I already have the right to work!

It has been a while since I have posted on this blog. 2012 to be more exact. I began to think about past blogs and have decided to post one today.
The subject for my blog is the misnomer that there is a bill from the conservatives which creates "The right to Work" as that is its title. Our own bill of rights, created by our founding fathers states that our freedoms are self evident and are endowed by our creator. Believing that the right to work comes from republican legislation is quite the opposite of our Bill of rights, so lets stop with the self absorbed, narcissistic, we will give you the right to work, nonsense. Its not a right to work bill, it a union busting bill plain and simple.

That having been said, I have a solution. If you truly believe in the conservative principles of free market and competition, then I have an answer that uses these principles. If you disagree with this solution you do not truly believe in the core principles of conservationism.

Here is what I propose:
First, the way that unions get into companies does not change. The unions need to be voted in by a certain majority, however that is where my proposal changes.
Typically at this point, the union would have complete control to negotiate all plant workers contracts and ALL plant employees would now be required to pay dues to the union, which come off your check automatically. ALL plant workers would then be compensated according to the contracts negotiated by the union and voted in by the members. PAY ATTENTION to the following statement.
The company would no longer be able to offer a non-union pay and benefits package to the plant employees. They work ONLY through the union.
The whole problem is this notion that we have to have one or the other. That's NOT how you control Big Business or follow the principles of conservationism. Here is my plan:

After the union is voted into the company, all plant workers would have the choice to go with the unions negotiated contract or a worker benefits package offered by the company. The people who choose the union would begin paying union dues. If they choose not to they would not pay dues. The catch is that once you choose a plan, (Company or Union) you would not be allowed to change to the other unless your current plan makes changes to the benefits.

Ill explain... You are hired onto a company and find the union benefits and pay offered are better in your opinion that the company offer so you choose the union benefits. One month later the company changes and increases their pay and benefit package. You would not be allowed to change from union to employer because the union benefits have not changed. However, as soon as the union negotiates a new contract, you would be allowed to choose to stay or go to the other side. This would allow freedom to choose and also allow both sides to have some stability. Stability will be necessary for either side to be able to negotiate for benefits like insurance.
The power to go on strike would not change.
This would keep both sides honest, allow for the best possible atmosphere for both sides to negotiate benefit packages which are naturally better if you have more participants and create real free market competition. Only the worker can come out on top with both union and company competing for the workers.
Is it perfect. NO! Is it better or worse? That's for you to decide.

Common cents

Do you remember the bill of goods sold to you recently about the mining bill in Wisconsin. The one that

Supposedly just makes a few regulatory changes and hurts noone. The one the republican/Walker controlled senate says we have to pass in order to create jobs? "It's about jobs. Wisconsin needs these 800 jobs. How can we sit back and not do anything we can to help create jobs in the current employment conditions?" Do you remember that.

If you believe that bill or anyone in the senate had anything to do with creating jobs, you are sorely mistaken. YOU have been fooled by a publicity stunt geared to generate false support. While the bill will help to create 800 jobs, jobs that could already exist if the mining company had just followed the current regulations, (unless there is something environmentally dangerous to hid which could be disastorous), it also comes with a trade off :

• Increasing the potential for allowing groundwater, the source of most Wisconsinites' drinking water, to be polluted.
• Allowing our most sensitive wetlands to be filled in with mining waste and other materials.
• Capping the amount of money that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) can collect from a mining company for reviewing their permit. (Which by the way will COST the state MILLIONS)(can you say higher taxes)
• Denying citizens the certainty of contested case hearings. (More accurately, denying individual rights)

So, while the above statements are arguable, it is not my intention here to debate the merits of the mining bill law. Rather I am challenging the premise that the republicans did this solely so they can create jobs. Now, how am I going to do that. Well, first I am NOT going to make unsuported statements of opinion. I am going to present a few facts which challenge the notion that the republican senate is all for job creation.
If the senate is for job creation as they say, then anything that comes across their desks which could  create or save jobs would be fair game for passing. Right? At least anything which would have the same or less potential to do harm to our environment as the mining bill should be passed. Right? I mean, in the interest of jobs?

Well think again. In an article written for the Wisconsin State Journal, Clay Barbour writes the following:

"Buried in a regulatory reform bill proposed by Gov. Scott Walker earlier this week (January) lies a provision that wind energy insiders say could shut down 12 wind farm projects, cost investors billions and essentially kill the industry in the state."
Additionally he writes:
"It would in essence shut down wind energy in the state," said Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association. "It is one of the most onerous regulations we have seen."
Bode said that, if passed, the measure would shut down 12 wind farm projects worth about $1.8 billion. Those projects, which are in various stages of planning, could produce about 950 full-time jobs for one year, she said.
SIDEBAR: That 1.8 Billion would be SPENT in Wisconsin.
SO, there you have it, the senate passes a questionable bill environmentally in order to "Create jobs". About 800 jobs if I remember correctly. But then proposes a bill which will KILL 950+ jobs (did you notice that's more than the mining bill) will have no environmental impact to speak of, and will give us cleaner cheaper energy, completely contrary to the mining bill.
There you have it, they are either lying about the jobs in the mining bill or they are hypocritical, and by they, I mean ANYONE who can think along these same lines.
Can anyone explain to me why republicans and conservatives have a bias against clean energy. The end result here is that instead of having those 950+jobs here and creating clean energy we can sell, you know for money/!, those jobs will go to surrounding, more environmentally friendly states. Then we will have to spend MILLIONS more to make up for what the mining companies are not paying for, we will spend millions more on unemployment for the new and existing jobs already in the wind industry, we will loose BILLIONS in spending in our state which would boost our economy and create thousands of other jobs, and we will have to SPEND MILLIONS more to PURCHASE our energy from the surrounding states.
This is not rocket science here, its not even coal mining science, its common cents.

Links to the article quoted in this blog:
Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/environment/article_0fbc9ae4-20ad-11e0-91b4-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1nESSIvnS
Read more:  http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/environment/article_0fbc9ae4-20ad-11e0-91b4-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1nERzghYb

Chapter 1 - Title TBD

Exerpt from a book I am concidering writing about my experiences as a divourced Dad. What do you think?

Many of those close to me would say “it’s not right.” They would caution me about going forward. I did not listen to them. In fact I dismissed them. I reasoned that they just didn’t know what I knew. They didn’t have all the facts. They were making reasonable statements which were no where near interfering, but from where I was standing they just didn’t know what I knew. At the time I was using this reassurance to support my decision to move forward, but if you really examined ALL that I knew, not just the selective memories I was choosing at the time to support my position, there was much more support for their conclusion than mine.

Manifesto of a Fat Person

I am Fat. There, I said it. I used the F word. I am Fat. I do not like being fat. I do not accept being fat. Those are masks for the world; more for those who do not know me than those who do. Those who know me know that I wish for more. I wish for small, I wish for less, but they accept me as I am. They do not accept that I cannot be less, they accept me as I am, and there is a difference. Inside, I never accept that this is who I am and it cannot change. Yes, there are times. Times, after a long hard battle, A battle I really thought I would win. When I am tired and disappointed more for my loved ones than myself. When depression and failure are closest; “I CAN NOT DO THIS!’ “I AM A FAILURE!” But you know I am not. I am a fighter. I need to accept the failure for what it is. It is not a weakness. It is not about whether I was serious about winning the fight. I am always serious. I am always thinking about the next move. Even as those words “cannot” and “failure”, leave my mouth, they leave a bad taste. A taste I cannot tolerate. More that anything else, even being Fat, I cannot accept failure. So I rest, and regroup. It may look as if I am doing nothing to change my disposition. But I am. I am thinking. I am gathering information. I am regrouping. I am rebuilding my armor and arsenal, for I know the fight will come again.


I am a person of God. I know that the body is the temple of God. I have never been unaware. But, I am also a sinner. I indulge where I should not. I do not intend to indulge. However I do not defer responsibility. Just like any other sin, I repent. I ask for strength, I plead for this cross to be lifted. Maybe, just maybe, for me, it is not about losing weight. Maybe it is after all about the fight. Not the victory, but the battle. Maybe, my fight isn’t necessarily for me, but for another. Maybe, when I fight, another sees and gains strength. Another begins to fight also, and while I am without success, another is victorious. Maybe, I am not to be small or less, but to be more, strong, defiant, determined. Maybe I need to fight this fight for myself, in order to help others fight for themselves. Maybe this is Gods plan after all. Maybe God wants me to know that I truly am his child. My temple may be in disrepair, but my sanctuary, my heart, is pure with love for God.

I will fight again and again. As a fat person, I know more about being thin and healthy than those for whom it comes naturally. When the battle is over, and I go to be with my lord, and this imperfect temple is replaced with a perfect one, I will be victorious, because I never lost sight of my true purpose. This imperfect temple is “of” this world, and I am not. I am “in” this world. I will leave this world and join the sanctuary of the Lord forever.

But until then... In this world...I will fight on... For my soul.

Anyone know a good repair man?

Natural Preditors of Society

I have a link attached, which I hope will work, which attaches the article I am addressing in this blog. The article is called "Romney: What kind of society does america want? by  USA Today. In the article Romney says the presidential election is to be decided by one question: "The question we will decide is this: Will the United States be an Entitlement Society or an Opportunity Society?" First of all, this is why I am an independant if anything, because I can think of a lot more questions that that. On its cover the whole premise is shallow and one sided, which is what you would expect from a political candidate. Depth looses elections.
Here is Romneys description of the only two choices we have:

"In an Entitlement Society, government provides every citizen the same or similar rewards, regardless of education, effort and willingness to innovate, pioneer or take risk. In an Opportunity Society, free people living under a limited government choose whether or not to pursue education, engage in hard work, and pursue the passion of their ideas and dreams. If they succeed, they merit the rewards they are able to enjoy."

Are you Kidding me??? Why must it be black or white? How about a compassionate society that understands that some people will need help but not EVERY person. An how about a society which invests money in the future but protects society from Limited Governments Natural preditor.
Both extremes have natural preditors in society. The liberal society has a natural preditor called Socialisum. If government is left to grow and grow, providing everything for everybody, you end up with socialisum, which means, the government owns and controls everything, and it is ok to deal with those who disent in any manner available. The easiest is to kill them. i.e. Hitler and Stallin. Fortunately, the USA has substancial protective mechanisums in place via the Constitution to protect from this ever happening. (Contrary to what COnservatives say) The next is limited government. On its surface it sounds wonderful. Words like Opportunity, Free and choice are floated around as if they only exist under limited government, which is perposterous. In addition the natural preditor concervatisum breeds to Limited government is GREED. The world economy crashed because president after president bought into the free market society is a more prosperous philosophy and as a result, GREED became the driving force. Greed was so much in control of the banking industry and wall street that the highest people in the companies cared only about thier pay check. They did not care if the business failed, as long as they got thiers.
Enter the economy that crashed in 2007, during Bushes reign as president, under a free market "Opportunity" Society Romney speaks so highly of. Its unbalievable to me how stupid they must believe we are as people of this nation, that we would allow that type of unrestricted free market to exist again. (When ever a conservative speaks of unrestrictive policies, they are thinking of unleashing the banking and wall street industries again)
This is where the gray area, middle of the road comes in. We develop a society, which out of compassion, helps through government programs those who truly need it. Safegards must be in place to protect against fraud and misuse, and those who do not need it would not be entitled. For instance, if a person retires today, they can be making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and still pull from social security and medicar/Medicaid. This must end. Only those who truly need the help receive it. The rest are cut from the program and allowed to live the life of "opportunity" and "freedom." (One preditor defeated)
NEXT, government must protect the people where they cannot protect themselves. The average person knows nothing about wallstreet or the banking industry, and yet everything we own is entrusted to them. These industries have proven they MUST be regulated. The preditor allowed to roam free will kill at will. People cannot protect themselves from un-scrupulous companies who choose to release dangerous products to the market, we cannot manage the energy policies of the country to best protect our country from shortages and development and still protect our air and water. This is why agencies like the Energy department and Consumer protection are crucial. There are many departments which can be reduced or eliminated, unfortunately the polititions chose the ones to eliminate that stand in the way of their black and white society, in order to make themselves sound good on the surface. As a society, when we vote, we need to be thinking about the PREDITOR that lurks beneath the surface. CHOOSE GRAY. Its a sign of intelegence.

Say Grace

As I write this, it is approching Thanksgiving day. During this month I have spent time concidering what I am thankful for as have many americans. On the social networks, some have taken to giving thanks for something each day as the holiday approched. I thought this to be a good idea, but chose to reflect in silence instead. I reflected on what I read each day and what you often hear each year around the table. Something seemed off as the holiday approches. I did'nt know what but something was off. Then today as I went about my business, I realized. It's everything. Everything I  and all the daily thanks were all about what we have, or who we know, family, friends, jobs, food on the table, health.......of this world.
God tells us christians are to be in this world but not of this world, and yet all to often we rattle off the things of the world we are thankful for. Its not just that I have things of this world to be thankful for, but also that, or maybe because of, that I am just not worthy. It is only by Gods grace that I am able to rejoice in my place with him in heavan. I cannot earn eternal life like I earn money. I cannot earn eternal life as a reward for the good things I do. God has blessed me in this world, and in response, how do I thank him? I become of this world. The funny thing that kept coming back to my thought, is that it is by Gods grace that we have these things and it is also by Gods grace that none of them will be of any significance when we are living eternally with God. The bible tells us that there will be no man, or woman, or marriage in heaven. These are the things God gave us on earth to fill the absence from God. When we are with God through his grace,there will be no need for anything but Praising our Lord.
So as I sit down to be with family and friends, we will pause...It is no coincidence that when we pause we will speak our thankfullness in prayer...we will say Grace.
Funny... how we will gather to thank God for his grace... by saying grace.
Thanks be to God for his infinite Grace for an unworthy child.

Question of the Heart

Daniel Otte


It occurred to me today that I should make this thought public…Then I looked at my verse of the day on my smart phone… and I knew I would make this public.

“We all have fears… worries…difficulties… times when we feel we do not know which direction to go or where we will find comfort. All too often we turn to earthly things for comfort…Food…spirits…people…yes even music. Why? Is more of a question of the heart than anything else. Coincidentally, when we look into our heart and seek that which is not of this world… we will find Hope…HIM…”

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. Proverbs 29: 25

…Just a thought…Good Day.