Walking in the Florida Humidity for ACB

They say if you want something bad enough, you need to sacrifice
a little to get it. Today was a prime example of that.

I got up very early this morning, around 5:15 a.m. Now normally,
I'd say there ought to be a law against being up that early on a
Saturday morning, but today, I was actually excited to do it. We
got ready and left our hotel room here at the American Council of
the Blind's annual convention, www.acb.org and boarded a bus with
about 40 other people for a short trip to Winter Park, Florida.

After getting to the place where we were dropped off, I was
introduced to a nice gentleman named Doug who would be my guide
for what we were about to do. We were about to walk the first
ever Watermelon 5K walk to benefit ACB.

This is where the second part of the sacrifice comes in. It was
a very humid morning in Florida, as I understand many summer
mornings to be. We started walking with about 4,000 other
people. We walked through the neighborhoods of Winter Park,
being entertained by a couple of bands along the way. By the end
of the first mile, I was soaking wet. But, I wanted to finish
and knew I could, so I pressed on.

Doug was a great guide, mainly because he's like me, an avid
football junky. This gave us something to talk about. As we
were nearing the end of the course, people kept saying, you're
almost there to encourage us to continue. By this time, I didn't
need that encouragement because I was going to finish. As we
approached the finish line, I was high stepping for ACB.

Why would I put myself through such an early rise and battling
the humidity? Because I want ACB to be the best it can be. In
part to make that happen, ACB needs money. We raised a
significant bit of that this morning. Remember what I said about
sacrificing for what you want? I sacrificed for ACB and I would
encourage you all to do the same, for ACB or any other
organization you care about.

To Show Or Not to Show I.D., That Is the Question

There has been discussion on an e-mail list I'm on about whether
people who use guide dogs should be required to show I.D. cards
for their dogs. Let me weigh in.

To make things clear, I don't use a guide dog. Yet, I would be
the first to step forward and uphold the rights of a guide dog
user to access a public place with their dog.

The Americans with Disabilities Act doesn't require that an I.D.
be shown so I'm told, I'd have to research the appropriate
regulations to verify that. This is to accommodate privately
trained service animals. BTW, those ain't service animals but
they are glorified pets in my opinion.

Be that as it may, this is a case where if you have the I.D., you
need to show it in my opinion. So what if it isn't required.
How fucking hard is it to dig out the card, show it to the person
asking for it, and put it away? Those who think otherwise are
being militant fuckheads in my opinion. And don't use the Rosa
Parks analogy on me. That only would have worked if Ms. Parks
had to show some sort of I.D. to prove she could sit in the
front of the bus, and after showing it, she was told to move to
the back.

BTW, it's dealing with shit like this that is a big reason I
don't use a guide dog and never will! But again, don't get me
wrong, I'll be the first one to stand up for the rights of dog
handlers as long as those rights are exercised in a responsible
manner.

What Are These People In Illinois' Legislature Thinking?

Below, I've posted a letter that I sent to my state representative with CC's
to our so-called Legislative Leaders. It asks them to put together a
sensible, balanced state budget while not balancing it on the backs of
society's most vulnerable citizens. If you are from Illinois, first read
and enjoy this letter, then, send one of your own to your state
representative and senator.

June 15, 2009

Honorable Senator Dan Cronin
313 S. Main Street
Lombard, IL 60148

To Honorable Senator Cronin:

I am writing to strongly urge you to communicate this message to the
Illinois Senate Leadership. That message is, work with Governor Quinn and
negotiate for a sensible, balanced budget which doesn't cut vital human
services which people in Illinois need and depend on.

I am making this request on two fronts. First, I work for an agency which
receives funding from the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of
Rehabilitation Services. If we lose 50% of our rehabilitation funding, it
means we can't help as many people who are blind or visually impaired find
employment. Ask any person who is blind what they want most of all, and
they will say, without question, a job. Individuals with disabilities,
including those who are blind or visually impaired who are employed spend
money in our communities buying homes, patronizing businesses large and
small, and paying taxes. During the economic times in which we live, we
need to be doing as much as we can to help all Illinois citizens find
employment, including those with disabilities which includes those who are
blind or visually impaired. People who are blind or visually impaired have
an unacceptable 70% unemployment rate. Without proper funding, the division
of rehabilitation services cannot help these individuals find work which
will increase our welfare roles and costs.

Cutting funds from rehabilitation is especially harmful in another way.
State dollars which are put into rehabilitation services are used to access
Federal rehabilitation dollars. For every $1 of state funding which is cut
from rehabilitation services, $4 in Federal funds are lost as the state
match is 20%. So, every $1 in state funding which is cut is like cutting a
total of $5. Every $1 million is like cutting $5 million. You get the
idea.

I also sit on the Board of Directors for the DuPage Center for Independent
Living in your district. If the dooms day budget becomes law, this center
will lose $103,000 in state funds. This means staff will lose their jobs
and about half of the consumers this center now serves will not be served.
What will happen to the rest of them? Any number of things from their
becoming homeless, or having to go on public assistance, at higher cost to
the state. The staff who lose their jobs will need to seek unemployment,
thereby increasing costs to the state.

This center has for almost 19 years provided high quality services to
individuals with disabilities living in DuPage County. I enjoyed three
years working professionally for this center. However, this is not the
worst of things. The DuPage Center is one of 23 centers for independent
living across the state. If the dooms day budget becomes law, these centers
are all having to look at very devastating cuts in staff and services, and
perhaps, even closing their dors. In some areas, the center for independent
living is the only service provider available to individuals with
disabilities where they can receive needed services.

Again, Senator Cronin, I urge you as strongly as I can to ask the Senate
leadership to sit down with Governor Quinn and commit to negotiating a
balance budget which doesn't force Illinois' most vulnerable citizens to
bear the brunt of spending and service cuts. Remember, a society is judged
by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. We in Illinois won't be
judged very well if the dooms day budget becomes law. I thank you in
advance for your time and actions to help the legislature and Governor reach
a sensible, sustainable balanced budget that preserves needed services and
programs.

Sincerely,

<my name>

Cc: Illinois Senate President John Cullerton
Illinois Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno
Governor Pat Quin

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17:54:00

What I Didn't Vote For in November of 2008

Not only did I not vote for President Obama (One Big Almighty
Mistake America), in November of 2008, along with that, here are
the many other things I didn't vote for.
1. I didn't vote for a country which is far less safe than it
was before January 20 of 2009. This administration has done
nothing to address the threats we face in the world except make
worthless condemnations. North Korea, which has NUCLEAR WEAPONS,
is laughing at us. They know this administration won't respond
aggressively and they show that by continuing to test nuclear
weapons and missals. God help us.

2. I didn't vote for abandoning of enhanced interrogation
techniques used on terror suspects so we can take this holier
than though stand against torture. This is because I know we've
gotten information from using these on dangerous people which has
kept us safe. There has not been a terrorist attack on our
nation since 9-11. How much longer will we be able to say that?
The people we have interrogated are animals, not deserving of any
rights whatsoever. If they know of a plot which could harm us,
we have to do whatever it takes to get that information. If that
means water boarding, so be it. If it means food or sleep
deprivation, so be it. Yet this administration has chosen to
abandon these techniques, figuring, if we talk nicy nicy to the
terrorists, they'll tell us what we need to know. Bull shit.

3. I did not vote for closing Guantanamo without a plan for
where the people there, many of whom are very dangerous and want
us dead, would go. I do not want them in any U.S. prison. It
is a given fact that once released, many of these detainees go
back to the battle field as it were and launch terrorist attacks
against our interests.

4. I did not vote for government owned automobile companies. If
I wanted to own part of General Motors, oops, I mean Government
Motors or Krysler, I'd have bought stock in them. Same goes for
the banks and other institutions we've poured billions in tax
money into. Think how many people we could provide health
insurance too, how many children we could help educate, or how
much infrastructure we could rebuild with all that money. I also
didn't vote for the end result of this, Government control of
American business through nationalization. American businesses
compete in a global market. They need the flexibility to do
that, not the rigid guidelines put in place by bureaucrats who
never had to run a business, meet a payroll, fire an employee,
etc.

5. I didn't vote for health care policies which deem certain p
too EXPENSIVE to treat. Talk about cruel! Yet why should we be
surprised, liberals don't value life. The Government has not a
clue how to run health insurance, but god help us, they're going
to try. At what price?

I did not vote for all these things and more, because I wasn't
suckered in by the hype and false promises to vote for an empty
suit in the White House. I fear for our great nation that a
majority of Americans were stupid enough to do so. God, help us
to keep our nation strong until the day this joker and all who
serve with him are kicked out of office. On Memorial Day, we
honored those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us
free. If these brave men and women could speak today, I strongly
believe they would be saying loudly, this is not the country I
fought for. America, wake up! We are fast becoming a European
bastian of liberalism, ripe for terrorist attacks. Our best hope
is, in 2010, to have Republicans swept into power in Congress so
we can grid lock the process until we can get the President out
in 2012. Can we wait that long? Probably not, but we'll have
too.

The Credit Card Reform, I mean, Rewarding Irresponsibility Act

Congratulations to Congress and President Obama (One Big Almighty
Mistake America). You have successfully rewarded
irresponsibility and encouraged more people to go deeper and
deeper into credit card debt.

This was done by passing and signing into law the Credit Card
Reform legislation which in my opinion should be more properly
titled the Rewarding Irresponsibility Act of 2009. This
legislation penalizes people like myself who, with pride, pay off
our credit cards each month. My mamma and daddy taught me one
simple lesson. If I won't have enough money at the end of the
month to pay for it, I don't need it! Well guess what? People
like me are going to be hit with higher fees and interest rates
as a result of this legislation. We can also say goodbye to the
rewards programs and promotions we've seen so much of.

There are two things about this legislation I actually agree
with. First, people under 21 won't be able to get a credit card
unless they can show their ability to pay. Why restrict that to
those under 21? Why not make that apply to everyone? It's
terrible when college students come out of school with a mountain
of student loan debt. Piling on credit card debt only makes
things worse, although, if they were actually taught how to
responsibly use a credit card things would be better. Heck, I
never had a credit card in college, and things went just fine.

The second thing I agree with is the explaining of all terms,
rates, etc in plain English which can be clearly read. It's
awful hard to be responsible and know what questions to ask if
you can't read what they are telling you.

For the most part, though, this legislation is another salvo in
this administration's relentless attacks on American business.
Credit card companies don't just issue plastic out of the
goodness of their hearts. They are in business to make money.
That's why they do the things they do. This administration
should be encouraging parents, most importantly, and the schools
to educate kids on how to handle credit responsibly. I didn't
get my first credit card until I'd worked for a year. This
helped me establish a bit of a credit history the card issuer
could go on. My father refused to co-sign for me to get a card
sooner. That's the way things should be. That's not where we're
headed with this administration I'm afraid.

If I Wanted to Own Part of GM, I'd Have Bought Stock

This morning's news headlines tell us that General Motors is
headed, almost certainly, for bankrupsy. Good for the GM bond
holders for not getting hoodwinked into a bad deal. These people
who have invested their money in GM were only to get a paltry 10%
of the company after restructuring. Guess who gets the biggest
piece, 70% according to news reports? You guessed it, the United
States Government, in other words, you and I.

I never wanted to own part of GM. As the subject says, if I did
I'd have bought stock. America, wake up! This is all part of the
master plan by an administration that is out of control and needs
to be stopped before it's too late. No one asked me or any other
taxpayers if we wanted to buy GM, they are just doing it. This
nation, for which many fought and died and whom we honored on
Memorial Day is fast becoming a European style bastian of
liberalism.

Why is this part of the master plan? Well, just last week, the
One Big Almighty Mistake America (OBAMA) administration released
new, mandatory fuel economy standards. Figure it out. They
release the standards, then take major ownership stakes in two of
the major automobile companies. You can bet the Government will
force the auto companies to make smaller, unsafe, fuel efficient
cars that Americans don't want. Then, guess what? There will be
all of this excess inventory that nobody wants, so more of yours
and my money, oh I forgot the liberals think it's their money,
will be spent buying that up and probably giving it away to
people who probably neither know how to drive nor know the
responsibility that comes with owning a car. But, that won't
matter to this administration, which rewards irresponsibility.

Guess what else? The Government pukes will demand that GM make
more hybrid cars, which are unsafe as they cannot be heard by
pedestrians. I guess we who walk the streets, going to work,
school, and other places are expendable, huh? Go to hell with
that!

As long as I'm going to own part of GM, even without my
permission, here are a few things I'd like to see.
1. Privatize as much production as can be done, so we're not
paying out as much in high, extortion type wages to unionized
workers.
2. Don't close down your life brood, the dealers who sell your
product. The Jack Wolfs of the world (Belvidere, Illinois) are
family businesses full of good, hard-working Americans. Why
would you want to pull the rug right out from under these people
who promote and sell the product?
3. Survey the car buying public and produce what people actually
want, not what overpaid, rude bureaucrats think they want.

Anyone want to take a bet on how likely it will be that items 1,
2 and 3 above will happen when we own 70% of GM?

I'm Still Proud to Be An American, But Is This the America I Know and Love?

It is utterly amazing that I would be sitting here, a mere four months after
a new President has taken power and wondering about my country, the United
States of America. But, here I sit.

I fear that our country is turning into something that I neither recognize
nor want. Our President, Barack Obama (or should he be called King or
Dictator) has made us far less safe than we were before he took office.
Taking actions such as ordering the closure of Guantonimo without a plan for
where the very dangerous people housed there would go, and all but blaming
our honorable military men and women for a misscle strike in Pakistan are
shameful. I don't want these dangerous people from Guantonimo living in my
neighborhood or community, no American should want that. PresidentObama
made the decision on Guantomino's closure simply to keep a campaign promise.
He has not studied how the information we have gained from prisoners there
has kept us safe as I believe it has.

There was, supposedly, a terrible misle strike in Pakistan that killed
several civilians. Is that really what happened? Could it have been the
Tallaban playing propaganda games with the anti-war zealots in America? I
think these are real possibilities. However, to hear Secretary of State
Clinton talk, what happened must be investigated. She did not even hint at
a presumption of innocence for our military fighters who were doing their
jobs. War is a dirty business, liberals don't seem to understand that.

But here at home, things are going in directions I do not like. The
proposed bale outs of Krysler and G. M. are nothing more than wet, sloppy
kisses to the Auto Workers Unions as Obama and his henchmen run rough shot
over the bankrupsy laws. Bond holders in companies like Krysler and G. M.
have certain legal rights. Yet, the Obama Administration is threatening
that if they don't go along there will be consequences. I thought when you
came in, Mr. Obama, there was going to be a new level of civility. We see
you are just another politician.

I use credit cards, I pay off the balances. Yet, Obama and his cronies say
the credit card industry is evil and must be more tightly regulated. No,
people need to be taught how to take responsibility and stay out of debt. I
am proud of the strong credit rating I have and will do everything I can to
maintain it. While I realize circumstances such as a job loss can affect
someone's ability to pay, that isn't the fault of the credit card industry.
Yet, "the one," Mr. Obama thinks it is.

I fear we are turning into a socialist, liberal Euorpean country. Maybe
some think we are already there. With four months gone, the damage is
severe. What will happen in four years? I'm afraid to ask.