Loomis, Steven, IC3

They raised the minimum wage again today. The news story was some guy complaining that he can't make it on minimum wage.

Well, tough shit. What are you doing at the bottom anyhow? Blame yourself, not everyone else or the cost of living. What is it with people who refused to heed the warnings? YOU WEREN'T LISTENING? - or - were you just too busy having a good time??

Minimum Wage spells LOSER. If you are over 18 and still making minimum wage - it's your fault and your problem. Every time they raise the minimum wage everybody else's wage decreases by at least that amount as it not only drags other wages closer to the minimum wage it drives up prices of the stuff people at the bottom make - like hamburgers.

We're not talking rocket science, those people don't make "minimum wage". If you are still reading this, you are most likely ex-military. I hope you took advantage of the tens of thousands of opportunities they laid at your feet. I did. I hope you got some great schooling out of the military. I did. Did you take advantage of the educational opportunities when you got out, like the GI Bill? I did.

Hey, everybody has a hard luck story. My parents split up when I was eight. My mother disowned me and I lived with my father from the time I was ten. He wasn't there most of the time and by the age of 16 I was working. My Social Security records date back to then and I've paid every penny of my share of taxes, all my life. I hate people that cheat, and that includes those of you that work for cash only.

I paid my way through high school and in my senior year I joined the Navy. As soon as I had my diploma I went on active duty. Within a year I was standing in Saigon with naval ground forces Vietnam. If you don't think those were hard luck stories you must have had it pretty easy. Either way, everything I've ever had was because I earned it.

My old man did give me a couple of pieces of advice. I hope you followed similar advice, as it was there for the taking.

1st: COMPARE YOURSELF WITH THE TOP OF THE CLASS, NOT THE BOTTOM.
2nd: GET YOURSELF A TRADE AND LEARN IT WELL SO YOU HAVE IT TO FALL BACK ON.

And I did. Who gives a shit about the bottom of the class. Not me. And you may have guessed, I'm not some social/welfare worker, nor have I ever needed their services.

That Navy training and college on the GI Bill - that was a gift that I gave to myself.

From the time I was thirty I have saved 15% of my gross income. I built a nest egg which also served as a rainy day fund which I never needed to tap into. Thirty years later, at the age of 60, I retired with a pension plan I had built for myself. And, my mortgage was paid off before I turned 50.

I have never been UNEMPLOYED. I have never had an unemployment check of any kind. I do not believe in socialism and I have never been on welfare. All of the money I have paid into those funds were used by other people. I am not "other people". Every time they extend the unemployable benefits I cringe. You can't fix broken unless they get off their asses. Flushing money down the toilet never fixed anything.

So there. Don't get me started on bankruptcies or mortgage and title defaults. If you have ever done one of those, you are most likely one of the losers I am trying to avoid. Happy New Year, a time to start anew, if that's what you need. Me? All I need is a watch that tells me what DAY it is. The rest can go hang.


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We need it more today than yesterday and will need it even more tomorrow: COMPULSORY SERVICE.

Yes, just like the draft. Service in some form to the community and/or nation.

People need a buy-in.
Wouldn't it be great to be sitting at a picnic table in some park with a bunch of strangers, and every one of them could tell you where they did their SERVICE.

I also think a high school diploma, or at least the equivalent, should be mandatory before welfare benefits are available.

I guess you can tell, I SERVED, and have never been on welfare.

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Save our history, re-write our history, they don't even Teach Our History.!!

During my two and a half decades of managing the media services for an 8,000 plus K-8 school district, a part of my department was the print shop. It plodded along in the 1980s, mostly with newsletters and work-sheets like those used to teach penmanship. By the end of the 1990s I had to add a couple of photocopiers and an ink duplicator. By 2000 I had two production copiers and three duplicators along with a larger printing press. Then, by 2010 the printing equipment was too slow and sold, we now had five production copiers, one of them a full color, 3 with built in bindery equipment. The district stopped purchasing "text books", claiming we could print them cheaper, but the material had become more and more selective and we were making photocopy testing materials more than anything. They were now "Teaching Test Material". In my opinion, that is not an education. It is control and as bias as a political poll. And in 2011 I was NOT offered my 25th annual-contract. My department, audiovisuals, media lending library, photography and video were no longer needed... all that was left was the ever expanding copy production center with additional copy equipment in each of the nine elementary schools. A total of 40 photocopiers district wide. Oh yeah, my funding went to the I.T. department where they hired several more computer techs. The audiovisuals, professional photography and video were considered unnecessary, as the opinion of the new generation was - "all that can be done with a smart phone". Fortunately, I had all my ducks lined up for retirement (points and age) and as I turned 61 the door was slammed shut behind me. In my opinion, your kids are not getting an education. They're getting the shaft. Just barely enough to advance to another grade level. Most of them can't make change. But, bring out a TV crew and they will perform...like trained monkeys... "OK, Ready? Smash something"



Rewriting history, changes to suit one's story...

History of a name.

Named Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr after his father, denounced his birth name upon converting to Islam and affiliating with the Nation of Islam. Ali reportedly attended his first NOI meeting in 1961 and continued to attend meetings with the African American Islamic religious movement aiming to improve the condition of African Americans in the US. Malcolm X, a key figure of the movement before his conversion to orthodox Islam, became a spiritual and political mentor for Clay, and he briefly referred to himself as Cassius X before being renamed Muhammad Ali (Praised one) in a recorded statement by Elijah Muhammad, the group's leader in 1964. Ali had already made a name for himself as Clay, winning several fights under the name, and few journalists accepted the his new name initially. Later, Ali announced: "Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it and I don't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name - it means beloved of God, and I insist people use it when people speak to me."

Where did his father get his name from? Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr (November 11, 1912 - February 8, 1990) was an American painter and musician. He was named after the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist, Cassius Marcellus Clay.

More about that man: Cassius Marcellus Clay (October 19, 1810 - July 22, 1903), nicknamed the "Lion of White Hall", was a Kentucky planter, politician, and Emancipationist who worked for the abolition of slavery. He freed the slaves that were handed down as his inheritance from his father. Those freed slaves were allowed to stay and were paid a wage. He was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as the United States minister to Russia during the American Civil War, and is credited with gaining Russian support for the Union.