Nevadans acting like crowded rats in a cage...

Like overcrowded rats in a cage, Nevada citizens

have begun to eat their own....

It occurred to me this morning as I read the rampant ravings of the RJ editor-there is nothing like stirring up the little people, pitting them against one another-to take the focus off the REAL

problem-

big business, banks, huge corporations yelling uncle and taking no responsibility for the shape of our country, state and local losses.

What a goldmine for them! Eliminate senior employees, outsource more work to cheap labor in other countries-hold back credit to the little businesses, ideally forcing them into bankruptcy and leaving a conglomerate of large monopolies to control the economy.

Until now, the money kept flowing -NPR reports Chase Bank CEO demanded a 10 million dollar bonus in December for "cobbling the deal with B of A-his TOILET in his office, cost 35,000.00

Employees are asked to take cuts, freeze pay, accept retirement losses and eliminations, endure layoffs and hit the unemployment office.

What is wrong with this picture?

The little people (workers) are eating each other up, pointing fingers, calling state workers greedy and unpatriotic, attacking one another in community forums-

While the elite continue to eat cake...

This has to stop.

As long as we are willing to kill one another over a few thousand dollars, and repeat the mantra, "Be glad you have a job"

We will continue to the idiots we have been acting like for the past eight years.

Stop it.

Think.

Hold those banks and corporations accountable.

Forget the letter writing campaign and the sit ins.

QUIT DOING BUSINESS WITH THEM.

Pull your money out of banks that deal with B of A and Chase and put it into credit unions,

boycott the very banks that hold your money and won't share it.

We have power collectively.

None divided.

Gov. Gibbons finds a way to starve poor people

I work with a little boy who has a rare medical condition and leaves his home for medical appointments only. His education consists of five hours per week-per school law-in home teaching.
He actually receives a great deal more because his mom is a fantastic teacher. He is a bright, creative student and it is a joy for me, as a teacher to be a part of his learning.

Because of his medical condition Mom cannot get a job.
Oh, she could, if she could afford to pay for nursing care for her son. The cost of care is prohibitive.

Yesterday my little student fell asleep as I was packing up my gear and mom told me the state cut her food stamps.
She used to receive 445.00 a month for food. They cut her stamps to 270.00 a month.
The food stamps they use to eat with does not cover such things as toilet paper, toothpaste, shampoo , tampons, cleaning supplies or any other non food items. She must purchase this out of her "own" money. Which is zero.

This is how the state of Nevada cut her food stamps.
Income was considered at a rate of 450.00 per month. If she made more than 450.00 per month it affected the rate of her food stamp allotment.
They live on a small allotment of 450.00 per month from disability. This is supposed to cover housing and utilities.
The state of Nevada recently changed the income level and reduced it to 250.00
This means anything over 250.00 is considered excess and food stamps can be cut.

She is now considered over the limit because the disability check is 450.00 per month.

It is unconscionable to expect a family of two to live on a grocery budget of a little over 50 dollars over week.
"Oh, you say, let them eat ramen noodles, like everyone else." We are talking about a child with a serious medical condition. 50.00 a week doesn't exactly cover the food pyramid, does it??

Gibbons government cut their food budget by almost half in less than three weeks.

This is the reality of the state of Nevada.

While we quibble over "no new taxes" and "cut education", gold mines, businesses and other profit making entities in our state have no obligation to the little boy I see five hours a week.
In fact, he is an anonymous face to them, one who doesn't exist as they rake in their profits.

Shame on you, Gibbons, and shame on Nevada. These cuts are taking place on the backs of the poorest and the most vulnerable of our state citizens.

The future isn't about our adult selfish sides. You know, the ones who overspent, refinanced the equity in homes so they could buy an SUV or a new jet ski, pay down that credit card used to buy Ferragamo shoes and Dooney and Burke purses?

The last time I had to decide how to budget 50.00 a week for groceries was in 1978, when I was a student in college and my son was five years old. Even then we ate a lot of macaroni and (fake)cheese.
When you talk about tightening your belts you don't talk about living on less than 700.00 per month for rent, utilities, food and necessities.So you are on unemployment? You still receive more than this family of two receives.

The very sad fact is they have no choice. The future for them, with his medical needs, doesn't change. They are at the mercy of our decisions.

Gov Gibbons, how about giving your six percent cut to this family?
Maybe this little boy can have some fresh fruit in his diet.

Now I know why the peasants went crazy...

There was something freeing today, about President Obama's inauguration.

A ton of weight lifted from my heart.

I did not realize what fear and anxiety I held inside until now.

Not a baby boomer but old enough to watch -through child's eyes I saw Kent State, the assassination of both Kennedy's and Martin Luther King. I watched my cousin go off and never return from the Vietnam War.

I lived through the trials of impeachment and eventual resignation of Nixon. Ford pardoning him.

These past eight years instilled a subtle fear-insidious actually-knowing phone calls could be monitored without cause, citizens could be locked up without representation, a right to a fair trial-

unions weakening and workers losing many of the rights hard earned by the violent confrontations between worker and owner.

I grew up in Detroit, experiencing the consequences of layoffs and strikes. The deep gashes on my fathers hands from working the assembly line.

Now I understand why peasants went a little mad during the French Revolution. Destroying property and executing the elite.

Not that I would ever condone the deaths of any persons-but desperation and fear are two toxic companions.

Hunger, helplessness , fear and hopelessness drive humans to desperate acts.

I am grateful we have an opportunity to walk the road of justice, toil with pride amidst the ethics of hard and good work,

Open the shades and let honesty into our country again.

No longer see the fear reflected from countries, once our allies, at the unpredictability and arrogance.

I began to wonder if our country really wanted to rush that road of zealotry and harsh judgement under the guise of a new form of Christianity.

I am filled with joy that we have a chance to make it right-for the future generations, and hopefully, for a tiny smidgen- in my lifetime, as well.

Las Vegas Teacher-paycheck to paycheck

I am sitting here in pain with an infected tooth. I don't get paid until Friday. As usual, it is a paycheck to paycheck life I lead and I am trying to figure out what I can do.

I try not to let the swirling mass of Nevada citizens anger get to me. The LVRJ has done a good job of stirring the hate and passion of Las Vegans. Continually writing about what fatcats we are-how we have the cushy job with no oversight. The LVRJ has relentlessly pounded on our retirement benefits and step increases.

I wish it were so-I wish life were as cushy as Sherm paints it-for us teachers.

So many women teach. You know the old joke, "those who can't teach?"
Ironically it is us-who can-teach others who will be able to in the future.
That doesn't take care of my tooth, though.

Last year I worked three jobs. I never took a vacation. The cost of living in Las Vegas was horrible. I didn't have a twenty thousand dollar credit card limit-I have a one thousand dollar limit.
I did not take out a second mortgage, I could barely keep up with the first.
One of my jobs tutoring dried up as the school district and the union took over the Title I funds for remedial education from private tutoring companies. The Teacher's union then used their private foundation to provide tutoring and pay teachers half of what private companies paid.
This year there are no private tutoring companies for Title I schools. It's all processed through the district.

As private citizens complain about losing jobs and pointing fingers at public school employees-they need to remember-during the boom-teachers took a paltry 2% increase. Over and over again. With the promise of a 4% increase after three years. My first two years teaching we had no increases.

During the boom, utilities increased prices, groceries, especially meat and vegetables became ridiculously expensive and we had faux shortages increasing prices on eggs and milk. Gas prices prohibited even a trip to California. I bought anything I needed for my house from Craigslist. Savors and the Goodwill are two of my favorite stores. I even learned to sew so I could make clothes for myself.
Many of the teacher resources I have are from Goodwill and Savors. This year we were told we had no supply budget. I followed the sales before the school year and bought enough crayons, colored pencils, erasers, pencils, paper, journals, markers and folders to provide 25 students with supplies for the entire year.
Did you offer to donate anything to your child's school?
Of course not! You believe the district is a wasteful, uncaring, greedy mega institution.

Sadly your anger only hurts your children. Teachers and most Principals love their students and my bosses, like many in the district, began brainstorming early on ways to cover the supply budget. We all did. Long before those doors opened. We collected money(teachers) at our school to make sure our kids all had uniforms. We wrote grants and begged organizations for donations.



I hope Albertsons goes bankrupt. I really do. They played that scarcity scam so many times I quit shopping with them.
The local Wal Mart grocery store started out cheap enough-now it is as bad as Albertsons.

Do you know where I shop?? The 99 cent store and Fresh and Easy. They always have sales and runs on vegetables and fruits.

Did you know the RJ is also sold at the dollar store on Sundays for a dollar?? Dirty little secret.

So what am I going to do about this tooth?
I am going to take a needle, heat it up, pour alcohol over it, stick it into the gum and try to drain it. Then I am going to use an antibacterial mouth wash and hope I can hang on till Friday.
I don't have a choice.

Jim Gibbons-Misogynist and Misanthrope

Nowhere in his "Chainsaw Nevada" speech did Jim Gibbons mention his level of dislike for women.
As a qualified expert in Women's' and Children's' therapy, my observations of his behaviors over the past few years reveal disturbing patterns.

Chrissy-in a parking garage, lying and getting away with it only reinforces his sense of superiority.
In fact, he probably genuinely believes she asked for it. Notice how thoroughly her character was discredited? A man with a healthy ego would not have needed to so thoroughly destroy a single woman-it is like using a missile on a kid with a BB gun.

2. Best friends-former Playmate, probably was troubled and looking for support. Jim Gibbons took advantage of it. There is nothing more appealing than a woman's wounded spirit. She is most vulnerable.

3. Having an affair with a woman is one thing-having an affair with a woman when the husband is your friend is an angry and hostile act. Yes, men who have serial affairs find a real thrill in having an affair under another man's nose-(and the wife's) there is something deliciously cruel in it for them. His actions in this situation demonstrate his twisted reality-something very untrustworthy.

4. How he treats his wife in public-to announce a separation and divorce in the public arena is a message to wound deeply. It is an act of humiliation. My guess is Dawn Gibbons has looked the other way for many years. Yet she has been his steady rock. His nurturer-no matter what-she stood by him. His method here was to destroy-not just wound.
Considering she is a talented and educated woman in her own right, I am sure she has given him much good advice in the past. It is obvious without her he is floundering in his own delusional thinking and acting on it. She probably would have continued to put up with his affairs had he stayed loyal to the family. His election as Gov. allows him to think he actually has something to offer-and many prey upon his lack of intelligence and delusions of grandeur.
Without his wife's grounding he is rudderless and doesn't get it. I am sure we will see the evidence of this when the records are made public.

So why does all this lead me to think he is a misogynist?
His cuts affect thousands of women(far more than men) cutting education. His cuts affect children and young adults. Rarely do his cuts affect men of power.
Gibbons has such little respect for women-and let's be honest-hatred-what better way of (unconsciously) attacking than to cut the very livelihoods that make them powerful? Education and family.

Thousands of teachers in Clark County are woman. No survey has ever been taken, but if you lift the lid off the pot - you will find that these female teachers' paychecks support entire families, often as head of the household- many teachers today also support laid off husbands from the hospitality and building industries. The remaining cuts affect poor women with children and those who can least defend themselves-the mentally ill. Men are a part of this group, you rail! Yes, but the very characteristics of these populations are the ones Gibbons attacks in women i.e. Vulnerability--credibility-women are second class citizens in his mind.

Many teachers have children in our school systems . Wow! What a powerful message-to cut your mom's salary and your educational opportunities as well!

This is a dangerous and foolish man . Healthy men admire the strength in women as partners. It is a feeling of camaraderie. We are in this together -we will make it-
Men who love women see the greatness in their partners and feel genuine pride.

Jim Gibbons has cut the strings from his rock and his anger and immaturity are probably, unconsciously pointed right at that which he fears most-women with intelligence and (he feels) her power to destroy his poorly constructed and struggling ego.

If you are his friend, (real friend) I suggest you encourage--no-intervene-and get him into some serious therapy.
Actually, no harm will be done to the rest of us- but the damage he has created to himself is catastrophic. It is the hangover he will have, if he has any insight into himself in the ensuing years that will create serious problems.

Caveat-this article is based on an examination of his public behavior. Please do not misconstrue my observations as a mental health evaluation. I will leave that to whatever experts remain in this state, after these cuts are completed.

Bring in the Clowns!!

I'm all excited about the entertainment lineup tonight!

Let's bring in the clowns!!

It's a double feature-I've got my Movie theater popcorn with extra butter-my Diet Dr. Pepper and my score card.

Let's see which speech convincingly gets that R rating for horror, violence and deception...

Or are we thinking along the lines of "Love Story?"

Nev. Gov. and Bush-A twofer speech time!

Tomorrow night is a big night!
George Bush wants to sing his Swan Song after raping the country even more to the tune of billions of dollars in the past six months. As he moves on to his gated community-which only recently allowed blacks to move in-he wants to reiterate his famous words, "Brownie-You did a heckofajob" and "Mission Accomplished".
You can bet his rich friends will be there to support his legacy-of supporting those who supported him-to the exclusion of our country-remember "The Good Ole USA"- George???
Hopefully, out of the woodwork will crawl Dick Cheney in his night goggles-to reside at another dark, dank location which supports monetary, power hungry vampires.
Lord knows the two of them have sucked the lifeblood outta this country.

Why the Three Stooges?
I dunnoh-let's throw in Rumsfeld for old times sake-or Karl Rove -who we last saw slinking away, snake like. after his ugly strategies failed to elect McCain.

AH -but the twofer-Jim Gibbons is actually going to televise his screw you -poor, moderately living and middle class(isn't that a joke of a phrase now days..) citizens who are being laid off by the hundreds-promising-yes-promising-NO NEW TAXES!!
Yessiree-now that you all are laid off-he promises there will not be a service left in the state to help you all out-since you have no income and aren't paying taxes in Nevada right now-don't worry your pretty little low life heads.

This ones on Jim-for his RV buddy and that new guy he wanted to hire -you remember the one who handled luggage at Reno Airport-the one he decided to hire because his RV buddy told him to go ahead and break the rules...

DO any of us really want to listen to this twofer?? Haven't we heard enough from this peanut gallery we all so sheepishly elected? (Well, I didn't-but SOMEBODY out there did..)
I promise I won't ask who...
Let's just get them out, be polite and get back to work picking up the rubble left behind, sift through it and see if we have anything salvageable to work with.