Cut here

Cut here…

One of the things this country is known for is education, not great education but free education. You may not know this but in many countries the education, even in public schools cost money. You have to purchase at least the school supplies for your child and in some you even have to pay the teacher and the school a small fee to have your child admitted. It’s true, but by the time the child graduates from their school, they are educated which is more that can be said for the children in this country. Apparently as of late some politicians have taken notice of the education system here (U.S.), and have decided that teachers should earn the pay according to their abilities to teach. Tenure, for those of you that don’t know what it means: tenure commonly refers to life in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.

Tenure and pay are the two items that are being changed and a lot of teachers don’t like it, I wonder why? If I were a teacher, a good teacher like the minority of teachers in this country, I wouldn’t be worried about these changes; in fact I would welcome them for that will get rid of the incompetent teachers and will make the lazy ones get to work. The bad teachers will argue that if they weren’t doing their job properly, they would have been fired a long time ago. Any one that has dealt with the school system and or government employees knows that that is a crock of s*%#. The process to get rid of incompetent personnel in tenure jobs is arduous and always in favor of the employee. Remember that the same people that wrote the laws are the ones that have to abide by them. “Catch 22”

So, in that regard we are moving in the right direction, getting rid of incompetent and lazy teachers; but there’s another little item regarding education that has been going on for years and now it’s to the point of creating the most ignorant generation of Americans ever! What is it? The government’s budget!

Whenever the government at any level, city, county, state, or federal, need to cut the budget, the first item on the list is education. Why is that?

Years ago many of the states after cutting the budget for the education system, sold us the idea of the lottery; “THE LOTTERY WILL HELP OUR SCHOOLS”. The only ones making money from the lottery are the insurance companies that lobbied the politicians to support the lottery and the politicians themselves. Look with an honest eye at the lottery earnings and you will find that very little money goes to education, and in some cases nothing at all. It’s all in paper and lawyer’s jargon.

Here are a few ideas: Let’s take the money that we spend in one year in the Middle East, where we are not wanted and give it to our educational system. Or, how about cutting the salaries of all house and senate member in half (and still they will have a higher salary than 70% of Americans) and pour it into education. Or even a more honest way of doing business: Close the tax loop holes for big corporations and the rich. Not raise taxes on the rich, (which is not a bad idea to start with) but make sure they pay what the lawfully owe. There three simple readily available right now ideas that not only will save our educational system, but will give it enough funds for improvement.

There are so many special interest programs that are completely unnecessary yet we endlessly pour our money into it and there’s no watch dog to warn us, nor a government that cares enough for its people to prevent it or at least stop it once it’s found.    

To suggest a complete overhaul of the government in these United States is ludicrous.  But the people should start to consider that very possibility. Too many thieves, too many careless individuals that don’t represent anyone but those that line their pockets. There is no need for a Congress that is a joke, a House of Representatives that accomplishes nothing, and a President system that either plays along with the rest of the politicians or he gets nothing done. The President of the United States of America is not the most powerful person in the world, regardless of whom it may be, he is just a poppet of those in power; and who may they be? The rich that have always ran this and every other country.

Food for thought

Jorge Rodriguez

Green What?

Green What?

I keep reading about the earth’s condition and the many, many different things we humans are responsible for that will bring about the destruction of our climate. No, I am not talking about the end of the earth; the earth will be here long after we are all gone with one small possible exception: Those scientists working with the particle accelerators. There is a very real danger that as they experiment with the creation and obliteration of matter by accelerating particles that they might create what is known to most of us as a black hole. And as most of us know, a black hole doesn’t need to be very big to begin devouring all matter surrounding it, thus growing within minutes large enough to end not only our existence, but swallow the earth itself. But that’s another “matter”.

Back to our climate; the ozone layer, the coral reefs, the systematic destruction of different species, be it plant or animal, the contamination of our air and water, etc. We have all heard the related news and speculations regarding all of these, still, we do nothing to prevent our dooms day, maybe not ours personally, but that of our children and our children’s children.

It is like smoking cigarettes, you have been told time and again most of the dangers of smoking, but since it’s not happening right now, you don’t really care and you smoke; 10 or 20 years down the line when you are faced with emphysema, cancer or any of the many ailments caused by smoking, then you regret not having quit earlier.

Will we as a people ever do anything to correct all that we are doing to create our own demise? Hell no! We as a race are lazy and procrastinate do to our own lack of care. If the government tells us that they are taking care of a problem, we believe it, if the scientists tell us that they have figured out a way for continued existence: we believe it. It seems we are eager to take anyone’s word for the resolving of any of our problems. Gas too expensive? Obama says he will investigate the reasons why, and we believe that to be the solution. No! Gas too expensive? Go get the already known millionaires/billionaires responsible and put them behind bars and force the price to go down. Even better, stop buying foreign petrol and watch how quickly prices will drop. But it is much easier to believe that someone is looking into it and in a few months, after we are used to paying over $5.00 a gallon, they will lower it to $4.89 per gallon and the American public will be happy.

We live in a world of lazy individuals that act as a mass of pure stupidity, and there is a few that have learn to play the game by distracting the masses with insignificant rhetoric: The Castros have done this and that, is Obama an American, the hunt for terrorists, keep talking about the slavery, how about the Holocaust, etc. And the masses follow like sheep follow their herder not paying attention to what really matters, which is the present and our future as a race, not black, not white, not brown or yellow, but as the human race.

What will you do to insure our survival? Just as important, what will you do about our present?

Jorge Rodriguez

When you don’t have money

When you don’t have money

Life is so different when you don’t have money; Friendship, parties, outings, diner, nightclubs, relationships, even every day small talk is different.

Those of you that have never been broke will not relate, but those that have may reminisce of a certain occasion that told you: “If I had money this would be so different”  

The worrying of paying the rent, the constant turning things off just to save on the electric bill, wondering if you can afford to go for a ride with the price of gas as high as it is, the constantly figuring how much it will cost to go and what you’ll spend once you get there. So much part of our modern life is tangled up in cost. Never mind buying something just because you like it, no you buy because you can’t do without, and even then, regardless of how much you need something, you do not purchase it and maybe settle for something similar.

The stress of finances will even put a serious dent in a relationship, the feeling of not being enough to provide is devastating. It gets to the point of desperation, not pleasing your kids or spouse.

Yes, some people out there will say that you don’t need money to enjoy life. You are right! One time maybe twice, but when it is an ongoing situation it will make any attempt of normalcy futile.

Lately there are a lot of families in less than ideal financial state, and I thought I give my take on it.

Jorge Rodriguez

Time to Change

Time to Change

So you think prices are over the top. Everybody talks about how expensive things are, how tight money is, and about when will prices normalize. Do you really want to live in an affordable world? Are you willing to make sacrifices? Remember that we the poor are the majority and as a people we can alter any world situation, you just have to have the courage to follow through with the plan and make sure certain measures become law with extreme consequences for violators. If you think it is complicated, let me tell you that it is very simple and it is based on today’s value of property and value of money.

Let me give you a short example:

Cap salaries at 200,000.00 a year, 100,000.00 caps on bonuses, and 50,000.00 expense accounts per individual.

Cap earnings at 5,000,000.00 a year per corporation, 25,000.00 for investors of overall earnings, regardless of how many investments they have money invested in.

Lower politician’s earnings by 50% and terminate with penalties of imprisonment monies received by any government employee, be it for lobbying or actual subordination.

Every income above the above mentioned, for the first two years will go to the government with an oversight body insuring the proper distribution and investment in the future. After the first two years a revision of the situation of our world must be evaluated and steps taken as so we the people never again fall into the mess we “the world” find ourselves in.

Now this is just an overview of what has to be done to bring this inflammatory way of life under control. Our country and every country that embodies these measures will be out of debt in less than one year. Those of you that like this idea or at least find it attractive, are people that work for a living, those of you that don’t like it will call it all kinds of names, from communist to barbaric. You are the overpaid rich few that keep everyone else struggling while you keep getting richer and richer. That’s why I don’t feel sorry for the people that got ripped off by Bernard Madoff.   He just took advantage of the greed incurred by others and exploited it. Good for him! He also got what he deserved.

If you think you can’t become rich on those incomes, I’ve got news for you. Good administration of your money will grow your wealth in very little time. But you won’t be able to throw your money away at others, you won’t be able to gamble it away, and you will have to learn to live within limits that will allow your finances to flourish.

The thought of people like athletes, lawyers, doctors, politicians, Investors, CEOs, insurance companies, etc. that make obscene and undeserved amounts of monies, is sickening. Something has got to give, and crime, not exactly white collar crime will eventually burst the abusive financial system the world resides in at present. Police, (a gang in it’s own right) will eventually be overwhelmed and will become as corrupt as Mexican authorities, and then, chaos will reign supreme.

You may take this as a dooms day prediction, or a worst case scenario, but be sure that the day is coming and it’ll be sooner than you think. It is time to change the ridiculous, egotistical way the world is being ran and take control of not just our finances, but all the other endeavors our governments take us into without looking out for the weakest of it’s citizens.

Awaken and become present in your/our reality. Open your eyes to the truth that devours our existence. Change!!!

Jorge Rodriguez