Alas Babylon!
- Thread starter John Thomas
- Start date
Darby
Epochal Historian
Here, at least, I make posts, people read them and they ask questions. People like you. I also vote my philosophy and participate at the local level in my party.
As an example of voting my philosophy I have voted "No" on each and every school bond measure and every school budget increase measure for the past 15 years. Do I hate students and teachers? No. I've been both at one time or another. What I hate is government waste. California's schools are awash in funding. Unfortunately the same schools are awash in progresive socialist politics and the schools end up teaching anything but reading, writing, math and science. Lot's of money and even more students who have wasted 12 years of their lives in order to be technically illiterate. But they do know which hero of the people's socialist movement was responsible for X, Y & Z. Nice trivia but not so much so for getting a job.
I was "the government" 30 yeears of my life and was responsible for my unit's budget. Not once did I ever over draft my budget and every time I ended the year under budget - all the while getting everything my people needed to do their jobs. What's the single consistent criticism I received? Use it or lose it. Next year what you turn in this year will be absent from the budget. Fine with me because the budget was too big in the first place. Most buearucrats heed the criticism and go on a spending spree for unnecessary junk at the end of the year to protect their fiefdom.
ruthless
Rift Surfer
you raise a valid point. To some, ethics is just a fairy tale. Whats the u.s. Motto? United we stand, divided we fall. Whats so hard to understand? The world would be so much better iff everyoonne was like you. Sadly, they arent.
so whats the fix for that??
Darby
Epochal Historian
I'll only address the government waste side because it is more than a simple opinion.
Hiring practices for government employees has become two irksome things:
1) A way to extend the welfare state.
Give people government jobs, expand the government and then give more people government jobs. It sounds good up front; getting people a job. The backside, however, is your personal "backside" - "your" being the tax payer and persons charged with following the edicts of the government. Along the road to hiring ever more government employees the qualifications for the jobs have been eroded to the ridiculous. People are actually paid to provide job descriptions for each and every government job at every level of government. They generally do a good job. Someone else, however, comes along and writes the requirements to actually perform the job. Now comes the comedy. The requirements are written such that in far too many cases people are in no way qualified in the real world to do the job. But hired they are. And you, the tax payer, have to suffer their incompetence - lost checks when you pay your taxes, misfiled paperwork when you go down to find something important for a legal, personal or business purpose, employees who accrue one day of sick time per pay period and after 20 years of employment have no sick time on the books - which means, on average, they've never work a full 80 hour pay period in 20 years. I personally turned around a 13 year employee who, after working in three seperate departments, averaged 65 hours per 80 hour pay period. That's missing one day a week, week in and week out, for 13 years!And yes, I had a "gun" to the employee's head - the gun being the immenent possibility of being terminated. How had this been allowed to happen? Incompetent supervision while this employee was "growing up" in the organization. And this employee was not the worst in the organization - (s)he was just about average.
In many cases your average government employee is a mismatch for the job performed, lazy and could care less about service to the public.
The answer: reasonable requirements to get a government job that do not emtail political correctness. No one has a Constitutional, human or any other right to a government job. Government is not a workfare alternative to welfare as the progressive socialist would have you believe.
2) Government employee unions that do not answer to the employee union members, don't give a damned about the tax payers but care only about the progressive socialist establishment.
At one time I was involved in the decertification of an SEIU unit that represented my job class and forming a new collective bargining unit for my fellow employees (I was a bit farther down the food chain at that time). Public employee unions answer to the same elite that all other unions answer to especially if itis the SEIU. They make decisions to support political candidates without ever a hint of asking the rank and file what they desire. Have you ever seen an ad like this: "Five hundred Police Officers of the X Police Department support Y for Mayor"? The truth? Five to seven members of the Executive Board of Directors of the union support the candidate. They didn't ask the rank and file. It's a scam. In my case, as I became more vocal in the union and had garnered a wide and deep support base, my E-Board simply cut me out of the loop once I'd left office on the E-Board. Communication from the union leadership was transported via our "brown mail" system. Guess what? My brown mail, for five years, always seemed to arrive a few days after important meetings were held where decisions would be made. The E-Board knew that I would not support most of their positions, would ask a lot of pointed questions, demand direct answers and when all else failed use parliamentary procedures effectively to block their unilateral decisions. A couple of times of late notice of meetings and it was odd. Two years of the crap and it was a conspiracy. Five years and it was a bold message: don't attend "our" meetings - but do pay your dues. After five years it was actually moot because I'd to the administration level where I was no longer a part of the union represented line staff and supervisors.
Answer: Serious constraints on government unions. Government unions are not set up to be political support arms for candidates for office. But reality is no one will do the right thing and get the people who most stand to benefit from political elections, the union employees, out of the political process. Absent that, require that the E-Boards call for a vote of the membership to determine what, if any, candidates to support. And while we're on the subject o fgovernment unions, government employees should have no right to strike. Period. As it is, peace officers do not have the right to strike. The progressive socialist will not support this. When they are in dire need of something from the government while it is on strike they will just say, "Oh, well. Next month is OK." Sure they will. But if they don't have a personal need they'll let everyone else suffer for the collective.
ruthless
Rift Surfer
Man, you hit the nail on the head. While I read this, I kept asking myself, man, hhow do I fix this? MLK got killed with his way, and rosa parks changed a nation. A revolt isnt right, but neither is sitting here.our founding fathers had it right, a new nation of good people is the way, but even with the strictest system, sparta fell.
COMPUTING...
COMPUTING...
Skarpz
Quantum Scribe
Didn't the government way back when used to support themselves with separate jobs instead of what's going on now?
Darby
Epochal Historian
You're basically correct. There was a time not too long ago when elected officials didn't make the equivalent of a fulltime job salary. Today that's not so true even though the job itself may well still be less than a 40 hour work week.
RainmanTime
Super Moderator
1) Stop voting for Democrats (esp. socialists who disguise their motives like Obama).
2) Vote ONLY for those Republicans or Independents who will re-commit themselves to the Constitution, and to dismantling the massive, money-wasting scam that is now our Federal Government apparatus. (I know you have made your opinions known about what you think Republicans/conservatives were about...they were merely your opinions, and they are simply not reflective of the truth...what Darby has been telling you is what a TRUE conservative wants to bring our FED GOV back to again)
3) Understand why the 2nd Amendment is so important to preventing the government from becoming a tyranny on your personal freedoms (again, we have had discussions in the past I know you think "guns are not necessary", but history clearly falsifies your belief...and understand what Obama/Hillary are currently planning with the UN to further erode our 2nd Amendment rights)
4) Do NOT vote for, and publicly "out" ANY politician who would cede our national sovereignty on ANYTHING to the UN.
5) Oppose the UN. They are a bigger waster and launderer of our money than the US FED GOV. And all they want to do is subjugate and bring down the strength of the USA so they can institute a "One World Government"...one which they, of course, would control.
6) Understand the scams the UN runs on people, and that they ARE scams....like Global Warming...why is it always pushed by governments and politicians, and NOT by massive numbers of scientists? Why are the most vocal scientists who champion Global Warning also getting massive funds from both governments and the UN?
7) Do whatever you must to continue your education (on the hard sciences, not the political BS that the social democrats want to "re-educate" you on). Darby, myself, and Thomas have unceasingly encouraged you to do this, but you always find an excuse why you can't, or won't, or invent some reason about how doing so would somehow be a moral corruption to your pureness of soul, or whatever. Cut that crap out....the ONLY way you can change the world is by continually educating yourself. To get a FIRM hold on the hard sciences, either you need to go to an accredited university, or if you have the $ pay someone like myself or Darby (if we have the time available) to teach you. BUT IT WILL NOT BE EASY...nothing worthwhile ever is.
You are a naturally intelligent person. I have ALWAYS told you that, despite our differences...and NEVER ONCE have I ceased to encourage you to acquire more education. NOT ONCE. As a teacher of higher education, I know things you do not, and I specifically know how to identify people with natural intelligence and abilities to make it as engineers, and being the professional in this area that I am, I know how to encourage and coach them to that end. But when they resist me, and make up excuses, there is nothing *I* can do to change them in that regard.
But of respect for you and the abilities I see in you, Carey, I pledge to you that I will NEVER treat you any differently from any of my other gifted students who I have helped graduate with their BS in Aerospace Engineering. You may find my methods harsh, or "not for you". In that regard, you are free to not avail yourself of my suggestions and coachings, and continue on your chosen life path. But I can put you in touch with SEVERAL of my former students who are now graduated, and some who are juniors and becoming seniors, who will tell you EXACTLY why my ass-kicking worked for them, and why they RESPECT what I did for them, as much as they kicked and screamed (like you) as they were going thru the process.
You asked. I offered my answer.
Ray
Skarpz
Quantum Scribe
I am voting for Andrew D. Basiago in 2016 only because he proves time travel to be possible or this is to be the case.
But anyways, John Titor made me realize that the Governmental stance needs to change to something better and no president but a circular government instead of stand alone tree. That way there is no corruption.
But anyways, John Titor made me realize that the Governmental stance needs to change to something better and no president but a circular government instead of stand alone tree. That way there is no corruption.
ruthless
Rift Surfer
i fixed an air conditioner for the first time the other day.
it would run for a few minutes, then cut off. i decided the best option would be to tear the motor apart, and mill it down a bit. i knew an engineer designed this motor to fail, and replacement motors are 170 dollars. i put the motor back together and it ran better than ever before. the man i fixed it for was overjoyed and began to screw everything back together. a wire wouldnt reach, so he decided to pull every wire out. to make a long story short, i spent the next 6 hours rewiring it because the wiring diagram was not in the last bit accurate. i charged him nothing.
its the same old story nowadays. i fix everything in this neighborhood, and usually for nothing. its starting to make me dislike engineers. sure, they are just making things the way they are told, but i wonder, do they ever think of that old fella that could have died from the heat had i not come along?
right down the road is a volkswagen golf. the top and bottom a arm, plus the cv axle was sheared off the right side. there was no other damage to the car. are these the bright students you speak of that made these things?
things cant be made without engineers, and you say these people are good people, well, why have they never boycotted? why have they never banned together and said, "we will not cut corners in engineering. we will not let people die because the big wigs want to save a buck."
to summarize, money is a joke. if i need something, i get it. people look out for me because i look out for them. to some extent, you guys are the reason. you got me out of the house so long ago. now i make something of it. i get woke up around lunchtime everyday with something to fix.
i know i can go to school and have a degree in no time. its easier for me than anyone else. i also know that if i chose to, i could gain connections, make smart investments, attain a large wealth through deception, corrupt the powerful with said wealth, and in no time, i could attain my dream of becoming president. i also know that through trickery and deception, i could change the world for the better. yes, i am that dammed good. i also know that i would probably become pretty corrupt and any good i wished to do would be done through "damaged vision."
yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses...
the truth is, i would much rather be in the trenches making a difference. that way i never forget where i came from.
sure, theres things you know that i dont, but remember vice versa, that sentence works the same way. you know more about thermodynamics,math, and physics than i do. now, please understand this, and i promise im not being nasty: im not impressed. through the course of my life, i will accumulate more knowledge in these areas than you have. i do not place limits upon myself like you do. i know i can do anything.
when your badass amazing corvette breaks down on a cold winter night, that could be the end of you. not me. i am fit enough to keep going, where you would lie down. i can fix the problem, whereas you, the engineer, is clueless. AND ITS YOUR CAR!
the guy that mugs you could be your end because you put your faith in a handgun. if you had chosen to take self defense classes, you might have lived.
the regrets you have could end up defining you.
i understand you care, and i understand you can only see things your way. i am the same. i dont see what you see. you see mistakes i make, out of care, and i do the same. i only hope that you can see and respect that.
ill be turning 31 in a few days. it would be great if you, darby, and thomas showed up... and just accepted me for who i am, faults and all. lord knows i accept you guys, ego and all. i know that will never happen though. we are seperated by our class. no matter how much i want it, you'll always think you are better than me, ill think im better than you, and when we die, heres the kicker: life isnt a pissing contest.
if you want to be my friend and help me, just be my friend.i dont need a dad, or a life coach. i just need a friend. ive got a great head on my shoulders, and anyone who knows me, knows that. you dont have to tell me whats best, especially when you dont know. after youve spent time with me, talked with me, walked with me, then you can tell me whats best for me. until that time, its just an assumption based on your surroundings. not everyone lives in california. hell, ive never even been there.
i hope you understand everything ive said. not for me, for you.
p.s. just so you know, your entire house would have been built by now, plus i would have installed your solar array for a fraction of the price. all i would have asked for was a room, food, and smokes while i completed it. as an added benefit, your stuff would have been put together with pride and care. not to mention you would have had the funds to have it already finished. broke you say?
that never would have happened in a million years. you just cant take a risk like that. you would be devastated if something were to happen. you would second guess everything, your lifestyle would fade, and you would feel as if everything you worked for was for naught. this would make you become a bitter man with no zeal for life.
however, if my barn, which contains everything i own, were to burn to the ground, i would think it was hilarious, and it would renew my focus. as a kicker, the very next day i would own more than i did. i know people, good and bad.
ill tell you what. prove to me your mettle. prove to me that your only motive is for care of me and my future. heres the deal: you sell everything you own and give it all to a charity of your choosing. you then rejoin college and pursue a degree in another field you have always wanted to. if you do this, i will have no choice but to admit that your only motive is to help me. i will fully accept that you know what is best for me and follow your every word.
i know you would never do that, ever. you just dont care that much, and that is completely acceptable. i just want you to know that if i was you, and you were me, i would. because i always know i could rebuild, and someones life isnt worth all the money. all the money in the world still wont buy a soul.
i want you to send me a 1000 dollar check. thats nothing to you, yet the world to me. in return, i will send you a video of me burning it. lets see who is who, and lets publicize it in front of the world.
i would be tempted to spend it, out of greed. i would be tempted to feel like i got one over on you. sure i would. on some levels, i would feel like you deserve it for being such an egotistical asshole. but i never would.
admit you are human. admit you have made just as many mistakes as everyone else, maybe more. admit that you do not know whats best for anyone. admit that you are more greedy than you want to admit. admit that you float through life like everyone else. you aint special because you have a degree and house and all that crap. all that dies with you, and noone will care after. eventually even your name will be forgotten. what will be left though? what you passed on to the next generation.
what will you, ray hudson, leave us? will you impart you wisdom? free or for a price? will you impart your riches to your loved ones? and will you leave mean old aunt whatsherface from the will for that time she was drunk and came on to you? or.... or will you spend your time telling yourself what you want to hear? that you want me to go to school because you care about me? no, youre just smart and you think your way is best. thats what makes you complacent. your mental strength has become your downfall in my eyes. without a challenge, everyone gets jaded.
i love you like a brother and i always will. im sorry i called you a bitch, even though you were acting like one. it was wrong of me to say because you dont come where im from, and i forget that. i forget that we come from two different societies, two different qualities of life. even though we speak english, things get lost in the translation.
ive tried to tell you all of this before, and it fell on deaf ears. i hope for your sake, and your hapiness, you hear me and know i have your best interests in mind.
i have chosen each word carefully. i have prayed on my words. i find this to be perfect, mistakes and all.
if i did go to school and graduated, you would be prouder of that fact than i would. that scares me when you wouldnt lift a finger to help me in any way besides what you think is best: tough love. as a side note, my father tried that. well, i havent talked to that son of a bitch in 12 years, and i dont plan to, ever. he was wrong for what he did, and he will have to come to terms with that. wether he wants to accept that or not. i love him, but forcing my will upon him would just send him deeper into the abyss. i have no choice but to be me, or not be there. tough love is an idiotic thing used by idiotic people. it does not work on some. it just pushes them even further away. "tough love" is just another word for being a bully. i had to learn the hard way. my sister rarely speaks to me because i wanted to give her tough love. i didnt want her to go see our other sister, because she does bad drugs. i told her if she went to see her, she was not welcome back. to make a long story short, she slept with a guy at school that day, got expelled, and moved in with my sister. she only stayed a week before her husband started hitting on my sister. she ended up going on a whirlwind of a ride, and resented me for it all. of course i knew what was going to happen, but my pride and ego stood in the way. even i am human and had a journey to get to where i am.
i ask you to respect my decisions. i have thought alot more about my choice than you have. and i know i care about myself much more than you do. i also have more faith in myself than you do.
it would run for a few minutes, then cut off. i decided the best option would be to tear the motor apart, and mill it down a bit. i knew an engineer designed this motor to fail, and replacement motors are 170 dollars. i put the motor back together and it ran better than ever before. the man i fixed it for was overjoyed and began to screw everything back together. a wire wouldnt reach, so he decided to pull every wire out. to make a long story short, i spent the next 6 hours rewiring it because the wiring diagram was not in the last bit accurate. i charged him nothing.
its the same old story nowadays. i fix everything in this neighborhood, and usually for nothing. its starting to make me dislike engineers. sure, they are just making things the way they are told, but i wonder, do they ever think of that old fella that could have died from the heat had i not come along?
right down the road is a volkswagen golf. the top and bottom a arm, plus the cv axle was sheared off the right side. there was no other damage to the car. are these the bright students you speak of that made these things?
things cant be made without engineers, and you say these people are good people, well, why have they never boycotted? why have they never banned together and said, "we will not cut corners in engineering. we will not let people die because the big wigs want to save a buck."
to summarize, money is a joke. if i need something, i get it. people look out for me because i look out for them. to some extent, you guys are the reason. you got me out of the house so long ago. now i make something of it. i get woke up around lunchtime everyday with something to fix.
i know i can go to school and have a degree in no time. its easier for me than anyone else. i also know that if i chose to, i could gain connections, make smart investments, attain a large wealth through deception, corrupt the powerful with said wealth, and in no time, i could attain my dream of becoming president. i also know that through trickery and deception, i could change the world for the better. yes, i am that dammed good. i also know that i would probably become pretty corrupt and any good i wished to do would be done through "damaged vision."
yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses...
the truth is, i would much rather be in the trenches making a difference. that way i never forget where i came from.
sure, theres things you know that i dont, but remember vice versa, that sentence works the same way. you know more about thermodynamics,math, and physics than i do. now, please understand this, and i promise im not being nasty: im not impressed. through the course of my life, i will accumulate more knowledge in these areas than you have. i do not place limits upon myself like you do. i know i can do anything.
when your badass amazing corvette breaks down on a cold winter night, that could be the end of you. not me. i am fit enough to keep going, where you would lie down. i can fix the problem, whereas you, the engineer, is clueless. AND ITS YOUR CAR!
the guy that mugs you could be your end because you put your faith in a handgun. if you had chosen to take self defense classes, you might have lived.
the regrets you have could end up defining you.
i understand you care, and i understand you can only see things your way. i am the same. i dont see what you see. you see mistakes i make, out of care, and i do the same. i only hope that you can see and respect that.
ill be turning 31 in a few days. it would be great if you, darby, and thomas showed up... and just accepted me for who i am, faults and all. lord knows i accept you guys, ego and all. i know that will never happen though. we are seperated by our class. no matter how much i want it, you'll always think you are better than me, ill think im better than you, and when we die, heres the kicker: life isnt a pissing contest.
if you want to be my friend and help me, just be my friend.i dont need a dad, or a life coach. i just need a friend. ive got a great head on my shoulders, and anyone who knows me, knows that. you dont have to tell me whats best, especially when you dont know. after youve spent time with me, talked with me, walked with me, then you can tell me whats best for me. until that time, its just an assumption based on your surroundings. not everyone lives in california. hell, ive never even been there.
i hope you understand everything ive said. not for me, for you.
p.s. just so you know, your entire house would have been built by now, plus i would have installed your solar array for a fraction of the price. all i would have asked for was a room, food, and smokes while i completed it. as an added benefit, your stuff would have been put together with pride and care. not to mention you would have had the funds to have it already finished. broke you say?
that never would have happened in a million years. you just cant take a risk like that. you would be devastated if something were to happen. you would second guess everything, your lifestyle would fade, and you would feel as if everything you worked for was for naught. this would make you become a bitter man with no zeal for life.
however, if my barn, which contains everything i own, were to burn to the ground, i would think it was hilarious, and it would renew my focus. as a kicker, the very next day i would own more than i did. i know people, good and bad.
ill tell you what. prove to me your mettle. prove to me that your only motive is for care of me and my future. heres the deal: you sell everything you own and give it all to a charity of your choosing. you then rejoin college and pursue a degree in another field you have always wanted to. if you do this, i will have no choice but to admit that your only motive is to help me. i will fully accept that you know what is best for me and follow your every word.
i know you would never do that, ever. you just dont care that much, and that is completely acceptable. i just want you to know that if i was you, and you were me, i would. because i always know i could rebuild, and someones life isnt worth all the money. all the money in the world still wont buy a soul.
i want you to send me a 1000 dollar check. thats nothing to you, yet the world to me. in return, i will send you a video of me burning it. lets see who is who, and lets publicize it in front of the world.
i would be tempted to spend it, out of greed. i would be tempted to feel like i got one over on you. sure i would. on some levels, i would feel like you deserve it for being such an egotistical asshole. but i never would.
admit you are human. admit you have made just as many mistakes as everyone else, maybe more. admit that you do not know whats best for anyone. admit that you are more greedy than you want to admit. admit that you float through life like everyone else. you aint special because you have a degree and house and all that crap. all that dies with you, and noone will care after. eventually even your name will be forgotten. what will be left though? what you passed on to the next generation.
what will you, ray hudson, leave us? will you impart you wisdom? free or for a price? will you impart your riches to your loved ones? and will you leave mean old aunt whatsherface from the will for that time she was drunk and came on to you? or.... or will you spend your time telling yourself what you want to hear? that you want me to go to school because you care about me? no, youre just smart and you think your way is best. thats what makes you complacent. your mental strength has become your downfall in my eyes. without a challenge, everyone gets jaded.
i love you like a brother and i always will. im sorry i called you a bitch, even though you were acting like one. it was wrong of me to say because you dont come where im from, and i forget that. i forget that we come from two different societies, two different qualities of life. even though we speak english, things get lost in the translation.
ive tried to tell you all of this before, and it fell on deaf ears. i hope for your sake, and your hapiness, you hear me and know i have your best interests in mind.
i have chosen each word carefully. i have prayed on my words. i find this to be perfect, mistakes and all.
if i did go to school and graduated, you would be prouder of that fact than i would. that scares me when you wouldnt lift a finger to help me in any way besides what you think is best: tough love. as a side note, my father tried that. well, i havent talked to that son of a bitch in 12 years, and i dont plan to, ever. he was wrong for what he did, and he will have to come to terms with that. wether he wants to accept that or not. i love him, but forcing my will upon him would just send him deeper into the abyss. i have no choice but to be me, or not be there. tough love is an idiotic thing used by idiotic people. it does not work on some. it just pushes them even further away. "tough love" is just another word for being a bully. i had to learn the hard way. my sister rarely speaks to me because i wanted to give her tough love. i didnt want her to go see our other sister, because she does bad drugs. i told her if she went to see her, she was not welcome back. to make a long story short, she slept with a guy at school that day, got expelled, and moved in with my sister. she only stayed a week before her husband started hitting on my sister. she ended up going on a whirlwind of a ride, and resented me for it all. of course i knew what was going to happen, but my pride and ego stood in the way. even i am human and had a journey to get to where i am.
i ask you to respect my decisions. i have thought alot more about my choice than you have. and i know i care about myself much more than you do. i also have more faith in myself than you do.