's talk fiscal policy. Let's talk foreign policy. Let's talk about securing the borders. Let's talk about taxes. Let's talk about how entitlements are bankrupting the county. Let's talk about the ideas you have to make Texas and America stronger (or strong again depending on your point of view).
Let's stay out of people's bedrooms. Let's stay out of people's minds. This isn't Orwell's 1984. There should be no political correctness. There should be no hate crimes or thought police. You don't fix racism by inciting riots and perpetuating the "us vs. them" mentality. You change people's hearts and minds by being the best example you can be.
[dropping mike and stepping off soap box]
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Where Has Waldo Been?
As some of you may have gathered from the recent teaser pic, Daddy Hawk and family escaped the confines of our current living arrangements and hit the open road for adventure. Every year, our church keeps God's Holy Days as outlined in the Old Testament. The last of the fall Holy Day season is the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day (don't worry...I will not turn this into a preaching post) which is 8 days long (7 days for the FOT + 1 LGD). The church picks a place or two (or a dozen depending) where church members from around the country/world can gather together and celebrate the feast, worship together, fellowship, etc. This is a big reason why The Queen, who grew up in the church, knows people EVERYWHERE (I'm not kidding about that either).
Any explanation, this year, the choices were Oxnard, CA; Tulsa, OK and the middle of nowhere Kentucky. The Queen, being a California native, REALLY wanted to go there. Health (The Queen's) and circumstances (my employment status) threatened to derail our ability to go at all much less California. There was also the minor detail of how to get there.
Any explanation, this year, the choices were Oxnard, CA; Tulsa, OK and the middle of nowhere Kentucky. The Queen, being a California native, REALLY wanted to go there. Health (The Queen's) and circumstances (my employment status) threatened to derail our ability to go at all much less California. There was also the minor detail of how to get there.
You see, the Queen can not fly anymore. The last several attempts have literally been disasters. She puked in a Cessna that I had rented in straight and level flight on a calm day (guess who got to clean that mess up). She passed clean out on a Southwest Airlines flight and required smelling salts to be revived. The last time she set foot in an airplane was 2006 when we attempted to board a flight for Florida. I say attempted because that was near the beginning of the mystery illness. She started having difficulty breathing, and we had to get back off the plane and rush her to the hospital. Our luggage had a lovely trip to Florida.
Us, not so much.
So, driving was our only viable option.
I digress again. Our plan to travel this go round was further hampered by yours truly who fell Friday evening before our intended departure date. I was carrying M&M, and we were climbing up some rocks at the lake to get to a boardwalk when a rock shifted under my feet. It threw me off balance. The Queen was out of arms reach and unable to assist. I had a choice of falling over backwards and potentially cracking my skull open or worse or dropping both M&M and I straight down. I held M&M out at arms length in the hopes that I would not land on her and tried to fall gracefully. I don't have pictures of the damage. M&M was physically fine but lamented the loss of the gumball she had been licking in horrible wails of anguish. I lost some skin on my right foot in two places (dime size and quarter sized) and had a huge knot swell up in the meat of the arch of my right foot. Walking was painful to say the least (I thought I had broken something at first).
We went home and elevated and iced the foot. By Saturday, the swelling had gone down and I was able to walk with less pain. Regular shoes were right out because the larger patch of missing skin was right below my ankle and rubbed on everything. Fortunately, I have a pair of sandals that didn't interfere with the mess.
Sunday morning dawned, and The Queen gave a green light on her end. No one was clammering for my services for the near future. So, we loaded up a small Uhaul cargo trailer with our luggage (The Queen does not know the meaning of the phrase "pack light"), some camping equipment, a cooler full of food, and pointed the Navigator west.
First stop: Carlsbad, NM.
I should mention that we left the house with no (zip, zero, nada) accommodation reservations. Since we did not know whether we would be able to go until the last minute, making reservations seemed a bit presumptuous (not to mention potentially an expensive waste of money). So, we made the reservations (if any) as we went. Our first night was spent in the KOA campground outside of Carlsbad. It's actually a very nice place to stay if you ever find yourself in that neck of the woods with a yen for something other than a hotel. They even have small cabins for rent. We chose to pitch our tent for the night and had a restful, if chilly, night's sleep being serenaded by coyotes.
Day two started with breakfast at the Denny's in Carlsbad (truly, horrible service...worst restaurant service I've had in a long time) followed by a tour of Carlsbad Caverns.
Imagine pictures of a really big cave here...none of the ones I took were blog worthy. We did get a nice tourist to take a family shot for us...which you would see in this space if Google Drive were being cooperative right now which it isn't.
After that, we drove back into Texas, through El Paso, across the rest of New Mexico and stopped at the KOA in Benson, AZ just outside of Tucson. The Benson KOA is not as nice as the Carlsbad one, but it clean and quiet nonetheless.
Day three started at Gourmet Girls Gluten Free Bakery in Tucson, AZ. Really. Good. Gluten Free backed items. If you need or want that sort of thing. The GF Cinnamon Roll was more of a iced cup cake than roll, but it was still tasty. Other than that, well worth the stop. Discussion was had about making a stop between Tucson and Oxnard, and it was ultimately decided to press on and arrive ahead of schedule. We arrived at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Bay in Oxnard at around 1:00 AM with no reservation. They found us a room, and we passed out.
Day four dawned to a beautifully clear sunrise and no idea where we were going to stay for the next 8 days. An attempt was made to have breakfast. I say attempt because, apparently, someone was so anxious for me to get in touch with the rental property manager that I was not allowed to finish my omelette before being frog marched at knife point to my phone with strict instructions to make arrangements.
There were three properties we were interested in. Through careful process of elimination, it was determined that only one of the properties had any chance of working for us. Fortunately for us, the most likely candidate was the one we had been most interested in from the beginning. So, after a couple of calls, arrangements were made to see the property in person. It passed muster, and we went around the block to the property manager's office to sign papers and fork over money.
This was our prize and home for the next several days.
This picture does not do it justice. The main selling points were that it is right across the street from the beach and was the most unique place we had seen. It was originally built in the 1920s as a beach shack and had been added onto, remodeled and rebuilt over the years. According to a plaque on the curb, it was redesigned by a 14 year old with help from his dad.
While we waited for the official check in time before unloading our stuff, we drove around Oxnard and actually found the house we had stayed in the last time we were in Oxnard 14 years ago. Not a bad trick considering we didn't remember the address and only had vague recollections as to the general vicinity.
Check in time rolled around at 3:00, and we were ready to be rid of the Uhaul trailer that had stalked us all the way from Texas. While I was unloading the trailer, I got a phone call from a major insurance carrier that had invited me to apply for a position. Lo and behold, they wanted to schedule an in person interview at their offices in the DFW area. I explained my present location and inquired as to when they would like my presence in theirs. They said "How does Friday, October 24 work for you?" I said, "Perfect."
I informed The Queen that I had something positive to look forward to when we got home from the trip and continued my efforts. The Queen was pleased.
But wait, the job hunt news gets better. Not only did I get the Ronco major carrier interview and turnip twaddler scheduled, but Day Five dawned to find an email in my inbox from a recruiter that said:
"I know this is wild, but [major third party administrator company] wants to extend you an offer based on your resume."
A phone call confirmed that they were offering a contract temp senior adjuster position handling commercial general liability claims at a "market rate" salary. The "market rate" was the hourly rate that I had asked for. So, I couldn't exactly complain even though it's 33% less than what I was making. Come to find out that the rate I asked for is at the high end and even above the high end of the current market rate for senior adjusters. We'll talk about that in a minute. The start date was negotiated to begin shortly after our return from California, paperwork was received and sent back and The Queen was pleased to know that there would be a job and a paycheck waiting for us when we got back. I was, frankly, relieved to know that someone wanted me even if it was for a step back in position and pay.
I was told, by the recruiter, that the position had the potential to go full time, and that the company would likely just convert the hourly rate over to salary and all would be well. If you've ever dealt with recruiters, the worst of them are rather distant acquaintances with the truth. This one might have met truth at a party once, but experience reveals that he hasn't trying calling the fake phone number she gave him.
Oh, the company likes me alright, and they would like to keep me (after first telling me that they didn't hire temps). Unfortunately, the salary does not convert over, and their salary ranges are somewhat lower than "market rate". Which is a shame because the people are nice, and the work is not difficult. I just can't cut the budget any closer to the bone than I already have.
There's more stuff in the works on the Jobba the Hunt front, but nothing is ripe yet. I've applied for 56 positions so far. I've had exactly one face to face interview (the aforementioned major carrier interview) which didn't pan out due to differences in salary expectations. There have been only a couple of other telephone screening interviews, but the vast majority of my application efforts has failed to yield anything more than a "thanks, but no thanks" email.
It's enough to give a guy a complex.
Anytrip, enough about my employment search. There's trip pictures to share.
The return trip home was nothing special. We had to cut it a day short because M&M started having allergy issues and was miserable. We made it home safely. It's hard to believe that was a month ago already.
Much has transpired since last we spoke to borrow a phrase from the Denton PD "Dear Chief" letter. It's my bed time. Y'all write when you can. I'll do the same.
Us, not so much.
So, driving was our only viable option.
I digress again. Our plan to travel this go round was further hampered by yours truly who fell Friday evening before our intended departure date. I was carrying M&M, and we were climbing up some rocks at the lake to get to a boardwalk when a rock shifted under my feet. It threw me off balance. The Queen was out of arms reach and unable to assist. I had a choice of falling over backwards and potentially cracking my skull open or worse or dropping both M&M and I straight down. I held M&M out at arms length in the hopes that I would not land on her and tried to fall gracefully. I don't have pictures of the damage. M&M was physically fine but lamented the loss of the gumball she had been licking in horrible wails of anguish. I lost some skin on my right foot in two places (dime size and quarter sized) and had a huge knot swell up in the meat of the arch of my right foot. Walking was painful to say the least (I thought I had broken something at first).
We went home and elevated and iced the foot. By Saturday, the swelling had gone down and I was able to walk with less pain. Regular shoes were right out because the larger patch of missing skin was right below my ankle and rubbed on everything. Fortunately, I have a pair of sandals that didn't interfere with the mess.
Sunday morning dawned, and The Queen gave a green light on her end. No one was clammering for my services for the near future. So, we loaded up a small Uhaul cargo trailer with our luggage (The Queen does not know the meaning of the phrase "pack light"), some camping equipment, a cooler full of food, and pointed the Navigator west.
First stop: Carlsbad, NM.
I should mention that we left the house with no (zip, zero, nada) accommodation reservations. Since we did not know whether we would be able to go until the last minute, making reservations seemed a bit presumptuous (not to mention potentially an expensive waste of money). So, we made the reservations (if any) as we went. Our first night was spent in the KOA campground outside of Carlsbad. It's actually a very nice place to stay if you ever find yourself in that neck of the woods with a yen for something other than a hotel. They even have small cabins for rent. We chose to pitch our tent for the night and had a restful, if chilly, night's sleep being serenaded by coyotes.
Day two started with breakfast at the Denny's in Carlsbad (truly, horrible service...worst restaurant service I've had in a long time) followed by a tour of Carlsbad Caverns.
Imagine pictures of a really big cave here...none of the ones I took were blog worthy. We did get a nice tourist to take a family shot for us...which you would see in this space if Google Drive were being cooperative right now which it isn't.
 |
| I gave up on Google Drive and went with the laptop hard drive |
 |
| M&M sacked out in a pile of comforters...for such a small girl, she can cover some real estate |
Day four dawned to a beautifully clear sunrise and no idea where we were going to stay for the next 8 days. An attempt was made to have breakfast. I say attempt because, apparently, someone was so anxious for me to get in touch with the rental property manager that I was not allowed to finish my omelette before being frog marched at knife point to my phone with strict instructions to make arrangements.
There were three properties we were interested in. Through careful process of elimination, it was determined that only one of the properties had any chance of working for us. Fortunately for us, the most likely candidate was the one we had been most interested in from the beginning. So, after a couple of calls, arrangements were made to see the property in person. It passed muster, and we went around the block to the property manager's office to sign papers and fork over money.
This was our prize and home for the next several days.
This picture does not do it justice. The main selling points were that it is right across the street from the beach and was the most unique place we had seen. It was originally built in the 1920s as a beach shack and had been added onto, remodeled and rebuilt over the years. According to a plaque on the curb, it was redesigned by a 14 year old with help from his dad.
 |
| You thought I was kidding |
Check in time rolled around at 3:00, and we were ready to be rid of the Uhaul trailer that had stalked us all the way from Texas. While I was unloading the trailer, I got a phone call from a major insurance carrier that had invited me to apply for a position. Lo and behold, they wanted to schedule an in person interview at their offices in the DFW area. I explained my present location and inquired as to when they would like my presence in theirs. They said "How does Friday, October 24 work for you?" I said, "Perfect."
I informed The Queen that I had something positive to look forward to when we got home from the trip and continued my efforts. The Queen was pleased.
But wait, the job hunt news gets better. Not only did I get the Ronco major carrier interview and turnip twaddler scheduled, but Day Five dawned to find an email in my inbox from a recruiter that said:
"I know this is wild, but [major third party administrator company] wants to extend you an offer based on your resume."
A phone call confirmed that they were offering a contract temp senior adjuster position handling commercial general liability claims at a "market rate" salary. The "market rate" was the hourly rate that I had asked for. So, I couldn't exactly complain even though it's 33% less than what I was making. Come to find out that the rate I asked for is at the high end and even above the high end of the current market rate for senior adjusters. We'll talk about that in a minute. The start date was negotiated to begin shortly after our return from California, paperwork was received and sent back and The Queen was pleased to know that there would be a job and a paycheck waiting for us when we got back. I was, frankly, relieved to know that someone wanted me even if it was for a step back in position and pay.
I was told, by the recruiter, that the position had the potential to go full time, and that the company would likely just convert the hourly rate over to salary and all would be well. If you've ever dealt with recruiters, the worst of them are rather distant acquaintances with the truth. This one might have met truth at a party once, but experience reveals that he hasn't trying calling the fake phone number she gave him.
Oh, the company likes me alright, and they would like to keep me (after first telling me that they didn't hire temps). Unfortunately, the salary does not convert over, and their salary ranges are somewhat lower than "market rate". Which is a shame because the people are nice, and the work is not difficult. I just can't cut the budget any closer to the bone than I already have.
There's more stuff in the works on the Jobba the Hunt front, but nothing is ripe yet. I've applied for 56 positions so far. I've had exactly one face to face interview (the aforementioned major carrier interview) which didn't pan out due to differences in salary expectations. There have been only a couple of other telephone screening interviews, but the vast majority of my application efforts has failed to yield anything more than a "thanks, but no thanks" email.
It's enough to give a guy a complex.
Anytrip, enough about my employment search. There's trip pictures to share.
The return trip home was nothing special. We had to cut it a day short because M&M started having allergy issues and was miserable. We made it home safely. It's hard to believe that was a month ago already.
Much has transpired since last we spoke to borrow a phrase from the Denton PD "Dear Chief" letter. It's my bed time. Y'all write when you can. I'll do the same.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Fox News Has WAYYYY Too Much Time on Their Hands
Now, I know that the mainstream media went in the tank a long time ago and does everything in its power to avoid actual fact based reporting with any kind of integrity especially regarding anything vaguely important like EVERY SINGLE FRIKKIN' SCANDAL BLOWING UP IN DC RIGHT NOW!!!!!!
But,...
THIS is a tad ridiculous.
Someone at Fox thought it would be a great story to dig into whether the UNITED STATES NAVY has an opinion about whether or not CAP'N CRUNCH is a fraud.
You have GOT to be smokin' crack Batman. The press should be busy slow roasting the current administration over hot coals on a spit slathered in barbeque sauce NOT trying to determine whether a flippin' CARTOON character on a kids CEREAL box is "for realsies".
Bread and Circuses. The Romans at least had gladiator matches involving real men putting their lives on the line. We get stuck with American Idol and the NBA Finals.
If you will excuse me, I think I just prolapsed my spleen and the idea of getting drunk for breakfast just became very appealing. It's a shame I gave up profanity over a decade ago. The "universal adjective" yelled at high volume over a bullhorn would feel very cathartic right now.
But,...
THIS is a tad ridiculous.
Someone at Fox thought it would be a great story to dig into whether the UNITED STATES NAVY has an opinion about whether or not CAP'N CRUNCH is a fraud.
You have GOT to be smokin' crack Batman. The press should be busy slow roasting the current administration over hot coals on a spit slathered in barbeque sauce NOT trying to determine whether a flippin' CARTOON character on a kids CEREAL box is "for realsies".
Bread and Circuses. The Romans at least had gladiator matches involving real men putting their lives on the line. We get stuck with American Idol and the NBA Finals.
If you will excuse me, I think I just prolapsed my spleen and the idea of getting drunk for breakfast just became very appealing. It's a shame I gave up profanity over a decade ago. The "universal adjective" yelled at high volume over a bullhorn would feel very cathartic right now.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Tornados
If you've been watching the news or lived in the Dallas Fort Worth area, you already know that we had a major storm blow through here on Wednesday which spawned at least sixteen tornados according to the latest news reports. Since you are reading this, it's a pretty safe bet we weathered the storm without incident. I've lived in this area all my life with the exception of a brief interlude in Houston which I try to forget. I'm used to being in the unlit, dead end of "Tornado Alley".
That's not to say we were without concern.
We go through this every year here from about March until September or so. May is particularly active. If you live here long enough, you've either been IN a tornado or know someone who has. I was driving home from work once and watched as a funnel cloud formed right above my head along I-20 in Arlington. I think I've written about the time The Queen and I were having an argument in my truck which was promptly ended when the back end of the truck came off the ground...lifted by high winds which were part of a tornado's storm cell. That'll get your attention.
While Wednesday's storms dodged me and my family, there were some close calls. My inlaws live in Granbury, Texas less then 5 miles from where the EF-4 touched down killing six and destroying everything else in its way. The EF-3 that hit Cleburne, TX continued trucking south towards my mother's place before turning away. The Queen and I were holed up with Maddy at a doc-in-the-box when the sirens went off. We were in almost constant contact with my mother and inlaws the whole time. Not that we could DO anything, but it is reassuring to know that those close to you are safe at times like that.
If you don't live here, it's hard to understand the caprisiousness, arbitrariness, unpredictability and sheer violence of a tornado. Allow me to give you an example from my family's experience.
May 27, 1997 an EF-5 (the so called "finger of God") tornado hit a sleepy little town in central Texas by the name of Jarrell. My great aunt lived there and was extremely fortunate to have been away from home at the time of the storm. She was on her way home though, saw the storm and hid out under a highway overpass. When the storm passed and she was able to head towards home, it was no longer there. Literally. Gone. The slab was the only thing left. Her neighbors, a family of five, were not so fortunate. They lost their lives along with 22 others. Across the street, the houses were intact.
I have some print photos of the aftermath which don't even begin to give a sense of the level of devastation involved. Most people look at a road and think it's pretty solid, stable, unforgiving. The tornado actually scoured the asphalt off the road. Interior electrical wire was found impaling trees. Cattle were found impaled with wheat stalks and other debris.
My great aunt lost almost everything physical in her possession that day. However, a book of her mother's poetry (my great grandmother was a gifted artist and poet) was found in a field open to a page which the volunteers who were searching for survivors and victims found to be very moving. They read the poem from that page at a town meeting with the survivors, and my great aunt immediately recognized it. If I recall correctly, some small things such as cancelled checks or bank deposit slips were found as far away as Florida...presumably carried on the winds. Somethings were never found though.
I know other areas have blizzards or hurricanes which can be no less serious in terms of potential for damage and loss of life. They cannot hold a candle to tornados though. Hurricanes give plenty of warning to get out of town or prepare to hunker down. Blizzards too. You can plan for them and actually be somewhat ready for them (unless you live in New Orleans). Tornados are the hit and run drivers of the storm world. They appear suddenly and disappear just as quickly. There is very little, if any, warning. We are lucky if we get an hours notice of a storm with potential for tornados. Also, when was the last time you heard of a blizzard shredding everything in its path?
Now pardon me while I go back to work.
That's not to say we were without concern.
We go through this every year here from about March until September or so. May is particularly active. If you live here long enough, you've either been IN a tornado or know someone who has. I was driving home from work once and watched as a funnel cloud formed right above my head along I-20 in Arlington. I think I've written about the time The Queen and I were having an argument in my truck which was promptly ended when the back end of the truck came off the ground...lifted by high winds which were part of a tornado's storm cell. That'll get your attention.
While Wednesday's storms dodged me and my family, there were some close calls. My inlaws live in Granbury, Texas less then 5 miles from where the EF-4 touched down killing six and destroying everything else in its way. The EF-3 that hit Cleburne, TX continued trucking south towards my mother's place before turning away. The Queen and I were holed up with Maddy at a doc-in-the-box when the sirens went off. We were in almost constant contact with my mother and inlaws the whole time. Not that we could DO anything, but it is reassuring to know that those close to you are safe at times like that.
If you don't live here, it's hard to understand the caprisiousness, arbitrariness, unpredictability and sheer violence of a tornado. Allow me to give you an example from my family's experience.
May 27, 1997 an EF-5 (the so called "finger of God") tornado hit a sleepy little town in central Texas by the name of Jarrell. My great aunt lived there and was extremely fortunate to have been away from home at the time of the storm. She was on her way home though, saw the storm and hid out under a highway overpass. When the storm passed and she was able to head towards home, it was no longer there. Literally. Gone. The slab was the only thing left. Her neighbors, a family of five, were not so fortunate. They lost their lives along with 22 others. Across the street, the houses were intact.
I have some print photos of the aftermath which don't even begin to give a sense of the level of devastation involved. Most people look at a road and think it's pretty solid, stable, unforgiving. The tornado actually scoured the asphalt off the road. Interior electrical wire was found impaling trees. Cattle were found impaled with wheat stalks and other debris.
My great aunt lost almost everything physical in her possession that day. However, a book of her mother's poetry (my great grandmother was a gifted artist and poet) was found in a field open to a page which the volunteers who were searching for survivors and victims found to be very moving. They read the poem from that page at a town meeting with the survivors, and my great aunt immediately recognized it. If I recall correctly, some small things such as cancelled checks or bank deposit slips were found as far away as Florida...presumably carried on the winds. Somethings were never found though.
I know other areas have blizzards or hurricanes which can be no less serious in terms of potential for damage and loss of life. They cannot hold a candle to tornados though. Hurricanes give plenty of warning to get out of town or prepare to hunker down. Blizzards too. You can plan for them and actually be somewhat ready for them (unless you live in New Orleans). Tornados are the hit and run drivers of the storm world. They appear suddenly and disappear just as quickly. There is very little, if any, warning. We are lucky if we get an hours notice of a storm with potential for tornados. Also, when was the last time you heard of a blizzard shredding everything in its path?
Now pardon me while I go back to work.
Monday, April 15, 2013
An Open Letter
Dear Dr. Kermit Gosnell*,
You do not know me, and I do not know you. My God warns me not to judge others lest I be judged myself; however, I your case, I would say that you had best be glad that I am not on the jury or in the same room with you. That judging others thing and the whole "vengeance is mine sayeth The Lord" thing just might have to be conveniently forgotten for a time.
Having said that, I do not write to condemn you as God will see to that far better than I ever can no matter how temporarily satisfying it may be to me. No, instead I write to thank you. I know that may come as a shock to you at this point in your legal troubles; however, it is a true and sincere thanks that I offer you nonetheless.
Why do I wish to thank you? Quite simply, you have succeeded in restoring some small measure of my humanity to me that I had thought lost forever. You see, I have been in the insurance claims business for over 17 years now, and I have seen some much injury, death and destruction that I am numb to it. I became immune to the tragedies of others. Very little, if anything, disturbs me to my core anymore.
That is, until you came to my attention. When I first read the story of your alleged crimes a week or so ago, I was not surprised that it had not made bigger headlines. Why cover the legal troubles of an abortion doctor when there is the blood of innocents to dance in in the furtherance of a gun control agenda?
Then I scanned an article too fast and saw a photo depicting the results of your "snipping" procedure. To say that I was shocked is an understatement, and I do not shock easily. I have seen charred bodies, decapitations and more in my line of work far more often that I care to admit. Those tragedies were merely the result of accident and misfortune. Your procedure, in comparison, is the work of precise, clinical intent.
And that is what disturbed me to my core.
That you could look at a perfectly formed infant (and don't you dare try to say it was nothing more than a fetus) and do what you do without a second thought is in my mind absolute purest evil far worse than anything that Jeffrey Dahmer or any other mass killer has done. Not only have you decimated an entire population of infants, you did with absolute cold hearted precision and you took payment for the service.
As a new father thanks to the miracle of adoption, my heart truly breaks for the hundreds and probably thousands of lives that you have ended. I do not understand what would lead a woman to seek out the services you and others like you provide, and it is not in my power to forgive in this lifetime. Perhaps I am not spiritually converted enough yet, but it is the truth nonetheless.
God will surely demand a reckoning from you, and I pray that I will be able to see His justice done.
In the meantime, I do thank you for showing me that there is still some humanity residing within me.
Sincerely,
Daddy Hawk
P.S. Seriously, never, ever come into my presence. Witnesses will not protect you.
P.P.S. Since the death penalty does not appear to be on the table for you, I'd ask for solitary confinement if I were you.
*For those that do not know or have not heard who Dr. Gosnell is, Goggle him at your own risk. Scan articles slowly as some contain graphic photos that can not be unseen.
You do not know me, and I do not know you. My God warns me not to judge others lest I be judged myself; however, I your case, I would say that you had best be glad that I am not on the jury or in the same room with you. That judging others thing and the whole "vengeance is mine sayeth The Lord" thing just might have to be conveniently forgotten for a time.
Having said that, I do not write to condemn you as God will see to that far better than I ever can no matter how temporarily satisfying it may be to me. No, instead I write to thank you. I know that may come as a shock to you at this point in your legal troubles; however, it is a true and sincere thanks that I offer you nonetheless.
Why do I wish to thank you? Quite simply, you have succeeded in restoring some small measure of my humanity to me that I had thought lost forever. You see, I have been in the insurance claims business for over 17 years now, and I have seen some much injury, death and destruction that I am numb to it. I became immune to the tragedies of others. Very little, if anything, disturbs me to my core anymore.
That is, until you came to my attention. When I first read the story of your alleged crimes a week or so ago, I was not surprised that it had not made bigger headlines. Why cover the legal troubles of an abortion doctor when there is the blood of innocents to dance in in the furtherance of a gun control agenda?
Then I scanned an article too fast and saw a photo depicting the results of your "snipping" procedure. To say that I was shocked is an understatement, and I do not shock easily. I have seen charred bodies, decapitations and more in my line of work far more often that I care to admit. Those tragedies were merely the result of accident and misfortune. Your procedure, in comparison, is the work of precise, clinical intent.
And that is what disturbed me to my core.
That you could look at a perfectly formed infant (and don't you dare try to say it was nothing more than a fetus) and do what you do without a second thought is in my mind absolute purest evil far worse than anything that Jeffrey Dahmer or any other mass killer has done. Not only have you decimated an entire population of infants, you did with absolute cold hearted precision and you took payment for the service.
As a new father thanks to the miracle of adoption, my heart truly breaks for the hundreds and probably thousands of lives that you have ended. I do not understand what would lead a woman to seek out the services you and others like you provide, and it is not in my power to forgive in this lifetime. Perhaps I am not spiritually converted enough yet, but it is the truth nonetheless.
God will surely demand a reckoning from you, and I pray that I will be able to see His justice done.
In the meantime, I do thank you for showing me that there is still some humanity residing within me.
Sincerely,
Daddy Hawk
P.S. Seriously, never, ever come into my presence. Witnesses will not protect you.
P.P.S. Since the death penalty does not appear to be on the table for you, I'd ask for solitary confinement if I were you.
*For those that do not know or have not heard who Dr. Gosnell is, Goggle him at your own risk. Scan articles slowly as some contain graphic photos that can not be unseen.
Friday, November 30, 2012
There's Gonna Be Some Changes 'Round Here...
Before I get to the changes here at Preachers & Horse Thieves, I'd like to take a moment to welcome another follower. Even though she does not appear in the "official" listing in the side bar, Jane of Virginia sounded off her presence in the comments of the last post. Her profile lists her online presence at "Rational Preparedness" : The Blog. Everybody say "hi" to Jane. While you're at it, tell me if you don't think her profile picture is the spitting image of Cote de Pablo from NCIS.
Now, moving right along, the first change I would like to make you all aware of is the new name. Not for the blog, but for the blogger. Shepherd K has been a fun name, but it's time to put it to bed. There are a couple of reasons for the decision. The main one is the likely adoption of M&M in the near to mid future. As some of you may recall, The Queen bestowed upon me the title of "Daddy Hawk" shortly after M&M's arrival. Over the almost one year since her arrival, I have come to view myself more and more as a husband / father / protector, a Daddy Hawk, as opposed to anything else. Besides, the best nicknames are those that others give you instead of ones you think up for yourself.
So, when you see a comment from a stranger named Daddy Hawk, it's just me.
We'll get along fine as long as you don't mess with my wife or my daughter.
The second change (or second and third depending on your point of view) is the changing nature of the blog. My original intent when I started writing here was to have a place to hone my writing skills, find my "voice" and share random thoughts on a variety of topics and other stuff. In other words, a general blog. Over time, I have gotten away from random thoughts and other stuff and started focusing more on my life as it happens. A diary of sorts. Part family history, part spleen venting. Looking back through the stats though, I've noticed that my most "popular" posts were the car reviews. In fact, my 2010 Ford Focus SES review is the number three entry for that search term on Google. Yeah, I just patted myself on the back. There might have been a self satisfied, maniacal chuckle or two as well.
In light of those revelations, I've decided on a two part solution. Part one, Preachers & Horse Thieves will continue to be your destination for all things related to The Queen, Daddy Hawk, M&M and the happenings at Castle Erickson. Part two is the creation of a new blog, called Daddy Hawk's Toy Box, which is where I will turn my inner twelve year old boy loose for things like writing reviews of cars, planes, motorcycles, guns, tools, books, movies....in short, anything a twelve year old boy (or girl) stuck in a middle aged man's (or woman's) body might find interesting.
The Toy Box is under development as you read this. It may be a little bit before some content appears, but I'll get something up there before too long.
Finally, I will continue to contribute to The GunDivas blog on occasion. Just under the new blogger name. Otherwise, it'll be semi-business as usual around here.
As always, I really appreciate your readership, your friendship and your comments.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Now The Revisions Will Begin In Earnest
I am sure many of you saw the news article about the last known service member from World War I passing away earlier this week. To many, this is a quaint human interest story. A brief blip in the passage of time. The end of an era to others perhaps.
To a student of history, this event is something else entirely. It is a cause for alarm and even borders on being a tragedy. Why? Because an invaluable resource, a person with firsthand knowledge of the events who can give live testimony to what was witnessed, has been lost to the sands of time.
Some may try to say that live, first person accounts are less important in the modern age thanks to the wealth of information we have available to us in the form of records, letters, recordings, etc. The problem with that is that all history is revisionist. History is written by the winners and survivors. Rarely is history complete and unbiased. The biases and opinions of the historian inevitably color their reporting of the events. It taints their interpretation of those precious records that do survive after the death of those that created them. That doesn’t even take into account those historians who abandon any pretense of objectivity.
So, we have lost the last living witness to a major historical event that shaped much of what has transpired in our times today. Even if the last living witness were the most prolific writer and recorded every memory or thought she had regarding her experiences, those records can be lost, destroyed, suppressed or censored. Historians no longer have someone alive to challenge them and say, “You got it wrong.”
Very soon, much sooner than we care to consider, we will lose the last of The Greatest Generation. Already, we see people who adamantly deny that The Holocaust every happened. We have endless debates about Pearl Harbor. The ending of the war with atomic weapons has already been revised from a decision that saved the lives of millions to a horror for which America should be ashamed. If you have access to veterans of World War II or survivors of The Holocaust, I encourage you to spend time with them. Get their stories. Record them if you can. Do what you can to keep their stories alive.
I had the opportunity in college to hear a Holocaust survivor speak. His story was at the same time chilling and inspiring. It was a story of determination, resilience, ingenuity, defiance, endurance and so much more. He told us of how he learned to say he knew a certain skill even if he had never even if had had no experience in it at all because the Germans would take those with the skill, put them to work and gas the rest. He told us of how the prisoners working as slaves would surreptitiously sabotage aircraft or ammunition or whatever they were being forced to manufacture. The history of those events became real to me that day hearing him speak. No longer could they be denied. There was someone right in front of me who had lived through it. How do you convey that to a high school freshman who can’t be bothered to do the dishes or take out the trash because their eyes are glued to a smart phone or an iPad or some such?
"And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale — then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'" — 1984 by George Orwell
Friday, October 16, 2009
The News is all Happy and Gay
Even though it’s usually depressing, I try to keep abreast of the news so that I have at least a vague idea of what’s going on in the world around me. I still remember going to a retreat up in the mountains of Washington state which was so far removed from any contact with civilization that there was no phones, no radio, no TV and no internet access. You’d only see a newspaper if someone brought one with them when they arrived. However, after spending a week on the side of that mountain with no contact with the outside world or modern conveniences like cars, I was stunned to find out how alien everything in our modern society felt. It was absolutely wonderful, and I’ve been meaning to go back there for years.
On the other side of the coin, I was also stunned to learn that people wondered what planet I had come from when I said I had no idea Princess Diana had died in a car wreck while I was busy communing with nature. Why couldn’t I have been there when Michael Jackson died instead?
Now, the other day, I read a news article that President Obama has nominated a policewoman from Minnesota to be the first openly gay U.S. Marshal. My first reaction was: Why is this news? Did she cheat on her taxes, too? Apparently not. The brief news story makes mention of the president’s rocky relationship with the gay community and specifically his pledge to end the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the US military despite his lack of concrete efforts to do so. It reminds me of an Bloom County cartoon from the 1980s in which Milo is calling NASA about shuttle launches back when NASA was making a big push to get the first [fill in the minority/ethnic/special interest group here] into space. Milo asks if NASA had launched a blind, Indian contortionist or some such and the NASA spokesman said “Yep, he went up this morning.”
I’ve never thought of myself as homophobic. I just plain don’t understand why a man or a woman would look at another person of the same sex with lust in their heart to borrow a phrase from Jimmy Carter (and to think that man won the Nobel Peace Prize), and let’s not talk about lopitoffamy or addalittletomy surgical “interventions”. That just makes my skin crawl to think of looking at an original, standard equipment item attached to your own body that’s functioning properly and not cancerous and decide you can’t stand the thought of living with it another day so badly that you pay good money to have it removed. Uh, uh. No thank you, sir. Step away from me with those sharp objects.
So, this news story, to me at least, is a thinly veiled article about progress the administration is making towards ending discrimination against homosexuals. Despite the fact that I am a committed, life-long heterosexual, I have always wondered what sexual orientation has to do with what a person does for a living. As far as I’m concerned, the only criteria beyond education and prior work experience is whether or not a person is physically capable of performing the duties and responsibilities of a particular occupation. For instance, I’d love to be able to earn a living as an airshow pilot; however, I am not sure that I’m physically capable of keeping myself from puking through a 10 minute aerobatics routine. Does that mean I’m being discriminated against?
Then, today, I see another news article about the administration’s efforts on behalf of the gay community (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091014/D9BB3IIO0.html). This article makes no bones about the fact that the administration is working to end workplace discrimination against the gay community. Okay, fine. More power to you; but, really, how far do we need to go with this?
I mean, seriously, do we need to be adding more groups to the list of protected classes? I think we have more than enough of those already. I think the fact that we even have to have a list of protected groups is a sad commentary on us as human beings. Think about it for a minute. Companies are in business to make money. Non-profit groups exist to effectively achieve a certain goal or provide a certain service while wasting the least amount of resources necessary. They should WANT the best, most productive person for the job regardless of what the look like, which god they worship or who they pick up in bars; and, yet, here we are still dealing with discrimination in the 21ST freaking century since Jesus came down from on high to show us the way.
Does that mean we have to force people under penalty of law to do what’s in their best interests? Have any of the government’s affirmative action efforts to coerce people into being “diverse” changed anyone’s attitude about anything? I doubt it. I still hear racist jokes and religious jokes, hear stories of sexual harassment and glass ceilings, and more. We’re still seeing a culture of thin skinned victimization reported in the media, and you can’t disagree with President Obama without people looking throw your dresser drawers for a Klan robe. The only thing I’ve seen discrimination laws do is keep lawyers busy like they needed any help with that.
I tend towards a healthy dose of common sense in my opinions. I think an employer should be entitled to seek out workers who fit within the culture and demographic of their business to more effectively work within an industry or market. Does it make sense to force a fundamentalist Christian organization to hire an openly gay or transgender person as a lead spokesperson? Probably not. Does it make sense to hire a person who barely has a command of the English language and speaks with a heavy accent that no native born Texan can understand to sit in a customer service or help desk call center? No, it doesn’t AT&T. Neither of those scenarios make sense.
My feeling is this: If a business person is too stupid or small minded to over look their own prejudices so that they can hire the best person for the job and pay that person according to the value they bring to the company, that company deserves to lose money. Their competitors won’t always make the same mistake. Unfortunately, a distressing number of them do.
On the other side of the coin, I was also stunned to learn that people wondered what planet I had come from when I said I had no idea Princess Diana had died in a car wreck while I was busy communing with nature. Why couldn’t I have been there when Michael Jackson died instead?
Now, the other day, I read a news article that President Obama has nominated a policewoman from Minnesota to be the first openly gay U.S. Marshal. My first reaction was: Why is this news? Did she cheat on her taxes, too? Apparently not. The brief news story makes mention of the president’s rocky relationship with the gay community and specifically his pledge to end the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the US military despite his lack of concrete efforts to do so. It reminds me of an Bloom County cartoon from the 1980s in which Milo is calling NASA about shuttle launches back when NASA was making a big push to get the first [fill in the minority/ethnic/special interest group here] into space. Milo asks if NASA had launched a blind, Indian contortionist or some such and the NASA spokesman said “Yep, he went up this morning.”
I’ve never thought of myself as homophobic. I just plain don’t understand why a man or a woman would look at another person of the same sex with lust in their heart to borrow a phrase from Jimmy Carter (and to think that man won the Nobel Peace Prize), and let’s not talk about lopitoffamy or addalittletomy surgical “interventions”. That just makes my skin crawl to think of looking at an original, standard equipment item attached to your own body that’s functioning properly and not cancerous and decide you can’t stand the thought of living with it another day so badly that you pay good money to have it removed. Uh, uh. No thank you, sir. Step away from me with those sharp objects.
So, this news story, to me at least, is a thinly veiled article about progress the administration is making towards ending discrimination against homosexuals. Despite the fact that I am a committed, life-long heterosexual, I have always wondered what sexual orientation has to do with what a person does for a living. As far as I’m concerned, the only criteria beyond education and prior work experience is whether or not a person is physically capable of performing the duties and responsibilities of a particular occupation. For instance, I’d love to be able to earn a living as an airshow pilot; however, I am not sure that I’m physically capable of keeping myself from puking through a 10 minute aerobatics routine. Does that mean I’m being discriminated against?
Then, today, I see another news article about the administration’s efforts on behalf of the gay community (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091014/D9BB3IIO0.html). This article makes no bones about the fact that the administration is working to end workplace discrimination against the gay community. Okay, fine. More power to you; but, really, how far do we need to go with this?
I mean, seriously, do we need to be adding more groups to the list of protected classes? I think we have more than enough of those already. I think the fact that we even have to have a list of protected groups is a sad commentary on us as human beings. Think about it for a minute. Companies are in business to make money. Non-profit groups exist to effectively achieve a certain goal or provide a certain service while wasting the least amount of resources necessary. They should WANT the best, most productive person for the job regardless of what the look like, which god they worship or who they pick up in bars; and, yet, here we are still dealing with discrimination in the 21ST freaking century since Jesus came down from on high to show us the way.
Does that mean we have to force people under penalty of law to do what’s in their best interests? Have any of the government’s affirmative action efforts to coerce people into being “diverse” changed anyone’s attitude about anything? I doubt it. I still hear racist jokes and religious jokes, hear stories of sexual harassment and glass ceilings, and more. We’re still seeing a culture of thin skinned victimization reported in the media, and you can’t disagree with President Obama without people looking throw your dresser drawers for a Klan robe. The only thing I’ve seen discrimination laws do is keep lawyers busy like they needed any help with that.
I tend towards a healthy dose of common sense in my opinions. I think an employer should be entitled to seek out workers who fit within the culture and demographic of their business to more effectively work within an industry or market. Does it make sense to force a fundamentalist Christian organization to hire an openly gay or transgender person as a lead spokesperson? Probably not. Does it make sense to hire a person who barely has a command of the English language and speaks with a heavy accent that no native born Texan can understand to sit in a customer service or help desk call center? No, it doesn’t AT&T. Neither of those scenarios make sense.
My feeling is this: If a business person is too stupid or small minded to over look their own prejudices so that they can hire the best person for the job and pay that person according to the value they bring to the company, that company deserves to lose money. Their competitors won’t always make the same mistake. Unfortunately, a distressing number of them do.
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