Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Petty cash for distribution?

From the "expenditures" spreadsheet:
AGENCY_TITLE

HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF

COMPT_OBJ_TITLE
DISTRIBUTION TO INDIVIDUALS

CASH_EXPENSE
$38,238.76

VENDOR_NAME
MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY SERVICES

Can anyone tell me what this means?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Back to escuela especial

CENTENNIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 28JT
2011-2012
EXTRA DUTY VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

This position is open until filled.

Position: Mecha Club Advisor
Start Date: 8/29/2011

Flush with cash, our local public schools are now hiring racial supremacy group advisers. They need our kicker check or important positions like this might not happen.

NOTE: I'm not positive but I believe that for "extra duty" positions a teacher gets paid time and a half.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Back to school special

It's that very special time of year when I focus on our over-funded government indoctrination centers that act as day care centers for thousands of illegal alien children.

Today's post: Tigard-Tualatin school district job titles

The following people do not teach kids reading/writing/arithmetic:

ELL Secretary
First Step to Success Coordinator
Administrative Specialist / Community Relations
Associate Director of Federal Programs
Free and Reduced Application Specialist
Executive Assistant to HR/ Licensed
Administrative Specialist
Administrative Assistant
Director of Coordinated Education Services
Director of Community Relations
Executive Assistant
Executive Assistant to Director of Curriculum and Instruction

There must have been some huge budget cuts because I don't see an Administrative Executive Assistant Specialist to the ELL Coordinator. How our schools will manage without one of those is beyond me.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Excecutive amnesty

New DHS rules cancel deportations
The Homeland Security Department said Thursday it will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria such as attending school, having family in the military or are primarily responsible for other family members’ care.

The chief beneficiaries of the new guidance are likely to be illegal immigrant students who would have been eligible for legal status under the Dream Act, which stalled in Congress last year.

If you look at the "policy reform" timeline for ICE since Obama became president it has been one small amnesty after another.

2009-04-30 ICE issued a revised worksite enforcement strategy to focus on prosecuting employers, not simply arresting and removing workers. This policy steps away from the large raids resulting in significant numbers of arrested workers.
Don't arrest illegal aliens

2009-07 ICE revised the standard memorandum of agreement to restrict the immigration authority delegated to our state and local partners. The new agreements prohibit street officers from arresting aliens solely for civil immigration violations and convey clearly that officers must act in a manner consistent with ICE’s highest priority—the arrest of aliens convicted of crimes, with a particular focus on level one offenders.
Don't arrest illegal aliens

2009-09-24 ICE issued a directive to ICE attorneys to move to dismiss cases against aliens who are prima facie eligible for U-visas as the victims of crime. The same document directs that the aliens be granted a stay of removal pending the adjudication of their application for a U-visa.
Don't deport illegal aliens

2009-12-08 To address concern that more “collateral” aliens were arrested during fugitive operations than fugitive aliens, ICE issued new guidance that prioritizes criminal fugitives over non-criminal fugitives. Except in extraordinary circumstances, the policy also prohibits the detention of aliens who are seriously ill, disabled, pregnant, nursing, or the sole caretakers of children or the infirm.
Don't arrest illegal aliens that may happen to be around the illegal alien that you were looking for. This is like cops refusing to arrest fugitives that are passengers during a traffic stop because they were only after the driver.

2011-06-17 ICE issued a new policy to guide officers, agents and attorneys in their exercise of prosecutorial discretion.
Don't deport illegal aliens.

Laws on the book are being ignored by executive branch. The union for the border patrol agents issued a Vote of No Confidence in their leadership in 2010. And now in August of 2011 the Obama administration continues to steamroll over the legislative branch by ignoring the laws written by our elected representatives.

If I am a student, have a member of my family in the military or are primarily responsible for the care of another family member does this mean that I can't be sent to prison?

Make phone calls, write letters. Make sure that your neighbors know that during this extended time of 9%+ unemployment we have a president who wants to keep illegal workers on the job.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

I can only hope that Warren Buffett's tax dollars paid for this program

Seattle's 'green jobs' program a bust
Last year, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced the city had won a coveted $20 million federal grant to invest in weatherization. The unglamorous work of insulating crawl spaces and attics had emerged as a silver bullet in a bleak economy – able to create jobs and shrink carbon footprint – and the announcement came with great fanfare.

But more than a year later, Seattle's numbers are lackluster. As of last week, only three homes had been retrofitted and just 14 new jobs have emerged from the program. Many of the jobs are administrative, and not the entry-level pathways once dreamed of for low-income workers.

The city had applied for the grant at a time of eco-giddiness, when former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels was out-greening all other politicians except for Al Gore.

Woo, of Got Green, thinks the city needs to throw more money on incentives.

It was only a few days ago when I talked about politicians trying to out-green each other and now $20 million dollars has gone towards administration and putting insulation in three homes. (hint: you can buy insulation at Lowes or Home Depot and it is much much less expensive)

But even if we pretend that this had created thousands of jobs it's still just government make-work. They could pay half the country to dig holes and the other half to dig ditches but that doesn't make us an economic powerhouse.

If Obama's rich friends insist that taxes need to be raised I would hope that they will just start cutting checks for this kind of stuff.

Monday, August 15, 2011

I [heart] outsourcing!

I consider myself somewhere between the WSJ editorial page and Pat Buchanan when it comes to free trade but listening to the "no China" crowd on Lars today was just too much.

The reality is that all those callers are fans of outsourcing and unless they are farmers they outsource their most basic need: food production.

The average Joe has realized that it makes more sense for them to work 40 hours a week for a salary that allows them to buy inexpensive food from the grocery store rather than work 80 hours a week to grow their own food.

They trade their particular labor skills for money to exchange for goods/services from other people's particular labor skills. This only makes sense.

Rather than spend your time farming you can be a lawyer/mechanic/doctor/etc and buy food with money left over for housing, clothing and internet!

But I see these same people who are happy to "outsource" their internet connectivity to Comcast crying just because I don't mind buying an inexpensive toaster made in China.

I must be a fool for thinking that my time is better spent earning a wage that allows me to buy the toaster rather than spend my time building a fire and toasting the bread myself.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Who is this guy?

Does anyone know this guy, Dow Jones, who lives in New York and apparently isn't too happy with bloated government spending? Is he a member of the Tea Party or something?

On a serious note I think my head is going to explode the next time someone suggests that congress get called back into session to "do something." They are the problem, not the solution. If they would just promise to stay home for the next 3 years the markets would come roaring back.

Save money by spending it!

Oregon's Public Universities Plan To Go Solar
An ambitious solar project rolling out across Oregon college campuses next week would set one university on a path toward energy independence.

The five megawatts planned for Oregon Institute of Technology, Oregon State University, and Eastern Oregon would create a bigger solar project than any currently operating in Oregon.

"It's really a big deal. It's exciting. It's terrific for the people of Oregon, and it's really going to save us money in the long run," says OIT's President Christopher Maples.

State energy department records list the total estimated cost at more than $26 million. State and federal tax credits could cover much of that.

You know how I know this is a huge money saver: everyone is doing it! Oh wait...

I'm glad that these university presidents get to participate in the latest fad using taxpayer dollars but can they at least acknowledge that it's a money loser and not a money saver? Man up and just tell us that you want to be cooler than those kids in San Fransisco.

Government agencies trying to "out green" each other will be the death of us.

Thursday, August 04, 2011

You know the permit process is too strict when...

'Pedalounge' party bike stalled due to insurance, permit issues
Portland Pedalounge owner John Boblett is frustrated because he cannot get insurance due to what he feels is a problem with the City of Portland's permit requirements. The City says it's just protecting taxpayers from liability if anything goes wrong.

In short, the City of Portland requires that all for-profit business operating in the public right-of-way have insurance that puts all liability for accidents on the business owner. Boblett says his carrier has declined to issue him insurance specifically because his agent feels the City's language is too broad. According to Boblett's agent, the language includes a stipulation that Boblett would be liable in an accident even if failing City infrastructure was the cause.

Stop. I can't imagine anyone saying that the city of Portland fails to maintain it's road infrastructure. That comment just blew my mind.

Butler confirmed that they've gotten three requests for party-bike operator permits recently. Because of this interest and the fact that the vehicles are new to Portland, the Revenue Bureau has assembled a working group with representatives from the Police Bureau and Liquor Control to learn more about them.

How many different government bureaus does it take to let someone ride a big bike down the street? I actually find this hilarious because the same people who would normally cheer for the endless bureaucracy are now getting a taste of their own medicine.

It turns out that "bike friendly" takes a back seat to "government friendly" in the city of Portland!