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What’s a $1.50 worth?

Well, it depends on how many times we multiply it. 

A recent article on Foxnews.com highlights the value of looking at all sides and making sure you implement a complete plan instead of a partial one with adjustment as you go.  Plus, I believe every government and tax official should review this to the impact of a small amount like a $1.50 can make.

During the 2nd and 3rd quarters of this year, Burger King had a discount promotion on two whoppers.  This discount was meant to be a standalone item with the fries and drink at the regular cost.  However, somehow during the implementation of this discount, the software wasn’t properly changed.  The fries and drink were given at the value meal price resulting in a net loss of $1.50 per transaction for the franchise owner in the state of New York.  While I couldn’t find how many Burger King stores they own, I know it was more than one.

The franchisee did finally catch their error and corrected it, but not before losing $12,400,00.00.  Yes, 12.4 million dollars at $1.50 at a time!

When so many businesses are running on a small margin today because of taxes, employee cost, and other operating expenses, a simple $1.50 difference per transaction can make a difference in staying in business or closing their doors. 

We don’t often think of profitability in those small of terms, but in reality, it can come down to a $1.50 difference per purchase.  As you are shopping for the holiday now or anytime in the future, if you like your local shop where you know the owner, and you are treated a little special by the staff is it worth an extra $1.50 or a little more to have them stay open?

For our government and tax officials, remember each time you add on to our tax burden, it does impact more than just the direct individuals.  It is less money I can spend supporting local businesses, which means your revenue from them can become less or non-existent if they lose enough business from your taxes.  If you do not believe this logic, look at what is happening to small businesses in San Francisco.

For those who been around for a few decades, I am sure you can remember the little store neighborhood store from the past or even the big chain stores that are around no longer.  Some lost their way with bad management, and some failed to adapt to the current age, some specialized in items that we no longer use as the corner video store.  That a natural evolution of the marketplace.  There are those local stores that do not have the volume to always give the best prices but offer so much more in service and customer support.  Haven’t we lost enough of them?  The little bit extra they charge might be just enough to keep them open for the ever-changing future.

Yes, a $1.50 enough times does add up and make a difference.

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Common Decency

(Warning this post has strong language.)

I had the impeachment hearing on in the background as I was working.  While I mostly had it on for the noise, every once in a while, something was said that caught my attention.  One of the items was when a Congressman commented on the “lack of common decency.”

This phrase stuck with me.  The hypocrisy of this coming from a House of Representative member was fantastic.  I have seen enough videos of both sides of the aisle to know that “common decency” has left our political system long ago.  Actually, if you read history you wonder if it was really ever existed.

After thinking about it for a while, I realize to my great disappointment that I must agree with the statement.  I realized this had been something that has been happening for years.

Like most things, the change has happened over time and has become such a part of life we haven’t noticed it.  Even worse, we have accepted it without any fight.

One of the strong evidence of my belief is how often and accepted “fuck” is said in public.  Even worse it used in everyday conversations.  I have said the word more than once in my life, but it is rare and has strong emotions to it.    The word has a place in our language but is it needed in every sentence?  

Without sounding like my father, a former big-band horn player, today’s music has an impact on our sense of decency also.  Many of the new music has lyrics that call females “bitches” and “whores” in some variations.  How is that being respectful to women?  How is this honoring women?  I wish this were an original idea, it comes from Andy Stanley, but if we honestly want to honor and respect women we must remove anything from our playlists that address women as bitches and whores.

In a society where we are not allowed to see and address the actual difference between men and women, the breakdown of social norms of decency is a natural result.  Let’s be clear that men and women are equal and should have the same opportunities, however, we are not the same.   Just as no two men are the same, no two women are the same.  Physically, thank God, men and women are not created the same.  How can anyone look at a naked picture of a man and a woman than say they are created the same.  Equal yes! The same, No.

Why can’t we “agree to disagree,” everyone has a topic or two that are part of our core beliefs.  These core beliefs are part of your foundations of who we are.  One of those for me is my belief in Jesus and His resurrection.  I have study other religions and have many great discussions about them.  I have friends that don’t believe or believe in something else.  Since we disagree, am I supposed to stop caring for them or never have any other discussions with them about sports, politics, or how cute their dog is?  Of course not, but that what is happening in our world today because people have forgotten to look beyond and treat people with respect.

If we want common decency to come back we are going to have:

  • to look into ourselves. 
  • To begin treating people with respect and honor even though we may disagree on a topic or two. 
  • To start looking for the good in the other person. 
  • To stop looking for what is wrong with others.
  • To stop judging them by our generalizations
  • To treat others as a person and not as part as a group
  • To allow others to have their own thoughts.

If we honestly broke down everyone into subgroups, we would find we all have something in common in one form or another.  Let’s start looking for what we have in common, instead of what makes us different for a change.  It might open our world and make it a happier place for all.

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What is happening to our court system?

If I remember right from our constitution, the court system was supposed to be a separate and equal branch of our American system.  The courts were supposed to be an apolitical branch.  The executive and legislative branches were political, but the courts were designed to be the umpire.

Every umpire (referee) knows that they must call a game by the rule book.  It is also understood that during a game, there will be judgment calls based on how the umpire sees it.  Every sports fan has been on both sides of judgment calls, we hate and love them, but they are part of the game.  However, we also hate it when a judgment is obviously wrong, and the call cost us a game; ask any New Orleans Saints fan after last year’s NFC Championship game.

The U.S. Federal courts’ rule book is the constitution and prior rulings, or in some cases non-rulings. 

It seems in the last six years, at least every time there a ruling made regardless of if I am in favor of it or not, I ask who appointed the judge after making an assumption of what party did?  The unfortunate part is that I am right 90% of the time.  There something wrong about this!

This has me really questioning the future of our federal court system.  

We all knew in the past that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Circuit Court) was the most liberal court in the nation.  It had one of the highest rates of being overruled by the Supreme Court.  People would just wait for the Supreme Court to determine if they were going to rule on the judgments before taking them seriously.  Is this the proper way for people to have faith in the system?

It seems that our courts have gone straight to 90% judgment calls over following the rule book.  Using baseball, for example, the rule book gives us a definition of the strike zone.  Every umpire from little league to the MLB knows what it is.  Everybody also knows that every umpire has a unique strike zone.  As a coach and a player all you really ask that the person behind the plate is to call it consistently the same throughout the game,  Anyone who has watched baseball on TV over the last few years can see the “strike zone”  highlighted, and each major league umpire is scored on how they called the game.  After getting scored on actual balls and strikes, consistency is right up there.

Why can’t the judges be scored the same way?  Not by the American Bar Association, they have proven themselves as having an agenda.  However, by a genuinely independent panel made of from both sides and a few in the middle. 

Are the judges actually following the constitution?   This should be the first and primary question.   When they are outside the constitution is it a borderline judgment call and consistent with others they made regardless of what they are ruling on.  Or are they making up their own rules as they go to fit into a political or social belief system?

Can you imagine going to a baseball, football, or any sporting event where the referees made up their own rules as they were being played?

Sounds ridiculous, but isn’t that the same thing that is happening with our court system today?

It is important to remember that one of the most critical elements that separate the United States of America from other nations, we are a nation of laws.  If those laws change based on current political views and not a strong foundation of our constitution and precedent how are you going to have a stable society for the future?

I don’t have the complete answer here or any real solution.  However, I believe we all should be concern about this issue and be working to fix the problem now before it gets too late to!

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It Is Time For A Little Common Sense

Last year was the worst year on record for school shootings 94 incidents for 2018, which resulted in 55 deaths.  This is tragic!  

For the record that all schools are defined from preschool through college.  So, when two gang bangers get in a fight after a party in the college parking lot at midnight and shoot each other, it classified as a school shooting just as the dramatic events at Parkland are.

School shootings have been called a national emergency by many and our lawmakers and trying to figure out ways to stop these shooting.   I agree that some tougher and better mental health laws would do our country wonders.   Not only with the shooting but with the mentally ill homeless population.

I don’t think there any debate on the above issue by liberal or conservatives, by the Left or the Right, by the progressives, by Republicans or Democrats, by Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer or Donald Trump.  How to solve it is the issue, but the principle is not.

So, we all agree that it is a national emergency.

What if I told you that there were 1,641 homicide convictions and another 387 homicides arrest in 2018, would that be tragic and a national emergency.  Those are only the ones we know of and have evidence regarding those committed by illegal immigrants.  It is safe to conclude the number is even larger, because of the unsolved cases

That does not include DUI’s 54,630 convictions, dangerous drugs 55,109 convictions, assaults 29,987 convictions, sexual assaults 3,740 convictions.  This is only a partial list; I would recommend you read the ICE report for a complete listing.

Yet, this is not a crisis, and it is immoral to put up a barrier to stop people from coming into the USA.  Where the reasoning for this.  It is a selective vision that allows this.  I cannot prove it with the data I found, but I am willing to guess there were almost or at least the same ratio of children killed by illegal immigrates.   

It is time we are honest with ourselves and each other.

Will the barrier stop all drugs and illegal immigration?  Of course not!

Then why “Waste” the money to build one?   This is simple and straight forward.   It the same reason we lock our cars, homes and put up fences around our home and property.  It a deterrent, plain and simple.   If someone really wants to steal our car, break into our homes, they will find a way.   What we are really trying to stop the crime of convivence.  “Oh, that car open, let’s look in it to see what we can take since no one is around.”  

Doesn’t a barrier make us anti-immigrate?  Of course not.  We only want to know who is entering our country, do you want to know who entering your property?  Common sense! 

Do we believe illegal immigrates are bad people?  Again, common sense must prevail.  Having grown up in farming communities of Central California, I have known legal and illegal immigrates all my life.   Some bad, but most are good hardworking people.  Most just want to earn money to support their families.  So why not provide a vehicle that allows them to work and then leave.  I haven’t heard that discussion by anyone.

Until the United States society learn people can want the same end results but can have different ways to achieve it and not be horrible people because of it.  That only by talking and honestly working together to find the best way to get to achieve the results is the best way to advance.  It is not by pushing a pollical agenda or power position that the best results are achieved.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Jesse Jackson a few times.  Rev. Jackson and I have the same end goals to empower people, to educate people, to support the family structure regardless of color, ethnic origin or anything.  However, we do have a completely different view of how to get there. 

Does that make us wrong in goals?  No! 

Does that make my or his way the only way?  No, but I do know that by us working together that we can come up with a better way than we can individually.  

That is true with the immigration issue.  The first part is common sense, build a wall as you would around your own home while you work honestly with others that are actually trying to solve the problem and trying to serve an agenda. 

Calling a wall as immoral when you voted for it and spoke how needed it was in the past is serving an agenda.  The harsh language only hurts everyone, and no one gains in the end.  Do you realize that over 65 other countries have borders walls?  Countries such as India, Pakistan, Ukraine, China, Iran, Belize, South Africa, Spain, Russia, and Hungary.  Are all those countries immoral?

Build the wall and treat each other with respect to finding a solution.

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Listening

It is a long Tuesday night!

I fell asleep before six on Monday night. Then woke up at 12 and been going ever since.  Now it 10 pm on Tuesday after a full day of work and consulting.

Now I am just sitting at a table a neighbor place writing my thoughts.   So if I ramble, I apologize.

I tried not to pay attention to the news today, because of the Syria poison attack and Mueller raid on Trump attorney.  While there is much evidence of the Syria attack, it does not make sense that they did it.  Why would they if America was pulling out.  Either Assad is the dumbest leader in history or someone is trying to make him look that way.

My gut tells me something does not smell right.

Then the Trump thing.  To be honest, I vote for him,  I could not vote for Hillary.  Not because she is a woman, I have voted and will vote for many women, it because I did not trust her.,  I have felt like the Clinton thought they were better than everyone else for a while.

This “Deep State” thing is getting very real!  Yes, Trump is an idiot, but he says things are thoughts of a lot of us.  Yes, a little crude but honest.

My question is:  Is the Justice Department and FBI looking into the Trump issues with the same energy that they did with the Clinton email issue.  It is evident that they are not to the most closed minded of people.  Which makes us all question things.

I had a great conversation with a friend of mine; he is one of the liberalists, left-leaning people I ever knew.  We both want the same outcome, but our methods are opposite of the other.  Our conversation is intelligent thought provoking an make both of us question our views.  In these conversations, we never deemed the other.

Today’s discussion was on gun control and the deep state.  It was remarkable how much we agreed.

Imagine what our country could do if we talked to each other.

It is time to open our minds to talk and listen to each other.