This was sent to me yesterday from a friend, and I just had to share it... amazing!
Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.
Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions and one person to do time studies.
Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people, one to do the studies and one to write the reports.
Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created two positions, a time keeper and a payroll officer, then hired two people.
Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?"
So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, an Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.
Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one year, and we are $918,000 over budget. We must cut back." So they laid off the night watchman.
NOW slowly, let that sink in.
Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter.
Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY..... during the Carter Administration?
Anybody?
Anything?
No?
Didn't think so!
Bottom line: We've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency...the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember!
Ready?? It was very simple . . . and, at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted on 8/04/1977 TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
Hey, pretty efficient, huh???
AND, NOW, IT'S 2011 -- 34 YEARS LATER -- AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS "NECESSARY" DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR. IT HAS 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES, AND LOOK AT THE JOB IT HAS DONE! THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?"
A little over 34 years ago, 30% of our oil consumption was foreign imports. Today 70%+ of our oil consumption is foreign imports.
Ah, yes -- the good old Federal bureaucracy!!
NOW, WE HAVE TURNED THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY OVER TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?
Hello!! Anybody Home?............... I didn’t think so......................DANG!
And the EPA under direction of the President has targeted Coal fired power plants that give us 30%+ of our electric power for closure. Too much haze. After 100 years? Now their a problem.
Say what? Stop using a fuel source we have a lot of does not make sense. The last two years of no exploration for oil makes no sense. Another four years without a 180 degree change of direction on energy policy makes no sense to me. You decide.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Video of the Day - Harry Reid (D-Nev) on Cowboy Poetry & NPR
Here it is folks... the democratic argument against cutting the federal budget!
Harry is not a happy camper! Awwww.....
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
8th grade education... then and now
A friend and former boss sent this to me... sure says a lot about the changes in this country's education system!
What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , Kansas , USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.
8th Grade Final Exam: Salina , KS - 1895
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play,' and 'run.'
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000.. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt
U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.
Orthography (Time, one hour)
[Do we even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks
and by syllabication.
Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each..
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.
Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.
Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!
No wonder they dropped out after 8th grade. They already knew more than they needed to know!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Current events
Hard to believe it's been almost 3 months since my last post! So much has happened in that span of time... The multiple shootings in Tucson by someone who appears to be deranged, the spread of rioting in the middle east by citizens hungry for freedom, the protests in Wisconsin by Unions coupled with the abdication of 14 Democrats who were elected to represent their constituents, but who chose to leave the state to avoid voting on a measure to help reduce the state's deficit... these are indeed tumultous times!
My reaction to the shootings in Tucson ranged from shock to dismay to anger. Shock that someone would take the lives of innocent people, dismay when I realized it was an elected representative who was just trying to do her job: be available to talk with constituents... anger when I heard talk that it was a Tea Party member who was the shooter. There wasn't one shred of evidence to indicate that, but assumptions were made, political opportunists decided to capitalize on the event... shame on them! Shame on anyone who jumps to conclusions and uses a tragedy like this one to try and discredit their enemies or opponents.
Next came the riots and protests in Egypt, Tunisia, and the other middle east nations. I felt concern for the citizens of these nations, as well as visitors who were there at the time. I am always concerned when people rise up against tyranny... knowing that tyrants will not sit by quietly and bow to the will of the people. Sure enough, violence erupted and there were deaths and injuries. What I found very interesting, however, was the fact that Egypt tried to stymie communications via the internet or cell phones, but people were still able to get information, videos and photos out to the rest of the world. In the age of technology, it is difficult to suppress information, especially as it pertains to oppression and tyranny!
As for the incidents in Wisconsin... what I have heard is that teachers are afraid they will lose their jobs if they do not have collective bargaining, and they are sure the Governor is trying to break up the unions that represent public service employees, including the teachers. I worked for many years for a private company that had unions representing non-management employees. In all the years I worked there, there were only a few times where a strike either took place or was threatened by the unions. I found that the negotiators for the company did what they could to stay competitive with the other companys in our industry as far as wages and benefits. But one thing they did not do was allow the unions to force them into contracts they couldn't afford to keep. It's a different story when the government is the employer. There is something missing in the equation: the bottom line! Private companies must show a profit and stay fiscally healthy. The government has simply either raised taxes or borrowed money, increasing the deficit, and now we are on the brink of fiscal disaster nationally because of these ill-conceived practices. The only way we can recover is to rein in government spending, and if it takes legislation to ban unions from public service employees to accomplish a reduction in our deficit, then that must be considered along with a whole host of other changes to the way our government conducts its business.
I don't think the protests in Wisconsin, or the tactics currently being used by the Democratic legislators, are likely to go away any time soon, and I fully expect to see similar episodes of this type elsewhere in the nation. Too bad clearer heads can't prevail so we can come up with some workable solutions to our problems!
My reaction to the shootings in Tucson ranged from shock to dismay to anger. Shock that someone would take the lives of innocent people, dismay when I realized it was an elected representative who was just trying to do her job: be available to talk with constituents... anger when I heard talk that it was a Tea Party member who was the shooter. There wasn't one shred of evidence to indicate that, but assumptions were made, political opportunists decided to capitalize on the event... shame on them! Shame on anyone who jumps to conclusions and uses a tragedy like this one to try and discredit their enemies or opponents.
Next came the riots and protests in Egypt, Tunisia, and the other middle east nations. I felt concern for the citizens of these nations, as well as visitors who were there at the time. I am always concerned when people rise up against tyranny... knowing that tyrants will not sit by quietly and bow to the will of the people. Sure enough, violence erupted and there were deaths and injuries. What I found very interesting, however, was the fact that Egypt tried to stymie communications via the internet or cell phones, but people were still able to get information, videos and photos out to the rest of the world. In the age of technology, it is difficult to suppress information, especially as it pertains to oppression and tyranny!
As for the incidents in Wisconsin... what I have heard is that teachers are afraid they will lose their jobs if they do not have collective bargaining, and they are sure the Governor is trying to break up the unions that represent public service employees, including the teachers. I worked for many years for a private company that had unions representing non-management employees. In all the years I worked there, there were only a few times where a strike either took place or was threatened by the unions. I found that the negotiators for the company did what they could to stay competitive with the other companys in our industry as far as wages and benefits. But one thing they did not do was allow the unions to force them into contracts they couldn't afford to keep. It's a different story when the government is the employer. There is something missing in the equation: the bottom line! Private companies must show a profit and stay fiscally healthy. The government has simply either raised taxes or borrowed money, increasing the deficit, and now we are on the brink of fiscal disaster nationally because of these ill-conceived practices. The only way we can recover is to rein in government spending, and if it takes legislation to ban unions from public service employees to accomplish a reduction in our deficit, then that must be considered along with a whole host of other changes to the way our government conducts its business.
I don't think the protests in Wisconsin, or the tactics currently being used by the Democratic legislators, are likely to go away any time soon, and I fully expect to see similar episodes of this type elsewhere in the nation. Too bad clearer heads can't prevail so we can come up with some workable solutions to our problems!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Action plan
Since the election, I have been giving some thought to what I can be doing to further educate myself about our government... how it works, what are it's shortcomings, where we go from here. To that end, I have joined with a friend here who is very well-educated in politics and conservatism, and we are going to be forming a Conservative studies group after the new year, and hopefully will be joined with other like-minded folk who want to become better educated in these areas. I am also looking into sources of information, mainly about our Federal government budget... where our tax dollars are going. I am very interested in what we can do to cut spending, stop waste and corruption, and I keep coming back to the need for vigilance on the part of the voters. This requires better understanding of the government... this means doing our homework. I will be posting links, book titles, and other information here as I find it, in the hopes I can help others to become familiar with our government. I am pretty sure that the government we have today, while it resembles the one originally formed by our founding fathers, is far more complex than the original one, and with complexity comes too much room for inefficiency and corruption. Is there a way to simplify it? Are there better checks, balances, and reporting methods that can be put in place to ensure that our government is doing what it was designed to do? Can we EVER pay down the deficit and get back to living within our means? Fiscally speaking, these are disturbing times... I hope that we can return to a way of life that includes living within our means, both personally and as a nation. Life is so much easier when we are not being crushed under a mountain of debt! I think the coming year(s) will bring much change, and I'm hoping it is positive, not negative change for us all.
One item of conversation lately has been about ear-marks: whether to ban them, call a moritorium on them for a period of time, or leave them as is. The argument against banning them is that they represent a very small percent of our overall federal budget. I agree that banning them won't wipe out our deficit, but principally speaking, we need to return to a fundamental honesty that says we don't go behind each others' backs or sneak things into bills in the middle of the night. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing in the light of day, with full disclosure. Politicians will tell you that things can't get done without deal-making and 'you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours'. I think that way of doing things is what has brought us to the brink of financial ruin, and even though a lot of bills wouldn't get passed without that mind-set, I think we would be better off right now if Congress did less, not more of the same, and maybe did a little soul-searching about how they should conduct the people's business going forward. This may be a little old-fashioned, but I would really like to see this country return to the mind-set that believed that a man's word was his bond, when deals were made with a handshake, and teams of lawyers weren't needed to flood us with hyperbole and double-speak in order to protect everyone's rights! Is that naive? Maybe, but we've tried the other way, and look at the state of the world today! Not the same place our grandparents lived, or our parents! Let's do a little thinking over the next month or so, and see what we want to do about our dilemma... more of the same? Or should we get back to basics, and think about what we really value in life! Then let's remind our elected officials what we put them in office to do... clean house!
One item of conversation lately has been about ear-marks: whether to ban them, call a moritorium on them for a period of time, or leave them as is. The argument against banning them is that they represent a very small percent of our overall federal budget. I agree that banning them won't wipe out our deficit, but principally speaking, we need to return to a fundamental honesty that says we don't go behind each others' backs or sneak things into bills in the middle of the night. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing in the light of day, with full disclosure. Politicians will tell you that things can't get done without deal-making and 'you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours'. I think that way of doing things is what has brought us to the brink of financial ruin, and even though a lot of bills wouldn't get passed without that mind-set, I think we would be better off right now if Congress did less, not more of the same, and maybe did a little soul-searching about how they should conduct the people's business going forward. This may be a little old-fashioned, but I would really like to see this country return to the mind-set that believed that a man's word was his bond, when deals were made with a handshake, and teams of lawyers weren't needed to flood us with hyperbole and double-speak in order to protect everyone's rights! Is that naive? Maybe, but we've tried the other way, and look at the state of the world today! Not the same place our grandparents lived, or our parents! Let's do a little thinking over the next month or so, and see what we want to do about our dilemma... more of the same? Or should we get back to basics, and think about what we really value in life! Then let's remind our elected officials what we put them in office to do... clean house!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Election results
Wow! Time has just flown, and it's hard to believe that the election was over a week ago! The good news is our candidate, Paul Gosar, won the election for our Congressional district! We had a celebration on the 3rd, and here are a few photos:
Dr. Gosar, who had a dental practice here in Flagstaff for 25 years, is anxious to head to our nation's capitol to join the others in the Freshman class and start working on reducing the deficit, cutting wasteful spending, repealing Obamacare (or at the very least, blocking funding!), and getting this nation back on track! He is a strong advocate of banning earmarks, and I think he will do a great job for us!
Statewide, we succeeded in sweeping the election with conservative candidates, and I'm very encouraged by how most of the nation also voted in conservatives. However, I am convinced that we need to remain vigilant and keep a close watch on our representatives. And our congressman-elect is anxious to tap into his base to help him stay on top of things... what a refreshing change! The coming years should prove to be very interesting, and hopefully we will see a strong turnaround to bring us back on course!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Fire Pelosi Rally
Yesterday, we had a 'Fire Pelosi' Rally at our new GOP Campaign Headquarters. Over 100 people showed up for hot dogs, hamburgers, great conversation, and the highlight of the event was a visit with RNC Chairman Michael Steele! They are touring the country on a bus, stopping at as many communities as they can, and will cover over 15,000 miles during the tour. Here are a few pictures of the event: 
A shot of our Campaign office
This guy's got the right idea!
The 'Fire Pelosi' bus arrives
Chairman Steele addressing the crowd
Chairman Steele addressing the crowd
We had a great time, with more events in store this week! Today is a Meet and Greet with Dr. Paul Gosar, our Congressional candidate for District 1, and on Friday there is a Meet and Greet with Governor Jan Brewer, a very gutsy lady who has taken on some really gnarly issues with the state budget shortfall, the unsecure border, etc. I will post more pictures of these events soon!
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