Writer Steven Greenhut wrote yesterday on Cal Watchdog that, "this 'study' is far more about politics than research."
The study Greenhut is referring to has been plastered on just about every left-leaning blog and print media for the better part of two weeks.
Read Greenhut's column here...
Friday, October 22, 2010
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Greg Sebourn
The Beauty of a Storm
Orange County, Ca.
My Grandma - A Eulogy
LET'S TALK ABOUT 1914 FOR A MOMENT.
FOR STARTERS, GRANDMA WAS BORN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1914 IN HER FAMILY'S ATWOOD RANCH HOUSE.
IT IS WORTH NOTING THOSE ALSO BORN IN 1914:
JACK LALANNE
JOE DIMAGGIO
DANNY THOMAS
AND WHO DIED IN 1914:
JOHN MUIR, THE FAMOUS NATURALIST FOR WHICH NUMEROUS ROADS, PARKS, HOTELS, AND NATURE RESERVES ARE NAMED.
IT IS ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT IN 1914 WOODROW WILSON SIGNS MOTHER'S DAY PROCLAMATION AND BABE RUTH MAKES HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT WITH THE RED SOX. MOTHER'S DAY AND BASEBALL- TWO OF MY FAVORITES!! (PERHAPS HER NICKNAME "BABE" CAME FROM BABE RUTH???)
GRANDMA WAS BORN INTO A PERIOD OF TIME FILLED WITH TURMOIL. IN JUNE OF 1914 ARCHDUKE FRANZS FERDINAND WAS ASSASSINATED. WITHIN ONE MONTH WORLD WAR I RAGED ACROSS EUROPE. TWO DAYS AFTER HER BIRTH HOWEVER, GERMAN AND BRITISH TROOPS INTERRUPTED WWI TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. (PERHAPS THEY PAUSE KNOWING THAT A GREAT WOMAN WAS BORNE) WORLD WAR I CONTINUED UNTIL THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES IN 1919.
ALTHOUGH SHE WAS ONLY 5 YEARS OLD, SHE SAW THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CREATED AND THE 19TH AMENDMENT WAS APPROVED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS GUARANTEEING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN TO VOTE.
SHE LIVED THROUGH MANY NOTABLE EVENTS. LIKE THE 1933 LONG BEACH EARTHQUAKE OR WHEN ATWOOD FLOODED ALONG WITH MOST OF ORANGE COUNTY IN 1938 AND THE FLOOD-WATERS CLAIMED MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE, 43 OF WHICH WERE FROM ATWOOD! ALL OF THIS DURING A TIME THAT WE READ ABOUT IN SCHOOL AND KNOWN AS "THE GREAT DEPRESSION". SOMEWHERE IN ALL OF THAT SHE FOUND THE LOVE OF HER LIFE, GRANDPA LEO, GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL, GOT MARRIED, AND HAD KIDS!
THEN THERE WAS WORLD WAR II. FROM PEARL HARBOR TO HIROSHIMA, GRANDMA WAS RAISING MY UNCLE BOB AND MOM ARLINE. WITH AIR-RAID SIRENS AND BLACKOUTS SHE WAS A WIFE AND MOTHER. WHAT A TIME TO RAISE CHILDREN! I BET GRANDMA'S PARENTS WERE ABEL TO TELL HER A THING OR TWO ABOUT RAISING KIDS IN WARTIME.
GRANDMA WAS THERE WHEN THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA HELD THEIR 3RD ANNUAL NATIONAL JAMBOREE IN 1953. SHE SAW AIRBASES OPEN IN '42 AND CLOSE IN '99. SHE WATCHED WALTER KNOTT START UP HIS BERRY FARM AND WALT DISNEY TURN ORANGE GROVES AND STRAWBERRY PATCHES INTO DISNEYLAND!
SHE SAW THE HORSE AND CARRIAGE FADE AWAY INTO HISTORY AND SPACE TRAVEL EXPLODE BEFORE HER WITH THE FIRST LUNAR LANDING. JUST IMAGINE HOW MUCH TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS. FROM TUBE RECTIFIERS TO SUPERCONDUCTORS; FROM TRANS-ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLES TO SATELLITE TV.
SHE SAW MORE IN HER 93 YEARS THAN MOST OF US WILL EVER READ ABOUT, LET ALONE LIVE THROUGH!
OF THOSE 93 YEARS IT IS MY HONOR TO HAVE BEEN HER GRANDSON FOR 35 OF THEM. SHE WAS MY MOTHER WHEN MOM HAD TO WORK. SHE WIPED MY NOSE AND PUT FOOD IN MY MOUTH. SHE LET ME PLAY WITH GRANDPA EVEN THOUGH SHE NEEDED HIM TO TAKE HER TO THE STORE. SHE WAS MY GRANDMA AND I WILL MISS HER IMMENSELY.
JUST LOOK AROUND THIS ROOM; SHE DID THIS. SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING SO MANY GOOD PEOPLE INTO THIS WORLD AND TOGETHER TODAY. THIS IS HER LEGACY.
FOR STARTERS, GRANDMA WAS BORN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1914 IN HER FAMILY'S ATWOOD RANCH HOUSE.
IT IS WORTH NOTING THOSE ALSO BORN IN 1914:
JACK LALANNE
JOE DIMAGGIO
DANNY THOMAS
AND WHO DIED IN 1914:
JOHN MUIR, THE FAMOUS NATURALIST FOR WHICH NUMEROUS ROADS, PARKS, HOTELS, AND NATURE RESERVES ARE NAMED.
IT IS ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT IN 1914 WOODROW WILSON SIGNS MOTHER'S DAY PROCLAMATION AND BABE RUTH MAKES HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT WITH THE RED SOX. MOTHER'S DAY AND BASEBALL- TWO OF MY FAVORITES!! (PERHAPS HER NICKNAME "BABE" CAME FROM BABE RUTH???)
GRANDMA WAS BORN INTO A PERIOD OF TIME FILLED WITH TURMOIL. IN JUNE OF 1914 ARCHDUKE FRANZS FERDINAND WAS ASSASSINATED. WITHIN ONE MONTH WORLD WAR I RAGED ACROSS EUROPE. TWO DAYS AFTER HER BIRTH HOWEVER, GERMAN AND BRITISH TROOPS INTERRUPTED WWI TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. (PERHAPS THEY PAUSE KNOWING THAT A GREAT WOMAN WAS BORNE) WORLD WAR I CONTINUED UNTIL THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES IN 1919.
ALTHOUGH SHE WAS ONLY 5 YEARS OLD, SHE SAW THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CREATED AND THE 19TH AMENDMENT WAS APPROVED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS GUARANTEEING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN TO VOTE.
SHE LIVED THROUGH MANY NOTABLE EVENTS. LIKE THE 1933 LONG BEACH EARTHQUAKE OR WHEN ATWOOD FLOODED ALONG WITH MOST OF ORANGE COUNTY IN 1938 AND THE FLOOD-WATERS CLAIMED MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE, 43 OF WHICH WERE FROM ATWOOD! ALL OF THIS DURING A TIME THAT WE READ ABOUT IN SCHOOL AND KNOWN AS "THE GREAT DEPRESSION". SOMEWHERE IN ALL OF THAT SHE FOUND THE LOVE OF HER LIFE, GRANDPA LEO, GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL, GOT MARRIED, AND HAD KIDS!
THEN THERE WAS WORLD WAR II. FROM PEARL HARBOR TO HIROSHIMA, GRANDMA WAS RAISING MY UNCLE BOB AND MOM ARLINE. WITH AIR-RAID SIRENS AND BLACKOUTS SHE WAS A WIFE AND MOTHER. WHAT A TIME TO RAISE CHILDREN! I BET GRANDMA'S PARENTS WERE ABEL TO TELL HER A THING OR TWO ABOUT RAISING KIDS IN WARTIME.
GRANDMA WAS THERE WHEN THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA HELD THEIR 3RD ANNUAL NATIONAL JAMBOREE IN 1953. SHE SAW AIRBASES OPEN IN '42 AND CLOSE IN '99. SHE WATCHED WALTER KNOTT START UP HIS BERRY FARM AND WALT DISNEY TURN ORANGE GROVES AND STRAWBERRY PATCHES INTO DISNEYLAND!
SHE SAW THE HORSE AND CARRIAGE FADE AWAY INTO HISTORY AND SPACE TRAVEL EXPLODE BEFORE HER WITH THE FIRST LUNAR LANDING. JUST IMAGINE HOW MUCH TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS. FROM TUBE RECTIFIERS TO SUPERCONDUCTORS; FROM TRANS-ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLES TO SATELLITE TV.
SHE SAW MORE IN HER 93 YEARS THAN MOST OF US WILL EVER READ ABOUT, LET ALONE LIVE THROUGH!
OF THOSE 93 YEARS IT IS MY HONOR TO HAVE BEEN HER GRANDSON FOR 35 OF THEM. SHE WAS MY MOTHER WHEN MOM HAD TO WORK. SHE WIPED MY NOSE AND PUT FOOD IN MY MOUTH. SHE LET ME PLAY WITH GRANDPA EVEN THOUGH SHE NEEDED HIM TO TAKE HER TO THE STORE. SHE WAS MY GRANDMA AND I WILL MISS HER IMMENSELY.
JUST LOOK AROUND THIS ROOM; SHE DID THIS. SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING SO MANY GOOD PEOPLE INTO THIS WORLD AND TOGETHER TODAY. THIS IS HER LEGACY.
A Dedication To My Loving Wife, Stacey. Thank you for all you do for me!
Brad Paisley - I Thought I Loved You Then
I remember trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmerized
3 weeks later in the front porch light taking 45 min to kiss you goodnight
I hadn’t told you yet but I thought I loved you then
Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.
I remember taking you back to right where I first met you
You were so surprised
There were people around
But I didn’t care I got down on one knee right there
And once again I thought I loved you then
Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.
I can just see you with a baby on the way
I can just see you when your hair is turning gray
What I can’t see is how I’m ever gonna love you more
But I’ve said that before.
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Well look back some day at this moment that we’re in
And I'll look at you and say I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then...
I remember trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmerized
3 weeks later in the front porch light taking 45 min to kiss you goodnight
I hadn’t told you yet but I thought I loved you then
Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.
I remember taking you back to right where I first met you
You were so surprised
There were people around
But I didn’t care I got down on one knee right there
And once again I thought I loved you then
Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.
I can just see you with a baby on the way
I can just see you when your hair is turning gray
What I can’t see is how I’m ever gonna love you more
But I’ve said that before.
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Well look back some day at this moment that we’re in
And I'll look at you and say I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then...
So the study was done by what could be considered the opposite of the US Chamber of Commerce. Instead of taking money from other countries and multi national corporations to influence elections and outsource US labor, they are advocating for pro US labor policies.
ReplyDeleteThis is bad because municipalities can't be sent overseas as easily as our factories and private sector jobs.
Greenhunt says that the study was to defend cities like Bell but I disagree. I think the study was to defend public service and US Jobs.
Yes we could get people in other countries to run our cities and counties for a lot less. The council meetings could be done through video teleconferencing and we could communicate with the council via translating computers. The council could outsource all city duties to private corporations and those jobs could be done by the lowest bidder to win the contract.
This would eliminate the citizens in this country from having to figure out what to do about garbage pickup, sewers, building permits, tax collection and the like.
We could then just sit back and watch TV after working our 10 dollar an hour jobs. The same jobs that used to afford us the pleasures of going out to eat and seeing a movie. Sending our kids through college and being able to pay for health insurance. You don't expect people making 10 dollars an hour to be able to pay for all of that and taxes at the same time do you?
They can't and that will lead us down the path to government ala carte'. People won't be able to get services they can't afford and will only subscribe to those that they absolutely have to have.
Those that can't afford to have their garbage collected or those that get their sewer turned off will have to pay the price. We will have to put them in jails or prison camps otherwise this won't be a nice place for the rich to live in.
This will create economic activity as everyone that goes to jail will support the private prison systems. They will become more and more profitable. The wealthy will have to pay for this in the end since no one else will be able to afford it. They won't mind though since it was their plan from the beginning.
The money saved in paying city workers verses outsourced workers will be spent on shareholders and advertising. This creates economic activity and dividends.
Of course none of this economic activity would exist unless some people are starving. That's how capitalism works here and in China. Two different systems of government but both capitalistic. In a social democracy that uses capitalism, things are different. The people decide what is best for them and have rules that business must adhere to. They defend their jobs the best they can through tariffs and legislation.
They don't want sick
beggars in their streets and predatory capitalism. They and I mean all of them, have some sort of guaranteed basic health care provided by the entire country to assure that the country as a whole is healthy. This means that they would clean up diesel engines if their scientists found that for every dollar spent to do so saved 13 dollars in healthcare. US and China would not. We have the Koch brothers to tell us otherwise. Social Democracies don't let foreign governments and companies influence their elections and even China wouldn't stand for that. We embrace Citizens United and the US Chamber of Commerce (the largest lobby group in the US}. We have privatized our voting systems and unless you live in Humboldt County Ca., have no system in place to do a proper recount. We do but we had to developed our own system to do it.
I know this seems a crazy rant but that's where I see this anti people, anti labor, anti social democratic capitalism taking us. There is a movement of people my age and older that have theirs and don't care if the next generation has the same opportunities they had. They are selfish, uninspired, uneducated and see the future in quarterly profits rather than long term prosperity.
Back on point, the initial study does not compare actual job descriptions and that is a huge problem. There are very few jobs in the private sector that require a Masters degree, much less a Ph.D. So using degrees as an evaluation tool is not valid. Rather a comparison should be made between the responsibilities performed.
ReplyDelete"The money saved in paying city workers verses outsourced workers will be spent on shareholders and advertising. This creates economic activity and dividends.
Of course none of this economic activity would exist unless some people are starving."
I'm not sure how the money saved (tax dollars not spent) will go to share holders. In a municipality, WE are the shareholders. The city is incorporated and it is OUR bottom line, not some distant Wall Street executive. Each dollar I get to keep is a dollar I can spend taking my family on vacation or just out to a movie.
People are starving for several reasons and it is irresponsible to dump the entire problem on capitalists. Hunger can be a symptom of mental illness, drug addiction, laziness, and social tolerance. It can also be a product of someone who loses their job, loses their home, and soon loses all hope. This latter group represents a very small segment of the homeless/hungry population.
The Berkley group who conducted the study seems to believe that everyone should make the same amount of money. That's socialism and it clearly worked well in the Soviet Union as well as Cuba...at least for a short period of time. The population grew lazy; why work hard when you will NEVER get ahead??? People need hope. They should be rewarded for their hard work and not for their laziness.
Why shouldn't a government agency outsource services?? My city outsources the operation of the municipal golf course. Why not outsource the parks maintenance? Why not continue to outsource street repairs? Why should the citizens of Fullerton (shareholders in the municipal corporation) not look for ways to minimize our costs? Is it WRONG to be thrifty? Is it wrong to look for he best deal that stretches my dollar's buying power?