More of the same

So today the Democrat hopefuls debated each other for the first of what will seem like a never-ending campaign. From what we are hearing, it will be business as usual for the political parties. The seeming platform for the Democrats will be how much do they hate Bush and for how long. Once again, long on rhetoric and very short on substance.

While our President has made some serious mistakes in his Iraq policy, I would remind us all that the country was in favor of the initiation of the war by overwhelming numbers. It's easy to beat down the overwhelmed Iraqi army of Saddam Hussein, but much more difficult to actually win the war. As discussed before, part of the problem is the ease with which the US Army defeated their foe militarily. It led to difficulties switching to winning the peace.

This is not helped by the US public's inability to focus (aided very strongly by our media!!!) on the original problem when things start to get difficult. If you listen to those in the military, they will tell you that an immediate troop withdrawl, while popular (a key component to any Democratic plan) would defeat the whole purpose of being there in the first place. We have a history of following this path. The public sentiment was strongly against US involvement in WWII until we were attacked by Japan. Then when the war in the Pacific was dragging out and costing a great deal in resources, both human and material, the public sentiment began to turn against the war. Thank goodness the administration saw the battle through and wasn't swayed (ala Clinton) by the latest public opinion poll.

I feel we need to stay the course until it's done. We do need to prod the Iraqis, but it would also help if the press would pay attention to some of the positives as mentioned by General Petreaus, commander of forces in Iraq. The Iraq public is beginning to work and play again. Things are starting to happen. All we ever hear about is the daily death toll. Tragic yes, but not the whole story.

I long for a candidate with some positive positions. Someone who will tell us why to vote FOR them that isn't just a bunch of reasons as to why to vote AGAINST their opponent. Someone intelligent enough to lay out a plan, even if it isn't wildly popular, that is progressive and right. Please, someone be that person and run for President, because right now the Democrats are trotting out the same old tired group of liberal, middle-aged, hippie, morons and I'm sure the Republican debate will give us more of the same from the right.

Thoughts anyone?

I.C.E. is nice

Last night's EMT session on emergency care for infants and children had a familiar point included. We've all gotten the chain e-mail about including I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency) numbers in your cell phone, well there was the lecturer from the State of New Jersey Department of Health advocating that very idea!!

The plan is simple. Add a contact ICE to your list in your cell phone. This is the person that you want contacted in case you are unable to respond to first responders' questions. This person needs to know medical history, medications, and other potentially life-saving information. This idea is especially important for YOUTH and CHILDREN. If they carry a cell phone, please make sure they have ICE listed in their contact list.

While Snopes will tell you that the LAFD says that it is time-consuming and unlikely to be used, I can assure you that it would be invaluable in the case of an unconscious or unresponsive child out on the ball field or in the shopping mall with no parent present!! I would agree that we would be in less of a rush to use it with the soccer mom or dad in a similar position. It has to do with the need for medical information (pre-hospital) and a requirement for parental consent (more urgent at the hospital).

So, just an idea to pass along and be aware that it is now being taught to first responders.

Thoughts anyone?

Pull over...it's 15 seconds

I just got back from being on an ambulance call and it never ceases to amaze me the number of people who completely disregard the lights and siren of an ambulance responding to an emergency. Here in New Jersey, failure to yield is a 4 point/$250 fine and yet, I actually had a guy literally race me through an intersection rather than yield for the 15 seconds it would take to pull to the curb and wait for me to pass.

Having been doing this for over 20 years, I'm used to it but it amuses me to have a patient's family member riding up front with me because they are aghast. By the way, this law applies to oncoming traffic as well. This is because you have no idea (nor do I) when I need to pull into the other lane to avoid something in my lane.

When it comes down to it, wouldn't you spare 15 seconds to speed a loved one (or yourself) to the hospital if it came to that? Why can't you do that for someone else? What do you have to do that is so important that you feel justified in risking an accident that could injure or kill up to 4 other people because you can't pull to the curb? Again, it's the law.

Thoughts anyone?

Social.....Security?

Today's news tells us that we are due for another report on the state of the federal Social Security program. This will inevitably result in another round of hand-wringing, name-calling, and total inaction. Nothing will happen until and unless we begin to take an interest in what is going on. Unfortunately, many of us won't do that until we find out that we won't be getting Social Security checks any more.

Here's the debate. Do we continue under the system that we have which is a fixed income (deteremined by Congress) based on how much we contribute to the system, or do we switch to a system that is much like the 401K plan offered by most employers today? Many opt for the "security" of having the federal government continue to maintain a tax-based system. The problem is that it is going broke because there are more of us retiring than are joining the workforce. So we are either going to have to start producing a lot more workers, or we are going to have to raise our payroll taxes and take less home.

The other option, is the "privatized" system in which the federal government, much like your employer, takes your money from your paycheck and invests it in whatever investment portfolio you have chosen. The advantage here is multi-fold. First, you are determining the amount of risk that you are willing to take and you can change this risk level as you get closer to retirement. Second, you are investing your money. You are not sending your dollars into a pool in Washington, maybe to never be seen again. Your account would be your property. Third, you have the potential to make more through your investments than you would in the current Social Security program. Fourth, the federal government stops having the incentive to increase payroll taxes to fund a bankrupt system.

To get answers to many questions and issues concerning this debate, you can check the Cato Institutes' website. It has a variety of papers and op-ed pieces devoted to the issue of privitization.

As one who is beginning to think about what Social Security has in store for me, I can't urge you enough to get involved. Contact your legislators. At the very least, if you don't want to change the plan for yourself, at least let them make it available to me. I'd sign up tomorrow!!

Thoughts anyone?

The Pickle Jar

I received this e-mail today and thought that it was worth posting. It is uncredited and is probably a fable (no news on it from Snopes.com). Nevertheless, it summarizes some of the thoughts most commonly posted here. Please enjoy and forward at will.

"The pickle jar as far back as I can remember sat on the floor beside the
dresser in my parents' bedroom. When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his
pockets and toss his coins into the jar. As a small boy I was always fascinated
at the sounds the coins made as they were dropped into the jar. They
landed with a merry jingle when the jar was almost empty. Then the tones
gradually muted to a dull thud as the jar was filled. I used to squat on the
floor in front of the jar and admire the copper and silver circles that glinted
like a pirate's treasure when the sun poured through the bedroom window. When
the jar was filled, Dad would sit at the kitchen table
and roll the coins
before taking them to the bank. Taking the coins to the bank was always a big
production. Stacked neatly in a small cardboard box, the coins were placed
between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck.

Each and every time, as
we drove to the bank, Dad would look at me hopefully. "Those coins are going to
keep you out of the textile mill, son. You're going to do better than me.
This old mill town's not going to hold you back."

Also, each and every
time, as he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the bank toward
the cashier, he would grin proudly. "These are for my son's college fund. He'll
never work at the mill all his life like me."

We would always celebrate
each deposit by stopping for an ice cream cone. I always got chocolate. Dad
always got vanilla. When the clerk at the ice cream parlor handed Dad his
change, he would show me the few coins nestled in his palm. "When we get home,
we'll start filling the jar again." He always let me drop the first coins
into the empty jar. As they rattled
around with a brief, happy jingle, we
grinned at each other. "You'll get to college on pennies, nickels, dimes and
quarters," he said. "But you'll get there. I'll see to that."

The years
passed, and I finished college and took a job in another town. Once, while
visiting my parents, I used the phone in their bedroom, and noticed that the
pickle jar was gone. It had served its purpose and had been removed.

A
lump rose in my throat as I stared at the spot beside the dresser where the jar
had always stood. My dad was a man of few words, and never lectured me on the
values of determination, perseverance, and faith. The pickle jar had taught me
all these virtues far more eloquently than the most flowery of words could have
done. When I married, I told my wife Susan about the significant part the lowly
pickle jar had played in my life as a boy. In my mind, it defined, more than
anything else, how much my dad had loved me.

No matter how rough things
got at home, Dad continued to doggedly drop his coins into the jar. Even the
summer when Dad got laid off from the mill, and Mama had to serve dried beans
several times a week, not a single dime was taken from the jar. To the contrary,
as Dad looked across the table at me, pouring catsup over my beans to make them
more palatable, he became more determined than ever to make a way out for me.
"When you finish college, Son," he told me, his eyes glistening, "You'll never
have to eat beans again...unless you want to."

The first Christmas after
our daughter Jessica was born, we spent the holiday with my parents. After
dinner, Mom and Dad sat next to each other on the sofa, taking turns cuddling
their first grandchild. Jessica began to whimper softly, and Susan took her from
Dad's arms. "She probably needs to be changed," she said, carrying the baby into
my parents' bedroom to diaper her. When Susan came back into the living room,
there was a strange mist in her eyes.

She handed Jessica back to Dad
before taking my hand and leading me into the room. "Look," she said softly, her
eyes directing me to a spot on the floor beside the dresser. To my amazement,
there, as if it had never been removed, stood the old pickle jar, the bottom
already covered with coins. I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my
pocket, and pulled out a fistful of coins. With a gamut of emotions choking me,
I dropped the coins into the jar. I looked up and saw that Dad, carrying
Jessica, had slipped quietly into the room. Our eyes locked, and I knew he was
feeling the same emotions I felt. Neither one of us could speak.

This
truly touched my heart... I know it has yours as well. Sometimes we are so busy
adding up our troubles that we forget to count our blessings.

Never
underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a
person's life, for better or for worse.

God puts us all in each other's
lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.

Happy
moments, praise God.

Difficult moments, seek God.

Quiet moments, worship God.

Painful moments, trust God.

Every
moment, thank God."

Thoughts anyone?

A New Perspective

I've been reading The Afterlife Experiment by Gary Schwartz and have finally reached the end. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an open mind towards psychic phenomenon. Dr. Schwartz details a scientific study that he and his partner conducted to determine whether or not the "so-called" psychics such as John Edwards are telling the truth about their ability to "see beyond". I'll let you read what they determine.

Imagine, however, what it would mean if someone could "scientifically" prove that the soul continues to live? How would that change your behavior? Would that alter your priorities in life? Would that calm you or unnerve you?

Here's another thing to consider, why is it that we can readily believe that atoms exist although most of us have never seen one and really don't understand the science that "proves" their existence, and yet, Dr. Schwartz's work is disregarded, probably by most of my readers, as implausible without even being read? Where is the disconnect?

Thoughts anyone?

What First Amendment?

So Imus is gone. What's next? How is the public and especially corporate America dealing with it's seeming hypocrisy? Why is it okay for Chris Rock, Ludicris, Eminem, and a host of others to be racially insulting (to blacks and whites), foul-mouthed, and generally objectionable, but not for Don Imus? Why isn't Al Sharpton protesting at every Chris Rock performance or burning Ludicris CDs? I think we know the answer to that....

This brings me back to a theme from an earlier posting. The First Amendment protects all sorts of idiotic speech (this blog included). Howard Stern, the above-listed idiots, Al Franken, Ann Coulter, Jerry Springer, and Rush Limbaugh should all be thanking whatever deity they worship for this fact. So should Al Sharpton and his followers, otherwise that pompous blowhard wouldn't be able to strongarm Staples, CBS, and other weak-kneed members of corporate America into withdrawing their support.

The fact is, Imus is a retarded bigot. This is widely known and was when these sponsors plunked down their dollars to get to his audience who also knew this when they tuned in. The fact that he is going to say controversial, insulting, and ill-conceived things is exactly why he drew the audience that he did. They were waiting for the "car wreck", so why was everyone so outraged when it happened? It's like being amazed that Howard Stern said something sexually provocative.

When will we learn that the First Amendment protects all sorts of stupidity. Imus did not "yell fire in a crowded theater", nor did he incite others to violence (although his firing might). He merely spoke the same sort of distasteful rubbish that he spoke every morning. Why is this news? Why did CBS fire him? Most importantly, when will we stop listening to one of America's premier insensitive bigots, Al Sharpton?

Thoughts anyone?

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Give them less and leave them wanting?

The United States Postal Service is a prime example of an industry in decline fostered by its own actions. A local blog details more and more service cutbacks which are purported to be in the name of cost-cutting or efficiency moves. It's much like the airlines cutting out food service on their flights. The more the company cuts out services that the customer likes, the less the customer likes the company.

Granted, e-mail is a quicker way to accomplish a lot of what the postal service used to provide, however, did it ever occur to the USPS to embrace that technology? What about all those people who didn't/don't have e-mail accounts, why did the USPS leave it to the ISPs or even Pitney-Bowes to come up with the mail station idea? What about providing a way to e-mail or e-fax documents at the Post Office as a way to "certify" their authenticity? For example, you want to send a copy of your tax forms to the mortgage company and you don't have access to a scanner or fax machine. You should be able to go to the USPS and have them do it for you (a service provided by many small businesses like Mailboxes, ETC or the UPS Store.) Why have they been agonizingly slow to add services as a way to maintain "market share" or to even grow it?

Instead, they follow a classic old school move and reduce services to reduce costs. The ultimate result will be people sitting around the computer saying, "I remember when we used to send things by hand. There used to be these people who would bring the stuff right to our doors and put it in a box outside. What was that called again?"

Thoughts anyone?

Ahh to be young and know it all again.

So I got a two sentence e-mail from an old college buddy the other day. It said, "I just read part of the current issue of the Argus. [our alma mater's student newspaper] Oh my God, were we ever that full of ourselves; not to mention full of s**t? " I assured him that we indeed both full of ourselves and quite full of s**t. At the time that we were in school, we knew everything about everything. Too bad we get stupider with age.

That being said, now to write to the issues in the Argus. Without discussing it with my friend, I'm guessing at some of the articles to which he objected. There is the front page article that starts with, "While other IWU students were relaxing at home or at the popular Spring Break hot spots, 12 other students and I spent our week building homes." While a commendable activity (one that I know a couple of my cousins and friends volunteer for on a quarterly basis....without fanfare), this opening seems to drip with condescension. It then goes on to report how the author spent 7 whole hours a day doing manual labor, disregarding the fact that she'll get to go home at the end of her week; leaving those whose homes she worked on to stay in that desparate situation. I would have hoped that she would have found compassion and empathy instead of apparently just taking away a feeling of superiority. Perhaps it is just her style of writing and perhaps it really was a humbling experience, but it was not portrayed in her article.

Next article, I'm guessing, might be the Op-Ed piece on Newt Gingrich's call for English as the national language of the United States. I had to chuckle at this one because I wrote the same type of editorial when I was in school. I wrote it as a letter to then Senator Inouye from Hawaii who sent me a fund-raising letter asking to support his organization proposing exactly what Newt's saying. This, I think, is due to inexperience and youth. I felt, as does the writer, that this movement alienates the immigrant. Instead, it is meant to integrate the immigrant. It's great that there is ESL in our schools (of questionable educational success by the way), but how does that help the parents get by in the workplace, marketplace, or any other public area. By making it well known that English will be the working language for all who live here, it gives the same incentive to learn as it has for over 200 years. The US is indeed the "melting pot" which means all the items in the pot are absorbed into one common metal, sharing common beliefs, ideals, and language. It does not mean that the individual components remain individual and separate.

Lastly, I'm fairly certain that he objected to the pointless, mean-spirited, and disrespectful piece entitled, "From Passion to Peeps in two thousand years". My friend being a Chaplain "in the trenches" in Iraq would most certainly object to This drivel. It seems to be written by a college student who has just been exposed to the idea that perhaps the Bible is indeed an interpretive collection of peoples' understanding of how God has acted in the human condition instead of the inerrant word of God. As is typical with college students, he seems to feel that he is the first to realize this fairly common knowledge and wants to "correct" all the "erroneous" beliefs that people have held for centuries. Instead of recognizing the importance that these words have had to people around the world throughout the centuries (probably the majority of whom are not "the whole middle-class family"), he writes a mean-spirited condemnation of anyone he apparently feels is stupid enough to have believed in the divinity of Christ.

Regardless of the veracity of the writing, Diego, it has been the impetus and guiding light for millions of people for thousands of years. The message of "hope and good-will" (and so much more) has sustained people in hopeless situations and desparate times over and over again. If you don't believe the story (and theologians are very aware that much of it could be fabricated or exaggerated....you're not telling us anything new) that's ok, but have enough respect for the people who do believe and have spent their lives devoting themselves to it, to not write such trash as you have in your article.

At this point, I stopped reading the paper. It was confirming a theme that I've written about here on several occasions. We are becoming more self-absorbed and more self-important by the day. We are losing respect for ourselves and each other. We are losing the ability to see the other's point of view or situation in life. Please, IWU, don't forget your United Methodist roots and continue to strive to educate your youth about the need to understand the human condition. The need to feel for others and to understand the effect of your actions and words, even if they're just in a student newspaper to a limited audience, because you'll never know when a soldier in Iraq, some guy in New Jersey, or anyone else may read it, and it will affect them. You want to make sure it affects them in the way you intended.

Thoughts anyone?

It's Up to YOU

Today's post continues on a recurring theme of the power of the customer. It is on my mind because we are in the midst of Holy Week/Passover and because we experienced a major storm here in the Northeast about three weeks ago. What, you may ask, do those things have do to with each other? Here we go.....

The common thread, once again, is retail. During the major snow storm, while the snow was reaching near white-out conditions in some areas, my company and all those other retailers in our mall, kept stores open. We had staff in the building to service less than 10% of our normal volume. Almost every customer that came in said to our cashier (because only one made it in), "I'm surprised you're here. You should go home, it's really bad out there." Our answer, invariably (in our head or among ourselves....never out loud) was, "We're here because YOU didn't stay home."

Now the debate is over whether or not to be open on Easter Sunday. There are some stores in the chain that are open and some are not (Note to employer: I WILL NOT work on Easter Sunday....ever). The reason that this is a debate is because those that are open, do business.

Here's the thing. Any time you can honestly say, "Gee, I'm surprised that you're open" they probably shouldn't be and certainly wouldn't be if you weren't there. You have the power to keep stores closed on Easter Sunday, allowing those associates to enjoy the day with their families (even if they don't celebrate the holiday, I'm sure they would enjoy the day with their families) by staying home.

Tuesday and Wednesday were the most significant days of the Passover celebration and you found very few (if any) Jewish businesses open. Why? Because even if the owner didn't particularly care to celebrate the holiday, their customers did and they stayed home. If you feel the same way about Easter Sunday, then you should do the same. Only that lack of customers will end the debate on whether or not retailers open.

There are certain retailers that are just, unfortunately, stuck. Food stores, pharmacies, gas stations, and restaurants are essential functions and should be the most available, but you'll even find them closed on high holidays and during severe weather.

Please, like in everything in life, you must consider the consequences of your actions, no matter how seemingly small. "I just ran in for one thing" still translates into, we have to be open to serve you. On severe weather days, or high holidays, think to yourself, "Do I HAVE to have this today or could it wait until tomorrow?" If the answer is NO, stay home and enjoy the extra time with your loved ones. That way, so can the store's employees.

Thoughts anyone?