First Happy Thanksgiving.
I live in a gated community in one of the least expensive houses. I live on what I call the trailer park street. Not really trailers but compared to the other homes in this development it might as well be.
So there is this house on the nice street that is around 12,000 square feet. A single lady and her three teenage boys live there. The other day, 4 big trucks pull up with a bunch of Mexicans or wherever they were from. Legal I'm sure. They were there to put up Christmas lights and decorations on the exterior of the house. They were there 10 hours. At first I thought it was a little Griswald like, as in Clark and Ellen, but it doesn't look too bad.
What? You want to know how much they paid for these decorations?
First they are only renting them. And I found out from my next door neighbor who knows everything how much they paid.
Ready? Are you sitting down?
$9,000
Yes that's right. $9,000 to put up lights that are rented and will go away hopefully in 6 weeks or less.
Wow. Think of the joy you could bring to kids on Christmas who have nothing with $9,000.
Now, kids and school.
Like I said this is a gated community. I've lived in one other gated community and it was a joke. This one isn't. It isn't easy to get in here. I'm sure a smooth talker could but it seems reasonably safe.
So the bus comes every morning to pick up kids at about 7am. At the school bus stop, in a gated community no less, where there is little traffic and sidewalks, like Mayberry, there are at least 20 huge SUVs with their kids waiting for the bus.
Escalades, Lexus, Mercedes, you name it. It is a circus down there. All so their kids don't have to walk maybe 1-2 blocks to get the bus. What are they afraid of?
I'm surprised they send them to public schools anyway with that attitude. If they were my kids they'd be out the door. The bus is that way Johnny. See you later. Have a nice day. Bye.
Amazing. No wonder kids grow up all messed up.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Airport Security.....Well Said
By Anna Quindlen
Newsweek
Nov. 13, 2006 issue - This one's for you! Yes, you, the guy in the security line at Newark airport who confiscated my pomade because the jar was marked 3.5 ounces when the Transportation Security Administration regulations mandate less than three.
I scooped out half of it so it would be under the limit," I explained as my husband slid by with a five-ounce tube of shaving cream. Never fear, frequent fliers: he was nabbed later, on the return flight from Ohio, along with that woman with the contraband Robitussin.
Is this any way to run an airline? Between constant delays and nonexistent services, flying has become the modern version of seafaring steerage accommodations. But nothing has made it seem worse than the long lines of bedraggled and beaten-down travelers at security checkpoints, pouring their change into plastic tubs, standing in stocking feet as their shoes are scanned, proffering zip-lock bags full of face creams and foundation. Before the ban on such items in carry-ons was relaxed, I watched three tubes of Maybelline Great Lash go plunk into the bin, stupid enough to believe that if they had passed Orlando they could make it through Atlanta or Seattle. As a frowning agent tossed the stuff, I had a mental picture of terrorists seizing control of a passenger jet armed with mascara wands. Which is no sillier than most of what passes for airport security.
This is not merely an inconvenience. The whole cockeyed system has become a symbol of the shortcomings of government programs and responses. It's expensive, arbitrary and infuriating; it turns low-wage line workers into petty despots. And instead of making Americans feel safer, its sheer silliness illuminates how impotent we are in the face of terrorism. The hustle and bustle at U.S. checkpoints is window dressing, another one of those rote, unthinking exercises that are the hallmark of bureaucracies, like "Bleak House" with luggage.
It's always tempting for a taxpayer to daydream about all the things government money could be used for if used sensibly. I have a laundry list in my computer of those programs we could have bankrolled instead of what may wind up being a $2 trillion invasion of Iraq. Preschool for every child, enormous grants for medical research, a system of universal health care. A trillion is a terrible thing to waste.
There's the same kind of wish list for the TSA, which wants to spend more than $4 billion on aviation security next year, most of it ham-handedly. Terrorism isn't stopped at the X-ray machines, but through well-funded intelligence efforts like the one in England that foiled a plot at Heathrow in August. In the airports themselves, security experts swear by carefully trained behavioral screeners, professionals who trawl the terminals perusing passports and passenger behavior and conducting interviews accordingly. Use of those screeners has made El Al the recognized leader in airline security—and so disdainful of American methods that the airline conducts its own additional checks at some U.S. airports.
By contrast, the TSA screeners are so poorly trained that this summer more than half of a group tested on recognizing explosives and other banned materials failed. And undercover federal agents have managed to get all sorts of weapons past security checkpoints—perhaps while workers were confiscating hair-care products. Meanwhile, much of what goes in the cargo hold of commercial planes hasn't been screened at all. And while there are allegedly terrorist watch lists in existence, the airlines don't get a look at them, and it's plain that the bored men and women comparing boarding passes with picture IDs aren't using them. In fact, many of them scarcely look up to see if the passenger matches the picture. Some days I suspect that Osama bin Laden could get through the line if the name on his driver's license was the same as that on his ticket and he wasn't packing Oil of Olay.
Of course, you won't hear those in the security lines at O'Hare or LAX say that the emperor has no clothes (or shoes), unless muttering to themselves, or, if really pressed, the mother next in line, wearily waking her sleeping child, putting a sippy cup through the X-ray machine and folding the stroller one-handed while stepping out of her sneakers. Everyone goes along to get along: no jokes, no comments, no demurrals. The dead eyes, the resigned sigh, the shrug as the sample size of shampoo goes into the bin—they're the trademarks of the security cynic, who will not be the least bit surprised when there is another plot, another plan, another flurry of purely reactive action.
Perhaps no other agency today so consistently and thoroughly reinforces the notion of government going through the motions without ingenuity or intelligence as the TSA does. Airport security lines should be places to check for egregious breaches, like handguns or box cutters in carry-ons, not a first—and last—line of defense. Even the people who run the agency must know what every business traveler understands: we're not going to keep America safe one pair of loafers at a time.
© 2006 Newsweek, Inc. |
Newsweek
Nov. 13, 2006 issue - This one's for you! Yes, you, the guy in the security line at Newark airport who confiscated my pomade because the jar was marked 3.5 ounces when the Transportation Security Administration regulations mandate less than three.
I scooped out half of it so it would be under the limit," I explained as my husband slid by with a five-ounce tube of shaving cream. Never fear, frequent fliers: he was nabbed later, on the return flight from Ohio, along with that woman with the contraband Robitussin.
Is this any way to run an airline? Between constant delays and nonexistent services, flying has become the modern version of seafaring steerage accommodations. But nothing has made it seem worse than the long lines of bedraggled and beaten-down travelers at security checkpoints, pouring their change into plastic tubs, standing in stocking feet as their shoes are scanned, proffering zip-lock bags full of face creams and foundation. Before the ban on such items in carry-ons was relaxed, I watched three tubes of Maybelline Great Lash go plunk into the bin, stupid enough to believe that if they had passed Orlando they could make it through Atlanta or Seattle. As a frowning agent tossed the stuff, I had a mental picture of terrorists seizing control of a passenger jet armed with mascara wands. Which is no sillier than most of what passes for airport security.
This is not merely an inconvenience. The whole cockeyed system has become a symbol of the shortcomings of government programs and responses. It's expensive, arbitrary and infuriating; it turns low-wage line workers into petty despots. And instead of making Americans feel safer, its sheer silliness illuminates how impotent we are in the face of terrorism. The hustle and bustle at U.S. checkpoints is window dressing, another one of those rote, unthinking exercises that are the hallmark of bureaucracies, like "Bleak House" with luggage.
It's always tempting for a taxpayer to daydream about all the things government money could be used for if used sensibly. I have a laundry list in my computer of those programs we could have bankrolled instead of what may wind up being a $2 trillion invasion of Iraq. Preschool for every child, enormous grants for medical research, a system of universal health care. A trillion is a terrible thing to waste.
There's the same kind of wish list for the TSA, which wants to spend more than $4 billion on aviation security next year, most of it ham-handedly. Terrorism isn't stopped at the X-ray machines, but through well-funded intelligence efforts like the one in England that foiled a plot at Heathrow in August. In the airports themselves, security experts swear by carefully trained behavioral screeners, professionals who trawl the terminals perusing passports and passenger behavior and conducting interviews accordingly. Use of those screeners has made El Al the recognized leader in airline security—and so disdainful of American methods that the airline conducts its own additional checks at some U.S. airports.
By contrast, the TSA screeners are so poorly trained that this summer more than half of a group tested on recognizing explosives and other banned materials failed. And undercover federal agents have managed to get all sorts of weapons past security checkpoints—perhaps while workers were confiscating hair-care products. Meanwhile, much of what goes in the cargo hold of commercial planes hasn't been screened at all. And while there are allegedly terrorist watch lists in existence, the airlines don't get a look at them, and it's plain that the bored men and women comparing boarding passes with picture IDs aren't using them. In fact, many of them scarcely look up to see if the passenger matches the picture. Some days I suspect that Osama bin Laden could get through the line if the name on his driver's license was the same as that on his ticket and he wasn't packing Oil of Olay.
Of course, you won't hear those in the security lines at O'Hare or LAX say that the emperor has no clothes (or shoes), unless muttering to themselves, or, if really pressed, the mother next in line, wearily waking her sleeping child, putting a sippy cup through the X-ray machine and folding the stroller one-handed while stepping out of her sneakers. Everyone goes along to get along: no jokes, no comments, no demurrals. The dead eyes, the resigned sigh, the shrug as the sample size of shampoo goes into the bin—they're the trademarks of the security cynic, who will not be the least bit surprised when there is another plot, another plan, another flurry of purely reactive action.
Perhaps no other agency today so consistently and thoroughly reinforces the notion of government going through the motions without ingenuity or intelligence as the TSA does. Airport security lines should be places to check for egregious breaches, like handguns or box cutters in carry-ons, not a first—and last—line of defense. Even the people who run the agency must know what every business traveler understands: we're not going to keep America safe one pair of loafers at a time.
© 2006 Newsweek, Inc. |
Thursday, November 09, 2006
My Mom the Republican
I love my mom. But she is horrified that I voted for a Democrat. But I'm not a Democrat. I vote for whoever I think is best.
Anyway, she is ill because Nancy Pelosi is going to be the next Speaker of the House. I asked her why? Because she is so liberal my mom said. Like what I asked?
My mom had no answer. That's because she's been brainwashed from infancy to distrust/hate the democrats. Why I don't know since before her generation our family was dirt and I mean literally dirt poor. My grandfather quit 8th grade to go to work and lived through the great depression.
I don't know beans about Nancy Pelosi. I really don't. I couldn't make a statement one way or another about her. She might be the most liberal person on the planet but since I haven't looked into it I have no idea. The point is my mom doesn't either. She is just spring loaded to get sick at the sight of a democrat. Democrats aren't good Christians either. Did you know that?
I wish people in America would put their prejudices down just once and use what brains God gave them and think rationally. If you come to a rational decision to vote Republican...great. Or Democrat...great. As long as you think. Most people don't. Except maybe a few finally did this time and swung the pendulum the other way.
Anyway, she is ill because Nancy Pelosi is going to be the next Speaker of the House. I asked her why? Because she is so liberal my mom said. Like what I asked?
My mom had no answer. That's because she's been brainwashed from infancy to distrust/hate the democrats. Why I don't know since before her generation our family was dirt and I mean literally dirt poor. My grandfather quit 8th grade to go to work and lived through the great depression.
I don't know beans about Nancy Pelosi. I really don't. I couldn't make a statement one way or another about her. She might be the most liberal person on the planet but since I haven't looked into it I have no idea. The point is my mom doesn't either. She is just spring loaded to get sick at the sight of a democrat. Democrats aren't good Christians either. Did you know that?
I wish people in America would put their prejudices down just once and use what brains God gave them and think rationally. If you come to a rational decision to vote Republican...great. Or Democrat...great. As long as you think. Most people don't. Except maybe a few finally did this time and swung the pendulum the other way.
Civilized Behavior
The President met with Rep Nancy Pelosi the new Speaker of the House. He looked like he was going to puke but he kept his cool. So good for W. He seems to be taking this like a man. I think his daddy told him if he didn't get rid of Rumsfeld he was going to beat him with a stick.
The Democrats aren't crowing too much about their victory and the Republicans aren't causing a big mess. The senator from VA gave up and bowed out gracefully. Good for him. Out of 2.3 million votes, he lost by 7000. That would be really hard to get over. I think I would think about that for a long time.
So let's hope that something gets done in the next two years.
The Democrats aren't crowing too much about their victory and the Republicans aren't causing a big mess. The senator from VA gave up and bowed out gracefully. Good for him. Out of 2.3 million votes, he lost by 7000. That would be really hard to get over. I think I would think about that for a long time.
So let's hope that something gets done in the next two years.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Wow! Rumsfeld got canned!
It would be better if he got caned but oh well.
I thought "Rummy" was doin just a fabulous job. Isn't that what the Decider in Chief said just the other day? So what changed? I thought W was a man of his principles and stood steadfastly behind those he believed in. What did the Donald do in the past few days that was so egregious?
Rumsfeld should have left long long ago. But finally he's toast.
Good.
I thought "Rummy" was doin just a fabulous job. Isn't that what the Decider in Chief said just the other day? So what changed? I thought W was a man of his principles and stood steadfastly behind those he believed in. What did the Donald do in the past few days that was so egregious?
Rumsfeld should have left long long ago. But finally he's toast.
Good.
I am Stunned
I can't believe it.
Americans have finally had enough.
I didn't think we had it in us.
The USA Today editorial on Monday had two points of view. One why you should vote Democrat and the other why you should vote Republican. If you believed the Republican side, we should all be dead by now. Holocaust. Mayhem. Al-Queda in the streets of Des Moines. I guess the majority of us didn't buy it. Finally.
Good for you who voted. And especially good for you who voted the Republicans out.
The loud drumbeat of Republican corruption and incompetence finally overcame the gay marriage, abortion, homeland security nonsense. Well, homeland security isn't nonsense, but you know what I mean.
Now it's up to the Democrats to actually do something.
Hopefully they can overcome the intransigence of the President and the American people's voice has been heard loud and clear.
Mission Accomplished.
Americans have finally had enough.
I didn't think we had it in us.
The USA Today editorial on Monday had two points of view. One why you should vote Democrat and the other why you should vote Republican. If you believed the Republican side, we should all be dead by now. Holocaust. Mayhem. Al-Queda in the streets of Des Moines. I guess the majority of us didn't buy it. Finally.
Good for you who voted. And especially good for you who voted the Republicans out.
The loud drumbeat of Republican corruption and incompetence finally overcame the gay marriage, abortion, homeland security nonsense. Well, homeland security isn't nonsense, but you know what I mean.
Now it's up to the Democrats to actually do something.
Hopefully they can overcome the intransigence of the President and the American people's voice has been heard loud and clear.
Mission Accomplished.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Gas and Voting
I'm sure everyone is on the edge of their seats to know if my gas has been resolved.
It has.
Without an appointment, the gas man shows up at 6pm and fixes the meter. It took 5 minutes. Yippeee.
Now, please vote.
If you're happy with the miscreants in now...then please vote for them.
If you think that there maybe a better way to do things, then vote them OUT.
It has.
Without an appointment, the gas man shows up at 6pm and fixes the meter. It took 5 minutes. Yippeee.
Now, please vote.
If you're happy with the miscreants in now...then please vote for them.
If you think that there maybe a better way to do things, then vote them OUT.
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