Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Thursday


Good morning,



Quote of the day:

When your life brings you to a fork in the road, take it.”

                                           Yogi Berra



Many years ago I was working for a large retail business and was chosen to teach office management. I had to do some research so it would appear that I was not stupid. In the research there was a famous management case that was a good subject for discussion. It was called the Joe Lamb case. Here it is and it is up to you to decide the solution as if you were the office manager.

There was an office of 14 very skilled computer operators, all female, one office manager and one male accountant named Joe Lamb. It took 6 months of training for the operators to reach maximum productivity. One night Joe Lamb was arrested for attempted rape but was released for lack of evidence. The next morning the office manager (you) was handed a note signed by all the women saying they wanted Joe Lamb gone because they were afraid and if not they would all resign. What do you as the office manager do? Correct decision at the end of this segment.





About 60 years ago when I was in grammar and high school, there was a clear definition between the families that “had money” and those that didn't, especially if your family was mill workers. The monied ones were called “elites”...but we pronounced it “EE-lights”. I was one of those that didn't and most of my family were mill workers. We poor whites were treated differently that the elite, even ostracized at times. Yes it was prejudice...not racial but status...but it was prejudice. I ran across something similar in the military. In those days and still today I have a very defined “southern accent”. Somehow the ignorant image of a “cracker” from down south was an ignoramus wearing a pointy white hat. That is prejudice also...not racial but regional...but prejudice just the same. Somehow most of my buddies in the military were from Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky and Florida. I was accepted by the men from West Virginia, Florida and Kentucky but I had to “earn” respect from the guys from Michigan but once I was accepted they were true blue. One of my friends was from northern Michigan and we got into a discussion about why there was friction between the blacks and whites “down south”. I took the old tired position of “I don't really know because I lived in a neighborhood that was all white all my life.” He did not understand all of this. Later on we were talking about how close the Cherokees were to my home town of Greenville. I asked him if there were any Indians near his home town. He said that yes...there were Cree Indians that had immigrated down from Canada but I can't count them...because they all were nothing but thieves and drunks. That, my friends, is racial prejudice. We all have the Constitutional right to live with the people we choose but this man is no different from us so called “crackers”. Using the President's logic, nothing has changed and I am still smarting from all the jeers and insults I received 60 years ago. That is bullshit, of course. Our President is supposed to be our leader and promote unity...His statement about what could have happened 35 years ago is driving a racial wedge even deeper among us and he is hinting that there has been no change in 35 years...that also is bullshit and we and he knows it. He knows as much about leadership as I do about quantum mechanics. God help us because he certainly will not.




Again there is a bunch of tree-huggers up near Washington, DC beating their breasts and shouting that how evil it is that the football team is called the “Redskins”. They are claiming that the name is disrespectful to the Native Americans. I have several thoughts on that crap. I can assure you that there is not one pure bred Native American in their midst. I say “pure-bred” because our European ancestors unashamedly raped and pillaged the Indians wholesale for about 220 years. I believe that there is a drop or two of Native American blood in everyone that can trace their ancestry in the present US to 1890 and before. To think that they are concerned about the name of a football team is ludicrous and very shallow thinking. All of y'all mind your own business and allow the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws and a myriad of other tribes raise hell...just go out and hug and American chestnut...if you can find one.





I don't know what is wrong with some of us humans. Up near Anchorage, Alaska a church was holding a picnic in a fairly remote area. One of the dishes was barbecue. The report gave the name of one particular man and it was clearly Latino...I will explain a little later.

This particular man got a snoot full and decided to take a bicycle ride down a nearby trail and took some barbecue with him in a backpack. The city of Anchorage is known for a huge population of black bears and the city officials go to great pains to keep them “wild”. This means they will fine the hell out of you if you feed them. The man on the bicycle encountered a black bear on the trail and being hammered, he threw the bear some barbecue. The bear snatched up the meat and then decided he wanted the bike rider also and attacked. This stupid jackass had no defense and curled up into a ball and awaited his fate. The bear clawed the hell out of his back and bit a chunk out of his neck and scalp then left. While he was down and screaming his lungs out, the other people called the authorities. The man rode the bicycle back to the picnic area and was washing his wounds in a near by creek when the wildlife agents arrived. They asked the man what happened but could not understand him because he was slurring his words and did not speak English (remember the reference to Latino). An interpreter told the agents about the man admitting to feeding the bear and being attacked. He was arrested, taken to the hospital and sewn up, taken to the drunk tank to spend the night. The next day he was taken before a judge and fined for public drunkenness and feeding wildlife. He was fined $800. it was not a good day at the church picnic.



There is an oil rich country called Dubai that is on the western side of the of the Persian Gulf. As you might suspect it is a Muslim country. The difference is that the powers that be have decided to use their billions in oil money to update their desert country into a tourist mecca. They still do not allow booze or anything that is opposed to the Koran but they are very liberal and forward thinking in their city designs and architecture. The is one problem. They still have Muslim laws that date back to the 7th century like there is no such thing the rape of a woman. If a woman cried rape, she would be charged with adultery or fornication and no mention would be made of the man (men) involved. The Muslim logic is that this law would totally prevent their women, especially the married ones, from fooling around. The Muslims want total control of their women, this includes wearing a burka. This a a gown and head dress where all you can see in their eyes. The men are afraid that if another man sees any part of their woman, he would find her attractive and might take her away. Again, total control in addition to paranoia. Recently a tourist from the Norway was raped in Dubai and reported it to the cops. She was arrested, tried and convicted of adultery and drinking alcohol and was sentenced to 16 months in prison. Keep that in mind if and when you go to anywhere on the Persian Gulf or any Muslim country. Tiger Woods recently canceled a deal he had going in Dubai to design a new golf course. He did not give a reason but I think that since he has a main squeeze he did not want to go over there with her in tow and risk a rape that would not be avenged. Sounds like sound wisdom to me. By the way, the charges against the Norwegian woman were dropped.





Correct decision in the Joe Lamb case:

You fire Joe Lamb. The reason is that you cannot risk your company losing money for six months while others are trained because of one person. They could have another accountant in a matter of days. The ONLY thing on your mind should be just one thing and that is what is best for your company, guilt or innocence of Joe Lamb and your ego not withstanding. The decision as to the guilt or innocence of Jo Lamb is none of your business.


                          This Date in History July 24



1911 On this date American explorer Hiram Bingham is one of the first honkies to lay eyes on one of the most spectacular sites in archaeological history. He had found Machu Picchu, an Inca city hidden in the Andes Mountains northwest of the capitol of Cuzco. After the rape of the Inca by the Spanish conquistadors, the Inca rulers no longer summered in Machu Picchu and its location was kept a secret for 350 years. Only the local natives knew of its existence. This magnificent city had surrounding lands that had been terraced for the raising of crops and the city had running water. It was built of huge stones that were cut so accurately that cement was not required and a razor blade could not be inserted in the seams. This is not the only Inca city that has been found in the Andes that was engineered so greatly. How these cities were build is still a mystery to the world. The Inca were very small in stature and had no draft animals other than the llama. There is no evidence that they had knowledge of the wheel. Machu Picchu was found high up on two peaks that had been leveled to allow construction and it is one of the most visited tourist sites in the world.



1567 Mary Queen of Scots had been imprisoned because of her unbending dedication to Catholicism in a land filled with Presbyterian Royalty. On this date she is forced to abdicate the throne and the crown goes to her infant son that would become James VI of Scotland and eventually James I the first king of England, Scotland and Ireland. Mary was an ambitious girl and tried to take back the crown of Scotland by force but her army was destroyed and she booked to England and asked her cousin Queen Elizabeth I to allow her to have safe haven. The Queen was acceptable to this. But Mary got the itch again and conspired with a bunch of Catholics in England and other countries to overthrow Elizabeth and then Mary would assume the throne. Mary paid for this indiscretion with her head. She just would not give up her religion.



1847 On this date Brigham Young tops a hill and looked down on the Great Salt Lake Valley and utters “This is the place”. Then he and 148 Mormons walk down into the valley and began to lay out a city for the throngs that would come in the future. Here is a short story about Mormons. When my oldest daughter was just a child, two well scrubbed young men rode up to my house astride bicycles. They knocked on the door and presented themselves as Mormons and would like to tell me about their religion. I asked if they had a bible and they said yes. I told them to leave the bible and come back in a week. It was the Book of Mormon. I read it cover to cover and I want to tell y'all, it was one of the most fascinating books of history I have ever read. But it was almost like reading science fiction because some of it was so unbelievable. But then I asked myself if these events happened before or after Moses turned the Nile River into blood, parted the Red Sea and had a flaming tornado to lead an estimated 7 million Jews into the thirsty Negev desert northeast of Egypt, stay 40 years and leave no physical evidence of it. It is all in what you choose to believe, isn’t it?



1864 Earlier CSA General Robert E. Lee had tasked General Jubal Early with clearing those damned Yankees out of the Shenandoah Valley. General Early left and made a feint toward Washington before entering the valley. Early was pursued hotly by a Yankee army commanded by US General George Crook. The two armies had skirmished somewhat but nothing heavy. Then when Early found that Crook and his army was in terrain that was to Crooks disadvantage then he turned and struck Crook with everything he had. It was a rout, y'all. Those Yankees headed their young asses back toward Washington as fast as they could and Early and company headed at a leisurely pace down the valley. By the way, it was General Crook that was at the head of one of the columns headed to Little Big Horn to capture the Sioux and Cheyenne. He was late. Then he was assigned the task of capturing that wily Apache Geronimo. He pursued Geronimo for five years and in all that time he only got a fleeting glance of him. Crook resigned because of this failure. He was a superb officer but was assigned tasks that were near impossible.



1915 The steamer “Eastland” was in the harbor in Chicago and had been hired by a church to take the congregation out to an island in Lake Michigan for a picnic. The crowd was about 2,500. The boat had originally been built to accommodate 800 but some marine engineers had made some “modifications” to where it would handle 2,500. Another marine engineer published a notice that the so called modifications were bogus and was dangerous. Well, all of the crowd got aboard and then ran to the starboard rail for a group photo. The Eastland began to list and it just kept on rolling trapping nearly all under the hull right there in the slip. Dock workers immediately got their torches working and began cutting holes in the hull and began pulling people to safety. But over 800 were drowned. What a nightmare.



Born today:



1878 English writer Lord Dunsany. He said “Logic, like whiskey is no good if taken in too large of doses.” Hey Lord, Plato, Aristotle and Socrates would beg to differ.



1947 US comic Gallagher. He said “I wish there was a knob on the TV labeled “Intelligence” but the closest I can find is “Brightness” and it don’t work either.” A lot of people like Gallagher but he ain’t my cup of tea.



1970 US actress Jennifer Lopez. Comedian Chris Rock said of her. “I saw Jennifer Lopez on TV the other night accepting some kind of award and she thanked her agent, her family her minister her make-up artist and a lot of other people. She needs to thank that ass, that’s what got where she is today.” Chris must be an ass and legs man like myself.



Died today:



1862 US president Martin Van Buren. He said “It is easier to do the job right than to have to explain why you didn’t.”



Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow











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