We rescued him from the Animal Shelter. Instead of the $700 French Bulldog that the petstore tried to sell us, we got a $50 Boxer/Heeler mix. The funny thing is, he has a brindle coat (along with some white and black spots here and there) just like that French Bulldog had.
Max is 4 months old. He was brought to the shelter by his owners. They had an older dog that just did not like Max. And they said that Max was too energetic for them. He took to Bethany right away. Then I was out voted by TJ and Troy. Max just looked at me and gave me those sad eyes.
All tired out and going for a snooze
He took to his new home right away. I had bought a bed that turns out to be too small so we have to exchange it...or so I thought. He found it last night and curled up in it in the diningroom. He keeps going back and curling up in it.
He doesn't seem to like going outside by himself but he will eventually get used to the cable and anchor. I noticed that if he hears another dog bark he gets frightened. BUT he will guard the doors. He will squeak but there isn't any bark...unless he hears a noise at the front door. Then he'll let out a few barks and a low growl.
He won't venture downstairs. And when he saw Troy get in his car and leave this morning, he wanted to get in my van and go for a ride.
He had a bath with doggy shampoo with oatmeal in it to keep the itches away. Then all he did was scratch himself. Since I didn't have any baby shampoo, I gave him anthoer quick bath with the hamster shampoo and he quit scratching.
He hasn't noticed Pete and Pete doesn't care as long as he still gets his veggie treats.
He knows the word 'no'. He started to pick up one of Troy's slippers and I said, "no, Max." and he looked at me, dropped it and walked away. He picked up something else and I said, "no, Max' and he dropped it and walked away.
When we all went to bed last night, he squeaked outside our bedroom door for about 5 minutes then gave up and laid down. I expected to see a big mess this morning. It wasnt' too bad...one little puddle on the floor by his bed. I used the clorox wipes and took him outside (after a scolding). When we came in, he hid under the diningroom table and watched me with big sad eyes. I let him stew for a bit the clapped my hands and called his name. He came running with tail wagging.
Whenever Troy goes to sit in his chair, Max instantly jumps up on his lap. He likes it when Troy puts the foot rest up cuz he likes to lay there and go to sleep. Spoiled already.
Wonder what he'll do when the trick 'r' treaters come around tonight?
I kinda feel sorry for those parents that don't take the time to help their kids with their school work. You know why? I believe I have learned MORE helping my kids with their school work NOW than I learned when I went through school. Are they giving them better school books than we had?
Actually, I'm not sure if I am learning all THAT much more or if what I'm doing with them is actually dredging up things in the back of my mind that I forgot I learned.
I know...you had to think about that, huh? LOL
I was helping my daughter with some social studies work tonight. They do this thing on the computer called Study Island. We would read through the questions and then the four answers you had to choose from. I would help her eliminate the answers that were clearly WRONG and discuss with her WHY they couldn't be it...then we would discuss the other ones and reason out which one it would have to be. Unfortunately, half of the stuff was about the Incas and Mayans...I never really paid a whole lot of attention to that stuff...I had a vague recollection of any of it. BUT, the other half was about trade routes and exploration. Now THAT I could remember! I didn't have to dig so far for that stuff anyway becuz I had helped my son with that stuff just a few years ago.
I remember when I was helping him with HIS social studies and geography and world history that I did learn a few things. I learned about how the Muslim religion was actually a predominate religion across Europe and North Africa. I also learned about how the African ppl were the ones that sold their own ppl into slavery for money and goods. This stuff was NOT in MY history classes.
My favorite thing to help them with is math. I like math. However, they are both good at it...they don't LIKE it, but they get it...so...they don't ask me for much help.
I like the discussions I have with my son over some of the literature he has to read. He just finished the Edgar Alan Poe short story called "The Fall of the House of Usher". I have never been an Edgar Alan Poe fan but I DO remember that story. What I did remember was the whole family had inhabited the same house and had all eventually gone mad and died from the madness. And when the last member of the family went totally off his nut and died the house imploded upon itself. The visitor to the house had escaped before the house totally imploded. I think EAP must have been quite mad in his own right.
The kids are coming to the end of their first quarter of school. Both of them started out badly...getting behind in their work and it took some real butt kicking on my part and getting them organized to get them caught up. whew. However, come Monday it is a clean slate and there will be NO falling behind.
speaking of falling behind...I had better get my classwork done tomorrow since I won't be around this weekend to do it!
I decided to load on a copy of my final paper that I wrote for my Labor Relations class. I did a lot of head shaking over this. Considering the way the presidential campaign is swinging, I guess that the Muslim factions and Labor Unions are pretty comfortable sharing a bed.
Public Sector Unionization: Why It Is Growing and How It Affects Everyone Nancy S. Adams
In this paper I am presenting some statistical trends in public sector unionization along with an overall statistical trend in unionization of both the public and private sectors. I compare and contrast the difference in unionizing in the private sector and public sector that shows why there was such a big shift into public sector unionization. This leads to the a presentation of the pros and cons of public sector unionization and its affect on all citizens. Lastly, I discuss some union backed legislation along with a ruling by the Supreme Court against union dominance.
Recent Statistics According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union membership rose in 2007 and accounts for 12.1 percent of employed wage and salary workers. This is only a 0.1 percent raise from 2006 statistics. In comparison, union membership rate in 1983 was 20.1 percent.
Public sector membership rate is nearly five times that of the private sector employees. The professions that have the highest union membership rate are in education, training, library occupations, and protective service occupations (police, firefighters, EMTs). Local government workers have the highest union membership rate.
1.6 million wage and salary workers were represented by a union even though they were non-members. A little more than half of that number were government employees.
Union Shift from Private Sector to Public Sector Growth The loss of private sector union membership, and the inability to rally, has been blamed on various factors. One factor of blame is the change in the economic environment. The markets are more open to foreign competition. Companies were finding it more cost effective to move out of country, taking advantage of globalization. Major advances in technology made movement of business easier and lucrative, along with cheaper labor costs. Unions could no longer guarantee their members both higher wages and job security. It made joining a union increasingly unattractive.
A second factor to be considered in the decline of private sector union membership dates back to the Reagan administration years when there was a recession. Many companies faltered under the weight of union demands and contracts. A great percentage of workers were without jobs. This brought about a new era of thinking for many companies and a reorganization. Human Resource departments made changes that would give workers a reason to give union organizers the cold shoulder. Company administrators and supervisors realized that if they treated employees in a more union-like manner, the employees would not feel a need to bring the union in to represent them.
With the loss of favor in the private sector, unions needed a fresh source of membership. They turned, in full vengeance, to the public sector. This was a virtually untapped source of membership.
Comparison: Private vs. Public Growth in employment in the private sector is higher among nonunion members than union members while employment growth in the public sector is about equal between union members and nonunion members. In order to understand the difference in union growth in the two sectors, one must understand the difference in job growth.
Job growth rate in each sector is comparable. However, in the private sector, employment growth is due to both the growth of existing firms and the creation of new firms. Older firms may phase out, which results in the loss of union membership. While the growth of existing unionized firms can add to membership it does not offset the loss of a whole unionized firm. When new firms are created they, of course, start out as nonunion. Unions have to go through the whole process of fresh organization. This takes much time, effort and money.
In the public sector, employment grows with population growth and the demand for services. There is not a major loss of jobs or union members since there is not a loss of jurisdictions and government units generally always continue to exist. Most job growth is brought about by expansion into jurisdictions that are already organized. Therefore, union membership can grow without the need for new organization.
While private sector jobs can be lost because of globalization, technology, and foreign competition, public sector jobs are more stable. It is also because of this stability that there is a higher rate of union membership in the public sector compared to the private sector. Private sector goods and services can be lost to the global market and foreign competition while public sector services cannot be traded. Public sector union bargaining may be threatened with the possibility of outsourcing some of the services to the private sector. Most governments are unwilling to lose their control over their services this way, though.
In the private sector, unions have a more difficult time delivering higher wages when the the firms they work for are facing lower profit margins and flow of income due to competition from global markets. In the public sector there are no such constraints or competitions. When compensation increases that increase can be offset by higher taxes. This, of course, affects all citizens.
The Good and the Bad of Public Sector Unions With unions moving more heavily into the public sector their role becomes more political. Government agencies and officials begin pandering to the unions. Unions promise financial backing and votes for candidates in exchange for wage increases, passing union endorsed legislation and government protected jobs.
State and local government officials begin supporting card checking (compare this to someone watching over your shoulder as you vote) to push through unionization. With this accomplished within the public sector, it only builds a stronger base to pass legislation calling for card checking in the private sector. Card checking creates bigger and stronger unions that expand their power. Officials are elected through campaign support and then lobbied to implement policies that favor the union.
When unions gain power and officials bow to them in exchange for time in office, wage increases that are covered by higher taxes and contracts that cannot be broken begin to wreak havoc on the government’s economy. Some local governments, such as Vallejo, California, have gone bankrupt under union wage contracts.
Public sector unions are something that have had positive results for some public sector professions. The unions create a more job secure work environment for employees. Wages,benefits, and employment conditions are equalized. Employment is protected by a contract and not contingent on political or personal viewpoints of the employer. With job security, public employees are more productive and there is far less turnover. This saves money that would be used for training new hires. Also, with fewer turnover, this makes the protective and safety service departments more stable and efficient. It creates a sense of comfort and security for the community.
The Legislative Leash The constitutional principles of the first amendment has protected the rights of each state to set its own policies regarding the unionization of government employees. These states are known as Right to Work States. Unfortunately, some states have enacted laws that empower union officials to exert monopoly-bargaining control over public safety employees and other public sector employees. Now the union backed Congress members are poised to pass a bill known as H.R. 980—The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act. This is a monopoly-bargaining bill and will strip hundreds of thousands of safety service employees of the freedom to negotiate on their own with their employers and MUST be represented by the union. This bill has already received the stamp of approval by the House of Representatives with the support of nearly every House Democrat and many House Republicans.4 On May 14, 2008 a Motion to Table this bill was passed by the Senate.5
Union advocates contend that this bill is to protect the right of safety service employees to join a union. That right is already under protection in every state. Opponents of the bill believe that a better title for it would be The Police/Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill.
History has shown that states that enact monopoly-bargaining laws experience a dramatic increase in strikes and work stoppages. As public officials are forced to give in to union demands, it becomes a heavy cost for the citizens. Politicians are more likely to cave into the unions to gain their support. Problems are not fixed and costs are not cut, taxes are just increased. This leads to the public supporting an inefficient government.
The only hedge against such legislation is a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Daniel Locke v. Edward Karass. The ruling states that employees not protected by Right to Work laws still have the right to refrain from formal union membership. Union officials may charge nonmembers for union activities such as collective bargaining that relates to their jobs. However, unions cannot force them to pay for non-bargaining activities like union politics and lobbying. The Court is yet to determine where and how to draw the lines that will set the criteria for determining whether an employee can be forced to fund Big Labor’s lawsuit machine.
In the meantime, Big Labor is busy trying to push another bill through Congress known as H.R.800 entitled The Employee Free Choice Act, which is totally misleading. It is a bill that will promote card checking and intimidation of employees. This bill would force an employer to recognize and bargain with any union that presented signed cards from a majority of its employees. Senate Republicans have managed to block the bill, so far. At present it has passed the House of Representatives.
Unions can be a very good thing for employees to help give them a voice and change unfair employment practices. However, when Unions become power hungry and take away its members rights of choice and the rights of others to choose to not be respresented by a union it gives itself a black eye and a bad name. Members and nonmembers alike should be allowed the choice of whether or not to pay for funding campaigns of candidates for whom they would not choose to vote. If Public Sector Unionism keeps growing the way it is, U.S. citizens will no longer have a voice in choosing which politicians they want to run our government or how our government is run at all.
It seems that history as we knew it growing up is being 'changed'. The books are being rewritten with the 'truth'. For social studies, Bethany chose to do a research paper on Christopher Columbus as her project. I thought I would share it with you:
Christopher Columbus
Friend or Foe?
Were the voyages of Christopher Columbus a mixed blessing? His venture to the New World gained him lasting fame, but as some have come to realize, he’s less of a friend than a foe. Some still argue he is a hero to us who discovered new lands for us, but others say he is a villain, who took the Americas from the natives, yet we still praise him as the one who “discovered” the Americas, when technically, the original inhabitants were already there and discovered the land themselves. We continue to celebrate the second Monday in October on October 21 as “Columbus Day”.
Columbus began the idea of hoping to find a westward route to Asia after his wife died. He started into finding plans and theories. When he started his route, he aimed to create a trade route for Spain. He also aimed to Christianize the natives he expected to find non-Christians, which some may argue is a great point of why he is a friend, but he’s not completely innocent. He was very ambitious and was actually in the lands looking for fame and fortune. He wanted to become a knight, admiral of the Ocean Sea, vicery and general of all the lands he found, and one-tenth of valuable items that were discovered on the lands. When he returned after his first trip where he landed somewhere in the Bahamas, he returned to Spain to spread the word and was noted as “Admiral of the Ocean Seas”. He expected to become rich, but by the end of the journey, he returned to Spain after four trips, and still no wealth. Columbus only received a fixed amount for reaching the New World first.
Have you noticed he doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer? To finance his trip in 1484, he went to King John of Portugal who refused. He then went to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. After a year, they also refused. Columbus went back 2 years later and asked once again, yet after a month, they still said ‘no’. Finally, Father Perez, a Spanish monk, continued to negotiate with the rulers on behalf of Christopher Columbus. He talked to the king and queen for Columbus and successfully persuaded them to finance Columbus’s journey. Christopher Columbus wasn’t very smart in realizing where he was. Earlier before starting off on his venture, he overestimated the circumference of the Earth. When he realized the Earth was spherical, he accepted his mistaken beliefs and found the journey he hoped to complete was accomplishable. When he and his crew first sighted land, he thought they were in the Indies, so he named the natives Indians. When he reached Cuba, he thought it was China. He thought the world was much smaller than what it actually is. Also, to add to the fact that he was greedy, when the Santa Maria wrecked near Haiti, he built a fort and left 40 men to hunt for gold in what he thought was China.
It seemed that the villainous reputation ran in the family. The Admiral partially quieted a revolt by comprising with Francisco Roldán, an office holder. So many letters of complaints had gone to the Castile, all of the letters regarding Columbus’s brothers, so the rulers sent a royal commissioner by the name of Francisco de Bobadilla and told him to act as he saw was best. Bobadilla meant well, but he already had in his head a bad opinion of the Columbus family. He put the Admiral and his brothers in chains and sent them to Spain. Andrés Martin who commanded the ship where to sail offered to remove the shackles, but the Admiral refused. He wanted to look restricted by the sovereigns. In November 1500, Columbus went to court. He received a kind welcome from the monarchs and reassurance that the imprisonment and chains had not been by their orders. No one knew that 20 years later, he would be on his deathbed. He suffered from arthritis and malaria at only 53. Though, he finally brought back gold from the Americas as he had hoped for in all his greediness. He also owned most of Hispaniola, so he died with a sense of accomplishment. Many grieved for him, thinking he was such a great man. He later died in Valladolid on May 20, 1506 after spending his last few months in bed, suffering.
As you can see, Christopher Columbus was a foe, unexpectedly so. Still, people choose to believe he is the hero and Admiral for the Crown of Castile we’ve all read about who “discovered” the New World.
No one really wants to know my views on the political debates or the whole big crock of beggars stew. But after all the digging into labor relations and the economy that my classes have sent me into for the past 2 years, I DO have something to say about one very important point.
Barack Obama wants to lure the country along with speaking about lowering taxes for the middle class and raising taxes on business and anyone that makes over $250,000. Of course this gets everyone interested! "HEY! More money for ME! Let those greedy business owners and stockholders pay!"
I agree that in the business world there IS a lot of greed. Unfortunately it is what makes the world turn. Perhaps putting some checks and balances on it...instituting more accountability would be a much better idea.
Let's face it, when ANYONE buys stock in a company they want a really good return...meaning BIG PROFITS. Those big profits are not only good for the stockholders but it gives the companies the means to expand...thus creating more jobs. If you tax them more it eats into the profits...stockholders bail...companies lose money...loss of jobs. If middle class America doesn't have jobs, they won't have to worry about ANY taxes. (oooo...even better! NOT)
There are lots of 'small' businesses that make more than $250,000 per year...ON PAPER. By the time they pay for the health insurance that Barack Obama is proposing that ALL business owners will be obligated to have for all employees...plus the high utility prices...why own a business? Again...less jobs.
I have nothing against health care reform. I just don't like the idea that EITHER candidate has.
People keep talking about how the middle class carries this country on its shoulders becuz of the taxes it pays. It sure feels that way...BUT...why do they have a paycheck to pay taxes FROM? Becuz of business. We SHOULD be kind to businesses...that are doing HONEST business. If anything, as I said, put accountability measures into place. AND give them incentives to keep their business in THIS country. Put some curbs on Unions that get power hungry themselves and make it impossible for companies to keep operating in the black. Businesses need to work with their employees so that everyone can be satisfied and Unions have no reason for being.
Frankly, out of the two candidates, what I'm hearing from Obama sounds more like a big flush job. Right now we are circling the pipes.
I was not happy with McCain's performance in the debates. Although he did make some really great points last night, unfortunately his demeanor is all that most ppl noticed. And Obama can sit there an keep punching towards the fact that he has plans to help young ppl be able to go to college, etc. but just WHAT are those plans? You said you want to take a scalpel to the budget to find the money to fund your plans. Well...DUH! McCain has those plans too. Anyone with any brain wattage would have that plan. Nothing new.
Okay...I said more than I had started out to say. Here is one more thing to consider... Our government is made up of a check and balance system. With a majority Democratic Congress just how much check and balance will be going on if there is a Democratic President?
****************************************************************** In OTHER news:
Had my last Labor Relations class last night. Whew. Handed in my paper (which I will post later) but I wasn't REAL thrilled with it as it was only allowed to be 6 pages long and I had to edit it like crazy. However, our team presentation was GREAT! I got matched up with just the right guys. Everyone else's presentation seemed pretty thin and uneventful by comparison, if I do say so myself. I think the instructor was definitely surprised by my part of the presentation becuz I was pretty quiet in his class...unlike the big mouths that sat in the second row. When I was doing my part of the presentation (I use a lot of eye contact) I saw some looks on even THEIR faces like, "oh! I never thought of it that way". Our group was one of two that the instructor had no questions for when we were done. That is a GOOD thing becuz he only asked questions when the presentation was like swiss cheese.
My one team member, Elden, added the cherry on top with his part of the presentation becuz he had called the Obama and McCain headquarters here in Ohio and asked them some pretty pointed economic/union questions. Then proceeded to point out why Obama's views will only serve to pandor to unions and it backed up my points of the presentation about how unions will end up running the country and regular citizens will no longer have a voice...neither will business owners.
ANYWAY...the class ended on a really high note and I'm pleased!
I am almost to the end of my 8 week course in Labor Relations. It has been a whirlwind and A LOT of work. I can actually say I have learned quite a bit from this class. Not so much from the instructor but from the reading! I never paid much attention to the business world before. Now I've learned a whole lot of stuff that could keep you from sleeping at night. There are things that I have learned that make this year's elections even more upsetting.
TJ was pretty sick this week and I ended up taking him to the doctor's. I got really sick myself...still not feeling good. Spent today doing a lot of teeth clenching to stop myself from taking it out on everyone. I told Troy that my body has been out of whack too long this week and it is really wearing on my nerves. Hopefully Sunday will be better.
I started reading a biography about Charles Schultz. Just the first chapter was a real eye opener! Made me suddenly look at the "Peanuts" cartoon in a different way...and, no, it is not bad...just different.
Applied for two jobs, too, with two pretty large companies in the area. It would be nice to get to work and start putting some money away. It would also be nice to send more money with each house payment so we can get this place paid off early. There are a lot of things that would be nice. Things are good now...and I won't complain.
It has been a long week and I have a long weekend ahead of me...too much classwork. While the rest of the family plays I will be working.
The biggest surprise of all was getting our security deposit back from the ex-psycho landlord! ALL OF IT! and without a fight. whew. Now...we are done with him. Hallelujah! Life has its good points!
