Happy New Year

Happy New Year

from

Constable Crab, Tanya, Tomasito

and Maggie the Part-time Cat!


...

Israel vs Gaza

Bloody Snowflake (Tomasito photo)


The angry young men in Gaza
led by their usual old fools
have prodded with their rocket attacks

the armed young men in Israel
led by their usual old fools
with their air force and tanks

into another war--

which is

business as usual in the middle east.


Tomasito, 2008

Miner's Lettuce

( Tanya Photo )

Miner's Lettuce

It has been raining as it is supposed to do here in Northern California in December. There is snow on the hilltops and on the mountains we can see from the Sacramento River Trail.

It is cold enough for parkas and long johns, heavy gloves and woolly caps.

But when the sun comes out as it occasionally does--it is pretty nice. The spring plants--the mosses and the lichen and now the leafy things--are making their annual comeback!

One of the best--that we look for every year when we are in this climate--is the good old Miner's Lettuce--and it has never let us down!

Pictured above, this little leafy plant is a tasty edible!

It won't last long--but while it does--yummy!

It especially good with cold morning raindrops right on the little green leaf for sauce!

Tomasito, 2008


...

Bestest Christmas

No! (Tomasito photo)

Merry Christmas !

Tomasito, 2008


...

Christmas Eve Grampus Observed

Grampus Observed in America. (Tanya photo)

This Forest Grampus was recently observed and photographed at the Turtle Bay Arboretum in Redding California.

A Forest Grampus is seldom or never seen unleashed and without his usual caretaking spirit, Saint Nickolaus.

The origin of the Grampus is believed to be the Schwartzwald or Bavarian portions of Germany.

It is not known if this Grampus is in America to stay--is an alien--or if it has applied for the usual USA Fairy-tale Citizenship.

Tomasito, 2008

...

Merry Solstice!

A couple of days we had the shortest day of the year: December 21, also known as Winter Slstice. Our ancestors celebrated solstices and equinoxes a great deal more than we do. perhaps, they still felt the affinity with nature and were more attuned to the grand universal scale of things of which the change of seasons is the most obvious.

Perhaps we should start with changing our calendar: divide the seasons accordong to the solstices and equinoxes.

So let us celebrate the winter solstice. After all, it means we shall have three holidays in the row instead of two. The jolly month of December.

Keswick Dam

Keswick Dam on the Sacramento River. (Tanya photo)

Creepy Electric Generation

Here's a photo of one of the humongous dams on the Sacramento River just a bit upstream from Redding CA--dams which are supposed to provide cheap electricity for local residents.

I use spooky colors to emphasize the creepy nature of these dams (Shasta Dam and Keswick Dam) which have messed up the environment of this area so thoroughly.

This area was also pretty much wrecked by placer gold mining a few years earlier--the top soil was pretty much washed away to get at the gold in them thar hills. (And by the way the tap water in this town still has a bit of arsenic in it left over from the mining days --just for flavor.)

You know--considering what terrific damage was wrought by our granddaddies around here--it is amazing that any of us can still live here!

Apparently greed has always been central to the way of life for the European-American folks in Redding, CA.

Tomasito, 2008


...

Fungus

Fungus! (Photo by Tomasito)

Fungus!

The weather here in Redding, CA has been COLD and WET!

Not too good for humans like us, renting all electric apartments, who can't afford the high price of electric heat--but GREAT for the native plants we pass almost every day on the Sacramento River Trail.

The rain has started the wonderful annual sprouting of bright green grasses and plants and has brought back to life some almost dead forms like the fungus in the photo above.

It is almost the shortest day of the year--but lots of local life forms are springing back to life--again!

Tomasito, 2008

...

TEST

Greed in Redding CA

Electric power from Shasta Dam a few miles north of Redding, CA. (Tanya photo)


Greed in Redding, CA

The Trend is still Greed in Redding, CA.

From the Internet comments on the local newspaper article concerning the 15% price increase by the local power company--I have discovered that the company claims that residents of Redding use twice as much energy as those served by PGE--the energy company which serves much of the rest of California.

Why should Redding people use twice as much energy as people in other towns!

One thing we have noticed is that we pay twice as much but use far less electricity than we used in other towns we have lived in which were served by PGE.

There is obviously some serious lying going on in high places in this little town!

As I understand it--energy prices were always supposed to be LESS here because most of the power comes from the generators at the Shasta Dam a few miles north of town.

Instead we pay far more than the customers of PGE.

But there doesn't seem to be any way to stop this gouging!

Greed will get you nothing good City Council of Redding CA.

Tomasito, 2008


...

Raise Price of Electric Power

Brrraak! Redding City Council Decision!

I am sorry to report that the "Trend of the Day" here in Redding CA is Greed as Usual.

The Redding city council voted yesterday to raise the price of electricity 15 %--seven and a half starting in January 2009 and seven and a half in January of 2010--and they took this unfortunate action after listening to the angry complaints of residents against the raise for a couple of hours.

The man in charge said that if another California energy company (PGE) was providing the electricity, it would be 60% higher. Oddly enough, when we moved here last year from a town served by PGE, we were shocked by the difference in price--but we were shocked because the price here is the highest we have ever paid in California for power!

This seems to me to be a very lousy time for the huge increase in price.

Unemployment is already very high here and businesses are failing right and left.

It is very certain that things will get much worse here in Redding.

People need a little hope right now instead of another slap in the face!

Bad news, bad news, Redding City Council.

There will be fewer residents here to pay your extortion very soon.

Tomasito, 2008


...

Mr. Coffee Pot

Chinese Mr. Coffee

Small appliances seem to last about a year and then go haywire these days.

Our electric coffee maker stopped making coffee or anything else a couple of weeks ago.

Since we haven't been making money for a year or so I thought maybe we could tough it out boiling cowboy coffee in a stew pot--since our electric stove still works--but the java was not pretty good.

I would forget to turn the heat off and the coffee would boil down to syrup and then I would add tap water and the brew would taste pretty weird.

So a couple of days ago we went shopping for a new electric coffee pot.

"Mr. Coffee" is a good name for a pot and the price was under twenty dollars so we splurged and brought it home.

When we unwrapped it I noticed that it was made in China as almost everything else is these days.

Before Nixon went to China--nothing in the USA--was made in China. Then there was a trickle of Chinese wicker baskets--and NOW everything!

By golly--EVERYTHING is OUTSOURCED!!!

No wonder there is no work for us!

The American manufacturers have exported all our jobs!

And kept the money right in the ownership class!~

I can still remember when "Made in the USA" on a coffee machine or dishwasher or a screwdriver or car--meant "QUALITY".

People in other countries admired "American Know-how".

We had better get back to that old ethic mighty quick--or there is going to be a long dry time in this country!

Because that Chinese "Mr. Coffee" pot makes real good coffee!

Tomasito, 2008



...

Defining Bush Jr. Presidency

...

UAW will not budge

Better BUCKLE UP! Bumpy Road Ahead! (Tomasito photo)

UAW Won't Knuckle Under!

(NEWS ITEM: The United Auto Workers union will not give up anything!

They insist on continuing on the way they are now and want the US government—the taxpayers--(car owners or not) to “bail them out” with billions of dollars to continue their current lifestyle.)

...

Oh, UAW!

WON'T you knuckle under?!

All of your American auto workers are going to have to change their ways soon anyway—and you union leaders, you abject spongers on the real workers—are going to have to change your lavish lifestyles too.

You WON'T knuckle under and you'll kill the auto industry in the country where it all started—the Good Old USA!

Well, nothing lasts forever and the American auto workers, the envy of working stiffs around the world for their wonderfully high salaries, nice vacations with pay, cushy retirements and their excellent medical benefits --(Oh, won't their doctors be sorry to lose all that MONEY?!)-- will have to learn to do with less in their lifestyles.

Oh the MALL closures! The acres of stuff unbought for lack of funds! The tons of junk left on the store shelves! The Chinese merchants wondering why the Americans are not buying their poorly made, guaranteed to wear out quickly, rubbish!

Oh, the HOUSE foreclosures! And the ballooning credit card debt and the...oh, my!

I guess American workers, even pampered auto workers. are going to have to realize that they are not so very special after all.

The working stiffs of Guatemala and India and Korea, Mexico, Thailand and possibly even Switzerland are all just about alike. Sort of like you and me.

We might as well get used to the idea.

Tomasito, 2008

...

The Value of a House

The Value of a House

-or-
Bailing Out a Leaky Boat

What is the value of a house?

I am not talking about the advertiser's cozy "home" that so many people are being evicted from because they can't pay their incredible mortgage.

Poor people.

Or ARE they?

Most of these home owners bought their home for a hugely inflated price with the intention of SELLING it to some other fool for a HIGHER price in just a few months!

These things NEVER were "homes"--they were just temporary expensive doodads to live in until their "owners" could unload them for a BIG PROFIT!

Reread the GET RICK QUICK books being cranked out by HOW TO MAKE A FORTUNE IN REAL ESTATE maestros of the real estate bubble era if you can without throwing up.

Abject lessons in GREED they are.

A house is a HOUSE! Not a "home"!

A house is a shelter--hopefully well enough built to keep you dry in a rainstorm and warm when the snow piles up around you.

The McMansions these weeping "homeowners" are being evicted from by the thousand were never meant to be lived in--they were built to be sold for a profit as often and as quickly as possible.

Do we HAVE to feel sorry for these greed-driven nincompoops?

They are only experiencing their karma--as they must in this life. And as all of us will anyway!

Bail 'em out?

Some foolishness cannot be "bailed out" and SOME leaky boats WILL sink.

Tomasito, 2008



...

Medical Greed Operation

Tomasito (Tanya photo)

Operation for Medical Greed?

Of all the greed-driven jobs in this greed-driven land, I believe the job of the "medical professional" takes the cake.

Traditionally, American used car sharks were the prize winners--but for the last dozen years or so, doctors and their minions have surged ahead.

This morning President-elect Obama sort of made it an official pronouncement when he said that the economic recovery of the country could only be solved by sorting out the "crisis in health care" first. (Whatever that means.)

First of all--it is NOT "health care" that IS the problem. It is sickness care.

Doctors, in their present form, have almost nothing to do with health.

They have everything to do with money.

Sickness workers expect us (the common herd) to bow, kiss their feet, respect their extravagant needs and, most of all, to PAY for their exalted life-style.

In every town and village in this land, the house on the hill is the domicile of The Doctor. The local country club and the golf course simply could not survive without the patronage of The Doctor.

And for sure, YOU cannot PAY your medical bills without buying INSURANCE!

INSURANCE which INSURES that the DOCTORS will continue to live as they should--at the tippity-top of society.

And if the citizen tax-payers of this land are only taught to pay for their medical insurance with their TAXES--the doctors will have everything their education, dignity and greed requires: the power, prestige and money of the US government to support their cosy "health care" racket.

Tomasito, 2008


...

Gasoline Prices Again

...Cars/Gas/Cars/Gas/Cars/Gas/Cars/Gas/Cars/Gas...


Gasoline Prices--The Great "WHY?"

I am still wondering WHY the gasoline prices, which were climbing ever higher a month ago and which over the summer months had reached over four dollars a gallon around here (Redding, California) have SUDDENLY crashed!

No one I have read about or talked to has any reasonable idea about WHY this bizarre turnaround happened.

Now that the prices are lower again--no one seems to want to remember or even CARE about the prices of last summer!

Too many of the businesses in this area raised their own prices--not by pennies, but by 25 or 30 per cent--with the excuse that the "energy prices" which they had to pay--forced them to raise their own prices to stay in business. Well, the gasoline prices are lower again--but none of the businesses that raised THEIR prices (in self defense) have lowered them--instead they are just counting their nice profit!

This kind of greed is probably going to cause us more and more trouble until we learn not to be so much so.

Tomasito, 2008


...

Letter from Ireland

Castlebaldwin donkey, Ireland

I recently received the following letter from an old friend in Ireland.

It brought home to me--more strongly than ever the global scope of the economic disaster:

Hi Tom,

Ireland is no longer the Ireland you knew.

Massive building of both houses and industrial/retail estates everywhere but particularly in the West. Now many are abandoned--no money left to finish and many of those finished are unoccupied.

The housing boom was very damaging all round as of course many others rode on the back of the wave, naively believing it would continue forever.

The Irish government along with many individuals have been extravagant, irresponsible and even downright crooked, frittering money before putting in a good infrastructure.

Yes, many roads have been improved and not all changes
are bad, but it was as if there was no understanding that one day the
bubble would burst and everything would come crashing down around us.

In the EU Spain and Ireland are suffering the worst now, simply
because they had the biggest building booms over the last ten years.
Ireland also got used to massive hand-outs from the EU and now it's
our turn to hand out to lesser well off States in the new EU, there's
a lot of groaning and begrudging.

Our unemployment rate is rising rapidly too - and don't forget the
weather is AWFUL! Seems to me Saudi and China are currently on top
and I would watch out for Brazil - a huge country loaded with natural
resources that the rest of world may just be wanting in the not too
distant future (just my assessment!).

It is definitely a time for re-organizing and re-thinking the greed and thoughtless pursuit of the false security of wealth--at the cost of all other human needs.

Tomasito, 2008

...

Twitter

I finally understood what twitter is all about. It's basically cross between a chatroom and forum: you tell the world what you are doing and they comment on it. You can have discussions with your friends too and you can update your Twitter as often as you want. Good idea but unfortunately not of much use to me at my present stage. I am not very good at socializing.

Looks like the latest rage now. Though you can always use Skype or even a Yahoo messenger. I guess we are going to see the new stuff coming up all the time even if it's a basic equivalent of the old things.

Anyway. Do not follow me on Twitter.

Human Resources

"David" by Michaelangelo

Human Resources

When I returned to the USA from a long stay in Russia and Europe I went looking for work.

I had chosen San Diego as a residence because I had good memories of the city from my childhood.

When I was a boy my family from Albuquerque would visit my Uncle Cal's family in San Diego and I remembered the fun of exploring the tidal flats and wetlands and playing in the sand at La Jolla Beach.

I had not visited San Diego much since—and was I ever surprised when I got there!

The mud flats were gone—dredged and built up into high-class neighborhoods and one big park!

La Jolla Beach was a crowded zoo of hotels, fast food cafes, tee-shirt and “beach wear” shops and people.

LOTS of people.

I had been a teacher long before in Northern California and I had been teaching at a university in Vladivostok so I thought it would be a simple matter to find work teaching.

I took a bus to San Diego State University and went looking for the “Employment Office”.

Someone directed me to the “Human Resources” office.

I had been working in other things than teaching for years in America—little things like fixing leaky roofs and minding horses—and I had never heard the term human resources before.

I thought it was some kind of a joke—so I introduced myself to the secretary in the office as a “human resource”.

No laugh. No smile. No reaction at all.

I was a human resource to her!

I had always thought that humans were some kind of special thinking creature—something with spiritual and social value—but here I was in the very heart of higher learning—The University of California—discovering that human beings like myself—maybe especially like myself—a nobody off the street—were considered “human resources”.

I had always thought “resources” were the materials you used in a factory like coal in a steel mill or trees in a paper mill—but never human beings!

Human beings—even the dumbest of dumbquots—were human beings after all! A little less than angels perhaps but certainly more than sand for cement!

I was disgusted then and I am disgusted now—especially now since there are no jobs for anyone—skilled or unskilled.

I may be unemployed, and just another grain of sand on the beach--but I am not just a “human resource”!

I am a human being.

Tomasito, 2008

...

Connections

Spring Madrone: Tomasito photo

Connections

I depend on you; you depend on me,

They depend on us, for their reality.

We depend on them, as land depends on sea,

As light depends on dark, as stone depends on tree.

All together, we, in clear dependency;

I depend on you—you depend on me.

Tomasito, 2008

...

Mumbai Tragedy

Tanya photo


Mumbai, India Tragedy

It is such a sad thing that some young men are trained and conditioned to believe that murdering as many innocent people as possible in a short time will make them heroic and advance some cause.

Tomasito, 2008


...

Bloggah!

The Blogger Song

Oh, the candidate's a blogger, yes, a well-known blogger,
Oh, the candidate's a blogger, yes, and I'm a blogger too.
He'll meet you and treat you and ask you for your vote,
But look out, boys, he's a-bloggin’ for your vote.

We're all a-bloggin’,
Bloggin’, bloggin’, bloggin’,
Oh, we're all a-bloggin’ out the way through the world.

Oh, the preacher, he's a blogger, yes, a well-known blogger,
Oh, the preacher, he's a blogger, yes, and I'm a blogger, too.
He'll preach the gospel and tell you of your crimes,
But look out, boys, he's bloggin’ for your dimes.

Oh, the merchant, he's a blogger, yes, a well-known blogger,
Oh, the merchant, he's a blogger, yes, and I'm a blogger, too.
He'll sell you goods at double the price,
But when you go to pay him you'll have to pay him twice.

Oh, the sheriff, he's a blogger, yes, a well-known blogger,
Oh, the sheriff, he's a blogger, yes, and I'm a blogger, too.
He'll act like a friend and a mighty fine man,
But look out, boys, he'll put you in the can.

Oh, the general, he's a blogger, yes, a well-known blogger,
Oh the general, he's a blogger, yes, and I'm a blogger, too.
He'll march you up and he'll march you down,
But look out, boys, he'll put you under ground.

Oh, the lover is a blogger, yes, a well-known blogger,
Oh, the lover is a blogger, yes, and I'm a blogger, too.
He'll hug you and kiss you and call you his bride,
But look out, girls, he's telling you a lie.

Carmaker Management Salaries

The Midas Touch?

Carmaker Manager's Shameful Salaries

I have been more or less shocked by the attitude of the top management of several of the big American automobile manufactures who have recently come to Washington DC to demand a huge bail-out of their failing businesses.

Their bargaining leverage has been the assurance that if the taxpayers of this country do not come up with a pile of money to save them—they will make sure that their companies will crash—the disemployed workers will be on the streets and the millions of people in America and around the world who depend on the auto trade will also lose their livelihood.

These managers do not see this as the simple case of blackmail that it is.

I can remember a time not so long ago when the leadership of a company did all they could to keep the business profitable—to hold on to their best employees with bonuses, medical and retirement plans, and to keep their own salaries in line with the profits of the business.

Well this old-fashioned model has certainly gone out the window.

I read recently that the top leadership of the big auto makers was making a salary of thirteen million dollars a year.

For shame!

Most of us wage slaves could easily live several lifetimes on that much money.

How much ice cream can you eat anyway?

If the US car manufacturers cannot compete they should get out of the business —no amount of government subsidies will help—that will only prolong the agony!

As for those “managers” who get the millions of dollars a year for wages...

Well, what do YOU think they deserve?

Tomasito, 2008

...

Happy Thanksgiving

!Happy Thanksgiving!

May your day be peaceful and joyful!

Tomasito, 2008

...

Is Islam The Answer?

Mosque of the Prophet, Medina, Saudi Arabia

Is Islam “The Answer”?

Q: What do Islamic terrorists want?

A: Islamic terrorists want all the people in the world to convert to the religion of Islam.

Q: If everyone was Moslem, would the world be a better place in which to live?

A: From the Moslem point of view, of course, it would.

Western women, especially, might not be particularly comfortable living in a Moslem world, since they have become accustomed to being treated equally with males before the law and have far more independence and educational opportunities than are allowed women in the highly paternalistic life style of the Moslem world.

Moslem philosophy allows no independent thought at all since everything necessary for life and thought has been stated once and for all time by the prophet. Everyone MUST believe the same things in exactly the same way which may eventually cause serious psychological, artistic, cultural and scientific limitations, though, of course, if everyone WAS a Moslem there would be no contrasting system so these limitations would either not be apparent or could not exactly exist..

Q: What does Islam offer?

A Islam offers a carefully controlled, disciplined and systematic way of life and, hopefully, paradise after death.

Moslem fundamentalists are famous for ruthless, self righteous and intolerant behavior such as suicide attacks which appeal to those personalities who find satisfaction and purpose in the belief that they are “right” and that others are “wrong”. Islam offers to these types a role to play in which they can believe themselves to be noble fighters in a godly cause even if they are actually engaged in the most inhuman and perverse crimes and the slaughter of innocents.

Those Moslems who die by suicide in the struggle against non-Moslems, (unbelievers), or who perish fighting for the cause of Islam are assured of attaining instant paradise after death. The Moslem notion of paradise, which features sexual bliss for men, seems to appeal especially to young males who are denied any normal outlet for their sexual urges by the strictly disciplined anti-sexual mores of the faith.

Q: Is the Christian Way superior to the Moslem Way?

A: There is, at present, no nation to my knowledge which espouses Christianity as a sole national religion. There is a small autonomous region called “Holy Mountain” in Greece which might be considered a Christian country, but it has very little political power. I believe that Lutheranism is the state religion in Germany but other religions are permitted to function.

Tomasito, 2008

...

Gas Prices "Explained"

High to Low Gas Prices "Explained".

There was an "economist" on the Public Radio news this morning that "explained" that since the USA has passed new more restrictive laws regarding the grade of crude oil which could be used for Diesel oil in the USA, the USA had had to buy a large amount of the "sweet crude" for its reserve supply.

This caused a lack of oil and gasoline in the system, so the price of what was left went up (supply and demand).

When this large amount of sweet crude had been collected for the national reserve, the price went back down and THAT is what caused the almost 5 dollar per gallon cost of gasoline--which has now suddenly gone back down to less than two dollars per gallon.

Weak!

I wonder WHY no one in the government said a word about this while it was happening!?

I personally think that this so-called explanation is a sweet crude cover-up for some other very slippery monkey business in high places.

Tomasito, 2008


...

School Rant

School Rant, Summer 2008

I was out walking yesterday morning at about seven-thirty--it gets so hot so early here in Redding, CA, that if you don't walk early you don't walk at all because the temperature is soon over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit--anyway I was out fairly early and school has started again or I probably wouldn't have noticed anything--BUT...

We live near a high school.

Now I know high schools. I have worked at them a lot over the years as a teacher--and I attended one many years ago and I know that they don't change very much. You might say they resist change as much as any bedrock bureaucracy you can think of and I think you'd be about right.

Anyway--the street corner where I walk across without hardly pausing when school is out was a flood of automobiles--a river of steel, glass, plastic, rubber and everything else that cars are--barely pausing at the "stop" sign for a pathetic pedestrian--me--to hastily cross.

"WHAT A WASTE!" I thought.

"MAN! What a waste!"

I suddenly thought of all the other high schools across this broad land with all their highly automobilized young patrons all forming a vast stampeding herd of lemming-like consumers on their way to and from school--wasting resources just as fast as they can--and I felt more than slightly sick.

Especially because I know VERY, VERY well that almost ALL of these young people have absolutely NO interest in attending ANY school on ANY day and that what they will learn at their high school is probably not worth knowing anyway!

It is ALL a colossal WASTE!

Now here is a suggestion that NONE of you will like and that will NEVER become reality:

Only conduct high school classes one or two days a week--and only allow young people who prove by their attitude and their scholarship that they will profit from attending classes to be students at these public schools.

See what I mean!

You don't like the idea do you??!

I thought not!

It is NOT what you remember from your high school days--and it is NOT what your parents or grandparents remember from their high school school-days!

But, don't you know--things HAVE changed!

As a global warming expert said yesterday as he described the drowning of polar bears trying to reach northern ice bergs--"We have reached the tipping point!"

In other words: Things will NOT return to normal!

Tomasito, 2008


...

Gas Prices

On their way up--Roseville, CA 2004

Gas Prices

Why?

Why more or less slowly and jerkily up to four plus dollars a gallon and now-- after a week or two of rapidly falling prices-- under two dollars per gallon?

And not just one brand of gasoline—but ALL of them.

Is this not price fixing at its most blatant?

Are not the old anti-monopoly laws still on the books?

WHO has their fingers on the gasoline hose to open or shut it at their whim???

Is it the Saudis? I think not.

Is it the futures traders? Maybe so—at least partly.

Is it the US government? THEY don't seem to be able to control ANYTHING.

Is it Bush! Obama? Hilary? They don't seem to have a clue.

Who is this price roulette good for? Who does it benefit?

Man, I really don't know and don't seem to be able, with the resources available, to find out.

Do YOU know why?

Tomasito, 2008

...

Hospital Worker Fired

Tomasito, 2008

Redding Hospital Worker Fired!

One of the big hospitals in Redding CA , where I currently live, has fallen on very hard times in these days of hard times.

But they have been taken over by another “hospital saving group” from out of town that goes around saving sick hospitals—and makes them profitable (just temporarily--for the new management only) if not well, again

I read in the local newspaper that this new administration will close the unprofitable parts of the hospital—but will resuscitate the highly profitable Emergency Services.

The Hospital Savers Group (headed by doctors, of course) fired most of the sick hospital's existing employees and many of them were quite surprised.

One surprised staffer was a nurse who had worked in the Emergency department for eighteen years. She was one of the first to get the ax.

Now nurses, like other old-fashioned workers, used to get periodic pay raises—to keep the best trained, etc., staffers on the job. The employer—the hospital in this case—showed it's employees that it cherished their long service by rewarding their dedication with MONEY!

But, of course, if there is a NEW EMPLOYER—like our Out of Town Hospital Saving Group—it doesn't owe those high paid long-time staffers the time of day. It is AX time for THEM!! And put the money in the pocket of the NEW administrators until the hospital finally REALLY dies and who cares about THAT anyway—they don't live here!

I think this is a little part of the reason that Mr Greenspan—the longtime money man of the U.S. government--said he had a wrong notion about what business is all about when the economy crashed because “there was no adult supervision”.

American business used to be about people working together to earn a living—and now it about administrators working to make themselves as rich as possible as fast as possible and then get away with the loot—and let the workers find other work—if they can.

I worked for Montgomery Ward when it crashed and I was working for Mervyns when it was bought by Hostile Takeover Inc. which has driven it into the ground.

Looks to me like it is a good time for Greed in High Places and a bad time to be a worker.

Tomasito, 2008

...

AdSense: How They Do It.

Folks, it's just too good to pass, so naturally I could not resist and had to post it here for you. Do you know how they claim that they make millions in AdSense? Watch this video and the mystery will be clear to you. After you watch this you will never fall for this get-rich-quick scheme again.



After you watched this video click a link in his bio box to see part 2 (the secret exposed). Ahh, what's the heck, I'll post it for you right here:

Watch how they really do it.

It's freaking, isn't it?

By the way, the code did not work when I typed it. But I have no doubt that it can be done.

Have a wonderful time!

Masked Guru

A while ago I found a great new site run by a person who calles himself Masked Guru.

I was amazed. If you signed up for his letter he will send you honest and unbiased reviews of all the famous get-rich-quick scams, I mean products, that are so abundant on internet nowadays. The reviews include Rich jerk, Day Job Killer and some others. And let me tell you: he thrashes them all! He writes with a sense of humour and actually gives away the content of the ebooks. He promotes some generic services like autoresponding and hosting. There is nothing similar on internet.

His last letter really shifted my perspective, what they called shift of paradigm on the whole idea of internet marketing. In his latest message he also gave away a book: it is just beyond belief. You just get to check it out. Don't worry, it won't cost you anything.

Man, man, people like that actually exists. He is in another league, in fact, he is in league by himself.

Check it out. You won't regret it. By the way I am not associated with him in any way. It's just so totally freaking different, I promise you have not read anything like that before. (Oops, I make it sound like a hype, but since I am not selling you anything it's all right). It is something compatible with Rich Dad, another book that shifts your paradigm about finances.

I wonder if he's the guy behind this stuff (check it out, it's fantastic. How to really get rich quickly:

Buy My Stupid Ebook

Scam!

Ok, I just got a refund from one of the so-called gurus who try to sell you a get-rich-quick scheme, in this case it was get rich quick with AdSense.

What he advises is basically to create blogs and plaster AdSense all over them, then submit them to some social bookmarking sites. Sit back and watch money rolling in. Yeah, right!

He is a smooth salesman and the stuff he writes makes sense... at the first glance. When you actually try to implement the strategies, you realize that it is all a crock-o-baloney. All these schemes are scams, period! I requested a refund: he was very rude though he refunded promptly. Whatever happened to the customer service? Try to accuse him of lying and you'll get yourselves in hot waters. It's just not worth it.

Beware of that facade of honesty they put on. Many get sucked in and he is very much admired on a certain forum.

What a jerk! (No, he is not Rich Jerk, just a jerk (without capital J.)

Note: the only reason they refund is that Paypal takes measures to ensure customer satisfaction. They hate to issue refunds and they accuse you wrongly that you have not read their crappy ebook.

California Wildfires

2006 Wildfire from downtown Simi Valley, California.
Thomas Wold photo

I have lived in California on and off for many years.

I am very familiar with the Santa Ana winds--the tinder-dry conditions of the forests and hills in the Fall--and the wildfires that sweep over the land every year.

The smoke in the entire huge Central Valley all summer of 2008 has made breathing bad and visibility terrible--and the record setting heat waves have made most of us living here sometimes wish we lived somewhere else--but we have personally been spared the devastation now occurring in the Santa Barbara hills and east of Los Angeles.

As the California population grows and the land near towns becomes hillside villages--pretty, yes--but dangerously tempting for wildfire--we expect more will lose their homes and belongings.

If the swarming human populations do not limit their growth there will be more and more natural disasters--this is obvious--and it takes no blogger to sound the alarm.

Tomasito

...

Hilary as Secretary of State

Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State?

Now THAT is a VERY interesting idea!

If President-elect Obama can deal with THAT kind of intense pressure he certainly does deserve his high office!

I like the idea.

Hilary is one strong, tough and scary lady and Mr. Obama seems determined to use the best and most ferocious talent available.

Good for him--and good for her, if she is willing to play second fiddle--but with still a lot of power.

Personally I admire her persistence and charisma but have never liked Hilary Clinton's views on National Health--since the medical profession is currently one of the greediest and most impenetrably powerful organizations in the USA--an organization which is not likely to take any cut in either their power or their privilege OR their HIGH FLYING very expensive life style. If Doctors fees are paid by the taxes--Oh my! The taxes are really going to skyrocket!

As it is some thoughtful people can stay away from doctors and stay healthy too.

But, come on Mrs. Clinton--you can and should do it!

Tomasito, 2008


...

First dog? First Cat!

Maggie on the Balcony

First Cat

We see that President-elect Obama has the duty of chosing a "First Dog"--and he may chose the Inca's favorite breed--The Peruvian Hairless.

That would be a very good choice and a fine political move.

Peru is pretty weird politically--I have spent enough time in that country to make that statement--but the Peruvian Hairless is a cute and interesting breed and any further good will ties with any South American countries is a Good Idea.

But NEXT we would like to see President-elect Obama select a First Cat.

OUR cat is a very good choice for us because we live in an apartment with a balcony and our next-door neighbor is a nice woman who has lived in these apartments for 18 years and she has a cat.

Her cat likes to come over to visit us almost every day--we call her (the cat) "Maggie" though that is NOT what her owner calls her--so for us she is one thing and for her proper owner, another.

A VERY GOOD THING is that she (her owner) feeds Maggie--we don't. We DO keep a dish of fresh water for her but never a scrap of food--Maggie knows this and never even begs from us.

So, Maggie is our part-time cat--and that is a good way for independent cats to be--and Maggie is quite independent.

I recommend to President-elect Obama that he get a part-time cat too since this builds good relations with neighbors and doesn't cost a thing.

Tomasito, 2008

...