8-18-2004

The anti-helo vote?

"They pulled away from the pier at Cat Lo with spirits high, feeling satisfied with the way things were going for them. They had no lust for battle, but they also were were not afraid. Kerry wrote in his notebook, 'A cocky feeling of invincibility accompanied us up the Long Tau shipping channel because we hadn't been shot at yet, and Americans at war who haven't been shot at are allowed to be cocky.'--From the book "Tour of Duty" which details John Kerry's exploits in 'Nam

That's freakin' beautiful. Nine days after receiving his first Purple Heart, he brags in his dairy of not having come under enemy fire yet. But Bush is branded as the liar?

I was in Cambodia, Christmas '69. It's seared in my memory...NOT!

Take two:

I was in Cambodia, Christmas, er, Halloween '69. It's seared in my memory. I'll never forget the atrocities committed against those small children wearing their Batman halloween costumes.

I threw my medals over the...NOT!

Take two:

I threw my ribbons over the fence at the Capitol. It's seared in my memory. Or was it my jock?

I never attended the VVAW meeting in Kansas City, 1971, when it was voted upon whether or not to asassinate the war hawks in Congress...NOT!

Take two:

I was there, but I don't remember it.

And Reagan was the actor? And Bush is the liar?

And Kerry wants to know how we could "unilaterally withdraw" OUR troops from South Korean, Germany and elsewhere? Did he recently fall and strike his head on a hard, blunt object?

Bush is transferring our troops without a permission slip from abroad? Without first consulting with China? It's unthinkable to those who call themselves Americans but swear their misguided alliegance to the UN.

So. The nincompoops...

...massed on council's chamber last night.

Yeah, okay. We're getting a new theater. And new loft apartments. And new parking. And new street lights. And a new riverfront. And a reworked, spiffy canopy. And a new Labor & Industry building. And new catch basins. And new sewer lines. And new asphalt. And a new firehouse. And...BUT...what the hell are you people doing about the weeds, the lots and the ants. And what if a helo comes crashing through my roof??? Heh???

There's no winning with the usual publicity whores that see only negative things wherever they happen to glance. If we had taken care of the weeds, the lots, the ants, and abruptly passed an ordinance barring helicopters from passing within twenty clicks of us...they'd be crying: "What about the downtown?"

Jim McCarthy said all that should have been said in response with: "This administration is going to need time. We inherited a whirlwind and now we're playing catch-up now, so I ask you for time and forbearance.

Forbearance? Dude, stick to English in the future. Consider the limited intelligence of the target audience. Some of these folks are afraid of helicopters flying over the city. Although, simply drinking a gallon of bleach or two would put an end to that irrational phobia. There's really no need to spaz on council.

I'll tell ya' what. If a helo ever comes crashing through my flat roof, I'll never vote for any of those uncaring bastards, ever again.

So much for the work session. So much for the laughable efforts of the self-appointed citizen watchdogs.

Buck excluded, of course.

More forum fun.

Al. You're funny. I'm crashing the net, man!

And with that said -- ??????, 20:37:34 08/16/04 Mon [1]

For whatever reason, which can be debated until the Eagles finally win a Super Bowl long after we're all dead, the city is temporarily broke, and your union decided to do the right thing in response. And you don't seem capable of dealing with reality. And the sad reality that totally escapes you is that when the company is going backwards in a financial sense, so go the employees. And assigning blame for past mistakes won't change that reality.

And with that not only should ONE union deal with that reality but everyone employed by the city. You seem to skip that fact when the politicos salaries are brought up. Yes we do not want to attract weirdos for council, but in all reality it goes for the same in the depts. Who do you think in years to come will be willing to risk their lives to apply for public safety jobs when the benefits suck and the salary is cut? And as for being used to the private sector, many, many firefighters have busted their asses in the private sector before they got their positions. Get a grip already Mark, this was all fine and dandy last year but God Forbid anyone has a different opinon than you this time around, you feel the need to down them any chance you can get.

Cripes! Here we go again. We just gotta stick it to those f**kin' politicos, heyna? Apparently, some folks didn't learn very much while working in the private sector.

Austerity 101.

You've got a company just about ready to go belly up. It has a CEO, a controller, 300-plus employees and seven part-time regional managers. The CEO draws a decent salary. The controller earns less than the rank-and-file employees. And the regional managers don't earn enough to even seriously consider when drawing up the master plan to save this cash-starved company.

Your job, as an outside consultant brought in to right this listing ship, will be to determine which austerity plan makes more sense, and will actually work. Will cutting the CEO's salary by 33% save the company? Will slashing the controller's salary by a mere $5,000 send the company's stock price soaring? Will cutting the salaries of the seven part-time regional managers by 50% mean anything of note? Or would cutting the salaries, and, or benefits of the 300 employees by say 5, or 10% make much more sense? Throw that one by Walter some time.

I've heard the argument bandied about that our elected leaders got us in this mess in the first place, so they should pay dearly. In most cases, it's no different in the private sector. Where the difference lies is that our elected leaders have their salaries and such printed in the newspapers. In the private sector, the employees are always left to speculate about what their leaders earn and what, if anything, their leaders lost during a period of austerity. For all we knew, they got raises while we did without.

Can any unionized employee of this city honestly say that their salary sucks? If so, I'd have to wonder why they took the job they did in the first place, but I doubt that anyone would make that bogus claim without the aide of some Reingolds.

Do your benefits really suck? Or are they still superior to those of us that never took a civil service test? Sure, right now the benefits of the members of the fire department suck when contrasted against those of the people in some other departments, but their current contracts won't last forever. And at some point, I think we all know what that means.

We don't want weirdos on council? Really? Then why did so many firemen sign Walter's short-sighted petitions? What do you'll think we'll be able to attract after the publicity whores get tired of playing connect-the-dots government without ever having been elected?

The signatures on those petitions aren't worth the cost of the ink used to scribble on them. Ya' wanna get 1,000 quick signatures on a petition without really trying? Approach senior citizens and tell them anything that involves taking money away from somebody else. They'll sign. Approach the ninnies that bitch all the time, but don't understand the complex issues they're bitching about. They'll sign. Oh, and approach the members of a union that just negotiated it's own give-backs. They'll sign.

And why will they sign so eagerly? To stick it to someone else with absolutely no regard to what impact that might have on the long-term future of the city. Absolutely none. Sorry, man, but what you're currently dealing in is unabashed and vindictive payback bullspit. You're attackng the very same people that are poised to eventually lead us out of this mess.

Does our council chair earn too much money for your tastes? Let's get her! How about the mayor? He lives in Barney Farms. And we all know what that means. Let's get him, too! Yeah! REVOLUTION!!! Let's kill 'em all, but remember...we don't want any weirdos for leaders after the mass lynchings. Listen to yourselves.

I shouldn't put anyone down? No? Really? Well, how about when they're flat-out incorrect, completely short-sighted, or purely motivated by get even-ism?

I think we set...

...a new record for the longest block party meeting last night. There are so many details that have to be settled upon and coordinated, it's amazing how flawlessly this thing always goes off. The only riding question is the always morphing weather prediction, but we're prepared for the worst. Rather than having one giant tent, we're ready to go with two if things come to that. Rain or shine, baby, this thing is going down.

Remember folks. The street will be barricaded early in the afternoon. Park over at the incubator lot. And bring some munchies. And bring yourselves.

This, the 15th annual installment, is gonna be a humdinger.

Rock on!

I've seen this one...

...make the cyberspace rounds before, but it's certainly worth repeating. From the e-mail inbox:

Subject: Truth in reporting

Learn these facts to properly debate our poor misguided friends & family before election time !!!

There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during the month of January.....

In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January. That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq.

When some claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war, state the following .. FDR...led us into World War II.

Germany never attacked us: Japan did.

From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year.

Truman... finished that war and started one in Korea, North Korea never attacked us.

From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,334 per year.

John F. Kennedy...started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.

Johnson... turned Vietnam into a quagmire. Vietnam never attacked us.

From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.

Clinton... went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent, Bosnia never attacked us.

He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.

In the two years since terrorists attacked US! President Bush has ... liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking, but... It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51 day operation.

We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find her Rose Law Firm billing records.

It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick, drowning Mary Jo.

It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!!

Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB!
The Military moral is high!
The biased media hopes we are too ignorant to realize the facts.

By the way, who sauntered off with my freakin' Knack CD last year? That's not cool. Taking advantage of drunk people. No "My Sharona" this year.

Nite