No Holiday for the Cornhuskers

Friday, December 31, 2010

Damn it!
Nebraska didn't just lose to Washington last night it stunk up Quaalcom Stadium.
In the old Big Ten days guys like Bo Schembechler at Michigan and Woody Hayes at The Ohio State loaded up on running backs and big lineman and ran the ball down opponents throats. They almost always played the game being ahead and could afford to use up the clock methodically bludgeoning their opponents. But then they would get to the Rose Bowl and play a speedier, quicker, West Coast team. When they fell behind they had no contingency plan. They continued to hopelessly run the same plays over and over again, like Lindsay Lohan doing rehab, ultimately losing something like 31-13. Year after year after year they would do this.

Nebraska does the same thing. Run Helu and Burkhead off tackle, Lopez around the corner and passes in the flat. No innovation, no contingency plan for being behind and having to play hurry up. It's not like the other teams don't know what the plays are going to be. I sat at the bar with my friend Neville and predicted what play was next. I did about 20 plays and got half of them right. If I can guess half the time what it's going to be I'd say Washington could guess right 90% of the time. The Huskies just had to pursue hard, be quick to the ball and overwhelm. That is exactly what Washington did. Where was the draw play? The double reverse, the half back pass, the long pass? I agree with Coach Pelini it was an embarassing performance.

When Nebraska lost to Oklahoma and didn't get to a BCS game they probably lost interest in the rest of this season. Coming to San Diego 3 of the past 4 years probably didn't lift their skirts much either. Some of those players had to see the Zoo for the 3rd time!!
A sorry end to the season if you ask me and I half suspect that Taylor Martinez (who is from Corona) will come back and play for UCLA which (coincidently) desperately needs a QB.

I don't mind losing (hell I'm not even an alum) but to be worked over more harshly than a hoochy koochy girl on a Bangkock side street is too much, Damn it!

PS the title of this piece is done in the grand style of the Union Tribune which always does bad puns for lead stories. I expected this to be the lead this morning. Like when Chargers got beat in Cincinnati and the headline was "Chargers Frozen Out" Or "Chargers Get the Cold Shoulder" I hate it when they do that!!
Posted by RHobbs at 11:12 AM 0 comments
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New Blog

I am trying to update and refresh the blog. My previous expectations were too grand. I thought everyone I knew would be interested in reading what I had to say. But why? Why would they? I have no credentials for thought beyond being educated and having lived a while. Still I thought curiosity would get a few people to read and better yet contribute but only my friend MIke did?

So I have retooled and lowered my expectations. I will not try to create cleverly worded gems. I will try to respond to things in the news, things I am into and observations. You can contribute the same or whatever is important to you. Maybe some day I will publish something and gain credibility on a bigger scale. Naw.....I probably won''t but let's try this.

I only ask one thing if you do read a blog, just let me know at the bottom that you did.

See soon.

Will

New York, New York

This is what Gatz has to say:

Got back from New York City about 9 days ago. I went there for 7 days ostensibly to see my son, Austin, and his new girl-friend Rebecca. I also went to familerize (?) myself more with the city and to see: Brooklyn Bridge, Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum, and whatever else. I didn't have a big agenda.

Austin had to work alot + take classes, Rebecca was also busy so I had time on my hands. At first I slunk (word?) into my usual thing of: "I have to wait until Austin is off because I couldn't possibly get around Manhatten by myself. So I felt trapped in the city and was really unhappy so I just decided I couldn't do that and I took my Metro Card and took off for the subway.

I taught myself how to get all over the city by subway and busses and I was so happy. My weird experience (you seem to have to have one right away to test how badly you want to learn something) was my first solo subway ride and this little kid, Orlando, was running around loose and his mother instead of hanging on to him thought he was so cute being a pest.

So he locks onto me sitting there minding my own business and he walks right up, tries to unlock my travel bag, then he reached up and grabs my ear, tried to grab my nose and generally bugged the shit out of me. WELL, I kept my cool because he was about 5 years old but the other riders (packed train) kept looking at me to see what I was going to do.

This went on for about 15-20 minutes and I confess my fantasy was grabbing him and throwing him back to his mother with these words: "I'm sick of the not so cute "Orlando" annoying me so hang on to him".

Mercifully, she got off one stop before me and I got through it. Past the subway test and things went well from there. The little shit!

Midterm Maddness

This is what Gatz has to say:

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MidTerm Maddness

Sunday, October 17, 2010
Midterm Maddness

Well, after endless ads, cajoling, promises, warnings and begging the midterm elections are upon us. This occurs two years after a President takes office and it's where digruntled Americans get to undo their vote (sort of)from two years before. Don't like what President Obama has done for two years, vote Republican or if you don't like what any of them have done (in many years) go Tea Party.

What's different this time around is that there are plenty of pissed off people all over the spectrum. Demos are unhappy that Obama hasn't done enough; Republicans think he has caused too much damage, Libertarians are still smarting over never being taken seriously and the truely scared and pissed off want to don three cornered hats and dump tea in the harbor.

Of course with so many new faces running for office, anything and everything is up for grabs. Nothing more endangered these days than an incumbent poltician from Washington. Years of lying, cheating, snow jobs and blow jobs (not with the wife) will get people to the point that even if you are (Jimmy Stewart's) Mr. Smith in Washington they look at you like you are Bernie Madeoff eying their rolex.

Much is made of the kooky Carl Paladino. If you vote him in you may get less graft but you will also get a loose cannon likely to embarass New York every time he opens his mouth. He may be different but so was Alfred E. Neuman from Mad Magazine. Christine O'Donnell in Delaware gets static because she went on a date with a wiccan in HS. Who didn't? I went on a date with Pam Shriver and although she didn't take me to a coven meeting she babbled alot and spooked me out the whole night. The big issue with O'Donnell is not her anti masterbation campaign or her junior high laugh, it's the fact that this sorority air head would actually be voting as one of the 100 in the Senate. Giving her 1% say in anything is like electing John Belushi's character from Animal House to the Supreme Court. Funny on film not so funny in real life.

Meg Whitman's push for California Governor is a Kafka story unfolding. She crows about her E-Bay presidency. But she was driven out after awarding herself 120 million and then laying off thousands of employees. She also left, Hasbro, Disney and 3 other companies. She's the ulltimate vulture....moves in, cleans up on the left overs and flees before being shot by offended people. I still think anyone that spend 139 million of her own money to get a job that pays 175,000 a years is marginal at best. Yet her big deal is I am the big business woman. Do you really want her running your business.

Oh yes, countless more like the personality and ethics strapped Harry Reid, or the clowns running for office in Texas. Look, we don't want career politicians that have lost touch with the reality the rest of us have and yet we also don't want to elect nut jobs and "Carny" characters so what does that leave us?

I suggest we elect no one to the Senate. Who says you have to have 100? Maybe 1 per state is better. Yeah, let's have 50 total. That way each state gets one chance and one chance only to elect a responsible sane person. If they screw that up they deserve no representation. While we're at it let's dump the bloated House of Represenatives from hundreds and hundreds down to 1 for every 5 million people. California would have 7 instead of 28 or more. Wyoming would get 1/2 a person. Better to work a part time job than no job at all and besides other than depleting the state of minerals and okaying shooting wolves what else would they vote on?

Let's streamline everything in Washington. That's what I'm voting for!
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About Me

Will Bailey
Responsible yet ecletic and unpredictable
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New Approach to Suicide Prevention

This is what Gatz has to say:

My friend Mike who has spent a significant portion of his life trying to stop suicides ran across an interesting new approach to suicide prevention. This involves social networks and if you like this blurb you can go to the link provided and read the entire article.


'The “contagion” of social networks, Los Angeles Times, Sep. 13, 2010.
Public health researchers are experimenting with new programs that tap
into the power of social networks to promote healthy habits, including
help-seeking for suicidal ideation. The basic approach is to identify
influential members within a social network (classroom, neighborhood,
online community, etc.) and target them with a positive health message
in the hope that it will become “contagious” within the network. As
this article in the Los Angeles Times explains, these experiments have
had mixed results. According to researcher Thomas Valente, who has led
several studies of smoking prevention and drug abuse prevention
programs in schools, efforts to influence behavior may need to be
designed differently for different types of social networks.

Link to the article and excerpt from the LA Times are at:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/13/health/la-he-social-networks-health-20100913

"Riders Up"

This is what Gatz has to say:

I just finished my 5 or 6th trip to the horse races "where the turf meets the surf" at old Del Mar. The summer horse racing meet ended as of today.
I walked out of there (today) 13 dollars up but in past races have lost money. All totalled I ended up about 50.00 down. Big spender huh?

What I want to share with you after all my observations ( I watched the people more than the horses) is this:

What a conglomeration of eccentrics. A place filled with: cranks, cigar-chopping bullshitters, con artists, creeps, skanks, men on the make, women on the make, liars, bored wives and girl friends, loners, losers and wannabe's. It was a weird mix of the lucky, the unlucky, the people for whom this place is the only place they can go and people who drive in, place big bets and then drive out. People that take the bus there and people that drive Bentley's and Rolls Royces.

Of particular note were the women that are clearly on the look out for rich men. They come in packs (usually 3-4), dressed in short skirts (very marginal legs) and the tallest heels you ever saw. Who wears 6-7 inch heels to a gum splattered, ticket strewn, trash filled horse track? Are they "working" girls? Maybe, (probably) but several things are for sure and that is they sure do think they look "hot" and they don't. Some are lumpy in their skin tight dresses and skirts (yikes) some flaunt their boobs in low scooped dresses and blouses (trust me they shouldn't). But despite hours in the gym, hours in the lava beds (tanning salons) and hours getting their hair bleached, streaked, colored, ratted and tin-foiled, they still look just like the former head cheerleader in high school does at the twenty year reunion. All dolled up, still believing she is hottest chick in the hen house but is way past those days, and sadly doesn't know it.

I hear these guys talk to each other about "buying a piece of a horse" and invariably it's some half assed nag they foolishly wasted their money on and never wins. There is always a reason why it didn't win: "the jock took him out too fast", " I think it has an ankle problem". The point is these guys can't face the truth, they bought a loser. The things is for about 5,000 you can get a "piece of a horse" and then for just another hundred dollars you can get a "owners license". This gives you instant status, (you are now a horseman) free parking and you get to use all the insider jargon like, " yeah, she did a 30/6 in her last", "she's broke her maiden and even though she has won only one race she is out of "skimmer" and "skipper". Out of means the baby of those two horses.

What a bizarre world where everyone there is either looking to win money or trying to form alliances with others to get someone eles's money, or looking to scam someone, always looking for some edge in someway. People can be friendly but they are always sizing you up, wondering if they can unload their nag on you, "hey, Will want a piece of John's Sweet Pea".

I had a great time overall especially with my friend IRV. I also thought of Steinbeck, Hemingway, and a host of other writers that would have been able to describe this distinct world better than I. They could have had a field day with this carnival of characters. They might even have bought a "piece of Southern Saga"! I chose not too!!

Hey........What's Going on Here?

This is what Gatz has to say:

I went to the Da Young Museum in San Francisco last Thursday (8/19/10) to see the 100 pieces of the Impressionists. Now this show is not like any other art showing in America this year or any year. All these pieces come from the Musee D'Orsay in Paris. (In case you don't know the Musee D'Orsay is second only to the Louvre in fame) They are on loan from the Musee D'Orsay only because that museum is undergoing renovations this summer. Normally, you would have to fly to Paris to see these famous works.

The museum was packed (as you would expect) especially so because it's near the end of summer and the show closes September 6th. When my appointed time came I went in and was fully surrounded by art lovers mulling over the Manet's, Monet's, Sisley's, Caillebot's etc. However, in the midst of all the claustrophobic ton of people I noticed something disturbing.....90% of all the people there were over the age of 45. Most were my age or older. I looked and looked but could find NO younger people there. Only a handful and they were kids or early teens with their parents. Not one person.....I mean literally not one person 18-30 was seeing the show or waiting in line. HEY.....WHAT"S GOING ON HERE?

I also went to the Toulouse Latrec show in San Diego about 2 1/2 weeks ago and it was the same exact thing. All older people, no twenty or thirty somethings.

This bothers me alot. Has a cultural gap been growing and I am just now noticing it? Do young people not care about art and culture? Have young people concluded that art is their facebook page, their twitter accounts, their e-mail and texting? Why wouldn't art, music, dance be important? I will say this, when I went to the Metropolitan Opera last December there were twenty somethings and thiry somethings in the crowd. But something is definitely wrong here overall. I'm worried, I drove 500 miles to see this art show that lasted 1 1/2 hours and not a single twenty or thirty something person from SF (or anywhere) was there.

I truely hope we aren't headed to (or God forbid already in) a cultural wasteland where Van Gogh has been replaced by You Tube.

Suicide Prevention is Every Person's Job

This is what Gatz has to say:

Mike Moldeven spent the better part of 30 years delveloping suicide prevention programs for the U.S. Military. He manned a suicide prevention hot line many times and still to this day writes on several websites. Here are some of his recent ideas:


ITEM 1 SUICIDE PREVENTION IN THE WORKPLACE

During the 'Open Government Dialogue In June 2009 I submitted an item,
'Suicide Prevention in All Federal Departments', (url and text as
follows)

http://opengov.ideascale.com/a/dtd/4360-4049

Department of Defense components have created 'suicide prevention'
programs and trained their military and civilian personnel to be alert
and responsive to the needs of their organizations and circumstances.
The DOD programs lend themselves to being adapted throughout all
Federal Departments and Agencies. When the Federal Government (as an
employer) adopts 'suicide prevention' as an essential element in the
health and well-being of its employees then similar concepts and
practices will have a better chance in the private sector.

I suggest a top down policy to all federal departments that will
encourage suicide prevention 'gatekeeper' training for federal
employees in supervisory positions, who hear and investigate employee
complaints, interact with survivors of suicide (military and
civilian), and others that have duties in law enforcement, security,
mental health, supervising conduct of prisoners, and otherwise
relevant positions.

Why Is This Idea Important?

'The nation is experiencing extraordinary stresses that adversely
influence people in all walks of life. The number of calls to suicide
prevention 'hotlines' has increased. Employers have a role in dealing
with suicidal conduct, ideation, and attempts. Police officers and
hospital staff often see successful suicides. Understanding the
phenomenon and how to interact with a suicidal person, including
getting him or her to professional help ASAP is vital. Suicide
prevention is everybody's business.'

The 'dialogue' invited comments from the public, and included a
graphic to vote the idea 'up' or 'down.' The idea that I
submitted was rejected; generally, the public comments were off-topic, to
put it mildly.

IMO, the 'idea' that I submitted a year ago is as valid today as it
was when I first wrote it. The rate of suicides and attempted suicides
among both the military and civilian populations of the United States
has not abated, generally; to the contrary.

Searching the Internet, I came across the following item. It's for and
about all of us. How can it be built upon --- constructively?

"Random Wish List"

This is what Gatz has to say:

I have been in a wish mode lately. Wishing losing weight were easier, wishing pasta was like a vegetable and wishing money were no object. However everyone wishes things like this. What wishes would I have on a larger scale that affected more people and maybe improved our society. Here is my "random wish list":

1. I wish more americans were smarter. I swear the average american is dumber than dirt. I know not literally but for Pete's sake they vote for presidents because the person is " the kind of guy you'd like to have a bar-b-que with" or they "like the color of their tie" or they promise things like change, transparency and just seem as honest as "aw shucks" my grandpa. Americans fall for dubious psychological advertising, annoint cronies like Dr. Phil, or Tony Robbins or Oprah as the sages of the century. These are clowns whose message isn't any more profound than mine or yours. Please american citizens get smarter before it's too late.

2. I wish sports had integrity. Did you see that ESPN show where Lebron chooses which city he will play in. The gall of ESPN to think anyone would watch such silliness but oh yeah...they did. There is cheating, doping, steroids, tainted records, and how about all the parent obsessive involvement in their kids "sports careers". The fact that a kid has a "sports career" is insanity to begin with. How about every kid is an all star, every kid gets a trophy, every kid believes they are the one going to the big pro contract but oh yes only 1% do. Parents fight with each other, have killed each other over their stupid 7 year olds game. Do me a favor look up the name Todd Marinovich who is the poster child for what is wrong with sports in America today. I love sports, but sports like years past.

3. I wish TV news reported the news instead of creating it. The fact that FOX news is labled conservative or liberal and so is CNN and CNBC and so forth is wrong to begin with. News stations once reported the news but apparently that is no longer enough. They create news now with how they slant stories, take facts out of context, and in some cases completely manufacture the story. William Randolph Hearst pioneered "yellow" journalism (sensational journalism) with no integrity at all. That was in the 1930's, I thought we had come a long way from that. Wasn't Walter Cronkite, CBS news anchor of (1960-70's) voted the most trusted man in America? We did so well those years and now we are back to bull shit, worthless yellow journalism.

4. I wish Americans were sincere when they say "educating our kids is one of our most important values". NO IT"S NOT! It's one of the weakest values. How do I know this? Because you put your money where your mouth is and education in this country is literally starving from lack of funds. States can't keep schools open, buy new text books or keep teachers. It is critical right now and has been more than once in this country. Whenever there are cuts to be made in a budget, the first place they go is schools. Do parents cry out? NO! They let it happen. California is 49th out of all states in the amount of money supplied to schools. If it were really a priority we would insist on stopping our stupid wars and put that money into schools. We don't, never have and never will.


5. I wish this country would go back to sound financial principles. Greed, and making money are the only criteria guiding people individually and in corporate America. Why else would we hire people here illegally and pay under the table, why else would we out source jobs and have Americans without work, why else would we give up our preeminent position as producers of the world in favor of being mostly consumers? We have gotten away from all the basic fundamentals of finance that was designed to keep our country strong, in favor of selling out the country for profit. I hope every corporate raider, or golden parashoot executive gets the karma coming to them. We have to stop this financial suicide.

That's is my 2010 wish list for this country and for the people in it. What is it you wish for?

Space Faring by Mike Moldeven

This is what Gatz has to say:
Mike Moldeven has published a futuristic fictional novel on future space tavel and where technology can take us. He has been a student of this subject for years. This is his guest blog on Gatz Sez. Enjoy!

The Shapes of Things to Come

'Space faring,' a term recently added to the world's dictionaries is an
approaching reality and deserves recognition by humankind generally.
'Space faring' is analogous to 'seafaring', defined as: 'the use of the
sea for travel or transportation.' Thus, a simple definition for
'space faring' would be: 'the use of space for travel or
transportation.' The phrase 'space faring nation' appears, however, to
imply much more. It is used to describe societies or nations capable
of building and launching vehicles into Earth orbit. Some use a more
strict criteria, defining space faring nations as those that can build,
launch and return manned space vehicles. Space faring requires space
vehicle assembly and launch facilities, as well as advanced
astronautics, and a program to train astronauts. The problems of life
support must be solved in proportion to the distance traveled. There
has still not been a manned mission outside of the Earth-Moon system.
The ambition of a space venture to Mars and return is persistent and
considered achievable, even inevitable, by many of the world's
scientists and philosophers.

An associated and vital term to 'space faring' is 'space logistics.'
‘Space Logistics:’ is the science of planning and carrying out the
movement of humans and materiel to, from and within space combined
with the ability to maintain human and robotics operations within
space. In its most comprehensive sense, space logistics addresses the
aspects of space operations both on the earth and in space that deal
with:

‘- Design and development, acquisition, storage, movement,
distribution, maintenance, evacuation, and disposition of space
materiel

‘- Movement, evacuation, and hospitalization of people in space

‘- Acquisition or construction, maintenance, operation, and
disposition of facilities on the earth and in space to support human
and robotics space operations

‘- Acquisition or furnishing of services to support human and robotics
space operations.’

Why is 'space' and 'space logistics' literally vital to the destiny of
humankind? Scientists, engineers, philosophers and other experts
speculate on humankind’s future in the light of Planet Earth’s
diminishing reserves of nonrenewable ‘industrial-base’ resources
combined with an increasing threat of significant changes in the
Earth’s climate. Vigorous leaders and their technologies in aerospace
industries and industrialized nations generally are well into
proposing options, including eventual replenishment of our
diminishing, nonrenewable substances from beyond our existing
frontiers in interplanetary space, and, by technical writers, in time
on to the interstellar realm.

I've updated my future history blogs, based on the above, a few times
over the years. The current versions are online in two blogs:

Part One (context) 'Space faring and Resources, a future history' is at:
http://spacefaringandresources.blogspot.com/

Part Two: (a novel) The Interstellar Slingshot Revisited' at:
http://slingshotrevisited.blogspot.com/

10 That Need a Cleanse

This is what Gatz has to say:

Doctors have long extolled the virtues associated with people cleaning out the impurities in their system. Heck, it's a cottage industry in itself with products on every drug store counter. Sometimes people have to clean out the foolishness within them as well. Pride, ego, vanity, anger, depression, and many more bad things are some of the things we could all purge. In a somewhat humorous way I give you 10 famous people that I think need a cleanse.

1. Lindsay Lohan: 90 days of semi solitary should cleanse her of her alcohol fueled self destruction. Did you see her awful performance at her probation violation hearing? That (fake)awful sobbing appeal to the judge all the while sitting there with her hands covering her face and on her hands the letters say F you. When and where did this spunky, cute, fun little girl from the movie Parent Trap go wrong? For that answer look up Macauley Culkin.
2. Mel Gibson: I've had enough of his boorish bad boy behavior. What with his whisky fueled rants about hating everything that is Jewish, black, Hispanic, or is it just women in general he hates so much? The point is I don't care and neither does anyone else. We are just tired of his blathering on and on about it. Doesn't he know what a tape recorder is? So much has been given to this Australian actor that you'd think he would be tremendously grateful and be in a give back mood BUT what he gives back is what you'd hear from drunken hillbillies at a moonshine party. Shut up Mel and take a cleanse.
3. Lebron James: Pride goes before the fall. Edmund Spenser the great English writer wrote about the 7 deadliest sins and the number one sin on the list was pride. There he sat King James (self described) taking up America's time on ESPN with a one hour special all devoted to King James telling us what team he chose to anoint with his presence next fall. Here is a slam dunk idea Lebron: the people that watched that show are morons with no lives. Frankly most of America could care less where you play but there is one thing the rest of us do want from you: take a cleanse and get over yourself.
4. Sarah Palin Lovers: Look she just got 75K for speaking 50 minutes at a college campus recently. The people at that college (professors and students) were outraged that the school would spend that much money to bring her in but the University president was giddy because all of her moronic alumni and private donors (wealthy) couldn't get enough of Sarah. She claims the school made a lot of money. If you think Sarah is the next political savior or the next President please take a cleanse and begin therapy as soon as possible.
5. Simon Cowell: So rich, so smug, and so British! I can't take anymore of him. He knows how to make money (so do many others) and he knows how to promote others but that's it. You have no redeeming value beyond your own self promotion. If you lost all your money you wouldn't have a thing to recommend you. Take a cleanse and start figuring out how to do more for the world than say “Sorry, that's how I feel"
6. Superman: Okay, I get you can do so much more than anybody else thing and your silly attempt to pretend to be Clark Kent is kind of 8th grade cute but you really do have to get a personality. The shy guy thing is annoying, the icy cool hero thing is annoying, let's face it you are just plain annoying. Take a kryptonic cleanse and start over.
7. Sandra Bullock: Every time I go into a grocery story or drug store your face is on a magazine and you have that "someone just ran over my dog" look on your face. Yes, your hubby or boyfriend was a dick. Yes, you got hurt. Yes, you'll have to start over. Hey, join the rest of us who have to do all those things but without every housewife, and teeny bopper from coast to coast weeping over our "tragic" story like they do yours. Take a cleanse, get a good lawyer and stop crying every time you see a camera.
8. The Pope: I'm sorry you were born a Ratzinger. I give you sympathies for that but listen cone head, you and all your Cardinal buddies all need to take a cleanse or two, clear your heads for two minutes and tell everyone of those priests out there working for you that you (The Pope) (since you are on speaking terms with the Deity) will condemn them to hell and turn them over to the authorities if they so much as even think about touching a kid.
9. James Cameron: Yes I know you are a highly successful director and you have made a shit load of money for your studios but talk about being full of yourself. All the people that work directly with you and those behind the scenes describe you as a horror to work for. You are described as being tyrannical, temperamental (emphasis on the "mental") and arrogant to the point of it being painful to be in the same room with you. Stop all ready with the Mr. Otto Preminger, Mr. Alfred Hitchcock, and all the other prima donna pain in ass directors. Try making others around you happier and better. Quit making me wish you were on the Titanic.
10. Anybody who Quotes Forrest Gump: I hate to tell you this Mr. and Mrs. America but Forrest Gump had an IQ of 70. He's legally an idiot but you still think he's Yoda in a short sleeve sport shirt. He sat on a bench for 2+ hours because he didn't know when the bus came! He volunteered for Vietnam! He ran through the tunnel after scoring a touchdown because he didn't know he could stop running. He's a fricking moron and still you quote his box of chocolates line and every other stupid utterance. Look do this...take a cleanse and when you are thinking straight take your Forrest Gump hats, tee shirts, DVD's and throw them in the trash. You'll feel better and instantly gain 40 IQ points.
That's my list and I feel cleansed just listing them (kidding). Did I leave someone out?

Guest Writer / Mike Moldeven

I want others to write on this blog and I have my first guest column. Mike is a friend of mine, a former employee of the Government and the U.S. Air Force. He served in WWII and after the war served as quality control for the Air Force. It was his job to file "Unsatisfactory Reports" on equipment and so forth when he found deficiences. Here is one of his Post WWII accounts: THANKS MIKE

Unsatisfactory Reports

I was a U. S. Govt 'war worker' at the Air Force logistics depot on
Hickam Field/AFB, Hawaii during and, for a few more years, after WW2.
When hostilities ended I was reassigned from aircrew parachute and
emergency survival gear maintenance to the depot Maintenance
Division's staff office that investigated, documented and processed
'inspection' reports. My assignment included reports initiated by
operators, technicians, engineers, etc., on aircraft and support
systems and related equipment failures, erroneous tech data,
manufacturers' production defects, services errors, and materiel
management and support practices generally by contractors and other
government entities. The governing directive for my specialty was / is
the USAF Unsatisfactory Reports (UR) Program Tech Order 00-35D-54.

My duties included familiarizing shop technicians, crew chiefs and
first and second level supervisors with the processes of the UR
reporting system such as keeping tech notes, recording and protecting
evidence and exhibits to meet the Tech Order's requirements. I
occasionally used informal group brainstorming to draw out context,
'probable cause' and 'fix' ideas from crew chief expertise and others
that were knowledgeable and added pertinent info in the UR. Failures
and defects reports often called for physical evidence/exhibits. In
those days URs were air mailed from Hickam to Wright Patterson AFB,
the focal point for management of USAF logistics functions.

[Vignette: An unusual UR, as I remember: When: Late '40s. The
Maintenance Division's 'Big Hangar' has a line of C-54s down the
middle undergoing scheduled extensive repairs. I get a call from the
Aircraft Repair chief inspector. Problem: A forward upper inboard
corner of the spar in the port wing's integral fuel tank in a C-54
undergoing depot-level inspection shows clear evidence of corrosion.
Potential impact: Fleets of C-54s working worldwide; is the problem
unique to this one airplane or extensive. Get a UR out ASAP.

I'm off to the hangar up at the aircraft maintenance stand. The integral fuel
tank's panel is off. I maneuver my right arm, head and a bit of my
shoulder up into the tank. Lights. There it is, within arm reach.
Scratch at the corrosion; rough, pitted surface: the evidence /
exhibit; photos. Back to the office. UR prepared, signed by authority
and on its way, very likely preceeded by an electronic priority TWX
[currently email].

Next day; from my supervisor: "Mike, Tech Services at Wright-Pat
wants the wing section. Right now. Base Commander authorizes use of a
C-82 Boxcar. 'Aircraft Repair' gets the exhibit wing section off and
on a truck trailer, braced and ready for [rear] loading on the C-82.
Wing section delivered to Base Ops and loaded. I stand by as the UR
project officer. I observe the C-82 liftoff and return to the office.

```
My experiences in implementing and using the U R system during and
after WW2 resulted, post-retirement, in authoring and updating my
blog;

'Fixing and Preventing Mistakes and Deficiencies in the Workplace' online at:

http://mistakesdeficienciesworkplace.blogspot.com/

Moldeven

"MEN get the Madison Avenue Shaft"

This is what Gatz has to say:
Most of you don't pay all that much attention to TV commercials but I do. I suppose it's because I once taught a course in Mass Media or maybe it's because they reflect where America's mind set is at at any given time. Of course, in general commercials are : stupid, misleading, fantasy fulfillment oriented, or they appeal to fear and guilt. Only on a rare occasion will the commercial appeal to the viewer's intelligence and rational thinking. The company Ameritrade does this with Sam Waterston, the quintessential successful looking businessman, as their spokesperson. He speaks in a calm, measured voice, appealing to a man's desire to have a place where he can trust his money will make money. He appeals to educated men that work, make a good income and prefer a smart approach to things. Nevertheless, most commercials are dumb in the first degree. What I want to focus on here is how badly men are portrayed in most commercials.

Take a good look at how many times men are portrayed as idiots, immature kids and / or helpless. Usually this is done in commercials that portray a family. Mom is in charge, the kids are smart ass whipper snappers usually smarter than either of their parents. Mom puts up with the bumbling, clueless husband and in many of these commercials after dad has done or said something stupid she looks at the kids and they smile at each other or roll their eyes in a mutual acknowledgement that Dad is a complete moron. What do the dads or married but with no children men do that makes them "suspect"? They can't find places, they are slobs (dripping soda, beer and pizza on their clothes) they get their buddies over and act like 10 year olds they look sheepish when caught ordering 10 pizzas for 3 guys. My point is this: in these commercials men can make money (breadwinners) but outside of work they are like fish out of water, unable to do even the simplest things.

I used to tell my friends to watch TV for a couple of nights and count the number of times men are portrayed as being dumb-asses. They were appalled as well. As for single men well, they are horn dogs scamming women in bars doing double entrende jokes and yucking it up like they are in Jr. High. Of course they fantasize they are cool but usually they are the one guy in the group that isn't. Often they are inept, unable to be cool or pick up a woman or they are fools because they try to pick them up but they soon become the laughingstock of the bar. The really cool guys (the ones Madison Avenue deem cool)always laugh at them or make them the butt of jokes and the cute girls will make eye contact with the cool guys in a mutual "he's not cool is he, at least not like us." look. Why have this long running relentless portrayal of stupid men in commercials? Because Madison Avenue knows the husbands in many households are whipped. The wives, or girl friends make the decisions especially about money. The only one more in control of the pocketbook that the women are the kids. Since kids are the center of the family universe in commercaials they are cute, 15 years too hip and smart for their age, and capable of manipulating their parents. Kids you see have helicopter mommy and daddy wrapped around their finger and getting them to buy them something isn't that hard to do. Men do make most of the family money so they aren't cut out altogether but in these commercials they are hanging on by their fingernails to a family that laughs behind their backs. Wives and kids tolerate him but don't respect him.

Like I said, if the commercial is about money - making or spending money on things like a Mercedes or a Jaguar, men are portrayed as smart, in control, and they don't like being talked down to.. Those commercials show a man that wouldn't put up with smart ass, know it all kids or manipulating, sneaky wives. Sadly the vast majority of TV commercials continue to portray men as goof balls, nerds, effeminate, candy ass losers. Don't believe me? Just watch nighttime TV for about a week and notice commercials with men in them. I'm not saying every last one is distorted but look how many are.

That's my opinion....what's yours?

"My Friend Mike"

I want to tell you about my friend Mike. I met Mike about 1 1/2 years ago at a dinner party. When I talked with Mike, that night, I noticed a New York accent, just a litle bit of one but I notice voices; I pay attention to voices and so I asked him if he was from New York and he said he grew up in Brooklyn. (83 years ago) Then he leaned in a bit and with his fun smile he said, "I miss the action". It cracked me up so much. At age 93 he misses the "action". I knew right away that I liked Mike.

Mike and I get together every couple of weeks and have right from the beginning. We are good friends. Mike was at Pearl Harbor about 2 weeks after Dec. 7th. He's told me a lot about his life then. He was a parachute rigger for a long time in the Air Force. Then he got involved in suicide prevention for the military and finally worked for the Government as a trouble shooter on a variety of projects. He also was involved in some highly secret cold war project in North Africa that involved him reporting to the Joint Chiefs. He still isn't at liberty to say what was going on. I personally saw photos of him getting one commendation after another so I know he was really good at his job. Mike also was actively a counselor on a suicide prevention hot line.

Mike continued to write and speak about suicide prevention long after his official retirement. He still writes today on his own blog site and he monitors other information and stays up to date on efforts to get people to stop killing themselves. In addition, along the way Mike published a novel that could be described as science fiction, it is still listed with Amazon.com. Mike wrote a group of stories called "Grandpa Stories" about the kind of stories one would tell to their grandkids. He still writes everyday, reads from his kindle and shows me how to work the computer.

Mike and I discuss the universe, philosophy, religion, and so much more. He has such wonderful insights and he is amazingly modern in many of his views. He is a good friend, always asking about me and my son. We go to the Beach Grass Cafe or IHOP or sometimes we sit around his computer at his house. I love my friend Mike and I respect him highly.

Alot of older folks (Mike is not old) have so much to offer, but our society dismisses older folks and prefers they go off to some retirement community. That is wrong, because friends like Mike should be listened to and cherished. I hope I make it to 93 and I can say, "I miss the action".

"Beyond Our World"

There is so much talk about earth lately. Is it warming up too much? Is it warming up at all? What constitutes being too warm? Who has the natural resources like oil and who wants to get it. Are we destroying the rain forest? What happens if the rain forest significantly diminishes? Elephant tusks stolen, frogs, snakes and bees are disappearing and the african fruit fly won't mate. Some believe we are on the brink of a global collapse and others believe we are just going through a "phase". First we all consult ouiji boards and turn to Al Gore as the savior of the Earth; then we find out Gore has made a fortune off a frightened worldand the scientists now reject the very same global warming hypothesis they all rushed to embrace just 10-12 years ago. What the hell is going on....really?

I don't know but I think all this talk is in many ways irrelevant. It's all centered on the state of the earth and it's future prognosis, but the bigger picture is that this world can't be saved. The population was less than 2 billion in the year 1900 and now is over 7 billion. With third-world countries producing babies faster than crops and with health care keeping people alive well into the 70's and 80's, the world's resources will not sustain the exploding population and demand for natural resources forever.

How long before there are too many mouths for the world to feed? I don't just mean in Africa, or other desperately poor regions, I mean everywhere. Before we reach that point will the haves (those that own most of the money and land) do something (God knows what) to eliminate the eventual horde at their gates. You don't really think the wealthiest are going to give up wealth so that no one goes hungry do you? No, it's clear that this planet and it's inhabitants are on borrowed time and the clock ticks every minute. I know there are earthquakes, famine, floods and pestilence but the deaths from all that is miniscule compared to the numbers being born and sticking around forever. The solution (and one we should have gotten started on years ago) is to go beyond this world. I don't mean land more men on the moon so they can drive around in land rovers, plant flags and drive gold balls into space. I don't even mean to continue to conduct endless experiments in space stations, like how long can one live in a space station before going bonkers.

I mean we need to look beyond such inconsequential space events and begin looking at the moon(s) of other planets and asteroids that might hold vast quantities of resources. Minerals, matter, and maybe even water. We have to get to resources outside Earth if we are to sustain life on this planet for a long time. Our governments response is to deemphasize NASA and hasn't (as far as I know) developed any long range plans for getting to places in space that could have resources.
So we fight on this planet over oil, watch oil platforms explode, and the wealthy build bigger fences around their estates, churches continue to beg for financial help so they can bring medicine and food to the the less fortunate. There is a lot of good intentions and energy expended to keep good old blue Earth going, BUT it won't be enough. It only stalls off the inevitable. It's like trying to keep a "D" battery in use forever. Can't be done. Instead all the counrtries of the world should be looking for a way to replenish Earth from out there instead of putting band aids on here.

Everytime I hear people argue over global warming or this war or that...I keep thinking what difference will it make in the end unless we look beyond our world to find permanent solutions. It will take a lot of time and money to accomplish this so why haven't we started already?
Of course that's just my opinion......what's yours?
Gatz

"I Want to be Governor"

Whew! Meg Whitman's 60+ million dollar (her own money) investment in becoming California's next Governor has paid off for now. She won the Republican primary and now will square off against former Governor Jerry Brown. So Meg, it's time to go to the ATM again because you still have 5 more months to campaign before the final showdown on November 4th.
How badly do you have to be Governor of California anyway? Apparently it's going to take 90+ million to get the job. So you'll spend 90 mil to get a job that annually pays 200K? Because you are such a civil servant? You haven't even voted yourself in the last 30 years? What is this all about? I'm guessing ego and just the challenge of trying to pull it off.

It scares me that anyone would need to be a State governor that badly. My rule of thumb is anyone that must have a certain position or job, as badly as you want to be Governor, is at the least, suspicious. Why? Because even if you were elected what would you do to keep the job? What or whom are you willing to sell out or compromise to stay Governor? No one should need or want a job that badly. Meg, if you can't win on principles, values, ideas and your past accomplishments maybe you shouldn't be Governor!?

It reminds me of a principal I once worked for at PHS that needed to be Principal so badly he sold out the discipline program, academic integrity, and essentially let the parents, students, and D.O. have their way. He told me his priority was happy kids, parents and bosses, whatever it took! So the place began to fall apart.
However, before him, the first Prinicpal I worked for at PHS was Dr. Tom Robinson. Every employee loved him and I respected him so much. He didn't sell out anyone, any department, or any program. He didn't let every parent, student and community member have what they wanted. I once asked him why he was so succesful and he told me....."I didn't need the job that much". "If I couldn't run the school the way I thought it should be run, the way they hired me to run it well they could find a new person". It didn't take long before the district office left him alone and the school functioned well. Talk to any employee that worked for him and they will tell you that he was principled, placed his family & faith first and job a distant third.

Meg Whitman it's okay to spend some of your money. In the crappy political climate we live in you have to find your own financial way to run a campaign. Hell, even Steve Poizner (who lost to Whitman) spent something like 29 million of his own money, which he shouldn't have done either. My opinion is stop trying to buy the key to the Governor's mansion. It usually doesn't work and it shouldn't work. Let your beliefs carry the day Meg, not your checkbook.

The irony in all this? Since Jerry Brown has a nostalgic appeal, and has the left leaning demos all in his corner (he comes from the young Edward Kennedy era); he might win on charisma and past accomplishments alone. You might not have enough money to buy your way in.
Meg, spend less money, tell the truth about who you are and what you believe and then as John Lennon said so well...."let it be".

"People I'm Glad I'm Not"

The conventional thought is "we can only be ourselves", and we can "only be a second best somebody else" blah, blah, blah. Have any of you ever wanted to be somebody else? You know I wish I were so and so? Maybe be Larry King with his suspenders and orange color hair, or Barack Obama taking hook shots on the White House basketball court. I don't know who I would want to be but here are 10 people I am glad I'm not.


1. Jack Lalanne: Yes, I know he is alive (sort of) at age 93 and he can still get into his zip up onesie but he also had a boring life of carrot juice, celery surprise, tofu, rice cakes and no desserts. Is it worth it to be 93, have sporadic hair and look like a raisin in a Vic Tanny jumpsuit all the while missing out of the fun in life?
2. Dick Cheney: What a grinch. I bet even 75% of his family members voted him the meanest man in America. His idea of a fun is watching videos of a waterboarding all the while sneering at the waitress that forgot his stir stick.
3.  Lindsay Lohan: Let's see, she's a 26 year old actress that lost her once cute "Parent Trap" perky innocent kid "thing". That was shot to hell in a purple haze of drugs, guys with a tattoos that look like a roadmap through Hell and more blood sucking vampires around her than the movie Twilight. If it's true that it's not the years it's the mileage, she's really 50 years old.
4. Glenn Beck: His ability to openly weep and scrawl with chalk at the same time is pretty amazing. Add to that his pontifications, his megalomaniacal belief that he's the savior of America and he's more like Jesus emceeing an Amway Convention.
5. James Bond: Forty years of mustachioed guys in his bathroom trying to disembowel him after he'd just slept with another bimbette with blue eyeshadow and a name that screams slut.  Do you know what it's like  to have to listen to that frigid Miss Moneypenny whine about not sleeping with him, and "Q" lecturing him like he's a schoolboy not cooperating with the priests?  He's does get to stay in nice hotel rooms but with all his broken bones, and scar tissue, that's more of a necessity than luxury.
6. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs: Now the comedy team of Jobs and Gates. Would you want it on your conscious that you invented the technology that sucked all the imagination and concentration out of today's teens? Knowing that you and your evil twin robot partner turned several generations of able bodied intelligent teens into lazy social networking zombies? I wouldn't!
7. Santa Claus  He's fat, frozen and only works one day a year. Either he is viewed as jolly or mean. I guessed it all depends on whether or not you got that Red Ryder BB Gun now doesn't it. He has stupid aka's  like Kris Kringle and he had to defend his sanity on 34th Street. How would you like to spend your whole time on this earth making other people happy, doing for others first, placing spoiled little rich kids needs ahead your own? Come to think of it that about sums up my teaching career (just kidding on that one). He doesn't want to be known as Santa. From now on he wants to be called by his real name: Leo!
8. Pamela Anderson: Seriously, does any man even know what the color of her eyes are? There are only two reasons why she a star and gravity will soon take care of that. She wants to be taken seriously but who takes Prostitute Barbie seriously? The only redeeming quality she possesses is that she doesn't give a crap if anyone calls her a slut, just don't call her a bad actress.
9. Pinocchio: Yeah sure now he's alive but he had sawdust for brains, arthritis in every joint and a foot long nose that no one liked except for a few certain women. Yes, he was a jackass to fall for that Candy Island bit and his getting swallowed by a whale was a Special Ed. move for sure but fortunately for him his geezer grandpa sold his own soul to Lucifer to get him back.
10. J.K. Rowling: It's not her fault that disaffected  teens hate their lives so much that they jump into her hack world of Harry Potter. She couldn't write an essay on real literature to save her life but fortunately she doesn't have to. As long as sketchy, spaced out dumbledore lovers out there suck up her goofy drivel she'll never have to write anything of merit!

That's my top ten list of people I'm glad I'm not and would never want to be. What's yours?

"Loss"

 I spent 6 months waiting for June so I could take a road trip with my son and he called me tonight and cancels. Good reason? Yes, his reasons made sense to me, classes, job and so forth. But my sense of loss at not getting to see him is real. You may not understand, but he and I were real close during his growing up years. Now he's 3,200 miles away making his mark and I am out of the loop. This in a year when I lose a dear friend John, and my job ends which means more losses. So the subject of "loss" is on my mind.

I don't remember where I heard it but it went like this: life is about loss, either you deal with it or you go under. Life is about loss doesn't sound threatening. But when you come face to face with loss you understand  what it means.

I've had many losses in my life: brother (died) sister (died), parents (died), best friend in elementary school (killed) other friends moved because of job opportunities, marriage went under, you name it. I know am not alone, about losses. I know your catalog of losses might easily make mine look like not much. Still  I'm screaming at the universe "I'm tired of having losses"! The universe looks back dispassionately and says, "so what"?

Be philosophical? Understand inevitability? Every door closed is another door open? It's God's plan? What goes around comes around? "All things are as they should be" "It's life" I get all those sayings, I understand what they mean. Still, I am tired of losses piling up for me.

 Every time I have a loss it's like a knife cutting out a piece of my heart and I'm truly wounded a long time. So I don't need more philosophy and I don't need a religion lesson. What I need to know is how I do I stop hurting over this loss, and the next one and the next one after that?

"What's Going on Here"

I've been down the last few days. However, today was my turn to feel bad for others way worse off than me. I went to the grocery store and coming out of the parking lot I saw a very senior man (75?) in a wheelchair holding a sign that said, "recovering from a stroke and penniless". This wasn't one of those people where you wonder if they are really destitute or just don't want to work. This guy was a different story altogether and I was shocked seeing him sitting there in wheelchair holding a sign asking for money. He looked very sad.

Then about an hour later on the other side of the street, when I was headed to my car parked in a big lot, a young man (turned out to be 23 yrs. old but looked 19) approached me and was clearly distressed. He wanted to know if I had any work for him to do. He would mow lawns, pull weeds anything. He said he didn't want to just ask for money, he said he wanted to earn it. I had no work for him to do really and no cash on me but my friend gave him ten dollars. He showed me his SDSU student ID card I guess as a way of proving he wasn't a bum. I gave him my phone number and told him to call me later if he had no place to stay. I would put him up for a few days. He seemed legit to me. He never called.

Both of these things were right out of Grapes of Wrath, so heart wrenching. It feels like 1931 all over again. I know the economy has been in the dumper for 2+ years now but things are getting worse and worse. No jobs, and people being displaced left and right.  I know I teared up and so did my friend. I was still shook up hours later. "What the hell is going on here"?

What is going on in this country when people like this college student can't find a job and old people must beg for money from a wheelchair? How can our country have come to this? Have we learned nothing from our own history. The excesses of the 1920's and the irresponsibility of the financial sector in the twenties gave us the depression. We are living it out all over again only instead of it being stock market foolishness we have a  toxic housing industry. This is right out of a Charles Dickens novel about a greed filled wealthy class exploiting the lower classes and getting away with it. This must stop not only in this go round but in the future. Steps have to be taken to see to it that this doesn't happen again. This isn't what the founders of this nation envisioned or wanted.

"Criminal Contempt"

 This has to do with the bizarre, macabre, ritual of allowing family members to scream at criminals during the criminal's sentencing. Specifically, the murderer John Gardner  was sentenced to a life  plus 500 years without parole or pardon last week in a San Diego court. Putting this guy away for the rest of his life is appropriate because he admitted to kidnapping and murdering two teen aged girls. Plus, he agreed to the sentence to avoid the death penalty.  Sidebar: I do have an issue with the silly over sentencing just for dramatic effect. Isn't a life sentence without parole enough? Must the judge add 5oo years to the life sentence? It's as if we need to make sure that if Gardner comes back from the dead he will be incarcerated 4 more lifetimes. I think it's just weird. Why not just sentence them to imprisonment for eternity. That is by itself ridiculous but it does cover all paranormal possibilities.
I do realize the sentence overkill is for the benefit of the grieving families. It's designed to let the families know just how "pissed off" the court (i.e. society) really is at this person. It's akin to shooting him dead and then pumping in 8 more aggravation rounds.

However I digress.  What I want to write about the most is the process of allowing  family members to come into court and scream at the prisoner, cry, gnash their teeth and declare that if they had a gun they would shoot him and then plug him/her 8 more times for aggravation. This happens before the judge sentences the criminal even though in most cases the criminal  already knows what the sentence is likely to be. I understand the therapeutic value of venting anger and grief. However, it becomes a public spectacle that serves no lasting purpose. Let me make this analogy, a kid does something wrong and the parents before imposing consequences sits the kid down and rails against them for a period of time. Is that for the kid's benefit? Do you think that kid is listening and that a well spring of remorse is building up? No they sit, as John Gardner did with their head lowered and a sober expression on their face ignoring everything being said to them. You might as well yell at your cat for thirty minutes for scratching at the couch.

 If John Gardner or others like him were the type to be moved by family members coming unhinged at him; he probably wouldn't have murdered the two girls. Tell Hannibal Lecter he shouldn't eat his victims and he will look at you like you are the second course.

 Consider doing it this way: Let the family members meet privately with the criminal. The criminal is in a room where they can see and hear the family and the family members get one last time to say whatever they want. But doing it in in front of camera crews, newspaper reporters, the court and spectators is a lot more creepy than  it is productive..
Look Gardner did the crimes, and he agreed to be sent away. So let the families tell him privately how they feel, then the judge can sign the paper and away he goes. Can't we be less melodramatic in the way we deal with the uncivilized among us?

"Relationship Not a Merger"

I state it upfront I don't have much of a clue about relationships. I wish I did. My life probably would have been so much easier and maybe even happier. Nevertheless, I see how strange relationship forming is today. It used to be that you met someone, went out and decided on a date or two if you liked each other. If you did you kept going out as a couple most likely. It didn't take negotiations, background checks, therapy reports, std reports, getting input from friends, a family gathering to discuss the new prospect, and everyone signing off on the new acquisition. Trying to be a boyfriend, or a girlfriend is like going through an acquisitions & merger process.

It used to be on a first date that you just had fun and didn't get into anything too serious. You would probably wait for the person you were dating to volunteer some information about themselves. Most likely as part of whatever you were doing. If you were at the movies you might talk about favorite movies. Not today, today every date is an audition and you had better be prepared to give your financials, fully disclose past relationships tell what your relationship to your family is, what kind of person you want to be with, and any "red flags" like AA or the fact that you have been or are in therapy.

Try saying this on a date in today's dating world: I don't want to talk that much about me; I just want to have a good time. Years ago she would have thought you the strong, silent, Gary Cooper type. Today she thinks you are in the witness protection program.

I once went on a date with a girl named Beverly Silver and while heading to the beach on the first date she wanted to know my complete financial status. I thought it was in very poor taste and laughed about it later with friends. Today, I wouldn't even blink an eye if a woman asked me that on a first date. My point is why do things have to be so complicated? Why can't we just meet , get to know each other slowly over time and have fun? It shouldn't be my people interfacing with your people!

"Whittled Down"

I had the pleasure and privilege of going to the annual Pacific Coast League Reunion Luncheon in Carson, Ca. with my friend Irv Noren today. I have gone to this event before with Irv. In case you don't know who Irv Noren is: he played baseball in the old Pacific Coast League from 1947-49. He was the Player of the Year in 1949 when he hit 29 homers, batted .335 and drove in 135 runs. If you don't know baseball statistics those are great numbers.

He was promoted to the major league's Washington Senators in 1950 and proceeded to be named Rookie of the Year. A year later he was traded to the powerhouse New York Yankees  (for 6 other players)! He played on those great Yankee teams that went on to win World Series after World Series. He was in the game in left field when Jackie Robinson stole home; he was in the dugout when Don Larson pitched the only perfect game ever in the World Series and later in his career he was roommates with the great Stan Musial in St. Louis. Irv has 6 World Series rings. He was one hell of a baseball player.

This annual luncheon brings together all the old players from the great PCL teams like: the Los Angeles Angels, Hollywood Stars, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Seals and the Seattle Rainiers etc. Irv is 85 years old now, yet he is one of the younger guys left.
I love hearing the old stories about the PCL greats like Joe Dimaggio, Dom Dimaggio, Lefty O'Doul and also the regular players. IT's always a great day for me BUT I share with you a kind of sad moment too. I saw all these former professional athletes struggling to get around, having to use walkers, wheelchairs, canes and many had poor vision, bad hearing, well you get the idea. I watched them closely and could see in their aged bodies the handsome young men that they had once been.

They don't want to be older, resent having to ask for help, and despite their poking fun at their old pictures  they are proud of what they accomplished. My point is in their day they could run with the wind, play baseball 7 hours a day, and do things in sports few can. But it's gone now! The list of those that had passed away just in the last year was too long and each name elicited a wince, a sigh, and a nod of the head.  All too soon these remaining great PCL players won't be here either.

Old age doesn't take us in the night, it doesn't jump us in an alley and beat us down. It's more insidious because it whittles us down one age spot on the skin at a time, one aching joint, one hearing loss notch at a time. We get whittled down, whittled down and before any of us are ever ready, nature makes it's final cut.
I wanted to grant these guys one more weekend in the sun, one more home run, strike out, stolen base and for them to hear the cheering crowds one more time. I wanted them to be young again for one last 3 game series! But I knew I couldn't. I respect and admire these guys for the athletes they were, for the good lives they led after baseball and most of all for not giving in to the whittling down. They refuse to go quickly or easily. They are fierce competitors right to their last at bat. A great lesson for me and for us all.

"What's Fair"?

So one of my students (high school junior) sidles up to my desk after school yesterday and hands me her Great Gatsby packet of work. I kindly tell her the work was due 2 weeks ago. She immediately went into her well rehearsed act. "Aw c'mon Mr. B you can just take it and give me whatever points you think is fair"! Translation: give me as many points as my cute face, cute figure, and flirtatious personality can squeeze out of you.  So, I said more firmly, "you remember two weeks ago when I told the class that Friday was the last day to turn in any Gatsby work"? "Well, Chiffon it was that Friday was the last day"! Stunned she blurted out, "that's not fair, I did the work, I just forgot to turn it in. That's NOT fair"! Then she ran out of the room in tears.  Her drama queen moment got me to thinking what is fair? I realize it was a shock and heartbreaking for Chiffon to not get what she wanted, but was it unfair?

Here's what I think is unfair:

1.I think people losing their homes over an economic collapse not of their doing is unfair.
2. I think an earthquake hitting the one country in North America that could least afford to get hit (Haiti) was unfair.
3. I think some people dying with the bird flu while many others only had mild flu symptoms is unfair.
4. I think all kids picked off by murderers and abused by parents, coaches or guardians...that's unfair.
5. I think all the hard working, honest, clean, kind, friendly, caring young people that can't afford to go to college,  live in a nice place, or eat a good meal tonight while over privileged, self indulgent ego freaks like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Amy Winehouse waste money, talent and everybodies time... that's unfair.
6. I think the poor bastards buried under the soot and ash at Pompeii..well that was unfair.
7. I think the third class passengers left stranded on the Titanic after the well heeled got in lifeboats....well that was unfair. 46% of all the children died.
8. I think all the people cut down in the prime of life on Flight 93, Twin Towers, Oklahoma City Muir Building, and the Pentagon, when all they wanted was to live on September 11th well that was unfair!

I could go on but you get my point. Life is unfair and sometimes tragically so. Not accepting your late high school daily work that probably won't have any lasting effect of your grade isn't unfair. So princess, after you get done crying to mommy and daddy on your cell phone and after they tell you that they will take you to The Claim Jumper for dinner to pick up your spirits get over it. You don't have a clue about what is unfair.

"Oil Change With that Disaster Mister"?

It's the size of Jamaica and growing. I am speaking of the oil slick moving towards Louisiana. That's what we are being told about the latest British Petroleum oil derrick explosion last week. The people of Louisiana must think they are sitting in the third ring of Hell because a lot of the natural disasters end up on their doorsteps. Hurricanes, oil sludges, poverty, an idiot for a Mayor, are just some of the more recent New Orleans nightmares. Also, ever notice that every TV show set in New Orleans is canceled before the characters can even order a second mint julep? How much must this State endure and why? Did Louisiana not allow the Gods a float in the Mardi Gras? Those poor bastards down there now will have lots of dead birds floating off shore not to mention all the oil. They will have so much oil on their shores that can change their name to the Abu Bayou, Emirates.

All kidding aside what is with the Bayou state? I guess Forrest Gump's observation "shit happens" does happen but he should have said, "shit happens...in Louisiana".  This disaster is on par with Tiger Woods shooting a 9 OVER PAR and NOT MAKING the cut this weekend. My god, don't think there wasn't a lot of crying in Boca Raton about that this weekend. His not making the cut would be like Jack Kevorkian saying...."never give up, never surrender" or Charlie Sheen saying he's becoming a buddhist monk.

I'm probably using inappropriate humor here because the truth is the whole oil slick thing is a colossal disaster for the environment, but I don't know how else to process the surrealness of it. It's a nonstop parade of: exploding oil derricks, coal mine cave ins, earthquakes, mudslides, tornadoes picking on mobile home parks, volcanoes melting Iceland, on and on. Well when times are tough like this we have the wisdom of Sara Palin to fall back on. She says during adversity" put on a happy face"! Will I? You betcha!

"Hawking Warns"

The famed astrophysicist Dr. Stephen Hawking said he believes there are alien beings in the universe and that we better not interact with them. I agree with him 100% because I have already encountered them. They work at places like Nordstrom, Burger King and the Department of Motor Vehicles. They are disguised as employees. You can tell they are not from this planet because when you talk to them, their eyes begin to glaze over, they start to mumble, and then they just stare at you. At first I thought they were bad employees but after many similar encounters I began to sense something darker. You have to repeat everything 3 times and they still can't get your request right. The car registration doesn't get done, the Whopper with cheese becomes the Big Fish Sandwich, and they can't tell if the price is 1.89 or 18.99 and rather than use common sense and make a decision they have to "call someone". I've asked them to just make a decision but in the reptilian universe one does not go against a superior snake. You must get authorization.

C'mon haven't you left a store recently shaking your head thinking.....what just happened? How hard could it be to know if you have more in the back? And just because they didn't go reptilian on you right there in the store, you must know they have the power to suck gray cells out of your head. Many times I have left a store or food place and thought working with that "employee" (yeah right) has left me dumber than when I went in. How about you? Think it's a coincidence? Maybe, but running into idiot/employees working in stores happens way too often for mere "coincidence".

One time and you'll have to take this on faith, I was trying to explain to one of these alien/employees in Sears that I was just returning a pair of jeans to get a different size. He kept hissing at me; he thought I was trying to get another pair for free. No amount of showing him my receipt or trying to explain to him that I wasn't trying to get a free pair of jeans worked. During this all too close encounter of the third kind; I did notice something very suspicious.While I was trying for the fourth time to explain things to him; I noticed he kept looking over my shoulder at something in the corner and then began to drool. I looked over my shoulder and thought I saw a rodent. He had to have been from another world. He was acting dumb, having a hissy fit, drooling and staring into space. Mississippi is the only place I know of where that could even be sort of  normal.

Well, Dr. Hawking I applaud you for your bold announcement and I stand ready at the forefront of science to lend my evidence to your claim that there are aliens in the universe and we all should stay away from them. My suggestion: Try the Army-Navy Surplus Store, the workers (there) are barely sensate but there are rodents everywhere so I don't think they are aliens.

"No Problemo"

Well many people, mostly hispanics have their pants in a bunch over Arizona's new law enabling law enforcement officers to ask for proof of citizenship from any person if they have reason to believe the person might not be a citizen. Of course it's mostly hispanics and bleeding heart liberals that don't live in the southwest, that are screaming "racial profiling", "harassment", "civil rights violation" and so forth. What's really being said is:We don't want law enforcement officers in Arizona to stop, check and potentially deport illegals. Of course you don't!

However:
1. It's not racial profiling unless you are willing to believe that the vast majority of the 20 + million illegals in America are from Sweden, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, South Africa and Egypt. Anyone with any clue knows that the vast, vast majority of illegal people in this country are hispanic. Most of those illegal hispanics are in New Mexico and Arizona. If you are asking someone for their id in those 2 states chances are great it's going to be an hispanic. It's not racial profiling, it's logic. Racial profiling would be if a black man is walking down Rodeo Drive in Bev. Hills and a cop thinks: there shouldn't be black people over in this part of town so I better stop him. Stopping a group of hispanics standing on or near a street corner in Winslow, Arizona for id to prove they are here legally is not racial profiling.
2. Violation of civil rights....uh...NO. Look, if I am walking down an alley at 1am and a cop stops me and asks for ID and wants to know what I am doing there, they are doing their job not harassing me.  Besides, if you aren't supposed to be in the country and you are, what civil rights do you have? Don't confuse "being nice" with enforcing the law.
3. Harassment? Even a Harvard professor was asked for his ID on his porch. Harassment is going out of your way to bother someone especially if you know they aren't breaking the law. A large percentage of hispanics living in Arizona are there illegally so asking one for proof of citizenship is reasonable. Hey, don't be offended, just show them your driver's license or ID card and be on your way.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said they would have policies in place to avoid profiling and / or harassing anyone. Let's see what they do. Let's see how many legal citizens get stopped vs. the number of illegals stopped.

As Governor Brewer stated, Arizona is a preferred border ( to sneak over) by illegally entering "persons. Arizona  has patiently waited for the Federal Government to do something about it. Where has Senator McCain been the last 15 years? Why hasn't he demanded laws to protect his own state? The Government has done nothing to help Arizona and so Arizona has the right to protect itself. My question is this: Would all the people upset over this Arizona law, be just as upset if the illegals in Arizona decided to leave the state and move into your city and county?

Finally, the impact of illegal entry on Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas cannot be understated. Easy for people in say Maine or North Dakota to cry foul but the sheer cost of having millions of illegals in these states is crushing them.

Still think it's "unfair" to ask suspected illegals to prove they are American Citizens? Try sneaking over the border in North Korea and see what happens; try loading up 15-20 americans into a van and running roadblocks to get into China and see what happens. What do you think would happen if you rowed ashore in Cuba and asked for assistance? Other countries simply don't tolerate illegals causing any problems of any kind. But the politically correct, bleeding heart, do-gooder America looks the other way even when they know it's a major issue that needs and has needed addressing for so long. America it's time to stop being the world's babysitter and make many of these countries grow up and take care of their own. I applaud Governor Brewer and the Arizona legislature for passing this law even if the mostly  politically correct myopics say otherwise.

"Stop being a Missionary"

So Capistrano, Ca. teachers walked the picket line today because the District Office unilaterally decided to impose a 10% pay cut on their teachers and they made it permanent. Meaning: they won't get it back even if California's economic outlook brightens. Every other district in California (including my own) has language in the contract that says salaries are reinstated when more money becomes available. ** By the way that is also not likely to happen. Once teachers show the district they are capable of doing a good job and for less money why would the district give money back? Out of the kindness of their hearts? Because it's the right thing to do? District Offices and school boards don't do things like that. Trust me most of them do not do things like that. The Capistrano district essentially said F.U. to the teacher union and just did what they wanted. Teachers in San Juan Capistrano didn't teach today and they shouldn't until the language is changed in the contract so that they get their salaries back when more money is available.

In Florida the legislature voted in a bill to end all teacher tenure. Only in Florida!

In Poway Unified (San Diego) the district and the union showed they are still sleeping together by combining to offer their teachers a 2 year contract with a 2.3 % pay cut each year after an already imposed 2.7% pay cut this year. If ratified ( a certainty since younger teachers are sheep and don't have a clue about union business) the teachers in Poway will have done this to themselves:
1. 7% pay cuts over 3 years
2. Larger class sizes (up to 45 per classroom)
3. Less clerical and janitorial support (currently barely visible as it is)

I don't want to hear one more person saying , "well, it's hard times economically, we're in a recession" so teachers have to make concessions. Let me make it clear to the half blind and half duped. There is plenty of money in the State coffers. Taxpayers pay more taxes in California than any other state. Is there as much money as say 5 years ago....of course not but there is funding in Sacramento.
The issue is the fact that State legislators CHOOSE TO NOT GIVE ENOUGH MONEY TO EDUCATION.
If learning / education were really the high priority everyone says it is in this state, money would be made available and some other program would have to get less. Education is the first program to lose money in hard times away and the last one to get money back? Here's why:

1. The perception  is that schools (teachers) are failing students and that is why Jose can't read and doesn't have a work ethic.
2. Teachers have demonstrated over and over again a willingness to work for less, buy their own supplies, take on more and more students, and devalue themselves at every twist and turn.
3. Teachers keep doing good jobs despite getting treated like shit, hence many districts test scores don't drop even in crappy economic times. We sort of pride ourselves on maintaining quality with less. So, educators get less.

Teachers needed to (many years ago and now) say: we won't accept bad work conditions, we won't take less money, we won't be treated like cheap skanks on a Friday night. What if all state teachers walked off and said we'll come back when you fund education properly? Tax-paying parents would freak out, and it would only take about a few weeks to see major changes in how education is funded in this state. Teachers have a lot of power, and they act like they have none.

As long as teachers see themselves as missionaries and are willing to take less over and over again because they are "sacrificing" for the children; we will see aggressive District Offices trying to subjugate teachers entirely. Teachers love believing they are do gooders in a bad world, motivated not by money but by sacrifice. Only when you have respect for you, your talents and demand respect from others will you get it.

Thus it Begins

Thus begins "The Bailey Post" an attempt at rational discourse in this murky world of complete lies, half-truths, misinformation, yellow journalism, FOX NEWS, Larry King suspenders, Octomom's, Kate Gosselin, Storm Watch 2010, balloon boy, Simon Cowell, other trolls and hairdos! Some say we live in an interesting time, I say the lug nuts are loose on the universal wheels and the wobble is very noticeable. Help me weed out the stupid, the vapid, and downright insane stuff that passes for information these days. Rational people have a right to express ideas too!