Random Thoughts – 2/17

Albuquerque’s fire chief has banned a sticker that has been appearing on the helmets of firefighter helmets as of late. The sticker reads “FMB” and it has been peddled by union president Diego Arencon to stand for “forever my brother”. For those who pay attention and don’t swallow when fed bull, the sticker is most certainly a nod to Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, think F Mayor Berry, whom the union is currently suing over a contract dispute. I wonder if the president of the union would believe it if I addressed him as M. Arencon, and that the M. was simply an innocuous substitute for Mr. Doing so would be incredibly disrespectful and so is the childish action taken by the firefighters and the dishonesty exhibited by their union leader. They have shamed themselves and it should make any citizen nervous in the event they require their services. The chief should be commended for being an adult.

There has been much discussion lately in regard to the sham of a budget that was submitted by the president for FY2012. Many recognize the so-called cuts as gimmicks, continued deficits alarming and the complete avoidance of entitlement reform as negligence. At first it was the cynical and conservative who diagnosed the budget as a work of politics, with the president effectively daring the Republican house majority to submit a more realistic document leading to a legislative standoff that could lead to a government shutdown that the president could blame on Republicans and use as a 2012 campaign platform plank. More recently Democrat commentators have advanced the same diagnosis, but instead of being repulsed laud the action of the president as a brilliant political maneuver. This is all based on the presumed benefit to Bill Clinton when a similar showdown resulted in a shutdown in the mid-nineties. It would benefit us all if this false and massaged history doesn’t repeat itself.

School teachers in Wisconsin have taken to calling in absent, during the school year, in order to protest the Governor of Wisconsin making necessary changes to an unsustainable system that has led to current and projected budget deficits that will eventually cripple that state. It is unsettling that many school teachers have, at the direction of unions, have taken leave of their work in order to protest something that will have to be done sometime. Enough teachers have followed this path that the schools there have had to cancel school, forcing parents to scramble and leaving those teachers who did not neglect their duty to miss work. All of this over the Wisconsin governor’s plan attempting to remove the ability to collective bargain from the teachers unions. A plan that would eliminate the ability of teachers unions to hold the public they are to serve hostage and ensure that more teachers are paid in line with their abilities and achievements instead of by how long they have existed and because of what a union decided was best for them.

I have heard a lot of radio advertisements for a security company offering the arrival of an armed response team in contrast to traditional firms who just notify the authorities and can't guarantee the cops arrival. I wonder if even these armed response teams can even arrive in time.