Yep, SCO strikes again. As a follow-up to yesterday’s report on payroll problems with the State of California, today another error surfaced. This one is related to most State Employees represented by the good ole SEUI.
As part of the new contract that went into effect January 1, 2020, the SEIU got the Governor to agree to give all SEIU represented employees an extra $260 per month starting with the new fiscal year (July first). One bargaining unit already gets this perk but the rest were supposed to start getting it in July’s pay which was distributed yesterday. The number 260, is supposed to be the average amount that people in their bargaining units—notice I’m not limiting this to union members—are paying for their share of medical insurance for them and their families. Thus for many State Employees, there is no longer an employee contribution for medical insurance.
Note: Ok, technically there is because they are separate line items in the check, but in actuality, if you are only insuring yourself on the state’s dime and happen to have Kaiser, you get to bank about $140 each month. $260 minus ~ $120.
Here’s the official verbiage from the State Controller’s Office:
Improving Affordability and Access to Healthcare Employees in bargaining units R01, R03, R04, R11, R14, R15, R17, R20, R21, excluded employees, and certain classifications tied to Service Employees International Union (SEIU), who are eligible for state-sponsored health benefits, shall receive a $260 pay differential for Improving Affordability and Access to Health Care each month and can expect this pay differential to be issued as a supplemental payment, processed in a daily payroll cycle, following the close of the business month.
So taxpayers, thanks for the extra money during these tough times. And one last thing. I’ve talked with a few State workers today that told me that even with Garvin’s 10 percent pay cut, because of this money and a few accounting tricks, that many State Employees will now have HIGHER take-home pay than before the 10 percent cut.
If you mixed Peanuts, The Far Side, and Dilbert in just the right way, you might get a fictional result that’s almost as strange as what happened today.
Remember those pay cuts that Governor Newsom was supposed to give to State Employees? Well today, after most State Workers got their checks, the gang at the State Controller’s Office figured out that they calculated ALL the state employee’s pay wrong.
The miscalculation affected the employee and employer share of the retirement deductions. Depending on the employee’s circumstances, the calculation varies. The employee share amount ranges based on the gross subject to retirement amount but is estimated to be between approximately $.01 to $100, depending on the amount of retirement deduction.
SCO has corrected the calculation and payroll will process accurately, beginning with all payments issued July 24, 2020, and forward. SCO will process retirement adjustments with the August 2020 payroll to correct the July 2020 payroll discrepancy. The adjustment will be shown as deduction *PERS ADJ on the earnings statement…
By the way, SCO is way worse than DMV but you folks in the public don’t have to try to sort thru their crap which is a blessing. Betty Yee has run that place into the ground. They are further behind than EDD and DMV put together. (Years not months.) SCO’s processes and procedures were developed in the 1970’s and technology wise, I expect they are still running those computers from Y2K. Oh, I’ve been to their check processing facility. It looked like it was state of the art when Ronald Reagan was leaving the White House and they keep nursing the antique equipment along as best they can. When is the last time you saw someone using industrial equipment made by Pitney Bowes?
One reason I’m hitting SCO is this: instead of sending an electronic record of each error correction to each department’s accounting office, which anybody on the private sector would do, SCO’s practice is to print one 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper for each payroll error correction that is made. This paper is then mailed to each department every few days. In a typical year they print and mail well over 100,000 of these sheets of paper. Folks per my quick Internet search, there are reportedly 210,916 full time employees! I hope they don’t really waste that much paper. Last time I remember them making a big mistake in payroll was when open enrollment changes took effect and they botched deductions on over 30,000 checks. I got to touch over 17,000 of their error corrections myself. Oh, once the error corrections arrive, they are scanned and attached in the accounting system to the corresponding line item. If handled in the usual way, the current error will not waste man-hours, it will waste man-years of time.
I could explain more about how wasteful SCO is, but you get the idea. You’d think in a state like California, they could find a tech company to computerize the state’s financial processes but truthfully the state isn’t that interested. You taxpayers have already spent a billion dollars on the latest attempt to try. Do an Internet search on FI$CAL cost over-runs.
The state has no incentive to innovate or become more efficient. They refuse to change processes to assist in automating operations. The lack of a profit motive has that result. It’s much simpler to confiscate more money from you than be better with what they already take. Also, they have a contract with the union that nobody can be fired if their position is replaced by technology. Take comfort that no one will lose their job over this. SEIU, or somebody like that, has their back.
In discussions with my wife, the subject of Internet availability came up in the context of “Distance Learning.” In our local school district, tens of thousands of kids will all simultaneously be logging on to their respective Zoom classroom sessions at 8:00 AM on August 13th.
My wife is grateful to be attempting this from home because her school lacks the capacity for teachers to reliably replay YouTube videos, let alone for twenty something teachers to sustain connections to 24 plus children each, all with live video feeds.
Oh, I forgot to mention that over the summer, a plan was put forward that all teachers must live broadcast to their children from their respective classrooms each day. The teacher’s union mercifully killed the idea.
Let’s look at the bandwidth requirements for August 13 and beyond. Much cable and television content as well as streaming in delivered via the Internet. Also, many people are working from home and not their offices. This work is predicated on Internet availability. Now the district here in Elk Grove, and sometime in August every other school in California, will be simultaneously logged in as well.
Much of the Internet is provided by traditional telephone lines or coax cable and not fiber optic lines. Providers such as Comcast have limits as to how much they can push through an old-fashioned strand of copper. Yes, they have figured a way to do this with channels to give short bursts of higher speed based on demand but wow! They just might be sitting on a throttling nightmare or worse. Frontier Communications is shoddier than Comcast and happens to serve many schools as well as customers in more rural or older parts of town. They’re a mess on a good day but I think this will go bad for them too.
Folks Zoom and/or local Internet providers can’t handle the load of teacher training during summertime. People at home didn’t have the bandwidth to support it.Many Zoom meetings for the purpose of training teachers were asking participants to turn off their cameras because the connection kept lagging, and nobody could hear the presentation. Teachers don’t have the luxury of telling students to turn off their cameras. Without being able to see them, how will the teacher be able to gauge comprehension and know when students have a question, etc.
I think my wife is on to something. This distance learning idea may collapse under the weight of too much demand on existing infrastructure. Can you imagine the masses hiding out from Covid-19 without Internet?Gavin would not be able to suppress the masses without the bread and circuses of entertainment provided by the Internet to pacify them.
I know some people think this possibility is far fetched but consider this, again giving credit to my wife; when we did “Distance Learning” during the spring, there were no set times or duration of time required to be online with the children. Furthermore, much if the instruction was via prerecorded video that could be viewed on demand. In other words, instruction was ad hoc in nature.Now the bureaucrats want everything structured and in lockstep order. We have set schedules—all at the same time—and set hours of performance. In other words, ad hoc has been sacrificed for regimentation and uniformity.
Folks, it will be fun to watch but if the wife is right then I may have trouble posting a blog with a told ya so as a topic.
PS: For the sake of the above discussion, we are assuming that Google Classroom and other educational platforms will not be the bottleneck during live instruction.
One thing we can all learn from a crisis like Covid-19 is that people’s true colors will come out and often the end result is ugly. Today we will look at how big of a cow paddy the 90-Day Guy stepped in with regards to this crisis.
First some background. In 2016 he refused to say Donald Trump had a chance to win. It was always “the coasts pick the president”, “voter fraud will win the day for the Dems”, and my favorite, “We have never had a Hollywood Politician before.” So, I guess Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Fredrick Grandy (Love Boat), Jesse Ventura, Al Franken, and Sonny Bono don’t count?
Fred Grandy — US Congressman (Iowa)
As the votes were tabulated that night and the pendulum swung toward Trump, he quickly morphed into a “Trump Truther” saying he was behind him all along, and it was me who doubted him. As his presidency raged on, he backed the orange man through and through. Then Covid-19 hit….
Once again, his true colors came out. He immediately said I was required to go to the office daily…not a problem, me and all sane folks knew this was just a virus and things would calm down. He fired off a series of texts to me over the next few weeks saying he needed to provide for this family and that since I didn’t have one, I needed to go to the office. Again, just for the record I did not complain or raise any issues. I guess since I am a single guy, I’m just a throwaway in today’s society? Not sure why the Blog Father joins me for lunch, maybe I would be better utilized under “Operation Human Shield” in the Army? I told 90-Day Guy that he was overreacting and not to watch so much cable, clearly it was getting to him.
One day, when Governor Newsom said we would be re-opening, he had a massive anxiety attack, perfectly timed before one of our worst customers was set to come to the office. He went and played golf the following day, and while it isn’t my business, I find it odd sharing a golf cart isn’t something that would cause anxiety. He claims over and over he doesn’t watch TV or cable, yet he always seems up to date about how the virus spreads and where it is causing a hot spot. The re-opening continued and one night I was at the gym watching Fox (I do not have cable, so I watch at the gym) and I noticed Tucker, Hannity, and Laura Ingraham were 100% anti-Covid for their respective hour long shows. This continued for about 3 weeks until Newsom shut the gyms back down. In the meantime, 90-Day Guy morphed into a Truther again, saying Covid was never a big deal (keep in mind deaths are going up) completely contradicting his earlier stance. The following day I called his cell and heard clanging in the background, he sheepishly told me he was at an Indian Casino! Hmmm office bad! Golf and casino good! He also started using “we” instead of other pronouns, giving himself cover if challenged.
But wait the story turns again. Newsom ordered bars and indoor dining shut. Now most folks; especially Republicans, would take umbrage at this idea. 90-Day Guy embraced it saying those places are dirty and filled with unsavory folks. Doesn’t that sound like Hillary’s deplorables remark? Or Obama’s clinging to their guns and religion remark? Too me it does! The bottom line is he is your typical country club liberal who believes if they don’t do it, it must remain shut. He is way too cultured to leave California. While it may be a foreign concept to most, many folks gather at a local bar after work for happy hour to discuss the rigors of the day. Actually, a local started his own craft brewery called the Hungry Pecker and sunk a lot of his own money into the venture but he has yet to open since he isn’t allowed to.
Rahm Emanuel put it best, never let a good crisis go to waste. We now have major unemployment and there is no V-shaped recovery happening. Folks, we needed restaurants to re-open at 100% for a rapid recover to happen. Ditto for bars and other businesses. Sadly, it’s now too later for many small businesses. To 90-Day Guy, the issue isn’t one of personal rights and actions (liberty), but its “I don’t want to get Covid” and therefore we must close permanently any establishments I don’t like. Special treatment for me, but not for thee anyone?
As far as his claim about not having cable anymore, I’m looking right at a Comcast Xfinity bill on his desk. $351.85 a month. That is one very expensive landline and wireless internet bill!
Johnnie Does
PS: Oh, here is a cute tidbit. He came into the office saying he was planning on voting for Biden. Reason being Trump won’t win out here in California, and he doesn’t want his house destroyed by protestors. Why do I have a feeling this guy has been a Democrat all along and is just now using this as an excuse to show his true colors? Oh well, I guess if you always straddle the fence one can never be wrong!
Folks, no one that I have encountered has ever given me a scientific explanation as to why prohibited indoor activities that are moved outside are magically blessed and good in the era of arbitrary Covid-19 rules. This includes church, haircuts, sit-down dining, fitness centers, and so on.
While I’m sure you can sense my disdain and loathing of such tyranny, I would like to set my political views and emotions aside and just comment on outdoor dining. In the last few days, I have had lunch at three different local restaurants. Of the three places, two are national chains and the other a mom and pop Mexican place. All three failed in fundamental rules issued by Governor Newsom as a conditions of their continued operation.
The mom and pop place no longer gives customers disposable paper menus but their regular ones which are paper inserted into place folders. I don’t recall this being allowed again and I also got no assurance from the restaurant that these things are scrubbed between uses. They have however put a plastic sheet on top of the wrought iron patio furniture table they are using for outdoor service. At least this way the table can be wiped between customers.
In contrast, both national chains that I have visited in the last few days also have wrought iron furniture for outdoor service; however, they don’t clean anything in the customer seating areas. And they don’t cover the tables. Yep, just like normal, one person eats their meal and then the next customer comes along and sits in the very same place with no effort at sanitation. Neither place allows indoor seating and expects customers to eat outside or get food to go. Both places require that I wear a facemask in their business but neither actually takes any meaningful steps to protect their customers from germs.
What prompted me to write about this today was the table of four eating at the national chain with their baby crawling all over the table. When they were ready to leave, the mother told one of the other adults in her party that she couldn’t lift her child off the table because she had catsup on her fingers. So, catsup on your fingers is a problem but letting your infant crawl all over a table that never gets cleaned unless it happens to rain or get blasted by an errant sprinkler is ok? In what universe? Oh, did I say baby was only wearing a diaper? (Said diaper looked like it was full.) How does this make any sense or keep anyone safe from Covid-19?
Folks, the irony is that if these same customers were eating indoors at these establishments, then the tables would get bussed between customers. Thus, it is more sanitary when indoor eating is allowed and more unsanitary when outdoor eating is mandated. Also, said restaurants have more staff when regularly operating.
In my mind, this just further illustrates the absurdity of living in a place governed by fear. Again, I affix much of the blame for this on feckless clergy who fear men more than God and capitulated on following biblical principles. Keeping the 501 (c) (3) is more important. The ghost of L.B.J. looms much larger on this country than just the Great Society and Vietnam War.
Anyway, I hope you think about what I’ve said next time you decide to eat out for lunch or give the wife a night off and let someone else do the cooking.
In journalism class, we learned that ‘if it bleeds, it leads.” We also learned that you write news copy so the important stuff goes at the beginning of the story so if it needs to be edited for length, the basic facts are still communicated to readers.
Given those two concepts, let’s look at this story published today by KOVR-TV in Sacramento.
COLUSA (CBS13) — During a press conference earlier this week, President Donald Trump stood in front of a U.S. map highlighting the nation’s coronavirus hotspots, including Colusa County.
“Whether it goes to the White House or not, it’s still a huge issue of concern for the community,” Colusa County Councilmember Marcos Kropf said.
The 22,000-person county has reached a positivity rate of 21% over a seven-day period.
If you read the story in its entirety, it contains four numbers—three of which are in one sentence, quoted above. Twenty-two thousand, seven, and twenty-one percent. Oh, the fourth number is nineteen as in Covid-19.
Setting aside, the nineteen in Covid-19, let’s do some math.
The story implies that in a seven day period, 21 percent of a county of 22,000 souls tested positive for Covid-19.
Thus 22,000 x 0.21 yields 4,620 caught the virus in a week.
Do you believe that? I hope not. Sadly, this is typical of “hard news” in today’s media.
Oh, remember what I said about the important stuff at the beginning of the story? Why are first two paragraphs about Donald Trump and the White House anyway? Is this a subliminal way of associating Trump with 21 percent being infected?Pelosi did call Covid-19 the Trump virus.
Nowhere in the story is an explanation of how many were tested, where, or why. Thus we have a text without context and as Dr. Martin used to say, this is often a pretext for error. Such is the case here.
The very last paragraph gives you slightly more information that confirms your suspicion that all the preceding numbers are bogus.
Colusa County says the majority of their cases are coming from family gatherings and an outbreak at a skilled nursing facility.
Thus the story ends with another whack at Fourth of July gatherings and warehousing the elderly as they await the arrival of the Grim Reaper. However, no actual, usable information was presented anywhere in this story.
The Rest of the Story
I, your intrepid blogger, dared to do what the paid media didn’t, I went to the Colusa County website to get it straight from the source. Before I present this shocking data, please I beg you, SIT DOWN AND HOLD ON.
Here’s what I learned:
The first death of a Colusa County resident related to COVID-19 has been confirmed. The death occurred on July 20, 2020…
Yep, the very first death occurred this week. We’ve been sheltering in place for four months now and the Reaper finally got his first elderly person.
But it gets even better. Remember our news story about 21 percent positive?
Here’s what the county says about their testing. Remember, this is the data from four months of intensive lab work. As of yesterday, 1,845 tests were administered—in four months!!!!!!! Oh, and 250 were positive.
Doing real math, 13 percent of those tests given by the county have been positive. This is not out of the whole county’s population but out of sick people tested. Also, we have no information on whether somebody received more than one test before getting a positive. Any bets that the people in the old folk’s home have had multiple tests? Yep, the county admits it.
Colusa County is announcing an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) at a local Skilled Nursing Facility (nursing facility). At this time, pursuant to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), there are 30 confirmed active cases (16 residents and 14 staff). COVID-19 testing is still ongoing for all facility staff and residents.
If you want to know about folks getting multiple tests, here’s an example from our very own staff.
The Chief told me that a family friend was tested three times before coming up positive even after the guy was clearly sick for several days. Per his account, turning up positive is a lagging indicator. Chief’s friend had every symptom in the book prior to a positive result.
Oh, 250 divided by 22K yields an infection rate of 1.1 percent and two deaths in the county is a rate of .009 percent. If you factor out all the people locked-up in the old folk’s home, your chances are very good of seeing the next sunrise. Nevertheless, wanna bet Gavin uses stories like those from KOVR to justify shelter-in-place orders again? Wal-Mart is not the only guys with a reputation of rolling stuff back.
Disney Corporation sports subsidiary ESPN made headlines again for all the wrong reasons earlier this week. ESPN has a blog on its website called “The Undefeated.” It’s for blacks, by blacks, about race topics etc. Honestly, I do not have a huge issue with it, even though some of the writers like Malcolm Metcalf have an obvious racial bias against white people. It is usually off to the side of the website, and never really made a focal point. However, controversy has been stirred up and it’s a doozy.
The Undefeated was going to air a race focused special called “Time for a change, we won’t be defeated.” The special would feature ESPN personalities, Jay Harris, Michael Eves, Maria Taylor, and Elle Duncan. Suspiciously missing from the list is Sage Steele. I say suspicious because she hosts the flagship show “SportsCenter” during prime time and is one of their more visible hosts. Steele was upset, and understandably so. Here are some snippets from the Wall Street Journal article about her expressing her disappointment.
ESPN anchor Sage Steele has told management she believes she was excluded from a special the network aired on race last month because she wasn’t considered by certain Black colleagues to be an authentic voice for the Black community, a person familiar with the matter said.
Ms. Steele, one of the network’s most prominent on-air personalities, voiced her concerns to ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro in early June, saying the incident showed the network has a divisive work environment, the person said.
Ms. Steele said colleagues told her she was considered for the special by the executive in charge, Michael Fountain, until two of the other on-air personalities involved, Elle Duncan and Michael Eaves, complained, saying Ms. Steele wouldn’t be accepted by what they considered the Black community, according to the person familiar with her account to management.
So, let me, as a middle age white man ask, how is someone not an authentic voice for the black community? In addition, how is a black person, Steele as shown in the photo is black, not accepted by her own community? Well Steele answered that question for me, she burns “The Mouse” pretty badly with her response….
Sage Steel–deemed not black enough by ESPN
“I found it sad for all of us that any human being should be allowed to define someone’s ‘Blackness.’ Growing up biracial in America with a Black father and a white mother, I have felt the inequities that many, if not all Black and biracial people have felt—being called a monkey, the ‘n’ word, having ape sounds made as I walked by—words and actions that all of us know sting forever. Most importantly, trying to define who is and isn’t Black enough goes against everything we are fighting for in this country, and only creates more of a divide.”
Well as an outsider looking in, no shock there, you cannot be black in this country unless both parents are black, live in the hood, don’t have a good job, and are on some form of assistance. Actually, I would have enjoyed hearing her perspective, she also has interviewed scores of athletes over the years and I’m sure her rolodex of contacts are huge. Seems like a no brainer to me.
Well the truth is ESPN brass doesn’t like Steele for her political opinions, she has said she doesn’t feel comfortable speaking about BLM, she spoke out against folks not standing for the national anthem, and made waves for tweeting her disappointment about protestors blocking airports due to Trump’s anti-immigration order. While she doesn’t come off as political, if you don’t tow the party line, you are part of the problem.
In that regard, Eves and Duncan are perfect, just like Joe Biden, neither have any beliefs; instead, they just parrot what is put in front of them on the teleprompter. In speaking to a couple of cable watching friends of mine, all of them said Eaves is an empty suit who really has no role at ESPN, and Duncan is pretty much useless. The ratings they draw likely are composed of mostly of drunks who pass out with their TV left on.
My main question is how come Disney gets a pass time and time again? No one is writing about this, only small anecdotes here and there. Which is funny because with today’s cancel culture, how come their founder gets a pass? He was a devoted racist even putting his views in black and white and technicolor! Disney is in deep trouble financially. I am sure their theme parks will finally re-open someday. Meanwhile, they get to host the NBA games later this month.
Sage Steele, if I was you, Fox has a growing sports network called FS1 they could use someone like yourself. Leave the mouse.
“Stop the spread“, “Bend the curve“, take your pick on what phrase the political types used. All we, as a people, were told was that we had to shelter in place, and we could beat this virus. Keep in mind this virus, to this day, is still a giant unknown. How does it spread, why do some folks show zero symptoms, type O blood makes you immune, wear/don’t a mask, wear gloves, etc. We have no clue about this damn thing, it’s just a political football at this point.
Around mid-March we were treated to horrific theatre led by Dr. Falsie, Comrade Newsom, Duchess of Lansing Gretchen Whitmer, and Supreme Ayatollah Cuomo. They said we had to shut down our commerce to slow the spread. Newsom, Cuomo, Whitmer and others shut their entire states down, even counties with zero cases or deaths! But if you were “essential” –whatever the heck that means–you were required to report to work. Absolute hilarity ensued, marijuana stores, liquor stores, pet stores, all were deemed essential. Dental offices, dine-in restaurants, and elective surgery at hospitals, were shuttered. Yes, you read that right, want to get drunk or high you’re in luck, need diabetic checkup, sorry.
What was very funny to see were the masses that would gather at the grocer/big box stores, all sans a mask. Yep, folks were on top of one another, and that was just to grab the last case of toilet paper. This brings me to my point; you cannot lock up Americans in their homes and tell them to stay as if they are a household pet. During this time, if you were essential then you worked and were paid, if you were not essential you were laid off. If you were in the latter group, it wasn’t all doom and gloom as you qualified for the extra kicker, $600 a week in unemployment. If you were a 90-Day Guy, you hid at home to “protect your family.”
Back to my point, in the USA we rely quite a bit on interstate commerce, just look at the types of vehicles on the highway system. Heck look at the state to state/city travel via plane! Or even one better, look at the international travel to/from the US! A shutdown will never work. Travel is not just essential for many, it is required! We also, as a people, enjoy shopping/spending, just look at the credit card debt numbers each month. We would rather go out for meals as opposed to eat in, it’s just the way we are.
As a result, we spread the virus amongst our communities, mostly unknowingly. Our fellow comrade Gavin Newsom re-opened the state based on nothing other than a budget deficit and as a result the virus has taken off. Masks are now required, and churches have basically been re-closed. Ditto for inside dining, weird because as the Blog Father pointed out to me, the air inside is likely far safer than the air in the newly created “outdoor dining area.”
Bottom line this idea of a shutdown does nothing, as the local police won’t arrest you, the sheriff won’t jail you (witness 18,000 felons being released in Soviet CA) and even if you have symptoms, you are not required by anyone to get tested (certain exceptions apply). Even the mask mandate is another folly. I was at a local grocer (stocking up on Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Cracker Jack) wait scratch the last one, hardly anyone was wearing the mask correctly, covering both mouth and nose. Others were not wearing it at all.
But go ahead tune into Falsie on the national news network while he tells you we must shut the country down all while he is worth over 500 million and hasn’t seen a patient in over 50 years.
Yes, you read that correctly. You are not dreaming but this could be construed as one. (OK, a nightmare is more like it.) Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) decided today that none of the public schools (elementary to high school) can open for in person learning this fall. The teachers polled their members and the response was “overwhelming” that they did not wish to re-open for in person learning, thus distance learning it is. I figure this also includes no sports or athletic clubs for the fall either, as it makes no sense to have in person sports or band while banning in person classes.
What does this mean for sports? I doubt football or any other fall sports happen. The number of mandatory practices required prior to games being played is certainly not happening. This doesn’t bode well for fall sports being rescheduled for play in the spring either. Football games in 90-degree heat on field turf anyone? Just might be a thing of the past.
What does this mean for parents? Well I guess unless their children are junior high or high school aged, you’re doing “take your child to work day” for at least an entire semester. I am not quite sure how this will work as most jobs do not allow for 100% supervision. Take my job for example. I guess they could set up in the breakroom (it would be an invasion of space of my colleagues) and junior could fire up the laptop. Another problem, what happens at 3:00 or so when his school day is over? I am not off until 5. Most children under the age of 17 have the attention span of a gnat, which would make the last 2 hours of my day hell on wheels. What about internet access? At my work some sites (mostly viewed by high school age folks) are blocked, so that won’t help either. What about folks who do not work a desk job like me…. some people work jobs where children are not allowed, or worse it is unsafe for them. I guess they get left at home with little to no supervision. Sadly, some children will never notice the difference as public schools statewide lost track of about 20 percent of their kids once distance learning began last spring.
Oh, instead of putting the burden on parents to educate their children, the Legislature has already mandated that during distance learning, teachers must have live contact with every child on their rolls every day. Surely nothing could go wrong with adult teachers calling your minor children on the telephone when you are not home.
What does this mean for the child? Well long and short of it is zero in person school for nearly an entire calendar year. As you may recall, we shut schools down in March. Young children, especially those in elementary school, need to interact with other human beings, classmates, teachers, etc. in a face-to-face environment. Additionally, when in school, the curriculum provided things in the classroom for students to physically learn, are parents going to be expected to buy those same materials while junior “distance learns?” Folks over 60 who think the millennials and Gen X are bad…. you haven’t seen nothin’ yet. Wait ‘til these broken, dysfunctional, and unnecessarily traumatized children are voting age!
What does this mean for school support staff? If you’re administration then its probably business as usual, maybe a little more paperwork, and zero accountability. For the cafeteria staff, the hot lunch and meal program is still going full bore, so report to work regardless of your thoughts on this. Athletic department staff may be cleaning out their lockers for a while. Custodial and maintenance staff will continue to work as normal. If anyone is interested, the AC units and lights will be left on as usual, wouldn’t want anything to appear out of routine! What about yard duty, counselors, resource teachers, etc.? Some districts like Elk Grove may carry the deadweight but look for Sac City to dump extra baggage as they try to stay afloat.
What about the teachers? They won. They get to keep teaching from the comfort of their homes with full pay and benefits, and zero accountability. They are required to keep attendance records, but frankly don’t expect them to go one iota above and beyond. Sounds like the SAT and ACT are likely going away, and while we are at it, I figure we will take this opportunity to remove all standardized testing prior to the end of the school year. Think this group feels any of your pain? Think again, the teachers in this state are the most self-serving group of people I have ever heard of. The CTA (teachers union) owns this state and all the elected from both parties. Ask a Democrat elected, cross the CTA you will get humiliated in your next re-election run.
Sadly, fellow readers, the teacher’s union has become a microcosm of everything wrong with our country today.Teachers don’t have to teach in person but folks at grocers, Wally World, meat packing plants, and a host of other essential jobs must report to work or else. On the other hand, this merry band of entitled folks can decide to opt-out? Sorry you signed up to be a teacher. If you want the benefits, short workday, quite a few days off, summers off, extra time at Christmas, Spring Break, Thanksgiving, you need to show up to work in the classroom. Maybe if we withhold their salary, their attitude would change. You know, like what would happen to any of us who work in the real world?
I thought it was their job to think about the children. Sadly, there is only one bully on school property and it’s the teacher’s union.
The Chief
PS Hey parents, don’t forget to document your children’s P.E. (physical education) minutes each day so your district can continue to be fully funded. This is the only mandated curriculum in the state of California that must be documented by each school district. Thanks to Governor Arnold.
Just when you thought you could breath easy again and be welcome back to your local church, Gavin Newsom has again shutdown worship and a bunch of other activities that America citizens once called “freedoms.” Gone again is freedom of association and freedom to worship in California. Yep, Gavin has unilaterally suspended the First Amendment of the US Constitution again. Of course in a state this liberal, he will be able to find a host of judges that will agree with him—especially since these guys won’t be bound to their oath to uphold and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. Since the biggest domestic threat to America is the political party in power in California, it isn’t a surprise to us here at ReallyRight; however, we are disappointed that our fellow citizens are so willing to give-up their freedoms for security—or the promise thereof.
As I often say, ideas have consequences. Shutting down churches and releasing even more criminals into our society in the name of protecting us from Covid-19 will have the opposite effect. Newsom’s abdication of protecting citizens from evil doers and locking up all the law-abiding citizens in their homes will endanger many people. Look for a return to shelter in place in most of the State. I told you this crackdown would happen about mid-July.
Oh, all these unemployed people at home will also see more destruction and protests, along with general societal unrest. Folks, Joe Biden is nowhere to be see. What you are witnessing now is the proxy campaign to defeat Donald Trump.Joe is just the figurehead of the revolution; Marxism is the religion and socialism is the philosophy that underpins it.
Norman Rockwell’s America is Dead
Folks we were told from our earliest days to be good, follow the rules, try hard, and we just might be successful. However, Newsom has thrown such American ideals in the crapper. Every business that Newsom shutdown this month has spent time, money, and talent to follow his edicts and open their businesses at reduced capacity and in a safe manner as dictated. Now thru absolutely no fault of these business owners and after following all the arbitrary rules imposed on them from Newsom, Garvin pulls the plug anyway.
Folks there is zero reason to do this. No data supports this decision. It is arbitrary and an abuse of the police powers given to the Executive Branch by the State Constitution and Legislature. In short, tyranny.
Oh, the stated reason for the shutdown is too many family gatherings. So where were said family gatherings? Why the Fourth of July celebrations that we all had. Told you that would be the reason. If you people weren’t so darn patriotic and love your country so much, none of this would be necessary?!
Hey Gavin, get a life…preferable in another country where they hate America as much as you and your Party do. In fact, take your Party leadership with you. May I suggest you consider a country where face coverings have been all the rage since the 7th Century.
Folks again remember that Newsom will not allow things to return to normal until there is a vaccine…which may never happen. In the meantime, face coverings will be required in California as long as a Republican occupies the White House. Remember those news stories last week about requiring face coverings for the next three or four years? This ain’t coincidence.
The Vaccine Windmill
Oh, the leading pharmaceutical companies researching a vaccine are jumpstarting their research by using human tissues from aborted babies. As such, is it moral to even get the vaccine? What do I do when required by my employer to get this vaccine—experimental as it will be—and considering its immoral origins? I will refuse if either is true. Con Law people are invited to send me their contact info just in case.
Another Reason Things Can’t Open
Folks, the other unspoken reason that Newsom and his fellow Democrat Governors can’t allow businesses to open is that it will improve the economic numbers which would increase Trump’s reelection chances.Newsom needs to suppress employment as much as he can to assist Biden. Since people will get their $600 a week in federal unemployment, Newsom and his ilk are getting a backdoor bailout to suppress people’s livelihoods. The fact that many of the businesses Newsom is shutting down will never reopen is irrelevant to him.He is a cold-hearted SOB. Newsom also benefits by wiping out a broad swath of the middle class. Democrats function better in the binary world of haves and have-nots, where they are the haves and the rest are totally dependent on them.
Meanwhile, the wife and I have our realtors lined-up in California and Idaho and the financing will be ready in the next few days. Trust me, I’m really ready to get the hell away from this miserable state of tyranny and one Party rule.
