Unions Are the Political Dinosaur in the Room

Unions Are the Political Dinosaur in the Room

Key points:

• A union is a labor monopoly 
• Government employee unions are the largest special interest group in the nation. Three of the top five political spenders are unions: AFSCME ($91 millions), SEIU ($44 million), and NEA ($40 million)
• Union employees have no incentive to excel or compete because union protection makes them complacent

Democrats: the party of lawyers

This is from Lee Rodgers' blog
Reader Arthur sends along food for thought in the form of  "The Lawyers' Party" by Bruce Walker ...
     The Democratic Party has become the Lawyers Party.
     Barack Obama is a lawyer. Michelle Obama is a lawyer.
     Hillary Clinton is a lawyer. Bill Clinton is a lawyer.
     Every Democrat nominee since 1984 went to law school (although Gore did not graduate).
     Look at leaders of the Democrat Party in Congress:
     Harry Reid is a lawyer. Nancy Pelosi is a lawyer.

The Republican Party is different.
     President Bush was a businessman.
     Vice President Cheney was a businessman.

The leaders of the Republican Revolution:
     Newt Gingrich was a history professor.
     Tom Delay was an exterminator.
     Dick Armey was an economist.
     Current Speaker of the House John Boehner was a plastics manufacturer.
     Former Senate Majority Leader Bill First is a heart surgeon.
     Who was the last Republican president who was a lawyer? Gerald Ford, who left office 31 years ago.
     The Republican Party is made up of real people doing real work, who are often the targets of lawyers.

The Democrat Party is made up of lawyers. Democrats mock and scorn men who create wealth, like Bush and Cheney, or who heal the sick, like Frist, or who immerse themselves in history, like Gingrich. The Lawyers Party sees these sorts of people, who provide goods and services that people want, as the enemies of America.
     Against whom do Hillary and Obama rail?....Pharmaceutical companies, oil companies, hospitals, manufacturers, fast food restaurant chains, large retail businesses, bankers and anyone producing anything of
value in our nation. This is the natural consequence of viewing everything through the eyes of lawyers.
     Confined to the narrow practice of law, that is fine. But it is an awful way to govern a great nation.
      Today, we are drowning in laws; we are contorted by judicial decisions; we are driven to distraction by omnipresent lawyers in all parts of our once private lives.  When the most important decision for our next president is whom he will appoint to the Supreme Court, the role of lawyers and the law in America is too big.
      When you see that 97% of the political contributions from the American Trial Lawyers Association go to the
Democrat Party, then you realize who is responsible for our medical and product costs being so high!

Obama Tries to Spin Out of Responsibility

In one of the most galling attempts in history to politically reposition a failing presidency, President Barack Obama and his Hyde Park, Chicago Progressive machine handlers have launched a new propaganda campaign meant to absolve him of any blame where the failure of his administration is concerned. Instead the “Obamanation” is attempting to brand “Congress” and the “political system” as the culprits. Forget about hope and change. Forget about any dreams his Father may or may not have had. This is audacity at its most egregious.
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Progressives issue death threats; call for roundup of 'Tea Baggers'

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In a shocking display of violent rhetoric given that Leftists routinely plea for 'civil discourse' and decry the 'tone' of conservatives, Progressives are increasingly issuing death threats to Patriots who are dedicated to the primacy of the Constitution in U.S. law. One such propitious champion of 'kinder, gentler' dialogue called for the systematic roundup of what he calls 'Tea Baggers'--the derogatory term coined by Progressives to smear members of the Tea Party--in order to subject them to a year's worth of 're-education' at so-called 'green' internment camps.

Progressives issue death threats; call for roundup of 'Tea Baggers'

8 Years In Prison for a Harmless Prank? Handcuffed for Doodling? The Increasing Criminalization of Students | | AlterNet

Out of control government.  Where do these idiots come from?
8 Years In Prison for a Harmless Prank? Handcuffed for Doodling? The Increasing Criminalization of Students | | AlterNet

Gore Going Insane?

Gore Going Insane?
The former vice president dropped in on an Aspen Institute media forum titled “Networks and Citizenship” on Thursday and railed against corporate evildoers who put profit above society.
Gore referenced the book “Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming” by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, which tells of how petroleum, steel, autos, utilities and others enlisted lobbyists to cloud the climate debate.
Gore recalled how not long ago tobacco giants “succeeded in delaying the implementation of the surgeon general’s report for 40 years – 40 years! In every one of those 40 years the average number of Americans killed by cigarettes each year exceeded the total number of Americans killed in all of World War II: 450,000 per year. My sister was one of them. … It was evil, evil, evil.”
The model of media manipulation used then, Gore said, “was transported whole cloth into the climate debate. And some of the exact same people — I can go down a list of their names — are involved in this. And so what do they do? They pay pseudo-scientists to pretend to be scientists to put out the message: ‘This climate thing, it’s nonsense. Man-made CO2 doesn’t trap heat. It may be volcanoes.’ Bullshit! ‘It may be sun spots.’ Bullshit! ‘It’s not getting warmer.’ Bullshit!” Gore exclaimed.
“When you go and talk to any audience about climate, you hear them washing back at you the same crap over and over and over again,” he continued. “There’s no longer a shared reality on an issue like climate even though the very existence of our civilization is threatened. People have no idea! … It’s no longer acceptable in mixed company, meaning bipartisan company, to use the goddamn word climate. It is not acceptable. They have polluted it to the point where we cannot possibly come to an agreement on it.”
Gore lamented the diminished role that reason and fact-based analysis play in modern U.S. politics.
During the debt-ceiling debate, American Crossroads, Americans for Prosperity and a collection of smaller groups followed tobacco’s blueprint for bombarding the media with its messages, he said.
“Unnoticed in Washington and New York as the debt-ceiling debate was going on, the ratio of television advertisements was nine to one on the ‘Don’t-lift-the-debt-ceiling debate. Spending is the problem.’ And now we’re going to tip the country back into recession. It’s absolutely insane,” Gore said.
“Mark my words on this: we became the greatest country on earth because we made better decisions than any other nation,” he continued. “And we made better decisions because we used shared consciousness, shared reality, rule of reason, best evidence, democratic discourse, free debate to figure out what’s more likely than not to be the best decision here. It didn’t always work, but it worked a hell of a lot better. Since we adopted this new system we are making catastrophic decisions that have massive consequences. The Iraq invasion. What just happened with macro-economic policy. It really is extremely difficult.”

NASA Spacecraft Data Suggest Water Flowing on Mars - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA Spacecraft Data Suggest Water Flowing on Mars - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The government is out of control!

The government is TOTALLY out of control.

Woodpecker-Saving Girl's Mother Gets Fined $500

Source: WUSA Channel 9
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (WUSA) -- Eleven-year-old aspiring veterinarian, Skylar Capo, sprang into action the second she learned that a baby woodpecker in her Dad's backyard was about to be eaten by the family cat.
"I've just always loved animals," said Skylar Capo. "I couldn't stand to watch it be eaten."
Skylar couldn't find the woodpecker's mother, so she brought it to her own mother, Alison Capo, who agreed to take it home.
"She was just going to take care of it for a day or two, make sure it was safe and uninjured, and then she was going to let it go," said Capo.
But on the drive home, the Capo family stopped at a Lowes in Fredericksburg and they brought the bird inside because of the heat. That's when they were confronted by a fellow shopper who said she worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 
"She was really nervous. She was shaking. Then she pulled out a badge," said Capo.
The problem was that the woodpecker is a protected species under the Federal Migratory Bird Act.  Therefore, it is illegal to take or transport a baby woodpecker.  The Capo family says they had no idea.
"I was a little bit upset because I didn't want my mom to get in trouble," said Skylar.
So as soon as the Capo family returned home, they say they opened the cage, the bird flew away, and they reported it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"They said that's great, that's exactly what we want to see," said Capo. "We thought that we had done everything that we could possibly do."
But roughly two weeks later, that same woman from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service showed up at Capo's front door. This time, Capo says the woman was accompanied by a state trooper.  Capo refused to accept a citation, but was later mailed a notice to appear in U.S. District Court for unlawfully taking a migratory bird.  She's also been slapped with a $535 fine.
"I feel harassed and I feel angry," said Capo.
 
"Kids should be able to save a baby bird and not end up going home crying because their mom has to pay $535. I just think that's crazy," said Skylar.
If convicted, Capo could face up to a year behind bars.
Virginia State Police just released the following statement: 
"We have confirmed that the US Fish and Wildlife agent requested our presence when they served their federal summons. The trooper stood on the porch and said nothing. We had nothing to do with the charge."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued this statement at around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 2nd:
"On June 13, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service observed a woman carrying a cage that contained a woodpecker at a home improvement store in Fredericksburg Virg.

As possession of a bird may potentially violate the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the agent initiated an inquiry to determine whether a potential violation had occurred.

Upon speaking with the subject, later identified as Alison Capo, on June 27, the agent determined that no further action was warranted. A citation that had been previously drafted by the agent was cancelled on June 28.

Unfortunately, the citation was processed unintentionally despite our office's request to cancel the ticket. The Service has contacted Ms. Capo to express our regret. The Service is also sending Ms. Capo a formal letter explain the clerical error and confirming that ticket should never have been issued.

This misunderstanding was the result of a Service inquiry into possible violations of federal wildlife law. In particular the Service is responsible for the protection of all federally listed migratory birds. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries did not participate in the inquiry."


See the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's apology for the citation on its website.

Dr Pepper store brands

In my previous posting I told you some things about Dr Pepper.  I didn't mention that there are at least 56 other colas that have names similar to Dr Pepper:
□    Doc Holiday
□    Doc Shasta
□    Dr A Plus
□    Dr B.bmp
□    Dr Becker
□    Dr Best
□    Dr Bold.bmp
□    Dr Check
□    Dr Choice
□    Dr Cool
□    Dr Dazzle
□    Dr Delight
□    Dr Extreme.bmp
□    Dr Fine
□    Dr Fizz
□    Dr HyTop
□    Dr IGA
□    Dr K
□    Dr Kist
□    Dr Lowes
□    Dr Lynn
□    Dr Parade
□    Dr Parker
□    Dr Perfect
□    Dr Perky
□    Dr Pop
□    Dr R
□    Dr Radical
□    Dr Randalls
□    Dr RC
□    Dr Riffic
□    Dr Right
□    Dr Rocket
□    Dr Rush
□    Dr S
□    Dr Schnee
□    Dr Shaw's
□    Dr Skipper
□    Dr Slice
□    Dr Smooth
□    Dr South
□    Dr Sparks
□    Dr Starr
□    Dr Stripes
□    Dr Thirst
□    Dr Thunder
□    Dr Topper
□    Dr U
□    Dr Vess
□    Dr Wells
□    Dr Wild
□    Mr Ahhh
□    Mr Pibb
□    Mr Sipp
□    Publix
□    Select Dr D 

Dr Pepper

My favorite soda is Diet Dr Pepper.  It's the only diet soda that I've had that actually tastes like the non-diet version.
Some interesting facts about Dr. Pepper:

• Dr Pepper was first served on December 1, 1885. That was one year prior to the introduction of Coca Cola.
• Dr Pepper went national at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
• Contrary to popular belief,  prunes are not one of the ingredients of Dr Pepper.
• The first part of the name is spelled without a period. 

Slogans over the years:

• 1889–1914: "King of Beverages."
• 1920s–1940s: "Drink a Bite to Eat at 10, 2, and 4 o'clock."
• 1940s: "Good For Life."
• 1945: "Dr. Pepper has 23 flavors"
• 1950s: "The Friendly Pepper Upper."
• 1960s: "America's Most Misunderstood Soft Drink."
• 1970s: "The Most Original Soft Drink Ever."
• 1977–1983: "I'm a Pepper, He's a Pepper, We're a Pepper.", "Be a Pepper.", "Wouldn't you like to Be a Pepper too?"
• c. 1984 "Out of the Ordinary. Like You."
• c. 1984 "The Taste for Out of the Ordinary Bodies." (Diet Dr Pepper)
• 1984–1997: "Hold Out For the Out of the Ordinary."
• 1991: "Just what the Doctor ordered."
• c. 1997: "It's Dr Pepper Flavour, Silly!" Australia
• c. 1997: "Expect the Unexpected!" Australia
• 1997: "Now's the Time. This is the Place. Dr Pepper Is The Taste."
• 2000: "Dr Pepper, It Makes the World Taste Better."
• 2000–Present: "Just What The Dr Ordered."
• c. 2001 "Dr Pepper, so misunderstood"
• 2002–2004: "Be You."
• 2002–Present: "Solves All Your Problems." (used in Europe)
• 2003 "Dr Pepper, to try it is to love it" (used in the UK)
• 2004–Present "Dr Pepper, what's the worst that could happen?" (used in the UK)
• 2005–Present: "One Taste & You Get It."
• 2006: "Can You Handle The Taste?"^[32] (seen in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, and Poland)
• 2006: "Authentic blend of 23 flavors." USA, Canada
• 2006: "Dr Pepper, makes the world go round."
• 2006: "Dr Pepper, nothing better." USA
• 2006: "The Dr knows the right touch." (used in Europe)
• 2006: "There's more to it." USA
• c. 2006: "Get Berried in Cream" USA (used for the new Berries and Cream flavor)
• 2007: "I Want It All." USA
• 2007: "El Dr muy bueno" Latin America
• 2008: "What's the worst that could happen?" Europe
• 2008: "Drink It Slow, Dr's Orders" (USA)
• 2009: "Trust me - I'm a Doctor." (ft. Julius Erving, Kelsey Grammer, Gene Simmons, Dr. Dre) USA
• 2009: UK based television advertising; Sung "Dr Pepper, What's the worst that could happen?" UK
• 2009: "It's so amazingly smooth, you have try it to believe it!" and "Amazingly smooth" Dr Pepper Cherry
• 2010: "There's nothing like a Pepper" USA

Microsoft Office Alternatives

The Microsoft Office Suite is the most popular office suite for the PC.  The most popular features are Word and Excel. You also get an email reader and, depending on the version you purchase, data base management, presentations, project management, and other things.

The suite is powerful and the cost is high.  There are, however, free alternatives.  Wikipedia has a good comparison chart of alternatives, some free, some at a nominal cost, and others at a ridiculously high price.  Here's some of the free ones.  These all contain at least a word processor, a spreadsheet program, and a presentation program.  Clicking on the program name will bring up the Wikipedia article on it.  A link is also provided for each program's home page.
OpenOffice.org website
IBM Lotus Symphony website
GNOME Office website  (Note: Gnome's integration among the word processor, spreadsheet program, and presentation program isn't as tight as what you would expect from an office suite.)

Rover's heat shield and metorite.

This picture, taken by the Mars Rover Opportunity, show's the rover's discarded heat shield on Meridiani Planum.  Next to it is a rock that is believed to be meteorite.The picture was taken in 2005.
Photo Credit: NASA via Astronomy Picture of the Day for 31 July 2011.

Quick way through the folder

So you have lots of files and/or folders in a folder?  Want an easy way to find exactly what you need?
Click on the first file or folder.  Press the first letter of the file's or folder's name.  The next file or folder starting with that letter will magically appear in your window.

Software Tips

So many people use only a very small portion of their software features.  I'll be posting various software tips for wide variety of programs.

First tip: you can use Ctrl and the - (minus) or + (plus) key to in place of the right context menu in Excel to delete or add rows respectively.

Tried it, didn't like it

After trying out WordPress for my blogger, I found out that I like Blogspot better for a few reasons.

• I'm able to use my own domain without having to purchase one specifically for WordPress
• Blogspot is faster
• I like the interface better.

Must read by Ann Coulter on unions and government workers.

Look for the union fable
Excerpts:

The need for a union comes down to this question: Do you have a boss who wants you to work harder for less money? In the private sector, the answer is yes. In the public sector, the answer is a big, fat NO.

It used to be widely understood that collective bargaining has no place in government employment. In 1937, the American president beloved by liberals, FDR, warned that collective bargaining "cannot be transplanted into the public service." George Meany, head of the AFL-CIO for a quarter century, said unions were not appropriate for civil servants. As recently as 1978, the vast majority of states prohibited unionization of government employees.

On his first day in office, the Republican governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, signed an executive order denying public-sector employees the right to bargain collectively – something that had been granted, naturally, by a Democratic governor.
As a result, Indiana government employees instantly got to take home an extra thousand dollars that no longer went to union dues – and good employees started getting raises, while bad employees got cashiered.

Public Sector Unions: A VERY Bad Idea

Unions in general and in the private sector specifically are a very bad idea. At one time there was a need for unions.  That need has gone away due to the numerous laws that are on the book.

Public sector unions are one of the main causes that our taxes are going up.  They think their members are entitled to benefits such as health care and retirement without them having to contribute to either.  They say they deserve this because their wages are less than corresponding jobs in the private sector.  That, my friend, is an absolute lie.  Government workers on the average make more money than their private sector counterparts. They make more in wages, they make more in benefits, and they make more when they retire.

What is the cause of the power of the unions.  The politicians who are nothing but whores when it comes to money.  The unions know this.  In other words, the unions are the johns for the whore politicians.

Scott Adams blog on unions

Unions condone strikes, even by police and fire fighters.  This is absurd.  Vital services such as that provided by the police, teachers, and fire fights should not be interuppted because greedy union members want more money.

Union workers are very inefficient.  By contract they are allowed to do their job and their job only.  In my non-unionized job, I can do my work and I can help others who are not even in my same department.  I do it because I'm working for my employer and not some union thug.

Are union thughs destroying America
What we need is a union free America