who thinks this ridiculous obsession entitled “Dancing with the Stars” populated with “B” at best, “C,” and “D” personalities (stars?) is obscene. And now disgraced politicians? With all the problems we’ve got in this country this crap is getting media attention on the daily news?
I’m all for entertainment to let us escape the insanity of what has become our daily life, but this, really? Our reality must be much, much worse than I fear.
First some disclaimers: I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I registered to vote seemingly a zillion years ago, and when asked, that was what I said. ”I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat.” This really annoyed the hell out of the pinched-faced woman manning the registration card table (yeah, I’m that old) — she vociferously said: “Declines to state.” Equally a bit bent, I said “No, I do not decline to state; I just have no party allegiance or affiliation.” Glaringly, she nonetheless officiously (very, I might add) listed me as “Declines to state.” I have this egocentric idea about preferring to 1) think for myself and not give that precious right over to some “party” and 2) judge things issue-by-issue. As this was the early 70’s I imagine I am on a list some where, hopefully the same list as Paul Newman, but I digress.
Second disclaimer: I do not equate anyone who disagrees with President Obama as a racist. Some pundit once said something that seems sensible to me: at any time 50% of the people will agree with you and 50% will not.
Third: I do not think Wilson’s comment was racist. Rude, unbecoming his elected office and not respectful of our political process: yes.
Disclaimers completed, I am glad former President Carter finally said what has been on my mind long before the election was finally held: many people who honestly profess and truly believe they are not racist are, and to varying degrees, are now hiding that fact behind a classic facade: the no-fail, can’t touch me now, “patriotism card.”
It always worries me when people wrap themselves in the flag, shout and scream their patriotism and in turn question the patriotism of anyone who doesn’t agree with them. The disintegration of common courtesy (not to mention commonsense,) manners, being polite during discourse, respecting other’s opinions, personal attacks and/or the rampant nasty and sometimes viciously cruel name-calling that ensues in an effort to present a strongly held opinion worries me even more. Personally, if someone has to employ any of these behaviors to communicate their opinions and solicit support, while I still respect their right to their position, they undercut their point and end up playing “catch-up” to gain my respect for their opinion.
Since I’m making myself a potential target I might as well say it. While I have never been fond of the NRA, this utter nonsense of taking guns and AK47s to town hall meetings is absurd and if the NRA were as responsible as they claim, they would encourage their members to think about when and where a gun is appropriate.
Finally, (and I’m not Jewish either), but before you go throwing the concept of Nazism around, learn about it and quit showing disrespect to all the people who died at the hands of the nazis and all who gave their lives defeating nazism. Because trust me, if President Obama was trying to implement Nazism, all of your rhetoric would have no audience — you would already have ceased to exist, either in voice, or more chillingly, in reality. And, yes, I have read extensively on the subject. Have you?
California: As if things were not bad enough with the economy, job losses, and scammers coming out of everywhere to rip people off, along comes a company that apparently not only has no social conscience, but also seems to believe they can flaunt the law. The Trilar Management Group has foreclosed on homes on Mobley Lane in Hemet giving the residents a 30-day notice; law was recently passed in May, 2009 that requires a 90-day notice to protect the renters from this very issue in these ever increasing situations where landlords end up in foreclosure. These are not people who financially can absorb this kind of blow, nor fight back against a company that is illegally evicting them. Finding alternative housing they can afford is nearly impossible. People have to literally leave their stuff for the trash man because they can’t afford a truck to move it or a place to store it. This situation is obscene. While I find myself wondering about my sanity in being surprised by this situation given how some will prey on others for the almighty dollar, I am nevertherless amazed that in our current economic situation any company could be so coldly avaricious. Any pro bono lawyers available?
Trilar’s ”Residential Properties Principal” is Lance McGoldrick, email: lmcgoldrick@trilar.com. I think the man needs to hear legitmate concern from some of us, don’t you? Trilar Management Company: http://www.trilar.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/trilar.woa.
One last note: I am not singling this group of people out as being more worthy of help than anyone else; many, many, many of us need help. We need to make a difference whereever we can. In the end, we will all benefit from helping each other.
Given our state is financially in the dumpster, paying for the cost of containing the crowds (which I suspect are under-estimated) that are expected at the Michael Jackson Memorial is obscene. I’d like someone to explain to a state worker who has been forced to take a cut in pay why. Or their kids. Or any of the rest of us for that matter.
If, God forbid, in some bizarre combination of politics and a Fellini film Sarah Palin was elected president, would she also give two week’s notice if she decided to quit?
Seemingly Ms. Palin has her own personal agenda she marches to and it obviously does not include the people who voted her in to office. The blithe rejection of the duties of office she assumingly solemnly agreed to uphold is frightening at best and childish at a level that does a disservice to children.
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“Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business.”
– Winston Churchill, British prime minister
Due to recent jarring financial events a good majority of this country’s citizens are currently focused on the belief that the primary people who want to abuse and steal from the American people monetarily are corporations, bankers, investment firms, ad nausea. Unfortunately, this is not quite true. While many firms are struggling to meet payroll and overhead and must make necessary cutbacks, sometimes with the utmost reluctance, other companies, not necessarily giant or even large corporations, appear to see this dismal economy which is creating desperation in the workplace as a splendid opportunity to hire for slave wages.
Having read so many ads that request ridiculous education credentials for jobs that clearly need no such background, I thought I had pretty much seen it all. Admittedly, I have yet to see an ad for a janitor requesting a BA, but it wouldn’t surprise me. The employers’ laundry lists requiring excessive skills are ever increasing and would be almost laughable were it not often impossible for most job seekers to meet the criteria. Some of the people who have been laid off now would not even qualify for their own position by the criteria now being put forth in job postings.
However, it is an employer’s market and no matter how irrational the requests may be, the laws of supply and demand give them carte blanche. While there is no getting around this salient fact, what is disturbing is a growing trend by some employers who in their own way have become every bit as avaricious as the evil money barons we now routinely castigate and curse. Case in point: a craigslist job posting which after the requisite laundry list of extensive skills, experience, sterling qualities, physical abilities, not to mention providing an insured car for use on company time, indicated they would pay the princely sum of $8 an hour, California’s minimum wage. Possibly, (again possibly) after 90 day’s probation there might be an increase. The only thing they did not require beside the kitchen sink was a BA, which I am sure must have been a typo, although they did require the person to be available 24/7 to take business calls. Minimum wage. This position is available along California’s “gold coast” in Newport Beach, in a very, very upscale location. So while not impossible, it is extremely unlikely that there is a severe cash flow problem in the company necessitating something akin to slave wages.
Admittedly, not all employers are like the one described above. And, I would love to tell you the above type of ad is an aberration, but I cannot. People with BA’s are solicited for $12-$15 an hour jobs. It does not take a huge leap of the imagination to figure out what someone without a BA is likely to be offered.
As bad as this scenario is, is the fact that there are so many cyber-scams aimed at desperate people looking for jobs on the Internet. Frankly, this is the nastier of the two evils as they usually involve people who least can afford forking over money for nothing. In responding to something like a craigslist ad the job seeker can determine upfront if they would be entering into a pact with an employer who sees them merely as a commodity, and not a valued one at that. The Internet is far more obscure and dangerous.
At first in terms of job seeking the Internet seemed like a blessing, and indeed for quite a few years it was. Now however, the Internet scam artists are reaching new heights of creativity in luring people into parting with hard earned money in the hopes that whatever service is being dangled in front of them will help them land the job they desperately need. Many job listings which appear to be on the level turn out in reality to be bait to lead a prospective applicant to another site where more often than not it turns out to be, or purports to be, a recruiting agency. Job search agencies, the Internet version of bricks and mortar employment recruiters, require you to fill out an extensive profile so you will be visible to the employers who utilize their services. Therein lays their hook. Once they have you and your email address, the pitches begin and their real reason for existence, selling outrageously overpriced services supposedly guaranteeing to bring results start.
A free appraisal of your resume is almost always offered and not surprisingly it is always found wanting. Always. No matter how many times you have it reviewed it, regardless of whatever suggested changes you might have incorporated from all the free suggestions previously given, it inevitably comes up lacking that “punch” you are told you need to get your resume noticed over everyone else’s. Big surprise. But, for anywhere from $150 to over $400 they can fix your resume and write you a cover letter (which as almost every valid employment advice site reminds you, you should customize to the particular job for which you are applying). And they have a guarantee, usually something along the lines of “we will have our one of experts rewrite your resume for free if you don’t have “x” number of interviews in “x” amount of time.” No refund, just a rewrite of the resume they provided you, the one they touted that would be so superior to your own in the first place. There is some blatant irony. Interestingly some of the cheaper sites that are dangling their supposedly considerable stable of writing talent to improve your resume, advocate things that are in direct opposition to the majority opinion on how to best execute a resume that will be actually reviewed and not tossed into the circular file. (One among the many suggestions is to use oversized paper so your resume with stick out in a pile. What they don’t mention, or apparently don’t know is the fact that while it does cause your resume to stand out it usually creates scanning and storing difficulties and thus ends in being tossed.)
Then there are the job search posting sites that are “free.” Free that is, unless you really want their “full” services which are guaranteed to really jump start your job search with a bullet. Yet another hook. Yes they do provide a service, a minimal one, but they then begin bombarding your in box with relentless offers to upgrade and increase your prospects, assuring you this will be just the thing you need and relentlessly hammer home the idea that without their assistance your resume will be lost and unnoticed, directly suggesting you will be unemployed forever unless you invest in their services. For anyone desperate to find a job, they have located the hot button.
Case in point: I ended upon on one of these sites and started to fill out a profile but didn’t finish it and was never able to get back to the original website to do so. However, I kept getting emails directing me to their “trial” offer site for upgraded service. When I inquired via email why this was the case the first response, from the vice-president of the company, resold the upgrade and then said I should call one of their customer service reps for help with my problem and proceeded to give me a telephone number with too many digits. Remember these are the people who tout resume improvement; the number one mistake potential employers cite in passing over resumes are typos. When I responded I did not want to talk to a customer service rep, knowing I would get a hard sell, just the ability to go to the main website I received something roughly like this:
This is because we have a “Freemium” service (no, I am not making that “word” up) and a Premium service. You cannot expect to receive all the benefits from the Freemium service that you would from the Premium service.
Unfortunately I deleted the response and am unable to fully recreate the condescendingly snide tone that implied I was stupid. Again, this was the response from the vice-president of the company. Interestingly, subsequent to this nasty exchange I received a very nice email response from one of their customer service reps addressing my issue. However, putting aside his attitude, he lost me at “Freemium.”
I could go on and on (career coaches come to mind, another $$$ concept) but I imagine anyone reading this that has looked for a job has encountered many other versions of trying to part the unemployed with their money (think of the 1,000’s of work at home ads). So, while I am adamantly not defending in any way whatsoever the greedy CEO’s, Bernie Madoffs and others that have ruined so many lives, I am extremely dismayed and disheartened that so many “little” people would rush to fill their void and all in the cause of “helping” us in our time of need.
“We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us” – Pogo by Walt Kelly
The rampant insanity that is blooming (how I hate to desecrate that beautiful word) due to world events in terms of racisim frightens me beyond words. Once I get my thoughts together . . . I will try to make an intelligent comment.
After resignedly accepting the inevitable debacle of actually doing the dirty deed (no pun intended), undaunted by the fact that we clearly were too small an armada to defeat the enemy, Sancho and I formalized our battle plans. Following well-established animal bathing traditions, we never uttered the “B” word, never let him see the bottle of shampoo, the enormous piles of towels – so essentially to our meager minds anyway, we seemingly gave him no indication that he would soon be snatched and humiliated.
Thinking to throw PK a curve ball (hope springs eternal), Sancho and I go into my wee bathroom, shut the door and begin disassembling the shower doors. A necessary exercise we had previously learned (painfully) that trying to work around the doors, leaning over an exceedingly unforgiving metal track (despite layers of towels) with me squashed into the itty-bitty space between the toilet and the tub with limited mobility was not a highly effective, nor as the situation clearly necessitates, quick way to go about accomplishing the task at hand. We also concluded there was no way to adequately control the removable shower head which exhibits snake-like qualities when pulsing with water and no one is securing holding it. However, if you wish to quickly wet the walls of the entire bathroom to wipe them down, it is highly effective.
Now while one would think that a very large 20 pound cat would find it difficult to get into small spaces. Think again. PK is extremely resourceful (and as a side note, quite persistent as well) and was not going to go “quietly into that good night” This being the case, my trusty amigo Sancho and I began to block off escape routes. PK is one very, very smart cat. Oh, he’s got a few insane quirks, like jumping the door railings for instance (I think his best was 4 1/2 feet) but other than that and activities that lead us to believe he might have been dropped on his head before we adopted him, such as suddenly jumping around the room as if a particularly sadistic flea was biting him or he needs an exorcism (problematic as we aren’t Catholic, we are short on available priests for an exorcism), PK has proven to be exceedingly clever.
This diversion, of course, had the exact opposite effect on PK. Humans, it must be admitted, are notoriously the lesser species when it comes to giving animals baths. Now he KNEW the chase was on. He began to yowl in the most piteous way, signaling, I suppose, the outside world of his imminent humiliation in the hope of being rescued.
When the first door was closed, PK went into what Sancho and I term “armadillo-mode” – a position where he lowers himself as close to the floor as mammalianly possible, his fir forming a shell-like protective coating and tail flat to the floor, only looking up, very leerily, out of the corners of his lowered eyes as he contemplates how out to out fox us or possibly scar us for life for making him suffer through this degrading activity. For such a large cat, despite crouching he can move at the speed of light. This sight is actually quite hilarious if it were not for the fact that is an unofficial declaration of war.
Two Lunatics v. Armadillo has officially begun.
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End of Part 2
“Insanity is when you keep doing the same things expecting different results.” Variously attributed to Albert Einstein or Rita Mae Brown.
I was extremely gratified to read in the LA Times Letters to the Editor today that someone else besides me (55), my mom (84) and sons (24 and 28) recognized the connection between the bile Limbaugh is spewing and Joseph McCarthy. The mere fact that the new supposed leader of the RNC felt compelled to apologize to this man is terrifying; the Republicans have lost control of their own party. While I have no love of Republicans, I don’t want to see the party go any further down a path that will lead to self-destruction and following Limbaugh will do just that. He is a self-inflated demagogue who, if he has a valid point somewhere in his inflammatory rhetoric, is committing what is considered among true actors to be a career killer — believing his own press. McCarthy did, and when his stage was denied him, became an alcoholic and eventually died an ignominious death.
To me the larger issue at stake now is the fact that neither side of the aisle will put away their party politics and work to dig this country out of an economic catastrophe the likes of which we’ve never seen. It isn’t going to matter soon whether you are a dem or rep as there will be chaos in the streets and much like the French Revolution, Madam LaFarge will be among us. A more current reference would be to review the “Mad Max” movies with Mel Gibson.
Let’s not pick out the color of the new drapes for the house until the fire is put out.
To paraphrase Butch Cassidy’s famous response to Sundance’s confesssion he can’t swim: It’s not the colonoscopy that hurts; it’s the prep that will kill ya.
