2nd Post

The 40 hour work week.  Work place safety.  Vacation days.  Sick days. Most health insurance coverage.  Ending unlawful terminations.  Fair labor practices including equitable pay and hiring procedures.  Those are the easy ones.

These are some of the things that American workers have because we have had labor unions with the ability to collectively bargain with companies.  The main stay of unions is to push for a higher wage and better  benefits for its members.  This has historically led to better wages and benefits for all workers.

Some of the harder ones.  Civil rights.  Americans with Disability Act.  Overtime pay.  Child labor laws.  Meal breaks.  Price stability.  All of these have their roots in unions.

Unions are like all large organizations.  They are not perfect but they have produced a lot of positive results for workers and the nation as a whole.  They will need to change with changing times and the needs of their members.  But to allow them to be outlawed and removed from the nation will lead to a very slippery slope.

Would you want to work more for less money in a job where you were not safe from harm?

Kind of rambling I know but I did not want to write a big history.  Have a good night all

2 Blogs Today Bubba Weekend First

 I am going to post 2 times today. I actually had 2 different ideas pop into my head at the same time. Please laugh with me not at me.

 The first one was that I had not talked about our great Bubba weekend. I had a wonderful time seeing my brothers and their wives. I have said many times I am lucky to have Marc, Brian, Scott, and Gary in my life. Megan, Angie, Missy and Ellen make the four of them better, almost as much as Beth makes me better. We all as the saying goes married up. Beth has posted some of the pics on her FB, so please go look.

The thought I had was about what brought us together. The MSU/BSU now BCM was very good for all of us. People like Keith and Carol Inman, Morgan Owens, Tim and Jenny Green, and so many more helped to shape all of us. I want to encourage myself and everyone who reads this to support our local ministries and groups like that. They do make a difference in peoples lives.

My college years helped to shape me and I hope I can help shape others. Post 2 will be from home tonight with a little research. Thanks again everyone.

Bubba Weekend is here.

Just a short post.  It is Bubba weekend and I can't wait to see everyone.  I pray for everyone to have a safe trip in.

 I am thankful for friends and family who get to share the weekend with the Bubba kids.  For our kids this year they get Bonnie and Mike.  Mom and Lynn had them last year. E asked yesterday if Granny and Lynn were going to come up to stay at Grand-mommy and Papaws with him and Gman this weekend.  I had to tell him no but hopefully  they will be here next weekend for the Pine wood derby with the cub scouts.  It should be 2 good weekends.  

Thanks again the Bubba wives for putting up with us.  

OK I was trying not to be political tonight but this is a great video.

Glenn Beck

I usually try not to listen to Glenn Beck.  I do not avoid all conservative talk on radio or TV but I just can not stand Glenn.  I remember some of the stuff he use to do on the radio in Louisville and just assumed everyone thought he was an idiot.  The time in Louisville also is when he has admitted to be on heavy drugs.  I feel that explained a great deal of what he said and did.  Now he claims to be clean and sober.  He still seems very crazy.

I started looking a little harder at him this weekend.  I know the internet is not the most reliable source but this is on the web so do I really need footnotes?  Per Google search Glenn is a Mormon.  I think this brings a large light to his present TV and radio programs.  He is seeing the end of the world.  He is taking his religion, mixing in conspiracy theories, and his on personal addiction problems to come up with a world that is out to get him and his followers.  Here is a good article from Joanna Brooke, (who if you read the page is an award winning writer which I never will be).  

I will not make a judgement on his religion or his personal trials and tribulations.  I will go back to my first thought about Glenn and say I still think he is an idiot.

Egypt and the Army

Just a few thoughts on the change of power in Egypt as a follow up to my earlier post on the differences in the recent revolts in the middle east.  The role of the military was huge.  The Egyptian military sided with the revolting populace over the government.  What they do in the future is still uncertain.  The Tunisian military stayed on the side lines for their revolt until the dictator slipped out of the country.  Iran's military supported not the president and the failed elections but the ruling oligarchy. They ended the revolt at the order of the Mullahs not the president.

Why the Egyptian army supported the people over the government will be a large discussion topic in the near future.  I think that historically the difference between the actions of the military in each country will be very important.  Dictatorships have fallen before.  The main reason usually are external forces beyond the control of the military.  Here we have internal forces causing a popular uprising that was fairly peaceful.  The government could not put down the uprising or appease it without the military.  There were attempts by pro-government forces to end the uprising and they failed.  The military came into keep the peace between the sides very similar to Iran.  What are the major differences in the two?

My first thought is the the relationship between the Egyptian military and the U.S. military.  The 30 years of interaction and support from the U.S. must have influenced the actions there.  Did our military aid buy us enough leverage to keep the Egyptian military neutral and then even pro reform at the thought of losing that aid?  Or was it the enter action between our military and theirs that influenced them to believe the populace needs to give its consent to be governed?  I am usually very skeptical about good intentions.  I am the leaning toward the money and military aid over the good ideas.

The second thought springs out of the use of military aid.  The U.S. has given a both military and humanitarian aid to many countries for many years.  Dictatorships, juntas, democracies it did not matter as long as it was in the best interest of the U.S.  What has made the relationship with Egypt different  from others?  Panama, El Salvador, Columbia, and even Iran before its revolution all got aid and support.  Why has Egypt turned out differently?  Or has it?  Will the military willing give up power with free and open elections?   We will see in the future which way it goes.

The third idea deals with what role the internet had in the success of this revolution and future political changes.  The old school media is giving a large deal of credit to social media like twitter and Facebook for the uprising.  The Iranian uprising was also driven with the Green support on twitter.  I see the organizing and communication aspects very useful.  What about the ideas that are shared over the internet?  Information has always led to questioning and change.  The internet is going to bring about more of this in the future.  It makes me wonder how much control needs to be used on it.

Well trying to wrap this one up.  Please pray for all the people over there.

Bad Headache

I have had one of the worse headaches in months today.  Very light sensitive and felt like an ice pick behind my left eye.  So I  slept until about 3pm. I am not sure what caused it today but it stinks.   I hope it does not come back now that I am awake.  I feel so sorry for everyone who has migraine headaches if they are anyway close to this one.

We are less than 2 weeks away from Bubba Weekend.  Thanks again to the wifes it looks like it will be a fun weekend.  I wonder how much different this one will be with Brian not working on his Doctorate?  I really not sure when we became so laid back but these weekends have became soothing and restful.  At some point I can see us doing something wild and crazy on the weekend.  Sky diving anyone?

Keeping it short and taking more pain pills.  Good Night all

It's February but my mind is on baseball.

I know it is still the dead of winter.  The weather man is calling for snow and ice tonight.  Granny and Lynn are not going to make it up this weekend because of the weather.  The boys have basketball games tomorrow.  All I can think about is the sign ups start for baseball tomorrow at the Dicks at the Fayette Mall.   Southwest Pony League  will be there between 1pm and 5pm on both Saturday and Sunday.  So if you are in the Lexington area and want to join a great league please come and sign up.

I have even talked Beth into letting me assistant coach Gman's team again this year.  After almost driving her nuts as the head coach for fall ball (and worrying myself crazy) I figured the coaching was finished.  One of the dads from the fall team is taking a team for spring and I get to be the assistant again instead of head coach.  I think it will work well.  I know I will be a lot less stressed and hopefully Gman will listen to him better than me.

What really got me excited about baseball was when the family got home tonight.  I was watching the movie The Rookie.  E and Gman both saw it and stopped to watch instead of doing what their mother told them to.  There was a great catch and E shouts "You're Out".  I love that they both love the game that I do.  Beth even stopped to watch (I think it was because of Dennis Quaid not the baseball).  It turned into a nice family movie night.

Everyone please enjoy the nice winter weather and remember baseball is on its way.