Thursday, May 24, 2007

Illegal Immigration


So here’s something interesting. No matter what you think about illegal immigration (I’m against it) in the new bill that’s being proposed to Congress, there is a stipulation: I think it’s 605. g. which states that an illegal immigrant who desires citizenship AND who is a GANG member can fill out a form renouncing his gang membership to gain citizenship…….hmmmm. He’s ILLEGAL! Why not nip the motherfucker in the bud and throw him out? But check it out. Let me know what you think. I mean this is something our legislators are thinking about. It just seems crazy! Am I the only one? I learned about this from Michael Grahm from 96.9. I’m not for the bill, but it’s important to grasp what you think so we can be ready to write our legislators if need be. Let me know.

I also want to thank my Big bro for posting. His comments are funny and worth reading on hospitals and Imus. I have to say that the point about Imus just going to Serius or XM is brilliant.


Oh, and as a side note, the point on the immigration bill was not on the news tonight. However, they did feel it was important to put something on there about a guy at a golf course getting crushed by machinery on the job........thank God for the news.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Days Left?


I work for one of US News and World Report's “best companies to work for”. I think it has something to do with the fact that I get dental insurance......

So I was in a meeting the other day, and my group was presenting. There are FOUR people in my group and three of us were presenting (not me). The first person who presented gave me thanks and credit for my work. At the end of the three presentations, my boss said to the department (after neglecting to mention my name or the work I have done), “We would like to apply our platform for you, but there are only Three of us at this point so we can get backed up….Um I mean four of us. There are four of us. Don’t belittle the work K-logic does….” blah blah….

At this point, in a room full of only about 15-20 people, the person who organized the meeting turned to me and asked, “Oh, did you just join the group”? I replied with a tone of embarrassment and pride that my shitty situation had been exposed, “Ummmmmm, about a year ago.” But thanks. Really, that makes me feel great. At this point the meeting dissolved with people melting from the table and gathering their notebooks as some of us left in disbelief, others in an awkward silence, and still others in complete oblivion as to what just happened.
Now, I didn’t expect to present my own data, but I, at the very least, expected to be acknowledged, and I couldn’t even imagine that my work would just be brushed under the rug and balled into that of another entity. And I’m not bitching. I’m just stating simple truths. Truth be told, I’m dispensable. As so many people in corporate America are, I’m dispensable. I guess I’ll dispense myself and perhaps, in turn, make myself indispensable. And this is why I have the counter displayed to the right of this post. But maybe I should just deal. I mean I do have dental.....


Peace, I’m out.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Scrubs


As some of you may or may not know, my mom had back surgery yesterday. Thankfully, it went very well, and now she is just in the hospital for a few days to recover. That's a big load off. While I was there yesterday (and a number of times before), I noticed a few interesting things about hospitals:



1) No matter what anyone tells you, things never happen close to the schedule given. They'll tell you something is going to take a half hour, and three hours later, eureka! it happens! I don't understand this. I mean, I can understand a little give or take here or there, but to be off by a number of hours is just crazy. We got my mom in the hospital at 8Am. We waited and she went into surgery around 9:45, done at 3:30, and into recovery. She had to be there for 2 hours, but they didn't get her into a regular room until 8:45! The whole time, they just kept telling us to come back and check in a half an hour. How can they be so unsure of what's happening next? They do surgery every day; they should be able to get their finger on the pulse of how long things take...at least to some extent. It's as if in the hospital, when time matters the most, it doesn't matter at all. I mean, I'm incredibly grateful that things went well, however, to just tell someone that they can't see a family member for over a period of 5 hours with no reason is completely unnecessary and insensitive despite any scheduling problems. If it's going to take 5 hours, at least say it will take 4.5. That, I can deal with.



2) why the hell do the janitors wear scrubs? I mean you walk into the place and you can't tell who's a Dr, who's a nurse, and who cleans the bed pans. It's like hospitals have some sort of secret ranking based on the color and type of scrub someone wears. While I was there, I wanted to get something checked out and I pulled my pants down and spread my cheeks for a guy only to find out that he was the hospital chaplain.........funny thing is; he never objected.


Well, I'm thankful things went well and that I had my sister to keep me company. Oh, and I'm glad the chaplain didn't get to third base with me.


Peace

Friday, May 11, 2007

Pops at the Pops

So as I'm sure everyone has herd, there was a fight at the Boston pops concert the other night. At a "sophisticated" event in an "upscale" venue, there was a fight. I'm not going to recount the story. If you haven't heard anything, you're lucky, but here's a newscast, check it out. But my question is why is it getting so much press! I know, I know, I'm talking about it too. Well, that's different. I'm talking about the fact that so many people are talking about it for so long.

My thoughts on it are "who the hell gives a shit". So what? So some guy got pissed and hit someone else. It happens all of the time, this really isn't news and it has no real bearing on our lives. Some could argue that it does in the respect that it speaks to the idea that people are violent or it could mean something significant about our society. Maybe our friend Pre was on to something in his comment the other day. That aside though, and looking at this as a strict news story for the "news" they are reporting, it's not "news". People hit each other all of the time. it's not good, but it's not news. It just happened at an unusual place. I could understand 5 minutes on this story, but it's just not worthy enough for 5 days. Just like --the "panic at the pump", "winter weather warnings" (where they show someone scraping their car and going out to buy milk bread and toilet paper and shoveling snow....again), and the "car crash" on 93--it's not news. None of this or any other clever alliteration is news when we're only getting sensationalized hype and irrelevant facts on stuff that just isn't important. It's not that I think a lot of people care about this shit. I just think we have become too used to it.

Next time you watch the news, ask yourself "How much of this deserves my attention and the right to be called news, and how much of this is boarder line entertainment tonight, people magazine, and just a giant so what fest"?

Oh, and why the hell does everyone (or at least every moron interviewed on the news) during a snow storm buy milk bread and toilet paper? #1 I can't remember the last time I was ever stuck inside so long that I feared I would run out of this stuff. #2 Are these things even that necessary on a daily basis, and #3 Four words......Beer, pizza delivery, and an old Tee shirt.

peace, I'm out.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Uncle Sam's Hand in My Pants

So I stumbled across this website. It's put up by the treasury of CT in order to give back unclaimed or abandoned property. Let's say that you have some money in an account that's inactive. The bank closes the account, but you still have money there and you forget about it. After a certain period of time (depending on the state) they may turn it into the government to "hold" for you or to give back to you. This is where this handy little website comes into play. You can search for your name and if they have any of your shit, then you can claim it back from the state. here's the link for CT and MA: http://www.ctbiglist.com/ and http://abpweb.tre.state.ma.us/abp/abp.htm

I'm assuming that other states have similar sites. I checked my mother's name and she had $29 bucks of hers that she could claim. The government was just holding on to it for her. At any rate, I think it's worth a quick search to see if you or anyone of your family members has stuff in the government lost and found pile. Even though it may not be much, why let them keep it. The government spends enough time with it's hand in your pocket with out going and giving them extra. I mean, it's your shit, right?

peace.

Friday, May 4, 2007

Imus

Some people have asked me where my Imus post is.....I guess I've been a little chicken to post anything at all. I guess for a number of reasons. I don't want to be seen as someone who supports ignorance. I don't want to be seen as someone who supports Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson either. Most of all, no matter what i say, if the wrong person reads this, I don't want to be called a racist, and to any career, or life for that matter, that can be utterly detrimental. And before I talk about Imus....

I want to talk about the word racist. This has become such a powerful word; such a powerful accusation for that matter. Now, without getting into the origin of the word, or the fact that there are so many different beliefs of this word (for example whether or not you can actually be racist if you are of color), I want to talk about what this has become. This word not only calls out the people who are racist and holds them accountable for their beliefs and thoughts, but it also strikes fear into many. I mean, if you are against open boarders....RACIST! You hate other races! You sick motherf....r. You must not like the color brown as Carlos Mencia says (who also has some good insight to the topic aside from this). But what if your family came into the country legally and you are a first generation and think it's the way it should be done? All in all, I just feel that there's a paranoia, a witch hunt, a plethora of finger pointing just not to seem racist. Is this what happened to Imus? I don't know. I mean the shit he said was racist, but was he fired for a drop in ratings? A decrease in sponsorship? Were those sponsors worried about what he said? Were they worried that they would too be called a racist? I mean what he said was stupid and messed up, but did it really offend the people who decided to pull their ads? Or was it because they were afraid too and acted before the worst case scenario happened (when they would be told they supported racism....if that would have been the case). Don't we hear so many racist things about Arabs being said? But no one seems to take too much offense. Not because it's not horrible, but I just think people don't notice all of the time when they aren't worried about having the horrible words associated with them (or when they're comfortable with it).

More than anything, this is a game of politics. Of finger pointing, and of knee jerk reactions hollowed with out thought. So, did Imus deserve to be fired. I would say yes; If and only if the reaction of the sponsors to pull ads was based in logic, thoughtfulness, and based in research as to what their listeners would see fit and then acted on that information. If it was just out of fear not to be called a racist, then maybe they jumped the gun? What he said was wrong. Not because someone told me to think that, but because it was, but could his apology have been enough to let him change the show, learn from his thoughts and share that with others? Should every person of EVERY race lose their job if they say something wrong in a public arena? Or, maybe even someone like Howard Stern could say this and it wouldn't matter to the sponsors because he was making a lot more money than Imus. Tangential this this point, I have to ask: Should someone of Al Sharpton's character, intelligence and personality be looked at as the authority of what one particular race thinks and feels (on this point, fuck, I hope not)?

Personally, I don't like Imus' show. Never have, in fact, it pissed me off just to hear his voice most of the time, but I have to say that this whole situation smells of smoke.....smoke from the cartilage burning of the knees jerked too quickly in a scramble to pretend that "we're on the right side". I mean this didn't seem like a visceral reaction of horror on the side of "white" people to say this is something that shouldn't be said. It just seemed like a scape goat. To say "he's the racist! Not me. He's the problem, and I'll show you. I'll prove it. This man will no longer have a job. See, I'm not racist so I'm safe, right? We'll have him gone and our profit margins will go back up". If the profit wasn't effected, I think this wouldn't matter all in all. And, maybe I'm wrong about everything I wrote, but I feel that, at the end of the day, all of this from every side just hurt race relations. I have so much more to say about this, but I won't unless I get a comment. I mean this is difficult to convey clearly when it's 1:30 and I have a heafty buzz on. If I'm wrong, or there's something you want to add. please do. Peace.