Down For Awhile

The Mighty Asian Badger Blog, a hotbed of rants and raves cutting edge commentary will be down for awhile as your humble blogger will be overseas for who knows how long.

Some Random Thoughts

Sorry for the lack posts….I know my readers expect more from this cutting edge report of rants and raves the thoughts of the day…so here are a few in random order. I’m so disgusted by Washington, I’m incapable of writing on a single thought other than target practice….PULL!!

1) The Packers have NOT looked good over the last two games despite the scores. They had two additional pre-season games in Detroit and Cleveland. I see at best, an 8-8 finish. I hope I’m wrong. If they don’t beat Minnesota next week, it’s time to start over on the coaching and GM side. I could go on but I’m not that good a typist. See me at DR for more.

2) 0bamas health care plan will increase the national debt at a rate of at LEAST $800 million per year. Why isn’t the left screaming like they did when the GOP was running debts at a much lower rate? Well, we already know the answer to that.

3) Alzheimer’s is an insidious disease…I have yclept it “God’s Cosmic Joke”.

4) My cyberfriend, Dr. Bond, married a beautiful Russian girl and got her out of the shithole that is modern Russia.

5) Speaking of shitholes, why is 0bama deserting our men and women in Afghanistan? It doesn’t take that long to make a decison on troops dying, Barry. You’re still a shithead. Fuck you.

Support them as Gen. McChrystal has outlined or get ‘em out of harms way. BTW, our job there is to kill terrorists and those who support terrorists. Read books on Sherman and Patton if you have a problem. Of course, Barry, we know you won’t. You’re not capable of doing your own scutwork. Let me also say this to Gen. McChrystal….well done, SIR!!

To our men and women over there…..hang tough. You’re the best. America is with you.

Let’s See if UW Professors Have Integrity

The Wall Street Journal had an editorial piece today pointing out that Pol Pot Doyle has given the profs the right to organize. The question is, will they do it?

“f some professors at the University of Wisconsin at Madison get their way, the first thing a newly minted PhD will learn about is not research or teaching—but union dues. This summer Wisconsin’s Democratic Governor Jim Doyle gave the school’s professors the right to unionize. Not all want to, so this fall the faculty lounges are livelier than usual.

Organized labor has already wreaked havoc on the nation’s K-12 public-school system, and it’s often thought this could never happen to a higher education system that is the envy of the world. But over the past 10 years or so, unions have become an increasingly common presence at colleges and universities. More than 375,000 faculty and graduate students are members of a collective bargaining unit, according to the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions. That’s about a third of the total, and a 24% increase in the past decade.

Thanks to unionization provisions Gov. Doyle put into Wisconsin’s biennial budget, things are likely to get worse. There were three important elements in the initiative.” [...]

Go and read the whole thing if you’d like but it is comforting to know a few of the profs understand how devestating a union would be.

[...]“John Witte, an education scholar at the school, says he would quit if the faculty organize. He tells us it would be “demoralizing to see my hard work rewarded with the same pay as someone who doesn’t do hard work.” Unionization, he says, would be “devastating to the university.” Others worry that the campus’s pervasive atmosphere of political correctness will sway much of the faculty to vote for unionization.

In 2008, the American Federation of Teachers announced a joint campaign with the American Association of University Professors to unionize more public universities. “We don’t have a number in mind,” Sandra Schroeder, chairman of the AFT’s higher education council, said, but it’s “as many as we possibly can.” If UW Madison goes, expect more former free-thinkers to go over to the union mind set.”

Congratulations to Prof. Witte; he’s got it exactly right. Whatever a Sandra Schroeder is, she’s got it wrong and history proves it.

Wynn vs. Granholm on Fox News

Steve Wynn takes on Jenifer Granholm, the inept governor of Michigan. Never bet against the house. Granholm loses big.

Bloat

On Sunday, October 4, the MJS ran an editorial supporting MKE County Executive Scott Walker and his ideas about forming an office for business development in Milwaukee County. You can read the editorial here.

Now, this editorial was interesting on two fronts, the first being the MJS actually supported Scott Walker on something. But here’s something that was even more interesting.

“At first glance, there is reason to doubt whether Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker’s proposal for an office of business development makes much sense. After all, there are already several entities in the region working on economic development issues. Done wrong, Walker’s proposal could be duplicative of those efforts and confusing to outsiders.

There’s the Milwaukee 7 economic development consortium that covers all of southeastern Wisconsin, and, in Milwaukee County, the cities of Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and West Allis all have offices or departments dedicated to attracting businesses and growing the economy. The City of Milwaukee has roughly 200 people working on it, and they’re doing a good job in tough times.”[...]

200 people on the payroll at the Milwaukee business development office? Assuming the above isn’t a typo, that’s just moronic. What the hell could 200 people possibly have to do and justify a paycheck? It’s not like they’ve had any big wins in the last, I don’t know how many years.

Let’s assume the average salary is $40,000 with a benefits package of $35,000. That’s $75,000 x 200 or $15,000,000 in salary for what? Has this bloated group pulled in enough new businesses to expand the tax rolls by $15,000,000 per year? And that’s just to break even.

In the private sector, the above office would be staffed by 5, maybe 10 people who would have true accountability AND responsibility. Notice that Walker’s office, which encompasses all of Milwaukee County, has only FOUR people and a budget of $400,000.

I’m not against development offices. In fact, I think they’re necessary. But in order to truly succeed, the office and officers have to have ombudsman powers to pull together the various factions necessary for new business development. The way the City Milwaukee business development office is structured, you need an ombudsman just for that office alone. And we get to pay for it.

Oh Yeah…This Makes Sense….NOT!

This is just disgusting.

Gore-Backed Car Firm Gets Large U.S. Loan

Please tell me how this creates jobs for the American worker.

A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports car in Finland that will sell for about $89,000.

The award this week to California startup Fisker Automotive Inc. follows a $465 million government loan to Tesla Motors Inc., purveyors of a $109,000 British-built electric Roadster. Tesla is a California startup focusing on all-electric vehicles, with a number of celebrity endorsements that is backed by investors that have contributed to Democratic campaigns.”[...]

If the car was designed in the U.S. and prototypes were built in the U.S., why can’t total production be in the U.S.? Maybe Algore doesn’t want to deal with those pesky UAW members.

I’m not going to even comment about yet another rape of the American taxpayer. I’m too nauseous.

More Facism from the Left

If this isn’t facism, then what do YOU call it?

From Politico….

Ensign receives handwritten confirmation

This doesn’t happen often enough.

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance.

Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty, Barthold wrote on JCT letterhead. He signed it “Sincerely, Thomas A. Barthold.”

The note was a follow-up to Ensign’s questioning at the markup.

Can’t wait to see how many unemployed spend a year in jail.

Tell Me How this Helps American Families Again?

From CBS News (of all places!)

“The Obama administration has privately concluded that a cap and trade law would cost American taxpayers up to $200 billion a year, the equivalent of hiking personal income taxes by about 15 percent.

A previously unreleased analysis prepared by the U.S. Department of Treasury says the total in new taxes would be between $100 billion to $200 billion a year. At the upper end of the administration’s estimate, the cost per American household would be an extra $1,761 a year.“[...]

Now remember, this is EVERY household in America. It includes homeowners, renters, students in dorms, everybody. This doesn’t include the incremental costs to business. Of course, those costs will be passed on to the consumer.

Hope you like all that change you voted for.

My 9/11 Tribute

Since the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Towers is today, I’m going to get a little jump on things by reposting my tribute to Mr. Erick Sanchez, a man who died in the attack by the ragheads who give Islam a bad name.

Here’s my post from the original tribute post for the victims of 9/11.

At random, I was assigned a name: Mr. Erick Sanchez, not a star, not a finance wizard, not a fireman or cop….”Just a Guy”.

In the NFL there is a saying among scouts that describes a player as “Just a Guy”. That means that he’s a workman-like player who is not special, not a star, but someone who can be counted on to help you out; he shows up every day, on time, and works his ass off.

That, I think, describes the man I am proud to memorialize, Mr. Erick Sanchez, a victim of the 9/11 attack in New York City.

Mr. Sanchez was a foreman for Soundstone Flooring, in New York City. He was at his job, at the young age of 43, when he perished in World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001.

The fact that he was working on a high floor in the first tower (he could not get out, which meant he must have been either at or above the first plane and in the first tower) means he did quality work (after all, no firms on high floors of the World Trade Centers worry about the costs but do demand quality workmanship) indicate that despite the lack of information on Mr. Sanchez, tell us he was proud of, and very good at, the work that he did. Most of us would aspire to be “Just a Guy” with our own successful business like Mr. Sanchez.

Your humble writer had the privilege of working with many Cuban-Americans and, given the spelling of Mr. Sanchez’ first name, I am going to assume, since so little information is available, and given his age, he was a Cuban-American, one generation removed from the first great immigration wave from Cuba following the Cuban fiasco of Fidel Castro.

(I hope you have a sense of humor in heaven, Mr. Sanchez, because that was a hell of a run-on sentence.)

“Just a Guy” who, like all of us, was just chasing the American Dream of working for him or her self without the burden of stigma or birthright. Quality, veracity and honesty are the hallmarks of small business and I think we can safely assume Mr. Sanchez had all of those admirable qualities given when and where he died.

So Mr. Sanchez was “Just a Guy” but the “Just a Guys” are what makes America the great country that it is.

May we assume that Mr. Sanchez took pride in the quality of his work? I think we can. He was on the job, probably early, to oversee and help install the work for which he had been contracted. It is impossible to think he did anything else. He was the essence of America and, on a micro-level, New York City.

“Just a Guy” who did his work to the best of his ability. Thanks to a senseless attack, his life was cut short for no reason at all.

We don’t know, from available information, if he had a family but we know that he had parents and can safely assume he had siblings and relatives who mourn his senseless death, not only on 9/11/2001, but every day since then.

The date of 9/11/2006 must be especially painful for them. To Mr. Sanchez’s family and friends, I say I only hope your pain eases with time.

Vaya con Dios Mr. Sanchez; you will be remembered forever by Americans who respect you for your being “Just a Guy” and an American who died for the simple fact you were someone who did his job to the best of his ability. We as a nation of “Just a Guys” salute you.

Writer’s Note: There is no public information on Mr. Erick Sanchez other than what I have linked to. If you read this, and knew Mr. Sanchez, and can update me, please leave an email and I will add it and re-publish the post. Calls to what (I think) was his business, Soundstone Flooring, on East 39th Street in NYC were unanswered. Thank you.

UPDATE:
In honor of Mr. Sanchez (and the other Spanish speaking people who died on 9/11), I have used http://babelfish.altavista.com/ to provide a Spanish Translations of the above. I know the translation isn’t perfect pero no he hablado Castellano por mucho tiempo. Favor de desculparme.

Sr. Erick Sanchez
43 anos de edad The World Trade Center
9/11 Tribute

Por random, al azar yo asigné un nombre: Sr. Erick Sanchez, no una estrella… una.”Jua no del bombero o del poli de las finanzas del mago, no un individuo”.

En el NFL hay un refrán entre exploradores que describe a jugador como “apenas individuo”. Eso significa que él es a trabajador-como el jugador que no es especial, no una estrella, sino alguien que se puede contar encendido para ayudarle hacia fuera; él demuestra para arriba cada día, el tiempo, y trabaja su asno apagado.

Que, pienso, describo a hombre yo es orgulloso memorialize, Sr. Erick Sanchez, víctima del ataque de 9/11 en New York City.

Sr. Sanchez era capataz para el suelo de Soundstone, en New York City. Él estaba en su trabajo, en la edad joven de 43, cuando él falleció en ataques del centro de comercio mundial del de septiembre 11 de 2001.

El hecho de que él trabajaba en un piso alto en los primeros medios de la torre (él no podría salir, que significó él debe haber estado en o sobre el primer plano y en la primera torre) que él hizo el trabajo de la calidad (después de todo, ningunas firmas en los pisos altos de la preocupación de los centros de comercio mundial sobre los costes pero exigen la ejecución de la calidad) indica eso a pesar de la carencia de la información sobre Sr. Sanchez, nos dice que él fuera orgulloso, y muy bueno en, del trabajo que él lo hizo. La mayoría de nosotros aspirarían ser “apenas un individuo” con nuestro propio negocio acertado como Sr. Sanchez.

Su escritor humilde tenía el privilegio del trabajo con muchos Cubano-Americanos y, dado el deletreo nombre de Sr. de Sanchez ‘, voy a asumir, puesto que tan poca información está disponible, y dado su edad, él era un Cubano-Americano, una generación quitada de la primera gran onda de la inmigración de Cuba que seguía el fiasco cubano de Fidel Castro.

(esperanza de I usted tiene un sentido del humor en el cielo, Sr. Sanchez, porque ése era un infierno de a funcionar-en la oración.)

“apenas un individuo” quién, como todos nosotros, era justo persiguiendo al sueño americano del trabajo para él o a su uno mismo sin la carga del estigma o del birthright. La calidad, la veracidad y la honradez son los sellos de la pequeña empresa y pienso podemos asumir con seguridad que Sr. Sanchez tenía todas esas calidades admirables dadas cuando y donde él murió.

Sr. Sanchez era tan “apenas un individuo” pero “apenas los individuos” es qué hace América el gran país que es.

¿Podemos asumir que Sr. Sanchez tomó orgullo en la calidad de su trabajo? Pienso que podemos. Él estaba en el trabajo, probablemente temprano, de supervisar y de ayudar a instalar el trabajo para el cual lo habían contraído. Es imposible pensar que él hizo cualquier cosa . Él era la esencia de América y, en un micro-nivel, de New York City.

“apenas un individuo” quién hizo su trabajo al mejor de su capacidad. Los gracias a un ataque senseless, su vida fueron cortados brevemente por ninguna razón en todos.

No sabemos, de la información disponible, si él tenía una familia pero sabemos que él tenía padres y puede asumir con seguridad que él tenía hermanos y los parientes que están de luto su muerte senseless, no solamente en 9/11/2001, solamente cada día desde entonces.

La fecha de 9/11/2006 debe ser especialmente dolorosa para ellos. A la familia y a los amigos de Sr. Sanchez, digo que esperanza de yo solamente que su dolor facilita con tiempo.

Vaya con Dios Sr. Sanchez; a un americano le recordará por siempre americans que le respeta para su ser “apenas un individuo” y que murieron por el hecho simple que usted era alguien que hizo su trabajo al mejor de su capacidad. Nosotros como nación de “Just un Guys” salúdele.

Nota Del Escritor: No hay información pública sobre Sr. Erick Sanchez con excepción de lo que me he ligado. Si usted leyó esto, y conocía a Sr. Sanchez, y puede ponerme al día, deje por favor un email y lo agregaré y republicaré el poste. Las llamadas a cuál (pienso) era su negocio, suelo de Soundstone, en la calle del este 39.o en NYC eran por contestar. Gracias.

9/11/2008 Update….Again, if anyone has any information about Mr. Sanchez, please leave a comment with an email and I will get back to you ASAP. Thanks.

Many Thanks

Thanks to all of you on the replies, email and Twitter that were giving your support for ABMom. Deeply appreciated.

The mighty AB blog, is now back but it would not have been possible with your support. Thanks again.