Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

Link: IMDB

This movie title from the 1970’s is what I think of when I keep reading the nonsense spewing out of the Service Employees International Union concerning their threatened strike of state workers.

Does anybody think nonessential state workers deserve a 22 percent across the board pay increase over four years?  Especially in this economy?

Yet look at this week’s missive from their Grand Poobah.

And as we show our strength and pledge our support to take all Local 1000 authorized actions, management will threaten and try to intimidate us in an effort to weaken our cause. We’re not falling for it.

Standing up for a strong contract is our right. We won’t be intimidated for participating in actions or using our voice to stand up for what we believe in.

This is our Union. This is our Contract. This is our Future.
Link: our hard earned contract rights still in force

This strike idea makes no sense in the present economy. Furthermore, what is the compelling reason for the strike? Does the Union want to fully fund the woefully underfunded pension plans? (Speaking of which, who in the private sector even has any hope of a retirement anymore?) Heck no, they want the taxpayers on the hook for even more loot when this is all over with.

They still haven’t even called for a strike vote yet. Perhaps the outcome is predetermined so why let folks vote?

Unfortunately for the SEIU, I can’t find a state worker yet that feels the need to strike. Yes, people would like more pay but many are realists and know that state employment is one of the last bastions of benefits and pensions.

Worse for SEIU is that many state workers don’t even know a strike is being contemplated by the union until I ask them how they feel about it.

If I was SEIU, I would make a two year contract with Governor Brown and take my chances for a better deal with the next guy in the corner office at the capitol. Instead, SEIU wants state workers to get in Lemming Mode and charge off the cliff when the order is given.

Hey SEIU, if the order is coming then just give it already.  Quit posturing like a rooster in the barnyard. Enough crowing, if you really believe all this bluster then get going. What are you’ll waiting for?

A glance at the calendar shows that there is no good time for this to happen this year.
• October voting begins
• November is election and Thanksgiving
• December is Christmas
• January is Governor’s first draft of the next budget (2017-18)

So back to my original question, Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?
• The membership doesn’t want it.
• The general public won’t support it.
• The politicians don’t want it to happen.

One way to be outstanding in your field is to be the only one in it but the concept of a union is a group of people banded together for a common purpose. The disconnect of the SEIU leadership from the rest of the world is breathtaking.

Credit Theft: A Victimless Crime?

I recently got a new bank card because my bank said I had purchased something from a store that had a security breach. In this case I think it was Wendy’s. I was told that the card I was using would stop working on August 25th and needed to activate the new card before then. So I dutifully activated the new card on August 24th.  The new card had a different account number and expiration date than my previous card.

On Labor Day morning (September 5th ), my wife comes into the bedroom saying the bank is calling with a fraud alert. Every few months I get a call like this because my purchasing habits go outside their normal parameters but I did nothing that would trigger such a call. I went on the Internet and sure enough several fraudulent charges had been made using my brand new bank card.

The second attempt at Rite Aid is likely what triggered the fraud alert.

Being that Labor Day is a bank holiday, all I could do was cancel my bank card. I had to wait until the next day to dispute the charges.

After the payments posted on the first three transactions, the declined withdrawal dropped-off the bank record and only the pending Walmart.com remained. The transaction said it would not post until September 7th. (I could only dispute the charges that successfully removed money from my account and not the pending Walmart charge.)

On September 6th, I contacted Walmart and my bank, hoping to thwart the last remaining transaction by these thieves. Even with the date, approximate time of the fraudulent purchase, and confirmation number of the purchase, neither was able (or willing) to help me.

Walmart said that without the actual order number that they could not stop the transaction. My bank said that they not only couldn’t block it but they couldn’t even tell me how much the final transaction would be until it posted. The lady at the bank couldn’t even see the pending charge until I pulled up my account on my cell phone and showed it to her.

Furthermore, they told me not to take money out of my account because they couldn’t promise me that any of my pending transactions would go thru if I did that. In short, I was told to take it in the shorts and just let the fraudulent charge happen and then I would get the money reimbursed from the bank in about ten days.

Being that my mortgage payment and other large transactions had not yet cleared the bank, this charge at Walmart.com could have been very substantial and depleted my bank account to the point that everything would bounce anyways. Faced with this nightmare scenario, what would you do?

The more I thought about it, the more violated I felt. As often happens in our country, you are first violated by the criminal and then a second time by the system.

I left the minimum amount necessary to cover all the outstanding checks that I had already mailed in my account and transferred the rest of the money to my wife’s account. Early this morning, I awakened to find that all pending transactions except Walmart had posted. At that point, I further reduced my bank balance to $75. When I got up to go to work, I decided I needed to transfer an additional $200 to my checking account. My bank separately posted one check later in the morning. They did ding me for a fee to cover the check but as of this writing, Walmart has dropped off my account.

I’m hoping that the worst is behind me now. It appears that the Walmart purchase was aborted; probably overnight. If the thieves had spent a small sum on my card, the transaction likely would have gone thru but I have the feeling that they “went for broke” or more literally tried to make me broke.

Of interest to me is the fact that two of the fraudulent orders that they charged to my account were intended for delivery at a physical address. The food order and Walmart order both had to go somewhere. A reasonable person would think this would make it easier to catch these guys but neither my bank nor Walmart indicated that law enforcement be notified of the fraud.

It reminds me of the time we got robbed and the policeman asked if we had insurance and as soon as we said yes, they were done looking for the crooks.

It really bothers me that such fraud is tolerated and so commonplace that nobody even seems interested in pursuing the thieves. For my bank, it is just an allocation in their general ledger and a cost for doing business.

My final thought on this is that God is watching and our family has asked Him to mete out a little justice now on these thieves and not let it wait until the next life. And yes I do believe that divine intervention prevented this from being as harmful to us as it could have been.

Disney Subsidiary gets it Wrong on Politics

Disney has reported for the last several years problems in its ESPN (Sports Programming) division.
(For low information readers, Disney owns the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and ESPN is a subsidiary of ABC.)
Much of this stems from the high cost of producing live events and declining subscribership due to cable and satellite cancellations.  Much of the price you pay for subscription television is a subsidy for the minority that watches sports programming. If only those that actually watched ESPN paid for it, their business model would collapse and the entire network would be gone before the end of the month.

X is going to break down why there is an easy answer for their woes and Fox Sports 1’s gain in viewership: politics.

I am not talking about Republican versus Democrat. I am referring to people wanting to watch sports as their way to relax from everything going on in our world.  ESPN—led by John Skipper, and Disney led by Bob Iger—have been forcing their liberal agenda on its viewers for around two years now.  X believes this is a main reason for people to decide to cut the cord with ESPN.  When X tunes into ESPN, he wants to watch Aaron Rodgers throwing touchdown passes, not listen to Caitlyn (Bruce) Jenner get the Arthur Ashe courage award at the ESPY’s, or Colin Kaepernick spew his vile garbage that he calls an opinion.

Colin Kaepernick—the quarterback of the San Francisco 49er—for the last three weeks has not stood during the playing of the national anthem.  Kaepernick claims his reason for dissing his country is due to bodies lying in the streets and rogue cops getting paid while a bogus investigation takes place.  X just about spontaneously combusted when he heard this load of meadow muffins. This is so far from the truth it’s laughable.

You see Kaepernick makes 18 million a year playing football. This amount is more money than an average person—plus one or two generations in their family—will ever earn in their lifetime!  X suggests Kaepernick do something for the communities he feels are oppressed by this “violent policing.”  However therein lies the question that no Black Lives Matter activist wants to answer, they do not want any change.  Sadly ESPN—much like the democrat party—has rushed in to help them out.  Witness Sports Center anchor and resident Braying Shitheel Stan Verrett who went on this rant the following night about Kaepernick, saying …

“I’ve always stood for the anthem because I believe in the promise of America, what the flag is supposed to symbolize even though America often falls short of what it’s supposed to symbolize. I mean, my dad served in the Army, dealt with discrimination in the Army, came back from his service in World War II and was not afforded the same rights as a U.S. citizen after his service, so don’t talk to me about sacrifice and the military. My mom was the valedictorian of her high school, couldn’t go to college in Louisiana and other mainstream universities because they were segregated. They didn’t want to hear about her grades. You can’t go because you’re black.

“There’s still (discriminatory) problems in housing, hiring, the justice system. These are real problems. People aren’t making this up and they’re trying to find ways to speak out about it. You’re not always going to agree with the method. But let’s pay as much attention to the substance as we do to the symbol.”

That’s what you call a Braying Shitheel folks. He speaks about past events thinking they still exist in the present.  I doubt wholeheartedly any Black Valedictorian in high school couldn’t get into the college of his/her choice.  Regarding the completely out of line World War II comment…..Verrett get with the program; many people’s parents/children did not come back from that war or several others before and since.  Verrett and his fellow blowhards at ESPN think they are pushing social justice, but they could not be more wrong.  X does not agree with many aspects of this country’s past nor present doings, such as; war, slavery, Japanese internment camps etc. but he can still see the forest through the trees. So Kaepernick had a postgame press conference and what did he wear for a shirt, see for yourself.

Photo from Snopes.com Castro Shirt

Yes, folks that is a Fidel Castro T-shirt.  Yep THAT FIDEL CASTRO … interesting choice of apparel Kaepernick.  So what say you Stan Verrett?  All of a sudden the cat seems to have got your tongue?  Folks, Kaepernick is a very troubled young man but he is the perfect surrogate speaker for Black Lives Matter, they protest/burn things, and cause so much mayhem that the Allstate Insurance spokesperson is jealous, yet they have no stated goal or outcome they want.  This brings everything back to ESPN. Stan Verrett thinks he is doing right by the black community but in reality he is stirring the racial pot and viewers are fleeing ESPN in droves.

X has some advice for ESPN; namely, stay the BLEEP out of my sports watching experience.  I could not give half a damn about your current tabloidal reporting format, I could care less about whether Caitlyn Jenner (your network hero) stood or sat while using the restroom today, and I really could care less about your views of America, Verrett.  Personally—and this goes for everyone that apparently believes this country is no good—find a country where you have it better, and move there.  I heard North Korea, and some parts of the Middle East are great this time of year, and I’ve heard they love Americans over there.

Until next time……X

SEIU Rattling Sabers

This week, the SEIU is again pushing for members to be prepared for battle. However, I have still heard nothing about asking members to vote to authorize a strike.

Is this their “October Surprise” or do they want folks out of work in time for the holidays?

If they do pull the trigger on a strike then just wait ‘til the media starts talking about “non-essential” government workers striking. I think calling SEIU members “non-essential” government workers will bring a swift end to this folly.

City Fathers Tell Us to Vote Early and Right

I get bombarded with a plethora of junk mail each week. The other day I spotted a slick, glossy publication from the City of Elk Grove in amongst my pile of mail. On the cover are two items that together make what can only be an underhanded “in kind contribution” to the YES on Measure B campaign.

First was an article that claims that California now has early voting. Really? Until recently, I have been involved with various political groups that claim to be the guardians of public good—at least from a Conservative point of view—and I have never heard a peep out of anyone that California was adopting early voting. I know that in two years, we will have same day registration but early voting too? This is a bombshell announcement; however, the usual suspects are mute on this.

California seems to want more voter fraud to be committed more easily—at least as long as it benefits the party in power.

Next to this voter news on the newsletter was a plug for the Measure B campaign.

So we are told where to vote and what to vote for, seems like a plug for Measure B in my book.

UPDATE 08-31-2016

Sith Lord says that this is not a Texas style, full blown Early Voting System. Instead, Sacramento County Elections is trying voting at three locations in the county during week-ends. Voters will get one-time absentee ballot. They can then either vote on the spot or take ballot and return via snail mail or drop at a polling location later. Sith Lord was concerned about ballot security and county elections was not forthcoming about any chain-of-custody issues.

This is reportedly a trial program that will be evaluated later to decide if it should be continued.

State of the CRA

• Remember when the Park Brothers were expelled from CRA for life?
• Remember the financial shenanigans they masterminded in both the Placer County Republican Assembly and at the CRA annual conventions?
• Remember the Brothers Park posting people’s home addresses and bank account numbers online?
• Remember when the new board of directors took them to court?
• Remember the multipage expose’ in the Sacramento Bee laying out the case used by the prosecution to win conviction?
• Remember the complaints that were filed with FPPC, FBI, DOI, various local District Attorneys and CA Attorney General?
• Remember the Emmy Award winning special on the Fox News Channel about the “Placer County Mafia”?
• Remember when the Brothers (Aaron and George) went to jail after being convicted by each and every single one of these entities?

Let me guess; you don’t remember any of these things happening do you?  Because everything except the first three points are false and never happened.

X has been involved in the CRA for a little over a decade now and knows both Aaron and George very well; well enough to say both are so crooked you may be able to open a wine bottle with either one.  Back in the day, Aaron once had a big problem abusing the sauce, but now he (and George) spend their leisure time abusing the truth.  For them truth is not an absolute, it’s a matter of compensation and personal enhancement that determines their “truth”. But enough of those two Jeb Bush supporting, wannabe conservatives—for now.

George and Aaron Park with Jeb Bush on 05-13-2015

 

What Aaron really thinks about Jeb Bush on 05-18-2015

The California Republican Assembly (CRA) claims to be the oldest Republican organization in California. A quick look at their membership at the last convention would convince you that the claim is probably true. Sadly, the once proud CRA has devolved into an old white people’s club, except rather than play Bingo and shuffleboard, they reminisce about the old times when California frequently went Republican during statewide elections and occasionally for President.  This group still fondly remembers when “The Gipper” called them “the conscience of the Republican Party.” However, like “The Gipper”, CRA has developed Alzheimer’s disease.  They have forever lost their way.

If you need evidence of how out of touch the CRA is, you need look no further than their Presidential Endorsing Convention last February. On the first ballot, Donald Trump barely got 10 votes while Ted Cruz was overwhelmingly endorsed. When California actually cast ballots on June 7th, Trump got 74.8% of the vote while Cruz came in third with just 9.5%.

Likewise, the CRA Convention’s choice for US Senate, Tom Del Baccaro, was overwhelmingly endorsed on their first ballot. When Californians voted in June, Del Baccaro got 4.3% of the vote. Not only did he finish a distant fifth place in the field, but no Republican received enough votes to go on to the November 8th election.

Every two years, CRA chapters hold local endorsement conventions all across the state. These pyric events often break out into meandering trips down memory lane for these old geezers.  You see, the CRA endorsement comes with no money for candidates or sweat equity to further their campaigns. It’s just symbolism with no substance. However, for those that believe, it’s a sacred duty that they take very seriously.

CRA claims to be an organization based on principles. However, I’ve personally watched a candidate get endorsed by CRA by promising to hold the line against higher taxes, only to break their promise and then the following election cycle be endorsed again (Mike Villines and Mimi Walters).

Sadly, CRA stands for nothing; they are just another GOP group with a different name and annual dues.

In my local unit, I’ve witnessed firsthand a three hour debate by two candidates running for the right to get annihilated by Doris Matsui.  CRA will leave no windmill unscathed.

X left the CRA due to these types of people/actions, permanently.

You see the new CRA Board has stood idly by while the organization went the same way as the CA Republican Party; right down the commode.  Yup, while our blind leadership was busy trying to set up a new unit in Compton and make sure all the incumbents in Orange County got re-elected in landslides, the world changed. Look at what CRA has been reduced to.  The Park Brothers should be history from any type of political circle, and a DA in Placer County likely could have helped spearhead the effort but no, we would rather play nice. CRA failed to act either in self-defense or on principle. Between the CRA and rank-and-file Republicans, the disconnect has never been more pronounced. CRA is stuck so far in the past that they still think California has primaries. They still haven’t come to grips with a top two system. Despite much bluster and bravado, they are just as averse to conflict as the national party when squabbles break out.

The long extinct Woolly Mammoth—aka “long in the tooth Republican”

Like the Republican Party in California, CRA has run its course. Both are dimming memories in the consciousness of the political historian that is likely young enough not to know firsthand what a vibrant two party system looked like. It has been millennia since the proud elephant has roamed supreme in the western states of North America and almost as long since a living Republican has been spotted making a difference in the once Golden State.

Purple People Prepping

Just when you thought it was safe…

Or in this case, too quiet; the SEIU has begun saber rattling again.

My last post, pondering if SEIU was opting for a political settlement via the November elections prior to pursuing contract negotiations, seems to have been nullified by the weekly newsletter that they released this morning.

BARGAINING UPDATE: TAKE THE PLEDGE & GET READY!

We are expressing our commitment to stand up and fight for a strong contract by taking a pledge to participate in all Local 1000 authorized actions.

Contract negotiations came to a halt when state negotiators made their position clear: Even in a time of budget surpluses – and California being the sixth largest economy in the world – they will not make a real, meaningful investment in the people who make California a great place to live.

The message we delivered at town halls was also clear: The state’s offer simply does not value our work or the sacrifices we’ve made. And we’re ready and willing to let them know they must do better.

Your participation makes all the difference. Take the pledge as we gear up for our next actions. Together we are unstoppable.

SEIU Letter August 24 2016

Oh, and the pledge

My question is this, what if people realize that these “non-essential government workers” really are non-essential?

Being this IS California, there’s not much likelihood of that happening.

SEIU and Crickets

Crickets…

This sound is often associated with silence, white noise, or just meaningless background. In the movies as in real life, when the crickets are silent, something very wrong is being foreshadowed.

In like manner, since the SEIU Board of Directors unanimously authorizing a strike vote, all that they have been saying publicly is nothing; just crickets. Nothing distributed to members via public channels even hints to their next move.  Their silence over last few weeks is deafening.

I thought they would jump to calling a strike vote almost immediately. Instead, I’m starting to wonder if they are shopping legislative campaigns in search of sympathetic candidates who will sell their souls for campaign cash from this powerful labor union. Now that California is officially a one party state, it is a possibility worth considering.

I think it is clear that Governor Brown is not supportive of their cry for a 22 percent pay increase over four years for 95,000 state employees. Perhaps they are trying to shore-up their support in the Legislature before entering into further negotiations with the State.

As a recovering Republican, I’m not used to people playing chess in an arena where my side can’t even play checkers. The SEIU playing the long game is something I hadn’t considered until now but if August goes out like a lamb, then it’s likely they are banking on November 8th to improve their fortunes…literally.

Target Caves Badly on Transgender Bathrooms

Your humble blogger X has witnessed one of the biggest epic fails by a corporate CEO in recent memory. This guy put his fiduciary responsibilities aside in a desperate attempt to push his liberal values on the rest of the world.  I am highlighting the horrible decision making by Target Corporation CEO Brian Cornell.  Cornell—as you may recall—instituted an “open bathroom and dressing room” policy at Target Stores nationwide in April of this year.  Hence men could now use the ladies room and vice a versa. Any customer could use any restroom or dressing room depending on which gender they felt like identifying with on that particular day.  Cornell wanted diversity and inclusivity, two hallmarks of the new Democratic Party, so he, like all liberals decided he needed to act immediately by Executive Order. Somehow he thought he could be a trailblazer on this subject.  X thinks this is chapter one in the Democrat playbook, decide you know what is best and implement immediately.

The immediate after math of this decree was not favorable. An online petition to boycott Target ensued and gathered almost 700K signatures in a matter of days.  But this was just the beginning of problems for Target. As everyone knows we live in a country with roughly a 50/50 split politically so policies like this are bound to anger quite a few people.  Not surprisingly, sales and earnings at Target fell and during their next earnings report. Analysts asked if the petition regarding bathroom policies was the reason for the drop in sales. Of course Cornell denied any correlation between the two.  X believes this is chapter two in the Democrat playbook; even if all fails, blame other factors. (In my time in the Navy, our version of this was “Deny everything and make counter-accusations”—Editor.)

While Target was shoving this perversity down the throats of consumers, the liberal media was mocking those not comfortable with the possibility that a member of the opposite sex may enter the bathroom they are using and be in the next stall.  No way a man would use a women’s bathroom to video or photo them; that could never happen, right?

During the course of the next two months, there were four reported instances of this occurring. All four instances happened where?  You guessed it, at Target shopping centers!  Game over Cornell.  The easiest way to get people to stop using your store is a mother or father thinking their child may not be safe using the opposite sexes bathroom while they wait outside.  Obviously CEO Cornell never considered that shoppers could take their business to a very small competitor from Arkansas; Wal-Mart, I’m sure you have never heard of them.

Then a strange sequence of events took place this past week.  Target Corporation reported declining profits on Wednesday the 17th. In a historically high market, it was truly a disaster when they reported that their stock plummeted 6%.  Again Cornell’s team claimed that this had nothing to do with the bathroom policy, but then after the close of the stock trading day, Wal-Mart reported their best earnings in eight quarters.  No coincidence right?  On Thursday the 18th, Cornell’s lieutenant—CFO Cathy Smith—announced the company would spend 20 million dollars to add a private, one stall unisex bathroom to all stores by March of 2017.  Clearly Cornell panicked. His Executive Order resulted in the business faltering and missing earnings projections.

Since April, over four million have signed the petition to boycott Target.  Customers—especially during these economic times—are extremely fickle. Based on earnings, it sounds like many have traded Target for Wal-Mart as their preferred shopping choice.

Cornell better hope the trend reverses quickly.  Like any desperate human being, he served up his CFO, making her fall on the sword to protect him. This may buy him time; however, X believes he should get his resume ready.  Cornell will survive. All the executive types like him do. He will blame everyone but himself. He may nominate himself for sainthood because he tried to be inclusive. Look for him to grab a golden parachute and find employment in the C-suite elsewhere.

“X” suggests he apply for a job at Kraft Foods. Specifically, may I suggest President of Kool-Aid North American division?  That way he can drink his own Kool-Aid!

Sorry, bad joke….til next time!

X