Well the world didn’t end yesterday when US District Court Judge Susan Bolton ruled against the heart of SB1070. If you were surprised by the ruling you shouldn’t have been. Federal jurisdiction and law simply overrides state law. From day one, that has been the argument of the government. And it held true in the ruling.
No one suggests there is not an immigration issue in Arizona and other border states. What is frustrating is that our esteemed leaders in the land of DC can’t seem to get their heads out of the sand and set a policy that addresses the issue. Oh…I forgot...we are in an election year and no one wants to touch this with a ten foot pole. Also not surprising from a group of catfish that run our federal government.
What I don’t get is the failure on the part of the Obama administration to not at least address the border issue of manpower.
The military of the United States is deployed in more than 150 counties around the world. Many of these personnel are still located at installations activated during the Cold War, by which the U.S. government sought to counter the Soviet Union. Why not end this misuse of funding and bring more troops to the Border States where the military could actually make a difference fighting the real bad guys at home.
Do you realize we have 57,080 US Soldiers in Germany? Germany for gosh sakes. Let’s see, this is the same country that barely has lifted a finger in our fight against terror. They are the richest of the European countries. Why are we still there? And we still have over 32,803 troops in Japan. Another stalwart in helping out in the fight against terror. While we are spending a gazillion dollars in these countries helping their economies with our troops, our borders go porously open.
When are we going to get leadership that slap down these old military directives and end the excessive spending in countries that no longer need nor want our support? Can you imagine the economic engine created by having these 89,883 troops alone in Arizona? Not only would our borders become more secure, but our communities would grow and prosper.
So while the courts now will be absorbed with sorting out SB1070 for the next year, let’s start demanding real change. We need to start with our military deployment in foreign countries we no longer need to be in and bring our troops home to where they best can serve us, the people. The “War on Terror” starts right down a few miles from Tucson. Germany and Japan don’t need our military might any longer……but the farmers along the border sure could use a hand.
Jeff
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Jeff's Commentary - 7/19 - Forever Stamps No Longer Forever
There was a story last week that said the Postal Service in an effort to try to not continue losing billions of dollars every year, would no longer honor the “Forever Stamp” in 2011. We consumers would have to buy extra stamps for our letters even when using a “Forever Stamp.” I really wasn’t surprised. Understanding that the U.S. Postal Service reported a 3.8 billion dollar loss for 2009 fiscal year, somehow, like a bad marriage, the “Forever Stamp” really didn’t stand a chance. Total mail volume plunged by more than 25 billion pieces which was twice as much as any mail volume decrease in the Postal Office History.
Do most of us really get any true important mail anymore? Outside of a magazine here or there, most of my daily mail consists of direct marketers attempt to make me read something I will never own nor ever care to buy. If you are like me, most of my bills are now received and paid on line except for those I don’t have sufficient funds for and then I use a stamp. I don’t get why you simply can’t deliver mail once a week. There is nothing but junk 99% of the time so I’d rather get a bundle every Wednesday which is perfect timing for the Thursday recycle day with my trash. The bundle of envelopes containing useless information on Wednesday could go from my mailbox directly into the recycle bin.
Email, direct deposit, Facebook and texting have all taken over communication with the outside world and the Postal Service is like the railroad after airplanes came into the picture.
So what could I use “Forever Stamps” for now that are no longer "forever"? Birthdays I missed on the days they occurred?...now an even better excuse as to why it came late. Bills I don’t want to pay on time like my taxes?...how fun that would be to have my taxes returned because of using a “Forever Stamp”?...isn’t that like death and taxes...a “Forever Stamp” put out by our government that is not forever.
I wish the Postal Service instead of nickel and diming us would simply increase the cost of a stamp to a round number like .50 cents or .55 cents. Adding one or two pennies to the cost of a stamp every year is a joke because they realize the day it goes into effect that it isn’t enough. Besides, another report came out last week that said the cost of making a penny at the US Mint is now 1.5 cents for every penny made and a nickel costs 6 cents to make. So now it costs more money to make the money we use to buy “Forever Stamps” that aren’t forever. Is this a great country or what!
Jeff
Do most of us really get any true important mail anymore? Outside of a magazine here or there, most of my daily mail consists of direct marketers attempt to make me read something I will never own nor ever care to buy. If you are like me, most of my bills are now received and paid on line except for those I don’t have sufficient funds for and then I use a stamp. I don’t get why you simply can’t deliver mail once a week. There is nothing but junk 99% of the time so I’d rather get a bundle every Wednesday which is perfect timing for the Thursday recycle day with my trash. The bundle of envelopes containing useless information on Wednesday could go from my mailbox directly into the recycle bin.
Email, direct deposit, Facebook and texting have all taken over communication with the outside world and the Postal Service is like the railroad after airplanes came into the picture.
So what could I use “Forever Stamps” for now that are no longer "forever"? Birthdays I missed on the days they occurred?...now an even better excuse as to why it came late. Bills I don’t want to pay on time like my taxes?...how fun that would be to have my taxes returned because of using a “Forever Stamp”?...isn’t that like death and taxes...a “Forever Stamp” put out by our government that is not forever.
I wish the Postal Service instead of nickel and diming us would simply increase the cost of a stamp to a round number like .50 cents or .55 cents. Adding one or two pennies to the cost of a stamp every year is a joke because they realize the day it goes into effect that it isn’t enough. Besides, another report came out last week that said the cost of making a penny at the US Mint is now 1.5 cents for every penny made and a nickel costs 6 cents to make. So now it costs more money to make the money we use to buy “Forever Stamps” that aren’t forever. Is this a great country or what!
Jeff
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Jeff's Commentary - 7/6 - PT Barnum would have loved the NBA today
PT Barnum would have loved watching what is going on in the NBA right now and how little respect the players have for the game or the fans. As he is famously quoted, “There is a sucker born every minute” and most of them today are NBA fans who loyally line up every year paying outrageous prices for tickets to their favorite team. Only this Summer, it’s the Summer of glut and greed with the free agent players in the league.
I’m so tired of watching and hearing about the LeBron James sweepstakes. Six cities throwing their character away to get a chance to have King LeBron reside in their version of what was once a fun game. Isn’t this the guy who completely gave up in the last two playoff games because he was “pouting” over Cleveland’s chances of winning? For that he will be rewarded with a gazillion dollars.
Then there is the case of Amare Stoudemire. I guess most of you did not see his lack of any form of leadership in Games 1, 2, and 6 of the playoffs against the Lakers. If there was any question of the difference between star and superstar, all you had to do was see the difference in the play of Kobe and Amare. Kobe is worth every penny he makes in LA. For Amare, the fact that the coaches had to find a way to motivate him after the second game in LA was mind-blowing. For that, New York rewards him with 120 million. Boy the fans there are going to love Amare’s attitude!
Then there is Joe Johnsons signing for 119 million. At least he showed some loyalty to Atlanta. And we are waiting for D Wade to have some out of this planet signing number this week as well.
I don’t know about you, but everywhere I look, people and businesses are struggling. Unemployment is 9.5% but probably more like 17% in real numbers. And we are to feel sorry for these pampered NBA “stars”. I can’t bring myself around to being a “fan” anymore. The NBA owners need to learn a lesson and that is the fans are the reason they stay in business. And the fans getting to point where we cringe at these excessive paychecks is enough to stay away. Maybe with a few bankruptcies or poor attendance, the owners will change from offering these crazy salaries to bringing these gladiators back down to earth. In the big scheme of what’s important and what matters, it’s your faith, your family, your friends, and your business. I don’t see cheering for guys making one hundred million dollars any part of that equation above anymore.
And for those of you who will still pay the price to see these overpriced and under achieving athletes, I get back to PT Barnum and his famous saying that “there is a sucker born every minute.”
Jeff
I’m so tired of watching and hearing about the LeBron James sweepstakes. Six cities throwing their character away to get a chance to have King LeBron reside in their version of what was once a fun game. Isn’t this the guy who completely gave up in the last two playoff games because he was “pouting” over Cleveland’s chances of winning? For that he will be rewarded with a gazillion dollars.
Then there is the case of Amare Stoudemire. I guess most of you did not see his lack of any form of leadership in Games 1, 2, and 6 of the playoffs against the Lakers. If there was any question of the difference between star and superstar, all you had to do was see the difference in the play of Kobe and Amare. Kobe is worth every penny he makes in LA. For Amare, the fact that the coaches had to find a way to motivate him after the second game in LA was mind-blowing. For that, New York rewards him with 120 million. Boy the fans there are going to love Amare’s attitude!
Then there is Joe Johnsons signing for 119 million. At least he showed some loyalty to Atlanta. And we are waiting for D Wade to have some out of this planet signing number this week as well.
I don’t know about you, but everywhere I look, people and businesses are struggling. Unemployment is 9.5% but probably more like 17% in real numbers. And we are to feel sorry for these pampered NBA “stars”. I can’t bring myself around to being a “fan” anymore. The NBA owners need to learn a lesson and that is the fans are the reason they stay in business. And the fans getting to point where we cringe at these excessive paychecks is enough to stay away. Maybe with a few bankruptcies or poor attendance, the owners will change from offering these crazy salaries to bringing these gladiators back down to earth. In the big scheme of what’s important and what matters, it’s your faith, your family, your friends, and your business. I don’t see cheering for guys making one hundred million dollars any part of that equation above anymore.
And for those of you who will still pay the price to see these overpriced and under achieving athletes, I get back to PT Barnum and his famous saying that “there is a sucker born every minute.”
Jeff
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Jeff's Commentary - 7/1 - AZ-TV Is Our Family Too
Most of us spend far more time with our fellow employees at work than we do with our own families.
It’s simply a part of life. Hopefully you like the people you work with and for, because of the effort and energy that happens each week at your job and interaction with an office environment.
And like any family, there are the ups and downs of everyday life. You learn about one another. You learn about their families. You learn about dreams and you learn about failure. You start to share when the levels of trust grow between one another. You begin to depend on each other for the little things, sharing in the good times and bad.
At AZ-TV, we are a small company. With less than 50 employees, we live, breathe and become AZ-TV for a good part of our days. The love and dedication of the employees here are such that we are our own “family”. And so when something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us. The past six months, Bob Dey, who is one of our sales people, has been dealing with his wife’s cancer. All of us at the station have learned more about cancer and the tentacles of destruction that it leaves. On Tuesday his wife of 40+ years passed. And so our family mourned.
On Wednesday, another one of our family members revealed more heartbreak. Lisa Schneider-Cipriano, who co-hosts The McMahon Group with Pat and Angela, told our audience and us that she has breast cancer. If you haven’t seen the segment, CLICK HERE where the segment will be titled "Lisa’s Battle with Breast Cancer." So again we mourn.
But we are all there for one another through all of this. We all pick up the pieces so that each of us can continue to move forward. If the journey of life happens at work for a good part of the day, then the road we are on at AZ-TV has been one well traveled and we stop to make sure none of us are left behind. That’s what families do. So on this 4th of July weekend, where we celebrate our country and freedom, let’s also take time to celebrate that family you work with. Those people who dedicate more than time cards and a paycheck to make sure we continue to take care of one another in the greatest country in the world.
Jeff
It’s simply a part of life. Hopefully you like the people you work with and for, because of the effort and energy that happens each week at your job and interaction with an office environment.
And like any family, there are the ups and downs of everyday life. You learn about one another. You learn about their families. You learn about dreams and you learn about failure. You start to share when the levels of trust grow between one another. You begin to depend on each other for the little things, sharing in the good times and bad.
At AZ-TV, we are a small company. With less than 50 employees, we live, breathe and become AZ-TV for a good part of our days. The love and dedication of the employees here are such that we are our own “family”. And so when something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us. The past six months, Bob Dey, who is one of our sales people, has been dealing with his wife’s cancer. All of us at the station have learned more about cancer and the tentacles of destruction that it leaves. On Tuesday his wife of 40+ years passed. And so our family mourned.
On Wednesday, another one of our family members revealed more heartbreak. Lisa Schneider-Cipriano, who co-hosts The McMahon Group with Pat and Angela, told our audience and us that she has breast cancer. If you haven’t seen the segment, CLICK HERE where the segment will be titled "Lisa’s Battle with Breast Cancer." So again we mourn.
But we are all there for one another through all of this. We all pick up the pieces so that each of us can continue to move forward. If the journey of life happens at work for a good part of the day, then the road we are on at AZ-TV has been one well traveled and we stop to make sure none of us are left behind. That’s what families do. So on this 4th of July weekend, where we celebrate our country and freedom, let’s also take time to celebrate that family you work with. Those people who dedicate more than time cards and a paycheck to make sure we continue to take care of one another in the greatest country in the world.
Jeff
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