AFGHANISTAN NOT READY, PREPARING FOR GLOBAL WARMING, STOCKTON BANKRUPTCY

HOW COMMON IS YOUR JOB?

(Martha Raddatz, Richard Coolidge, Jordyn Phelps/Power Players, CNN Money, Associated Press)

(Frazer Chronicle)

 

What the hell’s wrong with me, blogging with such a disjointed heading as the above…..well thank you, I’m glad I asked me that question. As most of you know I read anywhere from 10 to 30 news sources a day when I consider what to share with my readers. I have never said that I was an investigative blogger, I choose a topic and in many cases I use my life’s experiences to enhance the subject matter that I’ve chosen.

 

The news today is driven by the almost sensational value of a particular subject or the people involved, sadly most bloggers fall into the same category, and yes, even me. Major news sources, the Associated Press, United Press International, Gannet, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Press, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, or the Los Angles media all play this game of sensationalism; it’s easy, grabs most news readers…..and is inexpensive.

 

No matter the reason behind the practice, it is true and doesn’t serve the public who deserve better, after all, with little exception the people who pay attention to the news by reading it in the printed form are paying for the medium. And no matter the current fad of people gathering their news information over the computer, millions still rely on the printed press that is either delivered to their doorstep, or is bought at the corner newspaper box.

 

Therefore it behooves the little voices…..like myself, to report whatever subject matter is chosen for a particular day, to write as accurately as possible the facts of the subject. Do I intertwine my personal opinions along the way, absolutely, but I hopefully base my opinion on at least three sources of information. I never shoot from the hip with any of my opinions; I can honestly say that I have never used just my own personal thoughts on any subject. I used a process of research before I put down on paper a conjecture or opinion.

 

With that in mind, I offer today’s quartet of subjects, each is current, vitally important, and thought provoking, they are:

AFGHANISTAN NOT READY!

It’s almost comical, whenever a military person talks about the conditions in a war zone, and how unstable things are. The latest, Commander of the International Security Assistance Forces, (ISAF) United States Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, Jr. commented on one of the toughest jobs in the military…..preparing Afghanistan to stand on its own by 2014. 

 

That’s right, troops will not be leaving until sometime in 2014, that could mean almost two years, let me say that again, “troops won’t be leaving Afghanistan until 2014, are you out of your fricken mind. What in hell did Afghanistan do before the United States occupied the country, hide under rocks and boulders!

 

 

 

Dunford stated that “Afghanistan isn’t yet strong enough to provide for its own security but is optimistic about the country’s future.” Further the General stated that “conditions are not yet set for a stable and secure Afghanistan in the long term from which Al Qaeda and other international extremist groups will not be able to conduct attacks on the west.

Is there a “plan B” in case the country isn’t ready…..(whatever that means) well, err, ah, “don’t worry says the General, they will be ready.”  Gee General…..that makes me feel so much better, never before in the history of politics, or Generaling  has there been deceit or out and out lying.

 

Boy these guys really, really need a reality check…..exactly how long do they figure we are going to be able to keep picking up the tab for the clap-trap that these people keep telling us. General Dunford, it costs millions of dollars each and every day that you and your merry band of peacekeepers remain. Somebody needs to be held accountable for the millions that are being spent…..oh ya, and the occasional U.S., troop death, let’s not forget them.

 

PREPARING FOR GLOBAL WARMING!

God it can get hot out there, well that was the case at this time last year, but not really so far this year. So maybe global warming isn’t as severe as the naysayers talk about, right? I really have never understood why opponents of global warming talk about what climatologist stand to gain if their predictions are spot on.

 

Oh sure there is grant money that is granted to the study I suppose from both private and governmental sources. But it’s only projected to be in the hundreds of millions, which, to my way of thinking isn’t really that much…..in today’s world.

 

Nobody really has anything to gain whether we are in for an extended hot-house type of weather pattern. The arguments that opponents of global warming have are really thin, the very first thing that comes out of their collective mouths is “it would wreck our economy,” well cha if the world is in for a warming up, whatever economy there was would get burned to the ground…..so much for that argument.

 

Meg Caldwell, executive director of Center for Ocean Solutions says that the “impulse is to try to move quickly to put communities back together the way they were after devastation.” Gee Meg…..that would pretty much be impossible to do…..I’m thinking.

 

If the temperature went up, oh I don’t know…..say 3 degrees, it could mean all sorts of problems with the north and south ice caps…..wouldn’t it. I mean the ice-box of the world at the tips of our planet is already melting faster than usual…..doesn’t that mean global warming. I’m not an expert, but gee that would be my guess.

 

 

 

There is talk of sea walls, of moving structures further inland, of brand new water front property, of people losing everything. Well guess what, global warming would be a life altering event, would wipe out some people, and leave others with little opportunities to regain their former life-styles. It’s called a human altering experience, and probably no matter how prepared people might be, everybody would be caught off guard.

 

So opponents of global warming are shunning the crowd that is talking climate change, yet are in fact preparing themselves…..just in case. Food-stuffs gathered and stored, flash-lights, blankets, generators, alternative living styles contemplated, water sources searched out, and almost a bunker style mentality.

 

It’s always good to be prepared…..just like the Boy Scouts.

 

STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA, BANKRUPTCY

A federal judge ruled Monday, April 1, that Stockton, California can file for bankruptcy protection because they can’t pay their bills. Stockton, with a population of more than 300,000 is by far the largest community in the U.S. to use the financial protection act.

 

I wonder…..why in the world did it take a federal judge to decide that the community could in fact file the action. Maybe it was because the city either wasn’t paying their debts and responsibilities or was late with whatever payments they made, or the fact that they were cutting and slashing personnel at every turn.

 

Health and retirement benefits were the first to be pared down, that wasn’t a clue…..seems to me as if that move should have set off all sorts of bells and whistles. $165 million dollars in bonds that the city issued back in 2007 to keep up with payments to the California Employees Public Retirement System because property taxes plummeted…..another clue.

 

Stockton owes CalPers, California Public Employees’ Retirement System, an organization that provides numerous benefits to its more than 1.6 million members, including health insurance, long-term care, death benefits, mortgage programs and distribution of pension and retired related financial benefits.

 

At the core of the problem with the financially strapped mid-California city is the bickering between plaintiffs’ lawyers and lawyers for the city. Precedents will be set from this action by the federal judge, of that there can be no doubt. But I do have one question that seems to have evaded everybody involved, “with no money, which a city gets through its tax base, where will the money come from to pay the bills.

 

It’s almost like the man said, “the last one out turns off the lights,” no tax base, no money, no money, no services, no services, no quality of life, no quality of life, massive exodus, massive exodus, no more Stockton. The thinking can be no more logical than this.

 

 

HOW COMMON IS YOUR JOB?

If you work at J.C. Penney, ca-ching, you a liable to make around $25,000 a year, or as a cashier at the local 7-11, be prepared to make $20,370, and if you’re a waiter or waitress, the coin in your back pocket or purse will amount to around $20 grand…..if you’re lucky.

 

With gasoline edging onward and upward to that rarefied and heady $4 a gallon for the summer months, low paying jobs will continue to bug the country’s economical recovery. And if you’re a food prep worker, the guy or gal who makes your side salad or whatever, make sure you ride with a friend, or take public transportation, cause you might not have enough money to get to your job which pays annually around $18,000.

 

I was always what you might call “a common worker,” I usually didn’t stay at a job long enough to get to a position of authority, you know, a place where I learned enough to be important to the owner, or boss. Fairly quickly I grew tired of playing the boring games that almost everybody has to play to get ahead.

 

Clearly with more than 50,000,000 Americans making less than $30,000 a year, there needs to be some sort of a voice for these people. Almost without exception these people are non-unionized, and let’s face some hard cold facts, many of these people aren’t the brightest bulb in the box.

 

Not accomplishing a college degree, and in some cases even a high school diploma does not make these bed-rock of our society bad people, or people to be taken advantage of at every turn. I have asked this question on many occasions, and I’ll ask it again, where would we be without the food prep person, the waiter or waitress, the convenience store clerk, the janitor, or the laborer…..in a mess, that’s where.

 

These low paying jobs are a necessity of our lives, each and every one of us, so when we sit and eat at a restaurant, give .25 cents on a buck, treat these people with the same respect as you would a doctor, or lawyer, or any professional person, because, at their level, they are professional.

 

Thanks for partaking in today’s rant, the subjects are current, and thought provoking…..and:

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!