RETIRED WARRANT

Another Typhoon

Today while I am at work, my mind is on my extended family 7000 miles away.

Sometime between now and tomorrow morning a super typhoon “Durian” will be rolling through her area. The eye is supposed to cross within 8 miles of Manila so this will be the second direct hit for her city this year.

The last typhoon killed I think the number was 320 people, but worse was that it knocked out phones, power, and closed down travel throughout the country as the roads were blocked by mudslides and debris. This one is even stronger that the last one, so it gives me cause for alarm.

It is also taking an almost identical path as the storm that went through Manila a couple of months ago, so I may have the same problems this time as I had then keeping in touch with Laila and her family. They have already closed the schools and are battening down that hatches.

As soon as I got in my car and left for work I was listening to the news and the first story I heard was how a federal judge has told the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that they must continue to pay for the victims of Katrina which devastated New Orleans 15 months ago. I remember yelling out loud when I heard the story “What?”

How long are we going to have to support these people, the rest of their natural lives? The night the storm hit and right after the President’s declaration of it being a federal disaster area, I donated money to the Red Cross as many of the people in this country did. The Government spent billions and the people donated billions in aid to these victims. It was probably the most money ever donated for a disaster in the history of the country.

Now all I see is report after report of where the money was wasted, spent on non victims, or just plain disappeared. Enough money has been donated to make each victim a millionaire, but the area and the people still want more.

I am sorry for the victims but enough is enough already. This happened 15 months ago. The area is still sinking, the levee’s still can not block a major storm surge, and the area is below sea level. It is time to abandon that area and move to a safer place. It is also time for the victims to get off their dead butts, pick up the pieces, and get their lives back together.

When I was in San Antonio I witnessed first hand some of the victims that were evacuated to the hotel I was staying in. Frankly I was disgusted. They just sit on their butts all day, watch TV in their rooms, and of course take full advantage of the complimentary meals supplied by the hotel.

At night I was awakened several times by noise outside my room, as they were having their drunken parties and living it upon the public’s funds. I did not know that being involved in a natural disaster could be a meal ticket for the rest of ones life, but I guess I was wrong.

I have been distressed by the way the mainstream media portrayed the disaster including Fox news. I was shocked when I heard all the robberies, rapes, and murders were going on during the start of the recovery effort. I was even more shocked when I heard all the news about crime had been made up. The mainstream media in a feeding frenzy for viewers and to out sensationalize each other were actually making up the stuff and were reporting rumors.

All you heard was how the government and FEMA were ineffective in supplying aid, and slow in responding. Well duh, let’s see the roads were out, the helicopters were busy rescuing folks that didn’t evacuate, they had to wait for the storm to pass, and of course communications with the area were out.

It sure would be swell, for FEMA to have the half hour or less service that you get with Domino’s Pizza, but that is pretty unrealistic in a disaster. A lot of the stuff had to be brought in by boat and the boats had to be staged quite a long distance away or they too would have needed to be rescued. As with any disaster mistakes were made by individuals who were trying to do their best.

When I hear stuff like Bush blew up the levee’s, and that aid was not supplied because of race, or even that the hurricane was caused by Bush’s neglect of global warming I just gasp in awe. People are so gullible, and the media in their ultimate wisdom knows this. They actually have managed to get people to believe this crap.

The facts are that a lot of this could have actually been prevented. If the money to maintain the levees was spent on the levee’s they may have held back the flood waters. If people would have evacuated, as the President called for in advance people would not have drowned in their houses. If the knucklehead Mayor of New Orleans would have evacuated the school buses with the poor aboard them when they left many folks would have been saved as well as the buses which were photographed locked up in a flooded parking area.

Then of course there was good ole Al Sharpton, Je$$e Jackson, Spike Lee and others out there playing the race card. President Bush did not act because the people were black. It doesn’t matter that the hardest hit areas were white middle class neighborhoods. It doesn’t matter that the President was on TV two days before the storm asking folks to evacuate. Perhaps if they paid attention to current events instead of hanging out on Bourbon Street they would have known a storm was coming.

Actually that was what alerted me that this was going to be bad. I don’t think I had ever seen a President urge people to evacuate an area before. Of course all that is forgotten in the demonization of Bush as a racist. I guess his remote control that can cause planes to fly into the World Trade Center can also steer hurricanes into black areas.

As I continue to see folks caught and prosecuted for fraud and abuse of the funds given to them, and as I see the reports of people selling FEMA trailers and housing given to them, I will think twice about when and where to donate my charitable contributions.

I just wonder how the Philippines, who have been hit with many more powerful storms than Katrina this year alone still manages to quickly recover and does not require billions to make that happen. Yeah, Laila lost phone service for a couple of days and her cell phone was intermittent as well as her internet, but they recovered and now are going to have to weather a stronger repeat of the last big storm. The people of New Orleans are still standing with their hand out.

It reminds me of that commercial “Who would you give a Volvo to?” I for one wouldn’t give it to the folks of New Orleans as they would just sell it and spend the money on a good time on Bourbon Street.

As I end this post I ask that everyone keep Laila and her kids and all Filipino’s in their prayers. Her building is well constructed and can withstand the storm but then you never know what will happen with these super typhoons.

Feeling better but the news bugs me

Well today is a good day.

My half of the class has completed this part of the course, and tomorrow I start with the second half of the class.

Once I am done with them I will be on my way to see Laila so this is another milestone day. Two weeks of OTCIXS and then the day they graduate I hope a plane to Los Angeles and then switch to a plane to the Philippines.

Last night was another TV night, as I was still feeling slightly under the weather. In addition to TV we traded our blogs back and forth, I paid a visit to some of the players I talked about yesterday, and we checked out some news stories.

We watched a lot of TV last night starting out with back-to-back episodes of “Judge Judy”. We then watched “NCIS”, “House”, and “Law and Order, SVU” and since I have my DVR now I taped “Law and Order, Criminal Intent” and “3 Lbs” to watch at a later date when there is nothing really interesting to watch. The DVR is great as I can tape up to 90 hours of TV on it.

I feel much better today health wise and my students are already gone for the day so I will be working on power point presentations and stuff after lunch. I was working hot and heavy on them for a while and then had to change modes to fixing equipment and things like that lately. Now it will be back to power point improvement mode.

Some things happened in the news recently that has managed to peak my interest. I blogged about the Imam’s getting booted from the US Airlines flight yesterday. I was watching the O’Reilly Factor last night and he had a representative from CAIR on last night. O’Reilly was wondering why the Muslim community is not taking an active part in trying to stop terrorism and this clown was like “What Terrorism?” This guy was more worried about racial profiling and freedom of speech.

I think this is something that needs to be looked at. Freedom of speech and expression is a good thing and I have always supported it. But if you say something you should be held accountable for what you say. I can’t turn on the news anymore without seeing something about Michael Richards’s meltdown at that comedy club, but I have to actually dig to find stories about this Imam’s, some of who had ties with Bin Laden. Richard’s meltdown was over race (He used N word) while the Imam’s were condemning the United States of America.

I am really sorry, but I think the racial inequality here in the United States is a thing of the past. Minorities here have been able, when willing, to be successful. Those that are not a success have themselves to blame, and we taxpayers have ourselves to blame also. As long as people are running for office on the gravy train ticket (handouts for everyone) and as long as they keep getting elected, the people receiving all of these government free giveaways will continue to just collect and give nothing back to society.

What people do not seem to understand is that if there is no government there will be no handouts. The radical Muslims understand that. They also know that the people collecting the benefits will continue to protect those politicians who will give them the most. That is their ticket to taking over the country. They will scream “I was kicked off the plane because I am a Muslim”, “It’s racist”, and “Where are my rights”. The entitlement people will say, “Yeah, that is discrimination because I have been called a (insert bad name here) before, so it must be true”. These people will continue to vote for the folks that will give them the most and protect the rights of those that would destroy us.

Today before we sent our students home for the day we had to warn them of an AIDS epidemic across the border in Mexico. We had to stress for them to exercise safe sex when going out with folks from Mexico.

Yesterday I read a few disturbing news stories about illegal aliens. They are outright killing 12 people a day in their crime waves. They are killing another 13 people a day in car crashes (unlicensed and usually drunk). They are arrested an average of 8 times before being sentenced and the average illegal alien has 13 charges when sentenced. And still we put up with it and tolerate it. And then I saw this on World Net Daily about 45,000 illegals from other than Mexico, with terrorist roots, were released after being captured at the border. We might as well just disband homeland insecurity if they are just going to allow possible terrorists to enter the country this easily.

There was a guy on Hannity and Combs last night who was beaten up by several illegal aliens. He was taking pictures of where they hang out looking for work and pictures of the folks that were hiring them. The police stopped by and of course did nothing because we would not want to offend the visitors in any way. After the police left they attacked and beat the guy, tried to take his camera, broke his cell phone, and if someone would not have stopped to help out this guy might have been beaten to death. Oh and by the way this happened right here in San Diego.

I saw another story where a guy was caught having sex with a puppy and claimed it was his right to do whatever he wanted with his property. Yeah, Mr. President, they are just here doing what American’s don’t want to do.

It used to be that America welcomed the world’s poor, tired, and hungry provided they went though legal channels. Now we welcome the world’s terrorists, thieves, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and drug dealers. When is this madness going to stop? Not under this administration or congress. Instead what we have now in our government will go ahead and start some kind of express pass through customs for Muslims so they can appease CAIR.

This morning when I was on my way in to work Rick Roberts was commenting on the fact that the San Diego City Council disapproved the establishment of a Wal-Mart Superstore in San Diego. These people on the City Council would sell their souls for the Union endorsement and as was demonstrated yesterday they probably already have. Building a Wal-Mart Superstore would employ several hundred people, would raise property values in the area, and would bring additional customers to the businesses located nearby.

People that oppose Wal-Mart always state that low wages, no healthcare, and undercutting the competition are the reasons they do not want a Wal-Mart. The way I see it is that Wal-Mart is the most successful and largest business on the planet. They keep millions employed worldwide. They sell items at low prices, and that is great for the people that earn a low income. How do they do this? By buying huge quantities at the cheapest prices they can find them at and then transporting these products through their own distribution system.

They also pay low wages and encourage and train their people to use the government programs available to them. I see no problem with that, especially since the government of Mexico is teaching all the illegal aliens to use the same programs. At least Wal-Mart employees are paying taxes and earning the benefits. All in all Wal-Mart is an example of how to run a business in a capitalist society.

With all the billions and billions made by Wal-Mart, the trade unions are seeing the biggest cash till they have ever seen, and they are upset that there hands are not in that till. I know folks that work for Wal-Mart, and they are all happy working there. The unions would have you think that Wal-Mart is running a slave labor camp, and keeping their employees oppressed. And of course the unions being backed by their paid politicians and the mainstream media are able to convince the gullible masses, that Wal-Mart is evil.

Now that the City Council has voted out the Wal-Mart Superstore they can go back to their more important agenda items like rate hikes on water and sewer, condoms for elementary school students, and protecting their undeserved pensions. That reminds me, I haven’t checked the status of Councilman Scott Peters’ homes for the illegal alien program lately. Anyway I hope the people of this fine city wake up and vote these clowns out of office soon.

Also I guess a federal judge is now saying a portion of Jessica’s Law is unclear to him. It has something to do with the restrictions that sexual predators cannot live within so many feet of a school. I guess it is limiting the freedom of child rapist’s right to live where they want to. I guess the next big thing will be to write in a requirement that only child molesters will be able to work for the school district. Where are we going these days, with common sense stuff? I think the wrong way.

Yesterday I also saw a story where some lady killed her baby in a microwave oven. Why are people like this able to have kids in the first place? Where were child protective services on this one? Then it took them like a year before they finally arrested her.

As I watch the country spin down the drain to oblivion I wonder where it will be in a few years, or if it will be in a few years. The politicians are only worried about remaining in office and keeping their power. They are not supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States of America, as they all swore to do.

Political correctness and the non-desire of the politicians to protect our borders are allowing our country to be taken over from the inside. Judges shooting down good laws and legislating bad behavior from the bench is changing the face of society. There has to be a way to clean house of the judges and politicians, but again it comes back to who votes.

Very few people vote in this country be it out of hopelessness, laziness, or what ever what reason. You have people like Congressman Charles Rangel from New York City who comes from one of the poorest districts in the country. He is always able to convince the people that they will lose their entitlements unless they reelect him. People like him do not try and improve the people through education and stuff like that. Instead they keep these people loyal by keeping them poor and making them dependant on the handouts. The result is a dedicated entitlement based guaranteed voting base, which will actually vote to keep the checks coming in.

Now that he is back in office he will bring us dumb stuff like reinstituting the draft and raising the minimum wage, and of course he will pull the race card while doing it. I have written before why the draft will never come back.

The minimum wage thing is something that really bugs me. People just do not have any common sense when it comes to that. When you raise the minimum wage the cost of everything you buy goes up. To remain competitive businesses lay people off resulting in higher unemployment. Also after the prices are raised our money buys less overall, because not just the price of that Big Mac you bought at McDonalds went up, but the price of the meat, lettuce, pickle, tomato, bun, and even the secret sauce all went up to. That happens with every single thing you buy, so for that 2-dollar an hour raise per hour you actually are not able to afford as much stuff as you were able to buy before the raise. It is so stupid, and oh by the way the minimum wage job should only be a stepping stone to higher earnings as you move through life and gain more experience. Well before my head explodes from all the dumb stuff I have been seeing going on lately I figure I will go ahead and post this rambling giant.

Enjoy your life now, while we still have a country, because if the illegals or the radical terrorists take things over we are going to be living a new life that we will not be familiar with, if they let us live at all.

Be well, Joe

Well the first thing I have to blog about is some sad news. I heard that my ex-brother-in-law has cancer and that it is too late for him to get effective treatment and so to Sandy, Randine and your entire families, we have included Joe in our prayers.

Last night the kids played Monopoly while Laila and I watched televison until it was time for her to go to church. I was feeling quite tired yesterday, and I don’t know why, so I just laid on the couch all night and quietly watched the TV. I think Laila thought I was sick but I was just in one of those blah moods with no energy.

This morning I got up early and we said our prayers and traded some blogs before I said good night to Laila and Judy, Carlos and I went to church.

Today was the Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King. That means the Liturgy cycle is over and the holidays will now begin for this year. The first reading was Daniel 7:13-14. The second reading was Revelations 1:5-8, and the Gospel was from John 18:33b-37.

The mass was kind of a history lesson and the Father was relating what had happened when Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate and was questioned. He was asked if he was a king and all of that and he made it clear that his kingdom was not of the earth.

The Father taught that back in those days that there were several groups that were trying to declare themselves king and all and that there was a lot of political turmoil in those days. Blasphemy was the charge against Jesus and that was punishable by death. Jesus did not effectively defend himself in the eyes of Pilate and so he was given his fate.

The father then went on to say that this is the season of giving, and that giving is love and God is love. We should take care of those less fortunate than us and should be generous, not worrying about materialistic things.

After the service we went to Jack in the Box and grabbed some breakfast sandwiches. I wanted to get home so I could check on my washer. Yesterday while doing the laundry the spin cycle quit working and since it was late the lighting was pretty bad so I decided I would look at it today.

We got home and after eating our breakfast sandwiches Carlos and I went out and drained the washer and then flipped it on the side. I was lucky as all that was wrong was that the spin cycle belt had slipped off its track.

I was worried about more expenses after all the carpeting work I did and the water heater replacement this month. So I made out there, and now I am finishing up the laundry and waiting for the Chargers/Raiders game to come on.

Tomorrow it will be back to work and in less than three weeks I will be in Manila with my lovely Laila.

Have a great week folks and I hope everyone has a great holiday season.

Out of Stock

One of the things that really annoys me is when someone advertises something and then when you get to the store they are sold out. That seems to be a recurring theme at Circuit City.

The last time I visited Laila I gave her a 2G flash drive so she could back up and move files. Her son Denise wanted to borrow it to move files between home and school but she was afraid he might get a virus and put it on her computer so she asked me to see if I could find one.

I checked the Circuit City website and they had one on sale for $12.99 after rebate. I also checked Best Buy and they had the same one for $29.99.

Today when I went to get the mail I decided to stop by Circuit City on the way home and as usual for one I did not get any assistance and two, they were out of them. There was another guy trying to get the same thing and I overheard the sales person telling him they were sold out.

I then went to Best Buy and they had plenty. Also I didn’t have to go through the hassle of filling out and mailing the rebate paperwork.

Anyway this is the fourth time this year that I have tried to buy a sale item at Circuit City just to find out that they were out of stock. I guess in the future I should just go to Best Buy first, instead of wasting my time and gas going to Circuit City.

Well I guess that is all for right now. Time to get started on the laundry.

Thanksgiving dinner

Unlike last year, this year Thanksgiving dinner was great. Laila was able to join us though it was via web cam and while she had chicken and spaghetti we all ate together at the same time, and we both had our web cams on so it was as close as we could get it to being all togther in real life.

I made both a turkey and a ham and then added some of the things I usually make for Thanksgiving. I set the table and it was great that I managed to have enough bowls and all to serve eveything, as when the ex and I divorced she took most of the dishes.

Here is a look at our humble feast:

I went ahead and set up the webcam early, as soon as Laila got up while I was running around trying to get everything ready for dinner.

For all the time we have spent online, I think yesterday was the first time she saw my kitchen and the rest of the downstairs. Now that I am using the laptop for our broadcasts I am a lot more mobile with the web cam and hope to get a LAN cable up to my bedroom in the next few weeks so I can lay in bed and watch TV with her, since that is what we have been doing most time lately anyway.

After dinner the kids helped me clean up all the dishes and put all the food away and then I moved the web cam in so we could watch “Judge Judy” and “Deal or No Deal”. It was a shame that the two people that were on last night show knocked out many of the big numbers right off the bat, but as usual both families here and on web cam were very vocal during the game.

I was going to go to bed early but last night Jay Leno had his all military audience on and Howie Mandell did an all military version of Deal or No Deal. We had a blast watching that and then we watched Robocop 3 so I didn’t get to sleep until after three.

It was such a great holiday for me, and then this morning I didn’t wake up until noon. Laila woke up for a brief couple of minutes when I came online, but she has gone back to sleep and now I will go get a shower and check my mail and get set up for her to come back online when she gets up.

I just want to thank Laila and my kids for making yesterday one of the most enjoyable Thanksgivings in years, and I hope yesterday was the last one that Laila and I spend apart.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Cooking dinner

Sorry but this is going to be a short post as I am blogging in between trips to the kitchen cooking.

Today when I got up, Laila and I watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade until she fell asleep. I recorded it so we can catch the rest of it later.

She just woke up and wanted to trade some blogs but I don’t have time as the food is all cooking right now.

Anyway, this was just a quick post to let people know what is up and that all is well with us. I will blog again tomorrow and let everyone know how it went.

Have a great day.

Off to boot camp

Wow, I am tired today.

David left really early this morning and I went ahead and got up to see him off. He may or may not leave for Great Lakes, Illinois today as he is currently going through the induction process at MEP’s. I think that stands for Military Entrance Processing. They will test him for drugs and give him a physical. He will then swear his oath of enlistment and once they are done he will be on his way to Chicago, and then catch a bus to Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Between boot camp and his “A” school he will be gone for about 4 months.

I wish him good luck and I hope they can change some of his bad habits. I also hope he calls from time to time. I will forward all his mail and all once he gets there. In the meantime we will clean up and remodel his room while he is gone.

Anyway, now that he has left it is bringing memories of my experience with MEP’s and checking into boot camp and all. It was the 12th of July 1974 and I had to get up very early in the morning and go through a physical and take my oath and all. That part wasn’t bad. We finished with everything and left Fresno in the early evening hours for a flight to San Diego. There were 7 or 8 of us, and we were told to get off the plane in San Diego and then go to a military help desk.

I was pretty excited because I had never flown before, so that was pretty cool. We landed in San Diego and went to the help desk and were told to go out front and catch the bus. We all went out front and there was only one bus so we all boarded it. It was a nice air conditioned bus with comfortable seating and I thought that was really nice of the Navy to treat us so well.

Then all of a sudden this First Class Petty Officer got on the bus and started cussing us out for being so stupid for getting on the wrong bus. He directed us to the little white Navy bus that had showed up and parked behind the one we got on, and then after we got on that one he continued to curse us all the way to Recruit Training Command.

When we got to recruit training command they took us to an area where we had to box up everything we had brought with us, so we could mail it home. They then took us to an open bay barracks to sleep for the night. The next morning we were awakened by someone throwing trash cans down the isles between the rows of racks (beds) and yelling at us to get out of bed. We then were taken to breakfast and then were issued uniforms, got our hair cut, and were assigned to a company. I don’t think they can cuss at them any more since the Navy is now a politically correct organization, but it does bring back some old memories.

I hope he has fun and remembers the guidance I gave him. Good luck and God bless you David, and may the time pass by quickly.

Update: Someone made a mistake and since his “A” school is full he will now be leaving in January .

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today when I got up I went ahead and showered, shaved, and got ready for church before coming downstairs to chat and pray with Laila.

Judy had to go to work by noon today so I figured I would get ready early for the 9:30 AM mass. Judy and Carlos stayed up too late watching a movie last night and didn’t get up in time to attend with me so I went on my own.

The Father started out the mass by saying it was a great day for all the Filipino’s throughout the world as Manny Pacquiao won his fight yesterday. I know Laila would have loved that and she and her family watched the fight yesterday. He is like their national hero, so well done to him. Also the church erupted in applause when the Father made his announcement.

Today was the Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time and the first reading was Daniel 12:1-3. Today they did something slightly different by reading the Responsorial Psalm Psalms 16:5, 8-11. The second reading was Hebrews 10:11-14, 18 and the Gospel was Mark 13:24-32.

Laila said her Father covered the after life, while our Father talked about how Advent will be coming up in two weeks and how this is the end of the three year cycle of gospels and readings. He said that is why there has been so much about the return of Jesus in the last few weeks.

After church I came home and ate some toaster waffles after taking some pictures for a separate post I will be making today.

So I am glad I went and even though the kids didn’t go it was still a good experience for me.

News Review

Since it is Saturday and I really am taking it easy I was browsing through the news and figured I would make a few comments here and there about things I have seen in the press.

In the who cares department is the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes wedding. I really could care less about Hollywood celebs and their lives, and wish it would not be taking up all the time in the press.

From what are these people thinking department is all the stuff that went on over Sony releasing the Play station 3 this week and all the stories I saw like this, this, this, this, and this. These people need to get a life.

From the this gets my blood boiling department was the announcement of the new OJ Simpson book and special. I will not buy anything from any company that sponsors this murderer’s special and I will not watch it. I hope now that Bill O’Reilly is all upset about it he will publish the sponsors of the OJ special since I haven’t been able to locate anything on the web about them.

Other than that of course there are the usual illegal immigration stuff and the fact that the President of the United States appointed Mel Martinez, a backer of amnesty for all to the job of Republican National Committee Chairman. The party still does not get it and they will continue to not listen to their conservative base. Please, somebody start a third party that will get these professional politicians out of Washington.

Well those are my takes on the news. I will now go get my weekend chores done. We have company coming over to watch the Ultimate Fighting thingy with my son tonight, so I want to make sure I have everything ready.

New DVR

Sorry about not blogging yesterday.

I was really busy at work and after getting off late I decided to stop off at the Navy Exchange Mini Mart to pick up a few things. I was going down 8th Street and just as I was getting to Paradise Valley Road traffic came to a standstill due to a red mini-van that had rolled over. There were two ambulances and 2 fire trucks along with a whole lot of National City Police cars.

I finally got to the mini mart and then headed for home after a brief stop at the post office to get my mail. I then went home and checked out the water heater installation. It cost me an additional $405 to get the installation up to the California and San Diego earthquake codes.

Anyway then Laila came online a bit early and we started chatting and getting set up for the Internet TV watching when all of a sudden my Internet connection became unstable and kept dumping me offline.

I checked out the phone lines and wrapped them a little tighter when I got home today. I have another DSL Modem but I can’t get the software they sent with it to recognize it. I guess I am doing something wrong, but now that I have finished redoing the phone lines and all it is working great, so I may just have had a bad connection where the lines enter the house.

So now it is Friday and I am thawing out some stuff to make for dinner. My new DVR is awesome and it really improved my picture quality. Now I think I will start reading up on it and see how to use some of the other features.

Have a great weekend everyone.