Monthly Archives: April 2011

Post Post, Tweet Tweet…Dollars Lost

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With the explosion of social media over the last 5 years, it seems like you can’t see anything or anyone without a reference to Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. Advertisements for products encourage you to “Like” them on Facebook and celebrities want to be “followed” on Twitter. All of these seem like great forms of networking, but there is one realm that has me questioning its’ benefits and efficiency: politics.

Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico, has a very active Twitter account, and President Obama uses both Twitter and Facebook to post about what he is doing and his upcoming 2012 campaign. U.S. Congressman and Senators alike use both forms to update constituents on legislation, debates, etc. But lets be honest…these representatives aren’t personally blogging, tweeting and posting. Most will even admit to it…they don’t have the time or the interest to personally do it. So why don’t we talk about the representatives on a local level, who don’t have the staff or budget to have someone do it.

The Georgia legislative session just wrapped up last week and I realized that I knew a lot of more than usual in terms of what was going on down at the Capitol this spring, mainly because it was all over my Facebook page. It seemed like every time I checked my page, my News Feed was flooded with minute by minute updates of what was happening RIGHT THEN. Seems like a positive, right? We constantly complain that politics is too secretive and too many decisions are made behind closed doors. But with constant updates, posting of pictures of each other on the Senate and House floors, one has to wonder…what did they actually accomplish down there this session??

I took note of several representatives who posted what day of the session it was and what was on the calendar. It then seemed to be followed up with a picture of the calendar, who was speaking and even a personal photo with someone who appeared that day. Sen John Albers and many representatives have Facebook pages that they update personally and use to keep in touch with the public. I think it would be worth your time to look at them and see if you think any of them were posting too much. (Hint: The answer is yes. I actually sat in a marketing meeting to discuss the use of social networking and one of the referenced legislators was frowned upon because of how excessive he had become.)

I actually saw a Senator complain that the last day of the session had a full calendar. If you have followed my blog at all, you would know that the Georgia Senate allocated TWO DAYS of Senate time (more like, tax payer time) to “honor” professional athletes. Maybe if they hadn’t done that, the calendar would have been a little more free for the final days to discuss important things like immigration (which passed, but in a painfully weak manner) and the budget. And if the calendar is so full, then stop posting every hour, get off Facebook and get to work!

I’m all in favor of Senators and Congressmen posting what was accomplished that day,but don’t you think that could be done at the end of the day? A nice summary of what happened, what bills were debated, etc etc. It is not necessary, however, to post every two hours that you had lunch with someone from your district, your kid visited (with an added photo) and that your wife just got bifocals! Frequent postings serve no purpose and are a WASTE OF TAX-PAYER DOLLARS. It seems to me that legislators have become too enthralled with the fame of being in the public spot light that they’ve forgotten that they are public servants and it isn’t all about the photos or opportunities to meet people they see as celebrities. Legislators get so caught up in “staying in the minds of constituents” that they end up portraying the message that they aren’t really doing anything down there at the Capitol, except adding friends and expanding their Mobile Uploads folder.

And lets face it…if they were really acting as “public servants” as so many of them like to remind us in their monthly newsletters, they wouldn’t have to tell us all of the things they have accomplished because they wouldn’t be looking for praise….They would simply being doing their jobs.

The Fulton County Radicals

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With the exception of the Real Housewives of Orange County & Beverly Hills, I’ve made a real effort to watch less T.V. and read more. (Okay, I watch Bethenny Ever After…too)  Not-so-surprisingly, I’ve learned a lot more than  I have from my reality t.v. trash.  I’m always looking for new and different things to read-though I generally stay in the realm of politics and policy.  I recently was at Barnes & Noble and saw the Summer Reading Table. In an attempt to take a trip down Memory Lane, I saw the book “Rules for Radicals” by Saul Alinsky. Hmm…I thought, I never read that in high school.

My first thought was to turn the book over and read the back cover…

First published in 1971, Rules for Radicals  is Saul Alinsky’s impassioned counsel to young radicals on how to affect constructive social change and “know the difference between being a realistic radical and being a rhetorical one”…Like Thomas Paine before him, Alinsky was able to combine both in his person and his writing, the intensity of political engagement with an absolute insistence on rational political discourse and adherence to the American democratic tradition.”

What the ….Intrigued by what high schoolers these days are learning, I purchased the book, even though I cringed at the thought of buying a book that both Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton were influenced by (Is that who convinced her to wear those hideous suits?????).  I had no idea what that $14 would buy me…

Little did I know that the book would be full of offensive anti-Christian remarks, tips on how to destroy the middle class through fear and power and a How-To section on how to quietly start a revolution in our country.  I figured I’d save you all the cash (and the brain seizure) so you could know what children are reading in school.

First and foremost, even before the prologue, the book references Lucifer in a dedicational quote,

“Lest we not forget at least in an over the shoulder acknowledgement to the very first radical…the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom– Lucifer” –Saul Alinsky.

The following headers are the corresponding chapters of this stroke-inducing book.
The Purpose: Alinsky references The Prince by Machiavelli for the ‘Haves’ on how to hold power.  He said Rules for Radicals is for the ‘Have Nots’ on how to take it away
-He claims its “better to die on your feet than to live on your knees” and this means revolution.
-The General Welfare is always the top priority and Radicals need to have control
-Radicals must induce a moral revelation among the Haves–a paranoid fear.

Of Means and Ends
-“He who fears corruption, fears life” (p 25)
-Moral principles cover naked self-interest in the clothing of freedom
-“Means and ends goals must be phrased in terms like ‘Pursuit of Happiness’, ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ and “General Welfare” in order to be persuasive.

A Word About Words
-The idea of Power, must use it with conflict, cruelty and dishonesty; don’t strive to avoid force, conflict is NOT negative, “To know power and not fear it is essential to its’ constructive use and control (p 53).
-Compromise is a weakness and a betrayal of ideals
-The EGO of the organizer is more monumental than that of the leader of the HAVES; the EGO must be contagious.

The Education of an Organizer
-Alinsky details how he constructed a 15-month “organizer” program to teach people how to form a revolution. Members included Black Panthers and militant Indians; Alinksy also stresses the need for “on-the-job organizers” who will cause chaos in their own work place.
-Patience, Alinsky says, must be held when teaching the ‘unimaginative, limited students who are impatient, bored and inexcusably rude’.
-You must construct experiences for students
-Experiences of trying to educate organizers is nowhere near as successful as it needs to be as this process will take years.

Communication
-“Communication takes place when “they” understand what you’re trying to get across to them (p 81).
-People relate on common experiences…if you cannot find one that you relate on, CREATE one.
-Focus on the goal, manipulation, and wean the group away from the current status.
-Stay away from big issues that are complex; start small
-Secure absorption and understanding

In the Beginning
-“The job of the organizer is to manuever and bait the establishment so that it will publicly attack him as a ‘dangerous enemy’ (p 100)…Now the organizer has a “birth certificate” (ironic in the Barack Obama scenario, eh?) and can begin.
-If someone asks, ‘Who asked you to do this?’ or ‘Who told you to come here?’, answer, “You did!”

Tactics
-Never go outside the experiences of your people.
-Go outside the experience of your enemy, create confusion, chaos and finally their retreat.
-Remind them that they cannot live up to their own standards, just as “The Christian Church cannot live up to Christianity” (p 128).
-Remember that ridicule is a man’s most potent weapon, there is no retaliation.
-If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through.
-Alinsky encourages people to “paralyze the law” and evade responsibility.
-He uses an example of an event in a theater.  He encourages 100 people to come to the event with extremely smelly clothes, body odors and food in their belongings.  They won’t be breaking the law and therefore the police will be helpless (essentially, paralyzing the law) but the event will be cancelled and attention will be drawn to the drive of the group against middle-class institutions.

The Genesis of Tactic Proxy
–Establishes a difference between facts and history
-Introduces a nationwide organization, with a headquarters in Chicago or New York City

The Way Ahead
-“An organization for action upon white, middle class” (p 184)
-People must be reformed, become numb, bewildered, scared into silence
-Manifestation of a revolution in the corporate sector
-On college campuses (**Read One Party Classroom by David Horowitz for more information on how progressive ideology has been infiltrated into college campuses).

—-Are you mad yet??

That leaves us with ‘why?’.  Why is this book a required summer reading book in public schools where the learning environment should be FACT-BASED and without bias? Why is this book targeted toward high school students who are often at a crossroads seeking independence and are that much more malleable? Why aren’t parents reading what their children are being forced to read in school? Why aren’t parents mad that this extremism has penetrated the school system, and so openly that it goes unnoticed? And coming from a liberals viewpoint (gasp!) how is this book even allowed in schools with its frequent references to God, Moses, and its’ citations of verses from The Bible? Is it because it is in a negative light, God and Christians as the enemy?

Bottom  line: If you’d like your child to have the opportunity to become a radical revolutionary, enroll them in a Fulton County High School…they’ll be a radical before you know it….SERIOUSLY!

The Princess Boy

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My 5 and 6 year-old little friends, who I must say have more sense than a lot of 35 and 36 year-olds, love to read and so consequently, we take a lot of trips to the book store.

Every time we go, I find a few books that are disturbing or that aren’t a “good choice” for the girls. But the most disturbing book I have encountered to date was in the nonfiction section by Cheryl Kilodavis titled My Princess Boy-A Mom’s Story About a Young Boy Who Loves to Dress Up.

The story line goes a little bit like this

The little boy in the story loves to dress up in dresses, wear pink and even wears a pink dress to his own Birthday party.  The mom calls him (privately and publicly) “My Princess Boy” and details how hurt they both are when people laugh at him in public.  The final page reads “If you see him, will you laugh at him? Will you call him a name? WIll you play with him? Will you like him for who he is?”

Now, this book may seem simple and straight to the point…no bullying, accept people for who they are, etc. etc. But there are a couple of things that are VERY wrong with this.
1) The author is trying to imply that society will be, and SHOULD BE for that matter, accepting of boys dressing like girls.  I’d have to say this isn’t so true.  People do stare.  People do laugh.  People do judge. We are different genders with different labels. They are not intertwining.  It’s one thing for a little boy who has sister or lots of girl friends to be dressed up, play with dolls, etc etc…but no one is telling him that he should go out in public like that, or wear a dress to his Birthday party. It is not the norm to see a boy wearing a dress. To say otherwise isn’t promoting an idea of acceptance, it’s promoting ignorance.
2) The purpose of the final page is GUILT, and only guilt.  A young child reading this book would feel bad for not accepting a boy dressing like a girl.  With everything going on in the world, children are already targets of persuasion.  Institutions are constantly insisting that we not leave others out, accept one another, don’t judge a book by its’ cover, the list goes on.  Certainly in life, the goal is not to make others feel bad about who they are, but you cannot imply that we must accept the lifestyles other choose, just because they choose them.

Further, such heavy and biased issues don’t really belong in a children’s book. Issues such as this should be discussed in the home, based on religious (if applicable) and personal views of the family, not by a woman who is suggesting that society should be accepting of something simply because she accepts her own son in that context.

*While looking for a picture of the book to include on the blog, a Google search produced ‘My Princee Boy-The Website” It can be found here: http://www.myprincessboy.com/index.asp
It details the book and the mission of the author.  The real princess boy has made appearances on Joy Behar (surprise), the Today show and shows overseas….in his pink dress and a tutu.

“Our Time” Our Way

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It’s pretty difficult to find objective news on the go- especially with iPhone apps.  Unfortunately, I am often times reduced to reading the Huffington Post.  As painful as it is, I power through and remind myself of the source.  (I also just tell myself that it’s a nice way to stay up-to-date with what liberals are learning.)

That being said, I recently came across an article the other day that was truly disturbing.  “AARP For Under 30 Set Aims to Get Fair Share for Millennial Generation”.  Here is the general gist:
-The article complains of an average $24,000 in debt from student loans
-1/10 of people under 30 are “forced” to move back in with their parents
-1/6 of people under 30 are unemployed
The proposed solution is an organization called “Our Time”.  This organization “seeks to change corporate practice, create exclusive deals and spark a national conversation”.  It also seeks bargaining deals on health insurance and credit cards.  The president of this organization is 25.  He claims that it’s a “civil rights issue for our generation” and that we are simply “pawns” for lawmakers to leverage their legislation but nothing is actually happening.  Our Time uses humor in their advertising claiming “Living at Home Sucks!” as one of their many slogans.  The organization also claims that they were not able to vote in the 2010 election because they were too busy looking for a job.

Let me start by asking a few questions:
1) Why are you waiting for that big break? You don’t want to live at home, you want to be independent, wouldn’t you take the opportunity to do by taking any job you were offered, whether it be a grocery clerk or a Chick-fil-a janitor? There actually is a term for that…it’s called being underemployed.  You may have a college degree, a truck load of experience and an impressive resume, but you are forced to take a job that you are more than qualified for. Thousands of American’s are doing just this simply to make ends meet. Why are you above this?
2) Where does this sense of entitlement come from? Oh yes, the track record of our government allocating funds and incentives to certain demographics because they are in some way unequal or disadvantaged. The organization claims that they are NOT looking for a handout, but the direct mission statement says otherwise.  At a minimum, they are looking for special treatment with their request for breaks in health insurance and credit cards.
3) What happend to starting at the bottom and working your way to the top? Sure budgeting isn’t always fun and I’m certainly guilty of overextending myself every now and again, but who’s fault is that? Mine.  I know how much money I make and what my monthly expenses are.  It’s MY responsibility to make that work.

With a society that is obsessed with image, cars, the size of your home and the amount of money in your bank account, we’re not in a position to offer hand outs.  We are teaching society that they DESERVE things, and then we give it to them.  There is no motivation, no drive, no accountability.   People want a certain sandard of living but they are not willing to work for it, at least not without a little help.

The most frightening part of it all is that the government continues to grant different handouts to different demographics.  Before you know it, everyone will be entitled to something…But at what cost? Aside from taking from those who actually work for their money, we are teaching this generation, my generation, to be lazy and dependent upon the government. What good can come from this??

Civic Dootie

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March 11th, 2011, I get off work and head home. It’s sunny. A bit warm. I’m happy. Check my mailbox before I head to the apartment. Sift through, see some bills, coupons, a catalog and…OH NO, there it is….JURY SUMMONS!!!!! Like a knife through the heart, I knew this day would come. First I’m upset, “WHY ME!” Then I’m mad…”Couldn’t they have chosen someone who DIDN’T have a job?!” Then I see that I’m on standby status and can call the night before to ‘verify’ that I need to show up. I notify my boss but say a few quick prayers that I won’t have to go.

April 3rd, 2011- Ring ring. “Group 1 must report..” Dang it! I’m so ticked, I don’t even finish the rest of the recorded message. ::CLICK:: Off to find a cute outfit and an offensive book.

APRIL 4, 2011
5:45 am– ::HONK HONK:: The alarm starts to ring. So not ready for this day. Can I call in sick? SNOOZE.
6:00am– Okay, fine. I realize I must get up.
7:00am– An on time departure has me eating breakfast in the car, but missing all traffic on the expressway as I head into the city.
7:30am-I arrive at the ‘Orange Lot’ of Turner Field as instructed to do so on my jury summons. I am told I do not have to pay to park and a bus will be by to pick me up shortly. With my water bottle, book and fully-charged iPhone, I board the Fulton County Shuttle Bus. This little wonder, actually multiple wonders, drives back and forth, up and down MLK, Pryor and Hank Aaron delivering government employees (and jurors) to their destination.
7:32am-Arrive at the courthouse. Wait, what?! A two minute bus ride?? Pretty sure that is about a 5 minute walk. What a waste of tax dollars. STRIKE 1. As we’re walking in, we’re greeted by a rather friendly Fulton County Sheriff’s Officer in a clean brown uniform. He says, “Welcome to the Fulton County Courthouse!”. The lady next to me asks, “Is this where we come for jury duty?”. Ohh lady–Yes, this is where most people come for jury duty, but we’re taking you to the jail for asking a stupid question. Strike 2.
7:45am-I am through security and getting settled in a large room that seats 450. Whew, what a morning! The room starts to fill up quickly and I begin to people watch. After about 45 seconds I’m bored and delve into my book. Just then, a man with a raspy, but loud voice and stinky breath sits down next to me. He says, “First time?” “Yep.” I reply, going back to my book. He doesn’t stop, “I love coming here. It’s such a wonderful experience and I love fulfilling my civic duty. I hope I get picked!!” Better you than me, big guy.
8:30am– They lower the lights and turn on the projector. We watch a 20 minute video highlighting the specifics of jury duty like: 1) understanding that many chosen jurors cry because they understand how important their job is, and that is okay. 2) comprehending the idea that we can forfeit our $25 juror allowance and instead make a donation to the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library (PUH-LEEZ!!) and 3) are notified of the wi-fi passwords. Following the video, we hear a brief speech.
9:00am– SNACK BREAK! Wooo!! After all that work, we have a break.
9:30am-……….waiting to reconvene from snack break…..
10:00am– …..Waiting…Still nothing. Thankfully, the ladies behind me are having an intriguing conversation. One lady is detailing how she is glad she didn’t have to go to work today because she “needed some vacation time” and was able to sleep in. Vacation time? You call being held captive on the 7th floor of a government building vacation? Clearly we live very different lives.
11:00am– 60 jurors are called in. Roughly 240 remain. I think I’m starting to develop a twitch from listening to the people around me chomp on chips and slurp their drinks.
11:18am-Becoming restless, I decide to take a walk. Inevitably, I wind up at the vending machines. I think I’m in the mood for some peanut M&M’s. I wait in line and when it’s my turn, I step right up. I put my first quarter in when I’m bombarded by this beast of a woman. “EXCUSE YOU!” I say, as she puts her dollar in snatches the last peanut M&M’s.
UGH!!!!!!!! She walks away with my peanut M&M’s and without looking back.
11:28am-Another 50 people are called. Not me.
11:55am-LUNCH BREAK! Thank goodness. After reconvening our 9am snack break at 11:28, I was concerned we’d have to sit here too long without a break.
NOON-I venture to the cafeteria where I am greeted by fried chicken, beans and a line of 7 vending machines, two of which dispense different kinds of icecream treats.  I think to myself, ‘Michelle Obama would be MORTIFIED if she saw this food spread!” I skip the cafeteria and opt for a bag of cheez-its. Michelle may not like processed foods, but after the M&M tragedy, this was just what I needed and satisfying none-the-less.
1:00pm– Everyone returns from lunch…except the people who work there.
1:30pm– They announce that if we are still sitting in “this room”, there is a possibility we could be stuck here until 8 or 9pm.  Panic erupts in the room as if an imminent Earthquake was announced.
2:10pm- 100 people are released to go home. Not me.  We should hear another update around 3:00pm. I begin to itch.
3:00pm-……………………………………
3:15pm-…………………………………………………………..
3:37pm– I am released with a group of 14 people, the others left behind–SORRY SUCKERS! We all hussle to the elevator and hop on as quickly as we can. We scurry to the street. IT’S OVER!

…Not yet…I have to take that stupid, tax-payer funded bus back to the orange lot. So we head to the stop. And we wait. And wait….

4:00pm– The bus arrives. Apparently, this efficient government ease-mobile runs every 15 minutes during non-rush hour hours, and there’s a “possibility of it being late”. Whatever.  Take me to my car.
4:05pm– So happy to see my little car sitting in the parking lot, all covered in pollen. I hop in, roll the windows down and peel out without looking back.

I understand that we have a civic duty to participate in the legal justice system, and I am thankful that such a process exists. But I have to wonder…who is really on trial? The criminal? Or my mental ability to sustain a day like that?