Are Las Vegas Police racist??

My daughter's boyfriend recently graduated from UCLA with a Master's degree.
He worked in California as a high school teacher. He currently works in the education field in Las Vegas. He bought a shiny new car last month. He has been home for three months.
Since he moved back home he has been pulled over three times by the Las Vegas police. Each time he is asked if his car is stolen. They run his plates, check is ID, run a federal search on his social security number. I think he should have purchased a white or a silver car. Maybe the color of his car would not have made a difference, but the color of his skin does.
He has never had a record with the police-anywhere.

Each time he leaves the house to go out for a night with my daughter or his friends, his father, a well respected black man, living in an upscale neighborhood, calls him throughout the night to make sure he is okay. He is worried about him being harassed by the LVPD. Each time he is pulled over it is in his affluent neighborhood.
The police appear to believe since he is black he has no business on that side of town.
The most recent pull over was definitely frightening. The police pulled him over and asked him if his car was stolen. They ran the usual checks. They asked him for his social security number. They treated him rudely, baiting him, egging him to lose him temper. They made him sit in his car  for an hour by the side of the road.

He knows better. He is unfailingly polite and cooperative.
His plan to live in this town is gone. He is bright and talented. His father is an educated and successful man.
Black, educated, articulate and successful-I guess this means little in a town where the police department shoots first and doesn't have to ask questions later because the "suspect" is dead.
He needs to leave this town before it hurts him-fatally.

Revel Casino in New Jersey tells new hires reapply every four years for your job

This is frightening. Can you imagine your employer telling you  to reapply for your job every four years? The quality of your work doesn't matter. We want them young and pretty. You don't have a job after four years.
If you want to know what the breakdown of a civilized society looks like, try destabilizing the workforce.
Blatant ageism and sexism, backed by weakened labor laws allows such arrogant disdain for the respect of workers.
It could happen in any "right to work" establishment. Keep your heads in the sand, Americans. Worse is yet to come.
Those, "unemployed need not apply" signs are nothing  compared to what might come nest. Too bad so may people see unions as the bad guys. Those years of fighting for workers rights kept this kind of contemptuous behavior off the table.

The Soviets take a stand-while the US whines..

Countries across the world have risked everything to stand against tyranny and nepotism. No longer do citizens tolerate dictatorships and feudal repression.
The Soviets have  tener cojones. Spanish/English slang for courage. Tens of thousands know the election was rigged and they have had enough.
You have my greatest admiration, Soviets.

In the US we have become a culture of whiners. When our election was rigged we stomped our feet, whined and went home to watch our big screen TV's.
Our government corruption is so blatant our congress ignores citizens voices with contempt.
Each election is funded by corporations, on the path to helping destroy our planet through pollution, exploitation and greed.
US, once a proud nation, 40 million citizens are now unemployed. 15.5 million of our children live in poverty-1 out of 5.
23 per cent of our  36 million senior citizens live in poverty. Eight million seniors are living in poverty.

The top 1% of the population own over 50% of the wealth in the United States.
Not a peep.
Oh, a sorry looking, mainly discredited, by the corporate owned news sources Occupy Wall Street Protesters.
Wisconsinites protesting the abolishment of union protections.
Still small whimpers.
Americans are whiners at heart.
They all believe they have the answers to the Us economy and government.
They will tell you even if you don't ask them.
They will tell what your country should do as well.
They have all the answers but no courage.

No courage to stop the dismantling of our democracy.
I am not even sure most Americans know what is right anymore.
Somehow our citizenry has opted for ignorance with a dash of stupidity,

Go for it, Soviets. Take that ideal and make it happen.

Men-Women who claim to like football are liars!

Men, hear this, any woman who proclaims to like football is a liar.

Oh, they will tell you they do. They will watch and scream and yell. They will be able to tell you who their "favorite team" is this year.

But they do it for men.

Women are not aggressive by nature. Not only are they not aggressive, the idea of smashing onto others to gain ground is not a familiar ploy. Women are sneaky. They destroy others without a hint of violence.

Ask women about the players- call them on their lack of knowledge. Ask them to explain the game and use the correct "guy terminology". Ask them about fouls, off side, downs, etc. Ask them who the Heisman Winner was last year, MVP- all those stats. They don't know squat about it.

You see women aren't wired that way. Competition doesn't fire up the estrogen. Physical contact of a violent nature doesn't get the hormones flowing. It is scientifically proven. A female brain does not respond as strenuously or successfully  to those activities.  Women who claim to "love" football are doing it to impress you. Women have faked so many things for men. It is a historical and genetic nature for women to convince men they like and are interested in what men are.

And you know I am right! You know it. How many of you did the sports thing with your beloved while dating, all enthusiastic and gung ho-and after marriage, whine whine- or total disinterest!

If there is one thing I give men credit for it is this-I have rarely found one willing to feign interest in ballroom dancing, performing arts and ceramics. Most men are confident enough to say no. Women won't-they just know they can help you  see the error of your ways once responsibilities lie in wait. Or they just ignore your football activities.

I have a great male friend who once took me to a football game at the University of Michigan. He scored free tickets. We were to meet a group of his friends at the game.

I told him I wasn't a football fan. All that yelling and screaming over a bunch of guys running with a ball, only to tear apart the ball carrier if caught was too much like the gladiators for me.

He wasn't a football fan either. 

His winning argument?

They sell the best hot dogs and beer, and the entire stadium is surrounded by food kiosks. 

We could drink and eat our way through the game!

We did.. 

Political Hacks-Where is the vision??

Writing about the Republican Party's debates and candidates is enough to make me weep. Never have I observed such ignorance and stupidity in all my old lady years.
We don't even need to mention names, they all kind of blur together in a sea of geographical, historical, political and financial gaffes. White America, with a few outliers,  have shown themselves to be the decline of American intelligence.
I keep wandering around my community asking, "Is the the best we have?" or has this been the best we have and I somehow missed the stupidity in past years?
I find myself wincing when I hear yet another totally ignorant "truth".
If I hear one more "poor people get rich off the system" tale, I'll scream!
The great myth of the poor living rich off the system has taken on a life of its own in the United States. The famous theory of those who deserve and those who don't is just plain ridiculous.  Deserving of health care? Basic necessities? Shelter?
Food? Only the rich would make those kinds of observations. Money has triumphed humanity in the Republican Party of those who party like it is 1999.
They don't get it.
The ludicrousness of it all feels like a Twilight Zone episode with Jon Stewart as the mocker.
Please, somewhere out there has to be a person of color or a woman with a vision that can be heard?
How long do we have to live under the rule of rich old white men, or people who want to be them??

Celebrating Christmas at School for Children in Poverty

Ellen DeGeneres and Justin Bieber  recently spotlighted a school in Las Vegas by donating thousands of dollars and toys. It is a wonderful gift. The school has helped parents and children from that school with clothing, food, rental assistance and a myriad of other needs.
It got me to thinking about the use of donations at Christmas.
I was one of those poor kids . I remember the Salvation Army bringing Thanksgiving to our house and my father wanting them to take it back and my mother asking him not to do it. My father didn't like surprises and control freak that he was, his pride was more important than warm coats for his six kids.
Christmas is a great time to give.
I work in a school full of poor kids. They wear shoes which are too small or too big. Last year I bought a new winter jacket for one boy in my class and his parents made him give it to his little brother. So I bought him another one. Meeting the needs of one child doesn't always meet the needs of the others.
Another student showed up wearing a sweatshirt. She told me she didn't have a coat. It was 38 degrees that morning. Recently a little girl told me her mom sold her clothes to another girl in my class-they needed the money. The other girl showed up at school wearing her favorite dress. She pointed it out to me with a little sadness.
People do what they need to do to survive.
Our kids need warm clothing, new uniforms, new shoes, dental care, medical care and food. They need books to read, markers, colored pencils, crayons and notebooks. Some schools provide theses things-others don't. Most of my kids ask me if they can have glue, scissors, crayons and paper to take home. I let them when I have it. I consider them staples of childhood.

If you really want to donate during the holidays -don't.
Call up a school and tell them you would like to help out during the year. Get in touch with a teacher you know, or the social worker. Tell them you would like to help a child when the need arises. Don't give an amount.
Last year I paid for new glasses for a little boy who desperately needed them. I bought backpacks in the middle of the year for boys who did not have them. I bought a pair of shoes for a little girl who so dearly wanted a pair of flats like the other girls but only had tennis shoes.
I remember wearing hand me downs that were not even hand me downs from my sister. If it weren't for my first grade teacher, who used to put bags of clothing in my hands on the way out the door, I wonder what I would have worn?

I support four people. My salary is not great. The needs of kids don't start and stop at Christmas. Donations controlled by school districts or administration do not always get to kids when they need something. Every teacher I know buys necessities for kids in poor neighborhood schools. I just lost one of my best students because her mom lost her job and they were evicted. She cried. I did too. I tried to find a way to help her mom.  Bah, humbug-no rental assistance around here! If I could have turned to a benefactor to hold them over another month, maybe something good could have happened, Instead, they moved to an ever poorer part of town. I forgot that was possible!

If you really want to make a difference hang on to your money. Offer year round. I have a list of teachers who have children who will need the help in the months to come.
Christmas magic comes and goes but a pair of shoes that fit, pants that don't have to be pinned together, socks without holes(or socks at all), a sweater to keep warm in the classroom, kids remember. There is nothing worse than coming to school worrying about the necessities of life.
I just wish teachers had access to a fund like that, without a lot of red tape. Our kids learn better when they don't have to worry about the basic necessities .

Beware of Family Gifts...

In November a 70 woman died while skydiving near Las Vegas Nevada. Her family gave her the gift adventure for her 70th birthday. Two days ago another woman died in a helicopter crash over the Grand Canyon, after receiving the flight as an anniversary gift from her family.
Now I'm not saying this is a trend here but I am starting to wonder if, as an older person, I'd want to take a look at it?
These are some pretty unusual gifts. Maybe a scarf would have been more appropriate?

Pack Mentality and the Euro

Britain, Sweden and Czechoslovakia have decided the Euro agreement is not a good one for their countries. As in any group think there are times when it leads the lemmings off the cliff into their own self destruction. Perhaps we ought to be paying more attention to those countries who take the divided path? Those countries, civilizations or individuals who forge the untraveled road are often those with vision. What a quandary we live in! Group consensus leading to extinction or learning to ask the unspoken questions aloud and accept the consequences from the lemmings??

Human nature-More like the beast?

I never believed in such a thing as bad luck but I do wonder if there is some kind of energy we emit which attracts negativity?  Nature has a way of handling wounded animals. A predator eventually finds it-and it is toast. Is this what happens to humans as well?
I recently read a story about a man who is homeless in Las Vegas. He wrote of losing his job, then his wife and then his family. He found it difficult to recover.
He recently worked in construction. When the bust occurred  he lost a 60,000 plus a year job and his life fell apart. Another woman who was homeless had been a teacher. She has a Master's degree. She lost her job and is now living on the streets. She says she could never have imagined how it happened.
Our "safety net" for human lives has disintegrated. Those with jobs seem to think it is some personal flaw in an individual which precipitates the bad things that happen to other people.
I read these stories and I look outside at the 30 degree weather and I wonder how people survive?
It is really in our nature to turn away from those who suffer?
I used to think it wasn't. I used to think humanity was defined by the fact we as a culture, took care of others less fortunate.
Our capacity to care for other humans was the dividing line between humanity and  animal nature.
Is this no longer true? Are we no longer any different from animals trying to survive in this world?

Republican candidates- is the media kidding???

There isn't a one of them who ISN"T whacko. From Rick Perry's ignorance to Herman Cain's deceptive lying and adulterous behavior, to Michelle Bachman's delusional observations to Mitt Romney's "Bush style let them eat cake" stance. Newt has been around for ages. He left his wife when she was dying of cancer, remember?
Each week the news anoints a new king.
What-are they joking? Is this the best the Republicans can do?
The news agencies aren't "reporting" Each day we are treated with another, "Republic on top of the garbage heap story" as if this is all supposed to be normal.

News agencies act like this is all normal. Thus we are supposed to go along with this charade as if it is.
American citizens are either really, truly, stupid or the owners of these media outlets had such a sparse gene pool to pick from,who will rubber stamp their corporate greed, that this is what we have????
When politicians decide it is better to keep quiet than to tell us what they believe you know we are all in big trouble here.

I am not a voting Republican but if I were I would suggest the party wipe the current slate clean and look for a few articulate, thoughtful and intelligent candidates to sell the party.  The Republican candidates are an indictment showing the stupidity to which are country's intelligence and moral values have sunk.
Not to say the democrats aren't there as well. We just haven't seen THAT road show yet.