Wrong Answer

I just heard this on the ABC Evening News and it made me yell at the television.

It seems that today at the Readington Middle School in Whitehouse Township, which is in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, a group of students paid for their lunch with pennies.

The principal then gave the students 2 days of detention.

Are you kidding me?

He/she said that it was demeaning to the cafeteria staff to have to count the pennies.

Well... first of all, someone buy that principal a sense of humor(preferably with pennies). Second of all, anyone who works with children ( I mean anyone who is good at it) knows one should never overreact. And thirdly, (and here's the biggie)who is going to alert the Federal Reserve and give them the news that pennies are "demeaning"?

Pennies are legal tender of The United States of America. Legal. So no, sorry bub, not demeaning. I guess that was the beauty of the prank (if that is what it was). Legal. United States of America. Children. Are you getting my point?

The only question you should be asking is "Did they count correctly?"

Is Anybody Listening?

Any one remember this phrase "Taxation without representation"?

Last time people living on these shores got serious about this issue there were history changing events. No, I am not advocating Revolution. I just want the people I vote for to get serious.


And seriously get to work.


In case you didn't know - I elected you to work for me and for my family. I elected you to make my life better. To use my tax dollars wisely. On necessities for me, my neighbor and our children. If you won't do that - give me my money back because I have bills to pay. Like heating oil, college tuition, repairing the roof...you know, necessities.


What have you done for my children? And my children's children? Have you invested in keeping them safe? Have you invested in their future? Have you made sure that the bridges they travel on won't fall down? Have you invested the money needed to upgrade the safety of air travel? By last account $30 Billion was too much to spend for keeping us all safe in the air and upon landing at our country's airports. But we borrowed 360 Billion dollars so a few of us could buy video games and toxic toys from China.

Seriously?

Maybe there just aren't any dictionaries in Washington DC. A tax rebate is when there is an excess of monies collected so you give some back to the people that paid the taxes. That is not what happened here.



If our representatives worked in private industry, they would be summarily FIRED. For failure to accomplish the work they were hired to do. For gross mismanagement of funds. For insubordination and refusal to work with their coworkers.



Remember our kids' Kindergarten report cards? I always laughed at the thought of grading 4 and 5 year olds. But we did. On what? Playing well with others. Good listening and not biting each other.



Holy crap! The majority of our elected officials would fail Kindergarten.

Here is one suggestion. Stop yelling at each other.

Don't worry so much about getting on TV.
Stop keeping track of whose side is winning.
I'm losing. The taxpayers are loosing. The country is losing.

Use the money you are entrusted with like I would. Pay the bills. Pay attention to necessities. Fix the roof. Put something away for the future.


We are in a crazy, costly war. Our infrastructure needs work. New Orleans is still a mess. Investments need to be made in our schools, in alternate sources of energy, in making our borders safe. If we have an extra 360 billion dollars(we don't, but if we did) here's an idea - Let's cure cancer.


We need our government representatives, on both the local and national levels, to get serious. To get busy. And they need to get the message that they were elected to work. To work for us. Not just to raise money, or get on TV, or pander to special-interests, or even to get re-elected.

And so, it is especially frustrating to watch all this primary coverage and see how many people just don't get it. I have not heard any reporters or pundits ask Hillary Clinton a very important question.

If you cannot manage your own money, why should I entrust you with mine?

Their campaign ran out of money. They misjudged and mismanaged millions of dollars. Their people are fighting over whose fault it is.

Well guess what guys. That doesn't make you too responsible in my book. And there is just TOO MUCH at stake.

If Hillary is getting by with well-timed tears, blaming her husband (now she blames her husband?), phony accusations and the "stop picking on me because I am a girl" tactics I've got news for her. That won't cut it with other foreign leaders.



She's putting her opponent down for being optimistic and inspiring. You know what? That's not a bad place to start. I'm tired of negativity. I'm tired of arrogance and cynicism. I'm tired of incompetence and not recognizing the truth even if you fall over it. She doesn't even know the difference between right and wrong unless someone points it out to her. Someone please tell the Clintons that basic goodness and honesty are not character flaws. That tolerance is good and not just a means to win an election.

I'm tired of nothing getting done. I'm tired of my money being wasted.

There are great things to be done. And Americans can do them.

Give me an American with vision and hope, with responsibility and conscience, with compassion and good sense, with courage and strength, with conviction and intelligence, who is both practical and idealistic. Let that person represent me and I'll smile when I sign my tax check.

Why do I have to Suffer?

There are many days when I work all day, do errands on my lunch hour, come home to throw in some laundry, get dinner going, tidy up some of the piles, eat, check up on the homework progress (or lack of it), clean up the dinner dishes, wash the pots and I'm done. I mean I'm done. My brain is tired and my body wants to stop moving. No, it's really not a physically strenuous schedule, and yes, I do get help with some of the household chores. No, I'm not curing cancer or giving lectures or writing inspirational passages all day. Just an average , any body's work day.

Some nights (not many) I'll do some paperwork, a creative project around the house, or just sit and enjoy a good book. But honestly? Most nights I just relax on my couch and look for a couple of hours of television to entertain me until my eyes get heavy. I don't want anything depressing, just something to make me laugh or enjoy the evening's quiet time.

So is it too much to ask Hollywood to get it's act together?

Is it really so freakin' hard? Seriously?

I know I'm a fairly simple person. Naive on many fronts. But why do we have to make everything so difficult?

We have writers. We have producers. We have many shows, movies, etc., etc., and have had for a long time now. It's a pretty big industry. It's a very lucrative industry. VERY VERY lucrative.
They know how to do it and make money at it. Everyone who contributes should share in the profits. Proportionally. Fine. You want to argue and make adjustments along the way...that's fine too.

But here's the thing. Hollywood is arguing because there are more and more mediums being developed upon which they can expand their product distribution. Again, I'm a simple person. But that means MORE money, right? There is even more money going into that BIG pot that Hollywood gets to split up. And some of it is mine. Eventually, by a circuitous route, but still mine.

Now, there is already a formula in place to split all that money up. They've been doing it for years. I know this because I've been watching for years. So have millions and millions of people. Hence, all the money. So can someone please tell me why production has to stop. Can't we say, "okay, as of November 5, 2007 anything we produce is going to fall under the new agreement guidelines". And, then figure out what that is. Was it really necessary to put so many people out of work? And no I'm not talking about the million-dollar actors and directors who have some bucks to fall back on. How about the camera guy, and the props guy, and the make-up people. How do they make their mortgage payments? And then there are the commissary workers, and the people that supply fabric for the costumes, and all the vendors that supply everything from the wood to build the sets to the specialty fields that supply trained animals. I can't imagine that's a big market. Did these vendors survive? Did they "just" have to lay a lot of people off? The trickle down effect is, I'm sure, staggering. And was it all necessary?

How about....you cannot air the "new" shows on the Internet until this is all straightened out. Still a big monetary incentive. Thousands of people are not thrown out of work. And I still get to watch House and Two and a Half Men.


Because.... seriously.... at the end of a day... why do I have to suffer?


Forgive the time relevance of this post. It has been on my mind many weeks now, but I have had computer issues. As in, some bastard stole mine.