Filling the Internet Void with Ramblings of Politics and Sexual Innuendo
Monday, October 30, 2006
MNF Thoughts
1) Every week I am more and more convinced that Tony Kornheiser and Joe Theisman hate each others' guts. Anyone else get this or is it just me?
2) Apparently at halftime they're going to have a "sausage race" with huge caricature heads of MNF commentators. Tony said, "Randall Simon isn't allowed in the building." I don't care how many years ago that was... I still find it hilarious.
3) Does anyone else think Michele Tafoya sounds like a man? I swear "she" is a drag queen.
Michele Tafoya...... Michele Tafoya..... She will first be a sideline correspondent. Then she will take off her wig and do the weather.
Andy said that he was waiting for a comment to be approved. I don't remember ever doing it, but apparently I activated the "Moderate Comments" feature. Weird thing is I never received any emails saying comments were waiting.
Anyway, I got rid of Moderation but I apparently have no way of knowing what comments were awaiting approval.
My apologies to the thousands of you in cyber-space that thought you were being snubbed. If anyone wants to be my guinea pig to make sure everything is working now... I'd appreciate it.
Issue 2 is a proposed Constitutional Amendment that wants to raise the minimum wage in Ohio and have it raised annually based on the rate of inflation. It also has a provision that will:
"provide an employee the employer's name, address, telephone number, and other contact information and update such information when it changes. An employer shall maintain a record of the name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked and each amount paid an employee for a period of not less than three years following the last date the employee was employed. Such information shall be provided without charge to an employee or person acting on behalf of an employee upon request."
There are a few other smallish things, so read the text for yourself to make sure I didn't miss anything important to you.
The complete official argument AGAINST Issue 2:
Vote NO on Issue 2 for these reasons:
It's a massive intrusion into your personal privacy . Backers say the amendment is about the minimum wage, but read the fine print. It gives employees or any person acting on behalf of an employee the right to demand private salary records for all employees (not just hourly workers). This will give access to your private information, which could then become public. Disclosure of home addresses and other personal data will put you at risk of identity theft.
Records requirements are costly and open employers to harassment . The amendment was drafted by anti-business activists who propose that all public and private employers – including state and local governments and homeowners – maintain decades worth of records while employees are working and three years afterward. This will cost millions of dollars, yet employers will have to provide these records without charge to any employee or employee representative who asks. Unhappy workers or activist organizations will have authority to make repeated, costly requests.
The amendment means a huge increase in the cost of government. State and local governments will be saddled both with enforcing the amendment and meeting their own costly obligations as major employers. You'll foot the bill.
The amendment doesn't really help low-income Ohioans. A higher minimum wage will trigger thousands of layoffs in lower-paying jobs – hurting, rather than helping, Ohioans who need higher wages the most. Better approaches are to increase the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and to improve job-development and training.
As part of the Constitution, the amendment cannot easily be changed to correct unintended consequences. This amendment, which is hostile to both employers and employees, will damage Ohio's job climate. The legislature will be powerless to fix it.
The complete official argument SUPPORTING Issue 2:
Vote YES on Issue 2 to restore the value of the minimum wage so hard working Ohioans are able to provide for themselves and their families. Raising the wage will encourage personal responsibility and lift many low-wage workers out of poverty.
The real value of the federal minimum wage has reached a 50-year low because it has not kept up with the rising cost of living. Today, a full-time worker at the current minimum wage of $5.15 earns just $206 per week, or $10,712 per year, well below the poverty line for a family of three.
We can do better. The Ohio Minimum Wage Amendment would restore the value that the minimum wage has lost over time.
The Amendment would raise Ohio's minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.85 per hour on January 1, 2007. Each year afterwards, the minimum wage would increase if the cost of living rises, protecting Ohio's lowest paid workers from losing ground. It also provides enforcement measures, similar to the federal minimum wage law, so Ohioans can protect themselves against unscrupulous employers.
The Amendment would raise wages for over 700,000 Ohio workers. On average, these workers provide half of their families' weekly earnings. Nearly three-quarters of the workers who would benefit are adults over twenty. More than 250,000 Ohio children have a parent who will benefit.
Twenty-two other states have raised the minimum wage above the federal level and studies show that r aising the minimum wage substantially helps families while improving the overall economy. Between 1997 and 2003, states with higher minimum wages had more overall job growth.
Ohioans have always valued hard work, but our minimum wage has not kept pace. We believe honest work deserves honest pay. Vote YES on Issue 2 to restore the value of the minimum wage for hard working Ohioans.
What I think:
While I agree that we're probably overdue for a minimum wage increase in Ohio, I personally oppose this proposed Issue for a few different reasons. First and foremost, this is not appropriate for an Amendment to the Ohio Constitution. While I believe a Constitution is a living document that needs to be updated now and again... constitutional law should be reserved for steadfast rights that citizens expect to enjoy unchanged for many, many years. Does anyone really think that this proposed solution will not be revisited and revised soon after its adoption? There is too much going on that is brand new. A promised annual wage raise based on inflation has never been implemented before that I have found. It will certainly need to be tweaked.
Second, I agree with the opposition's concerns about employees' right to privacy. The verbage seems innocuous enough, but the emphasized part in "Such information shall be provided without charge to an employee or person acting on behalf of an employee upon request" scares me a bit. That is not clearly defined.
Third, I believe that increasing the minimum wage does not help those that make minimum wage in the long run. Sure it might look nice to have a bit bigger paycheck, but companies can only afford to pay employees so much. Do you think the CEO is going to reduce his profits? Not on your life. That "pay raise" will come out of benefits, time off, or bonuses. This fact is made even worse when you factor in the additional paper work and red tape that this Issue mandates.
Be sure to read the text of the proposed Constitutional Amendment and decide for yourself.
A recent study entitled “Gun Laws and Sudden Death: Did the Australian Firearms Legislation of 1996 Make a Difference?” published in the British Journal of Criminology examines the history of gun control laws enacted in Australia. These laws include a complete ban on pump action shotguns, semi-automatic shotguns, and semi-automatic rifles. Australia also implemented a massive government sponsored Gun Buyback Program. That program has spent $500 million collecting 640,000 arbitrarily banned firearms.
The authors cited data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) to reach their conclusions that the gun law reforms have had no effect whatsoever on murder or suicide rates when a firearm is used. It is true that those rates have declined, but there was an established historical decline occurring before these laws were passed. They did nothing to increase the rate of that decline and have been expensively ineffective.
"Reducing the number of legally held firearms, banning certain firearms, and increasing the requirements that must be met to legally own firearms has not produced the desired outcome of a safer society," one author said.
Both authors have publicly stated that they belong to pro-gun organizations. They made this disclosure in order to preempt any undue criticism that this fact may bring. Being open about their affiliations is not the only thing that lends credibility to their findings. All research has been rigorously scrutinized by peer review and no fault can be found. It is important to note that many anti-gun colleagues likely participated in that peer review.
As responsible gun owners, we need to educate policy makers and the public at large as to what has worked and what has not in reducing violent crime. We need to share these findings concerning Australia’s Gun Buyback Program. We need to remind people that the United Kingdom saw a 40% increase in armed violence after they enacted their firearm bans. The answers are not easy when it comes to controlling deranged murderers. However, historical evidence has proven one thing again and again: Gun Control Does Not Work! It only succeeds in leaving you defenseless against those already pre-disposed to break the law.
I've been invited back to NRANews.com's flagship program "Cam & Company" to discuss the Anti-Gun Mentality of several large corporations, specifically Costco. This is similar to previous conversations discussing UDF.
If you want to listen, I'm scheduled to go live at 10:20PM. The show starts at 9:00. Click on the above graphic to go to the website. If you do so between 9-Midnight, it automatically takes you to the live feed. You can play an archived edition anytime before the next broadcast (so you have until 9PM Friday). Then you can fast forward into the show.
...
The corporate policy of Costco, a large volume and wholesale retailer, is the latest to be brought to the attention of Ohioans For Concealed Carry. We have received several emails from people all over the country explaining their personal attempts to persuade Costco Corporate Management to adopt a more logical and tolerant policy...
A quick Google search confirmed this author’s suspicions that Costco stores are not immune to violent crime. Therefore, since Costco can’t stop criminals from attacking you, why should they prevent you from doing it yourself? A great deal more time was spent trying to find proof that a citizen with a Concealed Handgun License has done something either illegal or dangerous with their legally carried firearm. That research produced nothing.
While I respect the rights of private property owners to decide for themselves how to run their business, they need to be educated as to the true ramifications of “No Guns” policies. Those signs do nothing to deter armed criminals. In fact, they may have the opposite effect by creating a safe haven or Criminal Protection Zone (CPZ) where armed robbers, rapists, and murderers are assured that no one is capable of standing up to them. Also, they need to realize that the signs are effective in keeping out millions of patrons and, more importantly, their wallets.
DISCLAIMER: There are many reliable reports out there that say Issue 1 is probably not going to make it onto the ballot thanks to an Ohio District Appellate Court confirming a decision by Secretary of State Ken Blackwell to reject due to a lack of signatures. Therefore, read up... but be aware that it might not be there on November 7.
ISSUE 1
Issue 1 will reform Ohio's Workers' Compensation Law. A few of the notables:
Allows workers' compensation and benefits to be awarded to a victim of sexual assault at the workplace.
Prohibits certain prisoners from receiving workers' compensation and benefits while confined to a county jail and designates the Bureau of Workers' Compensation Special Investigation Department a criminal justice agency.
Exempts the addresses and phone numbers of workers receiving workers' compensation and benefits from Ohio's Public Records Law and from public access, except to journalists.
The complete official argument AGAINST Issue 1:
Senate Bill 7 is a devious attack on injured workers' benefits in just another effort to pay for “Coingate” and other bad investment “kick-back” schemes on the backs of injured workers. Don't let them get away with taking your family's benefits. Vote NO to reject Senate Bill 7.
In 1997, lawmakers tried to pass a similar bill to benefit greedy corporations saying it was necessary to save businesses $200 million per year. Less than 2 weeks after voters like yourself stood up and said NO to those take-aways, the truth was exposed when the BWC gave employers over $2 Billion of injured workers' monies. Since then, the BWC has given employers refunds or credits of over $12 BILLION of money earmarked for injured workers, their widows and orphans ! Big business and greedy corporations lied to us then, and they are trying to lie to us again now. We voted against their greed in 1997 – we need to do it again this November.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !
Only the injured worker take-away provisions of this bill are being challenged. Be truthful with Ohio's families and tell them the benefits that Senate Bill 7 will eliminate:
Cuts the time a claim remains open for the payment of compensation and medical benefits from 10 to 5 years.
Reduces non-working wage loss compensation from 200 to 52 weeks.
Reverses 5 separate Supreme Court Cases which ruled in favor of granting workers' rights and benefits.
Discriminates against older workers or anyone who has had a previous injury by eliminating their ability to file a claim for a pre-existing condition unless the new injury substantially aggravates it.
Protect yourself. Protect your family.
Protect Ohio.
Vote NO on Issue 1
The complete official argument SUPPORTING Issue 1:
Voting “YES” preserves the rights of injured workers so they are compensated quickly and fairly and promotes common-sense cost-saving reforms for employers.
S.B. 7 was passed by a majority of Ohio's legislators who worked with employee rights advocates and Ohio's employers to ensure Ohio workers are protected if they are injured during work, while also preserving Ohio jobs with cost-saving changes for employers. Special interest groups who were unsuccessful in blocking the bill during the legislative process have led an effort to prevent enactment of this meaningful reform measure of the Workers' Compensation system. Your "YES” vote will ensure these needed reforms become law.
S.B. 7 increases protections against fraud in Ohio's Workers' Compensation system and does the following:
Speeds up compensation for Ohio's injured workers
Better protects women in the workplace
Provides opportunities for job creation and job retention in Ohio
Voting “YES” will:
Improve a system where injured workers receive needed care and return to work quickly;
Fix current flaws in the system that result in costly waste, fraud and abuse;
Stop those who prey on injured workers by protecting workers' privacy by removing their home addresses and telephone numbers from public record;
For the first time, allow workers' compensation benefits if a woman is sexually assaulted while at work;
Prohibit prisoners from continuing to collect Workers' Compensation benefits while in jail;
Ensure more than $100 million in savings to the system that protects injured workers and helps employers reinvest in their businesses so they may preserve and create Ohio jobs.
Support injured workers. Preserve and Create jobs.
Vote "YES" on Issue 1.
What I think:
Frankly, I don't think much of this issue. As I've heard from very reliable sources that it won't be on the ballot, I've researched this one the least. On principle, I will be voting Yes as it appears to be the work of a special interest group to block legislation that has previously passed. It also protects personal information of those on worker's comp. Regular readers of this blog know that's something for which I am a strong advocate.
Ever wonder why Election Day is the First Tuesday After the First Monday in November? I did.
". . . For much of our history, America was a predominantly agrarian society. Law makers therefore took into account that November was perhaps the most convenient month for farmers and rural workers to be able to travel to the polls. The fall harvest was over, (remember that spring was planting time and summer was taken up with working the fields and tending the crops) but in the majority of the nation the weather was still mild enough to permit travel over unimproved roads.
Why Tuesday? Since most residents of rural America had to travel a significant distance to the county seat in order to vote, Monday was not considered reasonable since many people would need to begin travel on Sunday. This would, of course, have conflicted with Church services and Sunday worship.
Why the first Tuesday after the first Monday? Lawmakers wanted to prevent election day from falling on the first of November for two reasons. First, November 1st is All Saints Day, a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics. Second, most merchants were in the habit of doing their books from the preceding month on the 1st. Apparently, Congress was worried that the economic success or failure of the previous month might prove an undue influence on the vote!"
I've always voted. Like every other thing... I take it more seriously now than when I was 18. I'd usually realize "Shit, I need to vote tomorrow", and then do a half-ass job finding out what I was to vote on. This resulted in me discovering later that I didn't know all the details or leaving half my ballot blank.
In case you, Loyal Reader, are unaware of the State issues on next month's ballot, I will be providing a very valuable service: A Series on Proposed Ohio Issues. I'll recreate the pros and cons published on the official election site along with a brief commentary on where I stand.
I don't mind that comments on this blog are sparse. I do this more for me anyway.
With that being said, I always welcome a discussion. I'm doing this series to try and get the bare minimum of information out there so us younger voters have something to think about when they go to the polls. If you blatantly disagree with me, feel free to say so... so long as your argument is more than just saying "You're wrong".
If there is participation, these could get heated... so let's keep it civil and respectful.
I've been invited back to NRANews.com's flagship program "Cam & Company" to discuss a tragedy that occured in Cincinnati this week. A mother of two was raped in front of her children in a city park. This is relevant because you've read on here that many Ohio Mayors are actively working to get legal concealed carry banned in parks. No need for self-defense there!
If you want to listen, I'm scheduled to go live at 11:40PM. The show starts at 9PM. Click on the above graphic to go to the website. If you do so between 9-midnight, it automatically takes you to the live feed. You can play an archived edition anytime before the next broadcast (so you have until 9PM Friday). Then you can fast forward into the show.
NRANews contacted me because of an article written by a female member of Ohioans For Concealed Carry. Do you recognize the "anonymous" author? Hint... she's hot.
... Women are strong. I believe a woman can accomplish anything she chooses to. Physically, however, we are at a disadvantage. On average, we are shorter; we weigh less and have less muscle mass. A firearm has been called “The Great Equalizer”. What better way to promote gender equality than to encourage women to take their safety and their children’s safety into their own hands? Women should be given the option to equip themselves to make up for what nature has not provided...
I hope that the woman and her family can find some way to heal after this terrible tragedy. I also hope that those sworn to protect me and my community do not legislate away my natural right of self-defense and leave me at the mercy of larger, stronger, deranged criminals when my future children ask to visit our local park. I am responsible… law-abiding… trained… and only want to protect myself. How can someone hear this heart-wrenching story and tell me they will not allow me to do so?"
For those with Satellite Radio, the show is also broadcast on Sirius Patriot 144 on your XM dial... If you're lickin', that's W-Guns.
I must confess that I've never trusted the World Wide Web. I've always seen it as a coward's tool. Where does it live? How do you hold it personally responsible? Can you put a distributed network of fiber-optic cable "on notice"? And is it male or female? In other words, can I challenge it to a fight?
My harsh, yet truthful, criticisms end when it comes to The Musings of Milkey. Never before has the blogosphere been blessed with the writings of such a true and gifted American hero. From the importance of being armed to knowing when it's important to be armed... this digital compilation of articles makes up a virtual underground railroad that is the one stop for all patriots that look to traverse the dangerous territories of those that want to trick you into voting for illegal immigration subsidies and terrorist welcome wagons. (They get a candle!)
If only there was some way that I could assist Milkey in his quest to spread truthiness throughout the liberal, anti-America, anti-gun think tanks. Perhaps if I were to
THIS IS THE THREAT DOWN!!!
5) "Assault" Weapons - Let's admit it. These target plinkers function no differently than any other legal semi-auto on the market. It's racial profiling at its worst.
So what if they're black? I don't see the color of guns. People tell me they're black and I believe them. Some of my best friends are black guns.
4) Gays - No matter how many hours you spend working them, training them, massaging them in a posh San Francisco spa, they keep fucking up the "This is My Rifle... This is My Gun" chant/choreography from Full Metal Jacket. I'm not giving up hope and will continue to work with these unfortunate souls until they get it right.
2) You - I've had my sources at the NSA Wiretapping Division keep on eye on the four or five people that regularly visit this blog. I know that you don't own a gun and are just praying that the government will be able to save your sorry behinds at 4AM when a crazed meth-addict is holding you at knife-point and demanding to clean your entire house because they can't sleep. Let's hope that works out for you.
AND THE NUMBER ONE THREAT:
1) Bears - As you may have read on previous editions of The Musings of Milkey, firearms that are supposedly legally allowed to be carried by law-abiding citizens with an Ohio Concealed Handgun License are now being banned in and around Toledo parks. You know what this means....... no picnic basket is safe. Bears (like common criminals) can't read signs and pay lawyers tens of thousands of dollars to figure out where a state law is applicable in a particular city or township throughout the great state of Ohio. This results in our worst fear...
That, my friends, is the Threat Down! Please take it (and everything else on The Musings of Milkey) to heart. In order to be able to sleep tonight, please enjoy this bedtime lullabye by Attorney General and American Hero John Ashcroft:
1) I wanna thank God Almighty for that Steeler loss. All the glory goes to Him.
2) I think my football fan-ness increased during last night's contest. I've always enjoyed following the game and consider myself a slightly-above-average fan, but I typically take in the whole play at face value. Last night was the first time I really paid constant attention to specific aspects of a play. For example, I rewound almost every down to watch what the Chargers' Nose Tackle, Jamal Williams, did. That guy's a beast!
3) I wish the Charger helmets had the players' numbers more prominently displayed. Hugely depicted on the side and also on the chin straps isn't enough.
4) I still can't believe more NFL officials don't get creamed.
5) I don't care if Antonio Gates never played football as a Golden Flash, he needs to represent and cut out this high school bullshit.
6) It's painful to watch the Browns.
6a) Josh Cribbs makes it worth it. I'm suprised he hasn't been picked up for weed, as that was a weekly occurence for him at KSU.
6b) It's nice to have Frye and Cribbs have prominent roles, as I'm used to seeing MAC games in which my team always loses.
What terrible tragedies. I can't even imagine the type of monster that could commit such horrendous crimes. As 90% of my posts are about firearm issues, I'd be remiss not to comment.
There are two solutions being offered to try and prevent these psychotic episodes from occuring in the future. If you think about it, the proposed solutions are not applicable only to school shootings. They generally sum up both sides of the gun debate.
A) More gun control. We need to make it harder for criminals to get guns. The current laws prohibiting criminals from being in the presence of a gun and also to murder someone aren't sufficient. We need more of them.
Let's look at some historical evidence before we make our choices...
As for choice (A), more gun control laws have always been proposed and adopted after senseless mass killings. It happened after Columbine. The complete handgun ban in Great Britain was in response to a school shooting, dubbed The Dunblane Massacre. Somehow, criminals keep disregarding all these laws and illegally using guns in "gun free zones". Not only are those zones obviously ignored, a lot of people think they attract these nutjobs because they are assured they'll bring the only gun and can make whatever point it is they're trying to get across.
As for choice (B), Israeli schools used to be a favorite target for terrorists. Isreal then mandated that teachers be armed. After a few terrorists were killed before they could blow up innocent kids, they moved on to easier pickings. I certainly do not think anybody in the U.S. should ever be mandated to carry, but if criminals know that someone may be able to stop them, they may think twice about their intentions. Would this be a magic fix-all? Of course not. But my opinion is that it would have a positive effect.
Let's not forget that there was a 1997 school shooting in Pearl, Mississippi that was stopped by an armed Vice Principal. As you can read in that link, Principal Balentine called 911 and waited helplessly while his students continued to get shot. Vice Principal Myrick ran out the building, made his way to the parking lot, retrieved his personal handgun, ran back to the school, and confronted the shooter... who was then peacefully captured without another shot being needed.
Imagine how many of the victims were injured or killed in the time it took Mr. Myrick to retrieve his handgun (which was illegally locked on school property) from his truck. Imagine how many victims were saved because Mr. Myrick broke the law and defended the defenseless.
By the way, Mr. Myrick was never charged with having his handgun in his truck.
The reason why we sucked so bad at trap on Saturday wasn't our fault. The blame rests solely on those elitist Al-Qaida loving traitors that pass sissy gun laws restricting our right to have the proper tools for the job.
Sure, some people will say, "But why do you need that type of firearm?" Those socialist freedom haters obviously know nothing of the God-given rights of law-abiding citizens to do well on the trap pad.
Is that the appropriate greeting for this Day of Atonement?
Anyway, here I sit at my desk wondering how I could possibly escape the shackles of the next eight hours. They promise to be tedious and awful if I don't do something quickly. Visions of dank, hand-dug tunnels and fake suicides for a trip to the infirmary are racing through my head.
Perhaps I could use that wide open door by the front of the office...
Pretty soon I'm going to make a walk for it. Wish me luck, as I won't have another chance all year.
