OAKLAND TEACHER WALK OUT

OAKLAND TEACHER WALK OUT

People say our children are our future. What’s going on in Oakland school district, is nothing new. This has been going on all over the country for years. Teachers walking out because they have not had a raise in years or working without a contract. How are our children supposed to get the education they need, when teachers are walking out.

I feel for the teachers, because it’s hard enough to make ends meet on a teachers salary, let alone not getting a raise with the cost of living going up. How are our teachers all over this country supposed to go to work and give our children a good education  when they are fed up. Not giving a hundred percent to our children is not acceptable. Something needs to be done about this crisis, because if not then the future of our children is at stake. If that means higher taxes then so be it, because our future is in the hands of our youth.

LM

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Off-color in Morgan Hill

The four boys at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, California who wore American flag T-shirts on 'Cinco de Mayo', may have showed poor judgment, chose bad timing, and displayed insensitivity toward their Latino classmates. 

 However, unless they were flaunting this patriotic gesture with physical threats or verbal insults in order to start a riot....nobody (school officials included) had the right to tell them to turn the shirts inside-out or go home!  It wasn't like they were yelling "fire" in some crowded theater

All that did was violate their rights of freedom of speech and expression, and, in the process...fuel a media frenzy that catapulted a small California town into the national spotlight.  Maybe that's IT!  This is all some public relations brainstorm used to boost local economy!  No, I'm kidding--although it DID!

Seriously though, just as free speech rights protected flag burners 40-years ago, those same rights protect our wearing the national colors(on T-shirts)...the same way they should protect others who wear colors of their own ancestral flag.

Therefore, if four Mexican-American students wear red, white, and green T-shirts next 4th of July, no one should tell them to take them off either! The entire incident was blown out of proportion, and should never have happened.

 What I'm saying is, America is a land of immigrants(other than the Native Indians), all of us proud of our heritage, culture, language,origins and flag colors! While we should always hold tight to them, we're also Americans now--required to adapt, embrace, love, honor, and strive to become positive, contributing citizens who are proud of the red-white-and blue among other colors.(gang colors excluded)

If we actually lived by the above color-code in national harmony, incidents like the one in Morgan Hill, which ignited protest rally's and patriotic arguments on both sides, would never have blown up like they did!

Unfortunately, we don't, and it's bound to happen again because...although we are all in this together, we haven't yet learned to deal with it!

Thanks, stay cool

Sincerely, PeteCam4

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Buying printer ink is a rip off!

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I paid about $60 for a new Epson computer printer, which didn't seem too expensive at the time.  Then, I ran out of ink, and the nightmare began!  To replace all four standard colors(black,blue,yellow,purple) cost me almost $58!!

What's wrong with this picture?  At first I thought....well, it's the color of course!  I'll just by black ink, which runs between $17 and $19 a cartridge, and blow off the other colors!  WRONG!  You can't just replace the black ink!  You must get all four color  cartridges, that is, unless you can figure out which color is totally empty.  Then and only then, can you buy just one empty color....and that seldom happens.

If you are lucky, you'll be back printing for between $12 and $15, which is still expensive!  It seems just as economic to buy a new printer each time, rather than pay to refill its ink!  Where is the light at the end of this nightmare?

I talked with a sales guy at the 'Office Depot' on Bascom Avenue in Campbell, California, and told me there is some hope!  He said you can always get cartridge refills, however, not with all brands of printers such as Epson or the new HP models....but, you have to shop around.

If you own Cannon, Brother, Dell, Lexmark, or an older HP model printer, many stores such as Walgreen's and Office Depot have refill centers for certain printers. Going online helps even more. Check out sites like 'Ink Technologies.com', 'Ink Grabber.com', and Cartridge World.

Cartridge World offers anything and everything involving printer color and toner needs, and they have more than 600 stores in the United States....including Bay Area locations such as San Jose, Campbell, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Redwood City, Hayward,  San Leandro, Pleasanton, and San Francisco.

Like many places, they take online orders with cheap shipping deals, however, keeping your printer filled with ink still costs consumers an arm and a leg--while companies who sell them get mega-rich!

Black ink costs the most because it runs out the fastest (of course), and in most other cases, all four colors either run-out or dry-up at the same time!  The best advice is to print as sparingly as possible, and check the color levels closely.  In many cases, the printer window on your computer will display a color gage.  Use it, if you have it!

Meanwhile, let us all hope that someday, printer ink prices will go down....the same way calculators, digital watches, and vcr's did!  It's possible...but, highly improbable!

Take care, and keep the faith

Sincerely,  PeteCam4

"Best Wishes"--PTCJr

THREE CAL BEREKELY GRADS DETAINED IN IRAN

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

THREE CAL BERKELEY GRADS DETAINED IN IRAN

All the education in the world in my opinion does not stop people from doing stupid stuff. Shane Bauer, Sara Shourd and Josh Fatal set out on a journey to visit Iraq. They were hiking in the mountains of Northern  Iraq and crossed the border into Iran, they say by mistake.

First of all what in the world, would anybody in their right mind want to visit a country that is at war. The three are supposed to be educated, apparently not educated enough to know that Americans are not welcome in the Middle East. Stupid idea on their part! Now they are in poor health and are thinking about go on a hungry strike. What’s that going to prove!

I my opinion their just going to make their loved ones more worried. I think the three of them are acting selfish.

I don’t blame Iran for detaining the three, because if the tables were turned the United States would do the same. This should be a lesson to all the other educated fools, that if you are thinking about going to another country, let a alone one that is at war. Stop don’t do it is it really worth your life.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/politics/Cal-Grad-Detained-in-Iran-52354402.html

http://www.kcbs.com/localnews/Hikers-Detained-in-Iran-Sick-Considering-Hunger-St/6873192

LM

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Michael Steele, Streetwise?

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Michael Steele’s Recent Troubles with the GOP - “” managerial style?

Republican Party chairman Michael Steele defended his stewardship of  the party’s finances by suggesting that his managerial style is  "streetwise" and that has rubbed some of the old guard GOP the wrong way. The latest criticism concerns the $2,000 the GOP recently spent at a sex-themed Hollywood nightclub.

Steele had already come under fire for committee spending on flights, limousines and high-end hotels, but he was not present at the Voyeur Hollywood West on Jan. 31 when a group of young Republicans ran the $2,000 tab picked up by the RNC.

Two top congressional Republicans said that the RNC must be held accountable for the way it uses the money it raises in light of the much-criticized Hollywood outing. "This kind of thing has got to stop or they won't get any contributions," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.

Kyl and Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, who is leading the GOP effort to recruit candidates and elect House members, distanced themselves from Steele when discussing the committee's controversial spending.

After reporters noted the bill in a funding report, the RNC fired a staffer it blamed for the outing and said it would be reimbursed by a donor who had attended.

Steele was asked if he felt he has a smaller margin of error than others because he's black."The honest answer is yes. It just is," Steele said. "Barack Obama has a slimmer margin than others." "But you take that as part of the nature of it," Steele added. "It's more because you're not somebody they know. ... Not old-boy network oriented. ... My view on politics is much more grassroots oriented ... so I tend to, you know, come at it a little bit stronger, a little bit more street-wise. That's rubbed some feathers the wrong way."

In my opinion, Michael Steele is an opportunist and uses every opportunity to promote himself and to suggest that he is being criticized because he’s black – well duh, that’s the only reason he was elected as GOP chairman. If Barack Obama had not been elected President, Michael Steele would not be Chairman of the Republican Party. The Republican leadership did not want Steele as their Chairman which was painfully obvious after it took six ballots before he was elected Chairman. Minorities, in general, are not well represented in the Republican Party and based on Republican’s rhetoric and fundamental beliefs they are not a big tent party. Any minority who thinks that Republicans will look out for their interests are truly misguided.

Steele knows exactly where he stands in the Republican Party; and it’s not his so called “streetwise” managerial style that got him into trouble; he’s basically a joke.

Carol, CFO

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STEVE POIZNER

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MOUNT PLEASANT HIGH SCHOOL
STEVE POIZNER






 Being a native of San Jose, I grew up on the eastside. I lived one mile down the street from Mount Pleasant. When I was in school I went to Silver Creek because the border was Tully Road everyone on the left of Tully went to Silver Creek, everyone on the right went to Mount Pleasant.
This changed in the 80’s, so my niece went to Mount Pleasant.


  How dare this Steve Poizner generalize eastside union high school kids like that, “From an intellectual standpoint, I absolutely knew not to expect Silicon Valley-caliber ambition and smarts from East San Jose school kids.” To say the school is “shabby” and “dangerous” is not true.
He hasn’t seen shabby or dangerous let him go to Oakland or Richmond high schools that will give him a wake up call.


  I fell that school kids living on the eastside, do have ambition and the smarts to succeed. My niece for example had the ambition and smarts who graduated from Mount Pleasant High School and went on to Saint Mary’s College in Moraga California to graduated she was a product of the eastside school system.


   Steve Poizner is supposed to be a strong advocate of education reform and assisting disadvantage children in public schools. To make a statement like he did in his book, makes him a look like a calculating conniving phony. He probably knew he was going to run for Governor in 2010.  In all his articles he reference teaching “in the trenches” as a volunteer teacher at Mount Pleasant High School in East San Jose. I fell he had a agenda all along to push for his Charter School program, he was the one to start the Charter Schools in California. Steve Poinzer shame on you!






 http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0500-about-us/0200-commissioner/

THE VALUE OF "OLD SAYINGS"

Image by Feuillu via Flickr

Image via Wikipedia

I've made a hobby of collecting and remembering old sayings.  We hear them everyday from everywhere and by everybody--whether as coined phrases, one-liners, words to live by, or lines from a movie: 

"Hey dude let's party" helped launch Sean Penn as 'Jeff Spicoli' in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High".  'Scarlett O'hara's' "Tomorrow is another day"(Vivien Lee in "Gone With the Wind") echoed throughout my childhood. 

True, some old sayings get old fast, however,  many become thought-provoking, words of wisdom which enlighten us--as I hope this blog does for YOU!  Are you there?  Still reading? 

I got interested about 20 years ago in the office restroom of all places, where, above the urinal hung a two-foot by three-foot painting frame totally filled with hundreds of tiny sentences, each a different color, and each--an old saying!  The first was; "The journey of a thousand miles starts with but one, single step"...and the last was; "Have a nice day". 

 In between, I read hundreds of great ones over a period of bathroom visits--only a handful of which I will share!(I promise)  One night I took that painting down and started jotting them down:

"Those who talk the most have the least to say".

"A welcome guest is one who knows when to leave".

"Easy street is a blind alley"

"Those who pays too much attention to their reputation, often loose their character".

"Those who ignore the past, are condemned to repeat it".

"A person who trusts no one, should include himself".

"To truly hear you must quiet the mind".

"Trust is like money; you spend it, lend it, save it, and sometimes get robbed of it".

"A rumor is as difficult to unspread as butter".

Here are a few sales meeting motivators:

"A goal without a plan is just a wish". 

"Nobody plans to fail, they just fail to plan".

"A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner".

"A wish changes nothing, a decision changes everything".

"If a situation is constantly confusing, to solve the problem...look to the financial interest".

"A meeting is an event at which the minutes are kept, and the hours are lost"...(the one I prefer)

Then there are the love letter tools:

"Success in marriage is more than finding the right person, it's becoming the right person".

"The heart has reasons which reason does not understand".

"Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all". (Boo,hoo,hoo) "A woman never shot a man while he was doing the dishes".

Are you still reading? These are good aren't they?  Here are a few more:

"Good taste is boundless, while bad taste has no bounds".

"When there's nothing on TV, most people will watch it anyway".

"A young person knows the rules, but an old person knows the exceptions".

"Smile. It increases your face value".

"Stewardesses is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand".(You stopped to visualize that one, didn't you?) "Life is like playing a violin solo in public, and learning the instrument as you go along".

"There are no atheists in foxholes".(My dad taught me that one) "Life is a bowl of cherries, just watch out for the pits"--"Life is a bed of roses, just watch out for the pricks".(My sisters taught me those) "Chance favors the prepared mind".

"Fortune favors the brave".

"Once in a while, you meet someone who thinks they are all eight wonders of the world".

"To be a good sport, one has to lose to prove it".

"Show me a good loser, and I'll show you someone who's playing golf with their boss".

That last one came from my family priest, the late Reverend John Sweeny, who pastored the much known "Our Lady of Peace" Parish in Santa Clara, California.What a wonderful soul he was, an not a bad golfer.  He helped inspire me to add this next batch of quotes--all with authors.

"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves". Confucius "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody". Bill Cosby "The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still, small voice of conscience". Mahatma Gandhi "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible". St. Thomas Aquinas "Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who, only dream by night". Edgar Allan Poe "A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the moment it starts raining'. Mark Twain "A hero is someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom". Bob Dylan "A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs, who has never learned to walk forward". Franklin D. Roosevelt "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise". Benjamin Franklin "You can't separate peace from freedom, because no one can live in peace unless they have their freedom". Malcom X "The bitterest tears shed over graves, are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone". Harriet Beecher Stowe "All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word; freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope". Winston Churchill "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have told me...faster horses". Henry Ford "Sure there are dishonest men in local government, but there are dishonest men in national government too". Richard Nixon "The nice thing about being a celebrity, is that when you bore people they think it's their fault". Henry Kissinger "If all economists were laid end to end, they would never reach a conclusion". George Bernard Shaw "Death is not the greatest of evils; It is worse to want to die, and not be able to". Aristotle "Do not fear death so much, but, rather the inadequate life". Bertolt Brecht "Thanks to the interstate highway system, it's now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything". Charles Kuralt "I'm the one who's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to". Jimmy Hendrix "I have a dream",that one day all mankind "shall not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character". Martin Luthur King Jr.

"It is easier to fight and die for one's principles, than to live up to them". Alfred Adler "Charity is no substitute for justice withheld". St.Augustine "Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face". John Updike "My brain; it's my second favorite organ". Woody Allen "Ninety-eight percent of this country's adults are decent, hard working, honest Americans.  It's the other lousy two-percent that get all the publicity...but we elected them". Lily Tomlin "It is not an old movie if you haven't seen it". Lauren Bacall "Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius.  A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein". Joe Theismann "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers". Pablo Picasso "Life....is a sexually transmitted disease". R.D. Laing "Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance". Edgar Bergen

"If the law is against you, bang on the facts. If the facts are against you, bang on the law. If both are against you, bang on the table". No One

I can't end this thing without sharing the first saying that inspired me, the worst ever written, my all-time favorite, and one I made up myself!

As a TV sports anchor-reporter some 26-years ago in Bakersfield, California, I did my first quality feature package(story) on a guy who's legs were blown off in Viet Nam--yet he lived life fuller than most! Entertaining 500 school children, Bob Weilan took batting practice sitting down with the baseball team, bench-pressed 380 pounds in the gym, and told of how he walked across the entire country on specially made hand-shoes! He also walked the LA Marathon a few years later!

I closed the feature with his final message...that the joy is truly in the journey--and that, "The only time you fail in this life, is the last time that you try". 

My favorite saying comes from the late comedian George Carlin, of all people...who wrote:"Life should not be measured by the amount of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away".

The most diabolical, hypocritical saying of all still remains posted above the front gate at 'Auschwitz' death camp in Poland, where innocent millions(mostly Jews) were murdered during World War Two. It reads: (In German) "Arbeit Macht Frei"...work will set you free.

 Almost finally, Diogenes of Sinope happily wrote once:

"One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotations". 

Nevertheless I end with an original: 

"Men have all the lines, and women have all the curves. Happy are those who can read between both". 

I hope you enjoyed all of these inspired words! Take care and check out more blogs on www.streetwisesd .com

Sincerely, PeteCam4

  

  

"Best Wishes"--PTCJr

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