Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad Rejected By NBC

January 31, 2009 by 3 Comments

NBC has rejected a Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad, produced by the group Catholic Vote.  They claim they have a policy of not accepting “advocacy” ads for the Super Bowl.  Of course, they also claim that the NBC News department is unbiased.  Does anyone else see any credibility problems for NBC on this?  This being the age of the Internet, the rejected video of the proposed commercial has gone viral on YouTube, with hundreds of thousands of views.  Whatever your position on this issue, I would hope you share my belief that all sides of an issue deserve to be heard.

Filed under Uncategorized, Traditional Values Tagged with , , , ,

Michael Steele Elected Chairman, Republican National Committee

January 30, 2009 by 4 Comments

Michael Steele speaks at the Republican National Convention.
Michael Steele speaks at the Republican National Convention.

Michael Steel was elected today, to Chairman of the Republican National Committee.  He is the first black to ever be elected chairman of the GOP.  Personally, it is a great relief to me that the Party elected a new man to the post.  The last chairman, Duncan, was appointed by George W. Bush, and I believe that new leadership is necessary to show that the Republican Party is learning its lessons, and will truly represent conservative principles.

Steele is the former lieutenant governor of Maryland.  He was elected on the sixth ballot, besting four other contenders for the position.  The Republican Party has now officially distanced itself from the 8 years of the Bush administration.  I am optimistic that the Party will return to its conservative roots, now that the ball and chain of the prior POTUS has been shed.

Filed under Republican Party Tagged with ,

Parent Conversation With The Principal Night At Chief Kamiakin Elementary

January 27, 2009 by

This evening (Tuesday) I went to what was billed as a “Conversation with the Principal Night” at Chief Kamiakin Elementary.  This is the first time I have been to one of these events at the school, and I left very impressed.  The topic for the evening was “Gang Awareness”.  I expected school staff to give the presentation, but was pleasantly surprised when Detective J. Ortiz of the Sunnyside Police Department was on hand to discuss this critical issue for our community.

This is not to take anything away from the Principal, she is doing an outstanding job of bringing parents together to talk about issues of substance.  In fact, there were quite a few more folks that turned out for this meeting, than what you would see at a typical Sunnyside City Council Meeting.

Most of the folks who turned out were of a Spanish speaking background, and I appreciate Detective Ortiz stopping from time to time to give me the information in English.  In addition, a member of the school staff was able to interpret some of what people were saying for me as well.

The presentation about Gang Awareness for the most part went back to two questions Detective Ortiz posed at the start of the discussion: “Do you know what you are seeing?” and “Do you understand what you are seeing?”  He then went on to describe reasons some individuals may decide to join gangs in the first place.  This included descriptions of gang initiation rituals, which sometimes included unpleasant examples of how humans can treat each other horribly.  (Not that I expected “Gang Awareness” to be like “Happy Hour”, but some gang rituals I found outright revolting.)

At one point, Detective Ortiz said “We all need to be educated.”  He spoke about a formal education being important for both men and women.  In addition, this statement includes society at large.  We need to be educated about what is going on in our community.  Gang Awareness is part of what we need to know.

Detective Ortiz related one story of being decked out in tactical gear, complete with an AR-15 assault rifle when a vehicle pulled up.  He tracked the vehicle, and the white driver getting out of it, wondering if it was an approaching threat.  The man getting out had a cap on with a red, five pointed star.  This is a symbol used by some area gangs, raising the detective’s level of apprehension.  What was peculiar was that the man with the hat was white, but still you can never be sure about such things.  In the end, it turned out it was a reporter arriving on the scene.  He was unaware that the cap he had purchased at a gas station for warmth, had a symbol being used by gangs prominently displayed.

Detective Ortiz saw me taking notes, and asked if I was a reporter!  “No, I am not.”, was my reply.  I attended this meeting as a parent of a child in the school system, and did not think it would turn into a blog post, but here we are.

As my own children get older, they will be confronted with the issue of gangs in their lives.  I want to be able to have a clue about what is happening, to give them some relevant advice.  Even though I have a formal education, and have benefited from having some great teachers, I never learned the first thing about gangs.  There are some things we have to learn as adults, outside of the classroom.  Sunnyside needs more of these kinds of discussions.

Detective Ortiz gave this presentation, on his own time, donating valuable personal time to our community.  I learned a great deal, and wish to express my gratitude to all the great folks at Chief Kamiakin Elementary, and the Sunnyside Police Department for the work they do everyday.

Filed under Sunnyside Crime Issues Tagged with , ,

200 Economists Against Stimulus Sign Ad Running In New York Times and Washington Post

January 27, 2009 by 3 Comments

200 economists have signed an ad placed in the New York Times and the Washington Post, publicly opposing the stimulus package being promoted by President Barack Obama.  The ad is paid for by the CATO Institute.

The text of the ad reads as follows:

Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.

Cato_StimulusAd by chrismoody1.

Filed under Economy Tagged with , , ,

Sunnyside Council Member Bruce Epps Resigns, Police Contracts and Airport Discussed

January 27, 2009 by 1 Comment

At last night’s meeting of the Sunnyside City Council, Bruce Epps announced he was turning in his resignation.  Mr. Epps cited a busy work schedule and health concerns for making the decision.  His decision leaves the City Council with six members, pending a replacement.

Mr. Epps is also the Mayor Pro Tem, meaning that the Council will need to appoint another member to take his place in that capacity.

The Council also took action regarding collective bargaining agreements for police officers and sergeants.  The proposed contract would have boosted accrued vacation hours to the highest level for cities in Washington, as far as the City Council could determine based on information available at the time.  Currently officers can carry a maximum of 240 hours of vacation over from one year to the next.  The proposed change would have allowed up to 360 hours to be carried over from year to year.

Also, contract language was proposed to give premium pay of 2 to 2.5 times regular pay if an officer is called back from vacation to work.  The City would also be obligated by contract to pay for cancelled reservations on the part of the officer.  Chief Radder stated that no officer in recent memory has been called back from vacation.

City Council Member Theresa Hancock stated that she felt like cancelling vacation was a management issue to address, and should not be in the contract.  City Manager Eric Swansen pointed out that due to cuts in staffing at the police department, they were concerned that it might become an issue in the future, and having a safeguard in writing would address this.  Mr. Swansen also said that due to the elimination of the vacation buy back, they were asking for increased accrual of vacation, and cancellation of scheduled vacation benefits in return.  Ms. Hancock countered by saying they were getting an increase in pay of 5% in return for giving up the vacation buy back benefit.

The majority of the Council agreed with Ms. Hancock, and voted to strike the language for increasing vacation accrual and cancellation benefits from the contract.  The matter will be referred back to the union for consideration and renegotiation.  After additional bargaining takes place, the City Council will consider the contract again.  Council Members Bill Gant and Tom Gehlen voted against eliminating these new benefits from the contract.

The City Council will be holding a joint meeting with the Port of Sunnyside January 28,2009, at the Banner Bank building.  The Council discussed the need to cooperate with the Port for marketing the Sunnyside area, and selling prospective businesses on locating here.  In addition, joint agreements can facilitate sharing of resources and equipment, benefiting both entities.

Public Works Director Jim Bridges discussed the status of the airport.  He also gave updated information regarding the attempt to get FAA funds for the airport.  A contracted consulting firm is still working on a formal airport plan.  This plan needs to be completed before the City can request the FAA to release funds for work.  When this plan is complete, the City Council and the Planning Commission will be able to use it.  City Manager Eric Swansen said it would become increasingly difficult for the City to attempt to continue running the airport by itself, especially given current tight budgets.  Partnering with the Port, and users of the airport, would help to both maintain and add to airport facilities.

Filed under Sunnyside Council, Uncategorized Tagged with , , ,

Man Arrested In Sunnyside AM/PM Murder Case

January 26, 2009 by

KAPP-TV is reporting that Oscar Torres of Sunnyside was arrested in Granger last week, in the murder case of Jesus Sosa who was the first murder victim in Yakima County in 2009.  He is being charged with 2nd degree murder.

Filed under Sunnyside Crime Issues Tagged with

Obama Administration Launches Missile Attacks In Pakistan

January 26, 2009 by 3 Comments

One of the first military actions taken under the new Obama administration is to expand missile strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The result is flattened buildings and homes, dead men, women, and children, and reportedly maybe even some terrorists killed as well.

Coffins of the victims of a US airstrike on a village in Pakistan's tribal area

Coffins of the victims of a US airstrike on a village in Pakistan

Keeping true to his promise to use the military in Pakistan, regardless of how Pakistani people may feel about it, Obama ordered the strikes.  While promising to draw down some troops in Iraq (eventually), Obama has ordered a surge of 60,000 troops to Afghanistan (before withdrawing from Iraq).  This ever expanding war is sure to cost a pretty penny, but that shouldn’t really be a concern to any of us, because Obama’s advisers think that war is good for the economy.  Change indeed.

Just to make sure the economy really gets to rocking, Congress is preparing a “stimulus” package to get as many people holding government jobs as possible.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is hopeful that it will keep 500 million Americans from losing their jobs.  Yes, that’s right, 500 million Americans.  As if inflating the currency is not bad enough, Pelosi is going to save 300 million Americans their jobs, plus that of 200 million Americans we don’t know about yet!  Is this something about a new immigration policy?  We shall see.

This gem of a quote came from a Fox News interview.  The complete transcript, if you care to read even more drivel, is found, here.

WALLACE: So you agree union card check later rather than sooner, and maybe not taking away the secret ballot?

PELOSI: Well, I believe that — I know that President-elect Obama is a strong supporter of America’s workers. I myself am a strong supporter of that legislation. We passed it with a strong vote in the House in the last Congress, and I continue to be supportive of it.

But in terms of what we have to do in the first 100 days, we must address the needs of this country. Five hundred million people will lose their jobs each month until we have an economic package.

WALLACE: No, 500,000.

PELOSI: What did I say, million?

WALLACE: Yes, 500 million. That would really be a recession.

PELOSI: Oh, no. Excuse me. Thank you for correcting me.

WALLACE: Yes.

PELOSI: It feels like 500 million. Five hundred thousand Americans will lose their jobs each month until we have a recovery package.

Can’t keep all this straight.  Thousand, nobody in Congress EVER  says thousand!  No wonder that didn’t feel right to Ms. Pelosi!  With all this talk about trillion being the new billion, who can blame her?

Anyway, back when I was in school, I remember reading about a study done on stressful events that take place in people’s lives.  We know many of them.  Lose a significant other, lose a job, move to a new location, etc… 

For most Americans losing a spouse would be the most significant stress event to cope with.  What was noteworthy, was that after studying survivors of World War II in Europe, they found people who lost their family home went through more stress!  Incredibly, there was an expectation that the house would survive the person, so when the home was destroyed in battle in generated more stress.

Why do I bring this up?  Because when we launch missiles at people’s homes (the alleged terrorists in Pakistan often stay with families in their homes) it tends to upset them.  A lot.  Did I just say a lot?  I mean it really pisses them off.  Guess who they get mad at?  Yep, America.  What Americans are they likely to come into contact with?  I know it’s a really hot bed of tourist activity, but no, not tourists.  The U.S. military.  Maybe that’s why they have so many people over there taking to the streets and protesting us.

With all these new deployments, and the Vice President warning us of increasing casualties to come, I would think recruitment will be through the roof.  I bet being a recruiter would be about as much fun as trying to be a car salesman at a Detroit 3 dealership right now.  But wait, Obama has an answer to bailout the recruiters too!

Obama’s Chief of Staff is proposing compulsory service as one possible answer.  That’s the draft, but said in a different way.  This is great.  The government has an answer to everything.  If only more people would look to the government for solutions to everyday problems, think about what we could accomplish!

On second thought, we could decide to Restore the Republic, and follow the Constitution instead.  It talks about what our government SHOULD be doing.  We can get rid of the rest, reduce taxes, and stimulate the economy by going without so much government.  That would truly be something.

For information on the missile strikes in Pakistan, go here.

Filed under Constitutional Issues, Economy, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Transition Complete!

January 25, 2009 by

Bush -> Obama

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with , ,

Does the City of Sunnyside Have Funding For Airport Expansion?

January 23, 2009 by 4 Comments

Recently, Public Works Director Jim Bridges was telling an area civic group that the City of Sunnyside has procured $600,000 of grant money to fund expansion of the airport runway.  I find this both interesting and disturbing.

The City of Sunnyside has an Airport Committee that does not currently hold meetings.  As far as I know, no one on the Airport Committee has any knowledge of this potential funding.  At the last City Council meeting, Eric Swansen said that they think the City may be able to get some federal money for the airport, but discussion of the matter would need to be held at a future meeting.  Question: Why is Mr. Bridges discussing this with civic groups and not the Airport Committee or the City Council?

We know that the City’s staff and Port of Sunnyside are having discussions about some sort of proposed joint operating agreement.  The two entities want to share resources.  How will this impact the airport?  The text quoted below is from the published agenda for the next City Council meeting scheduled for Monday night.

Airport Partnership Opportunity

The City’s financial condition has resulted in very limited funding for the airport and very sporadic funding over time. The City has funds that need to be spent this year – with a local match of around $20,000 (which is unbudgeted) – on airport improvements pending the finalization of our updated airport layout plan. The City and Port would benefit from creating a partnership on future development and operation of the airport. Creating an airport advisory board with airport users also needs to be re-established. The must immediate work is probably dealing with some pavement issues on the taxiways. A longer term series of projects would extend the runway, add an instrument approach, improve hangars and tie downs. We would be well served to create a more useful airport advisory board – getting input from airport users and having an ongoing dialogue on financial and operating matters. It is possible that with effective partnerships, the subsidy from the general fund to operate the airport could be minimized, while getting better service. It should be noted that the recent bad weather – low cloud ceilings and visibility– have prevented air ambulances and helicopters from meeting critical medical emergencies. This could be corrected by adding a instrument approach to the airport. If a partnership could be created from the Port and City, the next step would be to complete a review of the updated airport layout plan, setting priorities to the projects, and getting then designed and out to bid. Given the use it or lose it nature of the matching funds – we are wanting to move fast.

 Why the sudden need for speed?  No one has had any public meetings in recent months.  Mr. Swansen obviously was thinking about it before, because he mentioned it at the last Council meeting.  Mr. Bridges is talking it up with civic groups like the money is in the bag, but this is not true.

An avaiation official sent this response to an inquiry placed by a fanatical follower of this blog:

 There is an Airport Layout Plan update in process and it does show a
proposed 576′ extension to give a total runway length of 4,000′. Funding
for the runway extension is not guaranteed yet. Before the project could
proceed there would have be a environmental review and the City of
Sunnyside would have work out a suitable arrangement to use the land for
the extension, which is owned by the Port of Sunnyside.

O.K. that sounds fair enough.  Glad the City is looking into that.  Where has the City been on this issue for the last 10 years?  As I write this, the Airport Committee is apparently still out for lunch.  The bottom line for me is this: the City of Sunnyside spends roughly $25,000 a year to subsidize an airport that has very few users.  Is this the best use of our money? 

If this money was spent on law enforcement, maybe we could actually have a 1/2 time officer with the Gang Task Force.  Maybe even a 3/4 time officer when combined with the funds already being spent for this.  How many days would $25,000 keep the swimming pool open?  Would we need to be cutting its season short?

I am not saying we need to get rid of the airport.  However, it needs to be self-sustaining.  With proper management it can be.  This would require that the users of the airport would need to pay the true cost of the services they are receiving.  And also pick up the tab for the Airport Committee, they just left without saying goodbye.

Filed under Sunnyside Budget Issues, Sunnyside Council, Uncategorized

Democrats Insert Net Neutrality Regulations In New Stimulus Bill

January 22, 2009 by

Comcast has already been sanctioned by the FCC for interfering with P2P Internet traffic.  Now they are under investigation for possibly interfering with 3rd party VoIP traffic as well.  See the article here.

Stories like this are upsetting.  The debate about Net Neutrality is one that I think we need to have.  However, the Democrats are trying to insert new Net Neutrality regulations into Obama’s economic stimulus bill.  This is not the right way to deal with the issue.

Instead of having an open and honest debate about an issue that effects a large number of people, proponents of these regulations are trying to sneak them in, burying them in a pile of legislation that the new President is trying to rush through to deal with an alleged “crisis”.

When Congress deals with a “crisis” it means that few take the time to read the bills they are voting on.  There have even been cases where legislation was not published until days after Congress had already voted on it!

Personally, I would like to see debates in Congress to deal with the issue of Net Neutrality.  What I don’t want is for staffers to insert large volumes of regulations into bills, without the impacts on businesses and the public being given adequate consideration.  Put another way, the easy way is not necessarily the right way.  While it may advance someone’s legislative agenda to pass bills like this, it ultimately does little to serve the public.

We need Congress to consider one subject at a time, and especially to Read the Bills they vote on.

Filed under Economy, Freedom Issues, Uncategorized Tagged with , , ,

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