This morning, I went to sit out on the carport
Just to look at the early dew as it turned to morning.
I Noticed a Bird chirping and cawing.

My thought was, Hey little bird why are you so talkative?
Why are you chirping and cawing so?
The bird continued to chirp and caw...
Flying back and forth, from tree to tree, roof to ground, and back around...

Then I became annoyed, I was like...crazy bird...
Don't you realize that nobody else is making up
all this noise, but you?
Do you hear ANY OTHER BIRDS
chirping and cawing?

And the little sucker just kept chirping and cawing,
Flying back and forth, from tree to tree, roof to ground, and back around...
I mean the sucker wouldn't quit!

So I began to rationalize well, maybe something is wrong.
...Maybe it's lost a baby,
I noticed an occasional bird or squirrel would pause as it passed through.
...or maybe he's the local news and warning service.

I don't know, but I got stirred... and I decided to jump up and walk
around to the front of the house, you know checking the grass, walkways,
and hedges as I go
...you know looking up at the roof,**blinding sun**,
...you know, because something had to be wrong.
the trees, just to check that nothing has happened.

And sure enough, NOTHING!!!
But that little sucker was STILL CHIRPING AND CAWING!!
Flying back and forth, from tree to tree, roof to ground, and back around...
STILL CHIRPING AND CAWING!

It got me to thinking,
...you know how philosophical I can get...
That bird is just being a bird...
See that little bird, didn't care who or what thought he was crazy!
He decided when he got up today, He was going to put his voice
OUT THERE!!
That this day, he's going to be the best bird he can be.
He is going to stir ALL LIVING CREATURES. Big and small
within earshot of it's voice!

And why can't we as God's greatest creation
see in ourselves that we have been holding silent,
long enough?

You see what makes us unique as human beings,
Is that we have the ability to rationalize our actions...
to make us feel good.

"I've got big dreams, but it's ok if I just settle where I am."
NO!!! We are supposed to dig in and FIGHT...right where we stand!
Fight for the opportunity of freedom and prosperity for our family!

Decide that this day, we will boldly grab the reins of the vision/dream
that to good Lord has given uw, that we will write it down, keep
it clear and near!

Decide like the little bird, that if no-one thinks we are crazy,
we are not dreaming LOUD ENOUGH!!!

Watching C-SPAN this morning and listening to the guests Mark Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies, Executive Director, and Laura Reiff, Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, Founder argue their perspectives on immigration and it's effect on labor and the economy reminded me of an email that's floating around....

"John Smith started the day early having set his Alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN ) for 6 a.m. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA ) Was perking, he shaved with his Electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG )...He put on a Dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA ), Designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE ) And Tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA ) After cooking his breakfast in his new Electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA ) He sat down with his Calculator (MADE IN MEXICO ) To see how much he could spend today. After setting his Watch (MADE IN TAIWAN ) To the radio (MADE IN INDIA ) He got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY ) Filled it with GAS (from Saudi Arabia ) And continued his search For a good paying AMERICAN JOB. At the end Of yet another discouraging And fruitless day Checking his Computer (Made In Malaysia ), Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL ) Poured himself a glass of Wine (MADE IN FRANCE ) And turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA ), And then wondered Why he can't find A good paying job In AMERICA ... "

You have the "anti-immigration" side represented by Mark Krikorian arguing that the problem is business wants cheap labor. Laura Reiff representing what they call "immigration reform" arguing that business wants workers that are documented.

This got me to thinking you know how philosophical I can get...

It is my belief that the anti-immigration movement really does not take into account the effect their stance has on small business. They are convincing the poor, the underpaid, and the racist, looking for any cause that legitimizes their prejudice, that undocumented workers are the problem. Isn't the problem really the number of jobs that corporate America will outsource and offshore at the first chance they get?

You have CEO's of major corporations like AT&T's Randall Stephenson, singing the same old tired song he's been singing for the past few years about not being able to find qualified workers for jobs he wants to bring back to the US. Well cry me a river! The truth is AT&T is more than likely "over qualifying" for these positions. Requiring a degree or certification for jobs that don't need either. This may also be an industry recruitment problem.



I do love one brilliant perspective of the "hate the immigrants" baitors, Krikorian's argument that it is their(corporate America) sheer lack of motivation to contribute to, let alone encourage the education of more Americans to meet these hard to find "qualifications" they are seeking.

I'll take Krikorian's argument a step further, and let you know from my own personal experience with the telecom giant. They have an education reimbursement program in place. To qualify you have to major in certain areas of study. Some I had never heard of and found them useless. Your request has to be approved by your immediate supervisor and then their supervisor. You are allowed to pursue this "education" or degree program provided it does not interfere with "the needs of the business". So, if your supervisor doesn't approve your degree program, or even worse finds, though it is a valid field of study, the courses would interfere with "the needs of the business," you get no reimbursement for pursuing the degree.

One of the most atrocious things AT&T does (which gives insight into how much they really value educated and certified workers) is internally qualify technicians to work on all their high-tech networks, routers, and switches, but have no program in place to grant technicians needed certifications(CCSE, NCSE, etc). So that when they are displaced, surplused, or just sick of their horrible supervisor, they can't easily go to work for a company that requires certification for the same duties performed at AT&T for 10 or 20 years.

They are also disingenuous because they will take highly qualified IT applicants and place them in mundane positions, using software to monitor, analyze, and troubleshoot networks. Instead of placing them in their area of expertise. Prior to working for AT&T, I worked for over seven years as a software developer and DBA(C, Visual Basic, SQL server, etc.). When they hired me they placed me in a call center testing circuits. How stupid of a placement was that? I didn't complain because the job still paid in the low to mid 50's, but I never understood why a company that was beginning to grow as an ISP and needed software developers would put someone like me in such a mediocre position. I was not the only one, there were several of us, web developers and the like.

It may have been because the placement agency in Little Rock, AR, under pressure from the top, desperate to avoid legal recourse and meet supply demands of a growing LEC and ISP market, wanted anyone computer literate. Most of the developer jobs were in other states. Then they have this whole weird "management/non-management" caste culture. So a tech(non-management) making more than "management" had to have this top secret special access code(PIN) to apply for the IT(management) jobs. I'm sure you can guess...which had to be approved by your supervisor then by their supervisor. Are you getting the pattern? Get a supervisor that wants to hold you in their organization, and you will be stuck there until you quit or a new manager comes along.

Being an ambitious person, this was my overall problem with AT&T. Performers get praise and punishment. No chance at promotion. The inside joke amongst craft was if you want to go places with AT&T give low performance and perfect attendance (or have a good friend/relative in management). No one was holding the reigns of some of their rogue managers. They have management, that's been there 20 or more years, they know is a problem but refuse to eliminate. Being highly skilled and educated, I did what a lot of people would be afraid to do. I resigned. I could not take the horrible management team in the high volume call center ANY LONGER!! I'll gladly testify, if it had not been for the manager I would still be there.

Like a lot of former AT&T employees, I get lots of calls from recruiters to fill their contract positions. That experience with such a horrible person left a bad taste in my mouth. Now I know, a lot of people that have a passionate dislike for their former employer, it's not the company it's the BAD management.

"People don't leave bad jobs, they leave bad management."

And there are plenty of articles to support this...
MSNBC, Impact, Even in the UK

Bush to Announce Mortgage Bail Out Plan

I'm sure you've heard about it.
The mortgage industry is the cause of the inconsistency in the market.

So all the financial talking heads are riding the Bush administration to save them from the risky investments of their obsessive greed.

First they role out Paulson with the "presolicitation"...all under the pretense that this is going to benefit the consumer.

So we sittin' our simple minded asses back happy we MAY avoid foreclosure.

This got me to thinkin...

You know how philisophocal I can get....

I personally have paid over $50,000 worth of mortgage payments over the last four years.
I have null equity... my principal balance has not shrank it has reversed...the only equity I have gained is through increased property value.

I know that I am not alone here.

The Consumer so dayum happy our dumb asses done forgot... the first years the bank applies the majority of our payments towards the interest while giving the buyer very miniscul principal credit.

Let me get this straight... the big greedy ass banks bought my mortgage along with several hundred others for lets say 60-70% of the original loan amount...while I was still held liable for lets say 100% of the original loan amount + interst....

....the banks have been collecting my majority interst payments to the tune of $50,000 over the last four years while increasing my principal balance $12,000...(which is $62,000 for the banks)...

Let's do the math here....

Say...

I bought for $132,000 + $12,000(bal increase) = $144,000(I owe the bank)

Bank bought for $92,400(70% org val) - $50,000(payments made) = $42,400(banks possible loss)

Oh...somebody please remind the readers, whats the purpose of that phuggin' mortgage insurance?

$166,000(house value/my loss) - $42,400(bank loss) = $123,600(bank wins)

The banks get pmi/mip... their loss is covered on the majority of foreclosed properties.

If you happen to live in an area, even with foreclosures where there is appreciating home value.

Even at auction....the bank comes out a winner.

What do you get?

Maybe somebody out there looking at this disparity thinks this is ok.

This is capitalism at its best.

How does this benefit the consumer?

Here's a plan...

If they really want to benefit the consumer: Ease up the second mortgage or refinance qualifications to allow those with equity to tap into that equity to meet past due mortgage balances and pay off any other debt the equity will cover. Have a period of interest only payments followed by a period of majority principal - partial interest payments. where

We tout and promote capitalism. At a time when people are working to acquire net worth, it is a cruel and unjust system that would allow consumers with equity in a property to walk away BROKE.

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On C-span:

FROM THE SENATE: Hearing on Robert Gates The Senate Armed Services Cmte. holds an open hearing on the nom-ination of Robert Gates to replace Donald Rumsfeld as Sec. of De-fense. CIA director from 1991-93 under Presidents Bush & Clinton, Gates is currently President of Texas A&M University. Senators are expected to call for a new Iraq strategy during the hearing. Click here for C-Span Live!

Get News from all 50 states!

C-Span has compiled headlines with links to your states political news. Check it out!

Can't talk politics and leave out this one!
Extra checks on voting machines rejected (AP)

Did you vote electronically this year?

I have to admit as much of a techno geek as I am. I did not trust the e-voting machines ability to handle a recount.

Thinking of that old sign "To err is human, but it takes a computer to really screw up something"

Keep up with the markets here on CNBC

Asian Markets Rebound on U.S. Gains, Good Chip Data
Pfizer CEO Plans Acquisitions After Failure of Cholesterol Drug

Do you know what your dollar is worth?

U.S. Dollar Nears 20-Month Lows Ahead of Interest Rate Decisions

Are more banking and finance mergers coming?

Bank of New York to Buy Mellon Financial for $16.5 Billion

Senate Report, Iraq PreWar Intel, Russert Armitage Novak & More

All the hype today is about the Senate Intelligence committee report that confirms after years of investigating that the information the Bush Admin used to go to war in Iraq was faulty.

I'll agree with Tony Snow here.... BIG SURPRISE!
Though, as press secretary I am disappointed in Tony.
He appears to have surcom to the talking points. I am yet to hear him have an independent voice. I know he has to be in lockstep with the White House. Just sayin' he's starting to sound more and more scripted and overly defensive.

Just always have to wonder about the kinda people that can shrug off affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, soldiers, families, and Americans because they made horrible decisions based on inaccurate intelligence.

The kinda people that continue to show no remorse, no pause for mental faculty, no sensitivity, no responsibility.

And even more you have to wonder about the people that defend them.

Psychotics!

Willingly or unwillingly, even the state has to pay restitution when it has wrongly prosecuted.

I am looking for these helluva men these brainwashed conservative bimbo's like Ann Coulter keep ranting and raving about. Right now they are looking like a bunch of punk ass bitches suffering from little man syndrome.

The other story I'm not digesting very well is all the hype around the Armitage confession.

Do you people not watch Meet The Press?

You should check out the August 27, 2006 transcript.

Russert asks Robert Novak to confirm the Newsweek story.

Now I may have misinterpreted ... but Novak appears to say that his source has not revealed himself?

Link to transcript

MR. RUSSERT: Before we go, Robert Novak, the story that will not go away. Newsweek today has a story that on the morning of October 1, ‘03, “Secretary of State Colin Powell received an urgent phone call from his No. 2” Richard Armitage.
“Armitage had been at home reading the newspaper,” a column by one Robert Novak. “Months earlier Novak had caused a huge stir when he revealed that Valerie Plame, wife of Iraq-war critic Joseph Wilson, was a CIA officer.
“Ever since, Washington had been trying to find out who leaked the information to Novak. ... Now in a second column, Novak provided a tantalizing clue: his primary source, he wrote, was a ‘senior administration official’ who was ‘not a partisan gunslinger.’ Armitage was shaken. After reading the column, he knew immediately who the leaker was. On the phone with Powell that morning morning, Armitage was ‘in deep distress,’ says a source directly familiar with the conversation.” “‘I’m sure he’s talking about me.’”
The article goes on to quote State Department Intelligence Chief Carl Ford as saying Armitage said, “I’m afraid I’m the guy who may have caused all this,” and that he had met with one Robert Novak on July 8, Mr. Armitage did. Are you now prepared to say, confirm Newsweek that Richard Armitage was one of your sources?
MR. NOVAK: I told Mr. Isikoff, the investigator—he’s a very good investigative reporter, by the way—but I told him that I do not identify my sources on any subject if they’re on a confidential basis until they identify themselves. I don’t say that somebody was or wasn’t. I’m going to say one thing, though, I haven’t said before. And that is that I believe that the time has way passed for my source to identify himself.

Talking points lead to Stupid ?

While watching some of the spinmeisters on FOX and hearing similar complaints from some of the "conservative" talk-show radio listeners that call into C-Span going on and on with the talking points memo they received. Apperently directing them to drive the conversation on Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and not a valid political organization in Lebannon, I came up with this:

Stupid questions Americans shouldn't ask about Hezbollah:

Q) Why does Hezbollah fly/have their own flag?

There are hundreds more stupid questions Americans will ask that I'm sure I'll have to address but for now I'll start with this one.

A) Why do the 50 US states each have their own flag?