I had recently had the opportunity to join with other Union Reps at a conference of Education Support Staff in Tampa. It was about information to take back to the members and non-members at our work sites and act as a forum to discuss our concerns, share our stories (both successes and failures) and realize that we are NOT ALONE in our desire for better conditions and pay. Now let me say up front that I have been to a few others and at NO TIME have they ever made me, a Conservative, Republican, Tea Party member feel welcome. This time was DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT and I'm proud that they finally opened their arms to be more inclusive because, though we may be in the minority we can't afford to alienate ANYONE.
Now here's where I get to tick off some of you who may read this, oh well get over it, this is how I see it and if you don't like it put your head back into the sand. The overall appearance and feel of this and events like it that I've participated in are not much different than the Sales Seminars that I once went to when I was in the business world. It was a lot of how to recruit, keep and convince others to join our cause. It had motivational speakers, a rah rah party called "Fun Night" (which I'll discuss in a moment) and the opportunity to network with ideas, stories and concerns.
For those of you who don't know, didn't think about it or just didn't care the term "Support Staff" refers to anyone who is NOT either an actual Teacher or Administrator (in some capacity) or other Supervisor like the Superintendent etc. These people are often Paraprofessionals (a teacher without a degree or the pay that goes with it); Bus Drivers; Secretaries; Cafeteria Workers; Maintenance / Custodial Workers or anyone that supports the day to day school your child attends. If you don't think they're needed think about what would happen if they, not the Administrators or the Teachers didn't show up just ONE DAY.
1. If your child makes a mess who would clean it up?
2. Who will hand out supplies to the younger children?
3. Who will answer the phone or make sure your concern is directed accordingly.
4. If the toilet overflows, who will clean it up?
5. When the teacher has to exit the room who will watch and care for them?
Wait, NONE of the above would ever happen because there would be NO BUS DRIVERS to pick them up so all of this FALLS ON YOU!!!
These people, some with advanced degrees, do this EVERYDAY your child is in school and yet YOU, YOUR School Board and Legislators want to treat them like second class citizens. Often times they must work 2 jobs because the County pays them almost minimum wage. So you ask "why" would they do this? Even my wife says "They made that choice." Yes they did and be VERY THANKFUL that they did make that choice. I DARE YOU to just try and do their job and no you wouldn't do it for the pay and lack of benefits they get...at least NOT here in Florida. The FEA, their Union, does their best to make life just a little bit better for them by fighting Tallahassee on a daily basis but most of these people make so little they can't afford the dues to become members. So when it comes to contracts and RESPECT for their contribution to YOUR child's education they are often forgotten or overlooked. They have families and lives also, just like YOU and THEY ALSO PAY TAXES AND VOTE! It is time they are recognized accordingly by YOU!
Okay I got your attention, now there I was sitting back in the seminars and I listened and interjected when and where I could with my take on things from a Conservative point of view. Unlike some of the participants who were also Conservative, I wore it on my chest and dared anyone to confront me. Whether they could or couldn't, many found me to be exactly what they assumed a Tea Party member would be; arrogant and egotistical. Sorry to disappoint them but there were more than just me there and these quiet members are probably their best friends. I just hate being a lemming and I'm not afraid to engage, if I was I wouldn't be doing this blog. Now since I'm on the "engaging" rant let's go back to "Fun Night". Oh boy, skits and songs, not unlike a Pep Rally complete with roasting the enemy team, in this case Gov. Rick Scott, who many in the room voted for but they'd never admit it. I listened for a few moments then walked out, it was INAPPROPRIATE and in POOR TASTE. As I said we can't afford to alienate ANYONE and this did it and so I left, leaving my Song Book behind, darn. The funny part is that I was joined within a few moments by one of my liberal friends who agreed with me. For as much as I dislike President O'Bama, if I was trying to rally "Activists" against him, I certainly wouldn't do it in such a way to belittle those who may have voted for him, but hey, that's just me.
Oh and there's something I liked that came out of this adventure. Someone in either the FEA or the NEA or somewhere came up with the thought to replace "Volunteer" with "Activist" and I find it PERFECT! Someone who knows who came up with this, let everyone else know whose idea this was so they may be thanked. Anyone who is fighting for a cause is an Activist and though they may Volunteer their time they aren't volunteerists (is that even a word)? Another thing that I really liked was the "Inclusion Theme" wanting to make the Conservatives feel welcomed, except for "Fun Night". When I as at earlier events they were hard on or even condesending toward Conservatives but not this trip. I know I said it before but this was really exceptional. They, the Speakers and Organizers, went out of their way to even mention that there were Republicans who voted in our favor and Democrats who didn't; BRAVO!
So, now that I'll come off my soap box, do I think these junkets are important, YES! Times are tough all over but these people do something very special, they take care of YOUR KIDS, stop allowing them to go UNNOTICED, UNAPPRECIATED and especially UNDERPAID...odds are your paperboy makes more money and yet can he write a lesson plan, comfort an autistic child, control 20 or 30 children on a bus or maybe answer the phone, schedule students and call down a teacher all at the same time...CAN YOU! Would you make sure a child has lunch money when you know you may never get it back and yet that same money may have been for an afternoon coffee from 7-11, (they often can't afford Starbucks). Would YOU clean up the vomit or the blood from a child, not your own, as if it were just another day at the office? Would YOU buy classroom materials with money that was supposed to pay a bill just because you're classroom kids needed them? These people do this EVERY DAY, WOULD YOU! Next time you see someone from your school, thank them but more than that write, call and lobby your local and state legislators to stop making budget cuts from those who can least afford it and who do a most important job, they CARE FOR YOUR CHILD!
One last thing, print this and give it to a friend, neighbor, or better yet your School Board and Legislator.
Doc
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
NASA - SHUTTLE REMEMBERED
So it's over, the Space Shuttle now goes down in the history books. We all have our memories of the shuttle and what it meant to us as a Nation and I am no exception. So lets take a walk down memory lane.
I was very young when I heard about the "Race to Space" and JFK talking about a Man going to the Moon. We all thought it was science fiction because that's what was in the comic books and in the movies at the time; though the Russians has just launched Sputnik. We had Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers to fuel our imagination but now here was our President saying we were going to explore the stars.
Then I watched John Glen outside of his capsule which wasn't more than a ballistic missile with a place for humans in the nose. But with television we also got to see when the 3 parachutes opened and it landed in the Pacific Ocean, WOW!
I was watching Star Trek on our RCA XL100 the only neighborhood color TV and I wondered what was next. I didn't have long to wait as we landed Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface and a Princeton Professor by the name of O'Neil calling for a space station and the L5 Society saying "L5 in 99"; (L5 or Lunar 5 is the spot between the Earth and the Moon best suited for a space station...I think the current one is about there right now.
There were movies like "2001 A Space Odyssey" and something on the drawing board called the Space Shuttle. I was fascinated and so I joined the Navy as an Aerospace Medical Technition and was trained in the same facility where research went on to explore the effects of outerspace on the human body. Soon NASA rolled out the very first Shuttle and used it as a test vehicle; it's name, "Enterprise", how appropriate.
Soon shuttle flights were common and they got little press coverage. We as a nation were thrilled with something called "ISS" the International Space Station and the Shuttle was the workhorse to supply it.
I was fortunate enough while doing my Reserve time at Cecil Field Physiology Unit to tag along on a behind the scenes tour of NASA Operations to include an up close view of 2 of the Shuttles, the Assembly Facility, the research area for the up-coming Mars Mission and talk with the people involved. The tour was right after the Challenger disaster and the Flight Surgeon, who was our guide, explained the changes in safety protocols that had come out of it since the days of Gemini, Apollo and now the Shuttle. Yes, we had many set backs and I got to see the pad where the Gemini Astronauts perished in a ball of fire and pieces of the wreckage from Challenger that they were still looking over. I held in my hand the ceramic tiles that cost so very much and had caused so many headaches both on the ground and in space for the shuttle crews.
Still, it surprises me when Senator Nelson a former Astronaut, that NASA is now on hold and the only place we can dream is either from other countries like France and Russia or in the movies. Our current President and obviously Senator Nelson feel NASA and the dreams of little boys and girls wanting to be Astronauts means nothing for our future. Someone needs to explain that to me, didn't they watch the movie "October Sky"? I guess not. For those of us who have memories of all of the short-lived NASA experience, we will continue to dream.
Doc
I was very young when I heard about the "Race to Space" and JFK talking about a Man going to the Moon. We all thought it was science fiction because that's what was in the comic books and in the movies at the time; though the Russians has just launched Sputnik. We had Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers to fuel our imagination but now here was our President saying we were going to explore the stars.
Then I watched John Glen outside of his capsule which wasn't more than a ballistic missile with a place for humans in the nose. But with television we also got to see when the 3 parachutes opened and it landed in the Pacific Ocean, WOW!
I was watching Star Trek on our RCA XL100 the only neighborhood color TV and I wondered what was next. I didn't have long to wait as we landed Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface and a Princeton Professor by the name of O'Neil calling for a space station and the L5 Society saying "L5 in 99"; (L5 or Lunar 5 is the spot between the Earth and the Moon best suited for a space station...I think the current one is about there right now.
There were movies like "2001 A Space Odyssey" and something on the drawing board called the Space Shuttle. I was fascinated and so I joined the Navy as an Aerospace Medical Technition and was trained in the same facility where research went on to explore the effects of outerspace on the human body. Soon NASA rolled out the very first Shuttle and used it as a test vehicle; it's name, "Enterprise", how appropriate.
Soon shuttle flights were common and they got little press coverage. We as a nation were thrilled with something called "ISS" the International Space Station and the Shuttle was the workhorse to supply it.
I was fortunate enough while doing my Reserve time at Cecil Field Physiology Unit to tag along on a behind the scenes tour of NASA Operations to include an up close view of 2 of the Shuttles, the Assembly Facility, the research area for the up-coming Mars Mission and talk with the people involved. The tour was right after the Challenger disaster and the Flight Surgeon, who was our guide, explained the changes in safety protocols that had come out of it since the days of Gemini, Apollo and now the Shuttle. Yes, we had many set backs and I got to see the pad where the Gemini Astronauts perished in a ball of fire and pieces of the wreckage from Challenger that they were still looking over. I held in my hand the ceramic tiles that cost so very much and had caused so many headaches both on the ground and in space for the shuttle crews.
Still, it surprises me when Senator Nelson a former Astronaut, that NASA is now on hold and the only place we can dream is either from other countries like France and Russia or in the movies. Our current President and obviously Senator Nelson feel NASA and the dreams of little boys and girls wanting to be Astronauts means nothing for our future. Someone needs to explain that to me, didn't they watch the movie "October Sky"? I guess not. For those of us who have memories of all of the short-lived NASA experience, we will continue to dream.
Doc
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Debt Ceiling & Government Spending
Okay, if I'm an alcoholic and I keep escalating how much I drink until I run out of money suppose I cut back on my eating so I can spend more on alcohol. That makes sense right? Wait, I'll stop my son's allowance therefore I can spend that on more alcohol. Oh I just got a raise at work but I've already just boosted my money allotment but hey now I can get more.
That's where we are with the Debt Ceiling. Though we make cuts we will still spend more on whatever, just like an alcoholic or drug addict would do. Though we cut in other areas the spending continues if we raise the limit. Suppose we I didn't get the pay raise? The cuts I've made would limit me and make me prioritize where I spend the money I'm now saving. President O'Bama says we "may not have it in the budget" to pay the military and elderly. Wait a moment, wasn't the Social Security money supposed to be in a "lock box"? Oh, no, as of LBJ's administration it's now part of the General Fund and we now have Illegal Aliens that collect from Social Security; explain to me why? Next instead of cutting back on things like entitlements, though they also need to be modified, how about the screwy things that get funded. Here's a few I've heard about over the course of the last few months...look them up and please verify the dollar figure.
$1,000,000.00 A study on the penis size of homosexual men.
$4,000,000.00 2 women wanted to teach men in Africa how to use condoms.
$750,000.00 A study by a University of Oklahoma student who is looking at
Grandparents and their relationship with their Grandchildren.
And the list goes on and on go ahead and Google them. I have several websites that I look at each day and they're loaded with these things. Hey how about a High Speed train that would go from Orlando to Tampa in the same amount of time as you can drive it...yeah it seems it never ends and yet we want to allow the President to spend more? Are you out of your mind. Didn't we vote new members in because we've HAD ENOUGH of this crap? Maybe I missed the point when we become Greece with a total breakdown of all services and our country goes bankrupt because they forget that we only have a finite amount of money in the world and our pockets. Somebody explain this to me, PLEASE! As I said in an earlier post, Sarkozy is taking France kicking and screaming into a Market Economy and away from Socialism. When those who drain the economy rather than contributing to it outnumber the producers we're doomed...oh wait they already do! STOP THIS MADNESS! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Marco Rubio is right, "we don't need more taxes we need more Tax Payers." Spread out the tax burden and cut this "garbage" spending. Have a "means test" for those collecting government checks and NO Illegal Aliens. They're ILLEGAL and therefor have NO rights and contribute NOTHING. Maybe they should return to their former country since they send so much back and I see flags flying from those countries not our flag. And I'm NOT talking about the Germans or the Norwegians when I'm talking about illegals. That's a whole new set of issues and I'll address it in another post.
So call, write or somehow get in touch with those knuckleheads in Washington DC (not the Washington State) and tell them ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Doc
That's where we are with the Debt Ceiling. Though we make cuts we will still spend more on whatever, just like an alcoholic or drug addict would do. Though we cut in other areas the spending continues if we raise the limit. Suppose we I didn't get the pay raise? The cuts I've made would limit me and make me prioritize where I spend the money I'm now saving. President O'Bama says we "may not have it in the budget" to pay the military and elderly. Wait a moment, wasn't the Social Security money supposed to be in a "lock box"? Oh, no, as of LBJ's administration it's now part of the General Fund and we now have Illegal Aliens that collect from Social Security; explain to me why? Next instead of cutting back on things like entitlements, though they also need to be modified, how about the screwy things that get funded. Here's a few I've heard about over the course of the last few months...look them up and please verify the dollar figure.
$1,000,000.00 A study on the penis size of homosexual men.
$4,000,000.00 2 women wanted to teach men in Africa how to use condoms.
$750,000.00 A study by a University of Oklahoma student who is looking at
Grandparents and their relationship with their Grandchildren.
And the list goes on and on go ahead and Google them. I have several websites that I look at each day and they're loaded with these things. Hey how about a High Speed train that would go from Orlando to Tampa in the same amount of time as you can drive it...yeah it seems it never ends and yet we want to allow the President to spend more? Are you out of your mind. Didn't we vote new members in because we've HAD ENOUGH of this crap? Maybe I missed the point when we become Greece with a total breakdown of all services and our country goes bankrupt because they forget that we only have a finite amount of money in the world and our pockets. Somebody explain this to me, PLEASE! As I said in an earlier post, Sarkozy is taking France kicking and screaming into a Market Economy and away from Socialism. When those who drain the economy rather than contributing to it outnumber the producers we're doomed...oh wait they already do! STOP THIS MADNESS! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Marco Rubio is right, "we don't need more taxes we need more Tax Payers." Spread out the tax burden and cut this "garbage" spending. Have a "means test" for those collecting government checks and NO Illegal Aliens. They're ILLEGAL and therefor have NO rights and contribute NOTHING. Maybe they should return to their former country since they send so much back and I see flags flying from those countries not our flag. And I'm NOT talking about the Germans or the Norwegians when I'm talking about illegals. That's a whole new set of issues and I'll address it in another post.
So call, write or somehow get in touch with those knuckleheads in Washington DC (not the Washington State) and tell them ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Doc
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