DIPG Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma

Please go vote HERE.

This is the story of a family trying to make a difference.  Their child was in my kids school. . .  I watched this town come together to support them and it brought out the best in this town.  Unfortunately we could not save her, but I think we can make a difference.  I know the Cronks did.

Please help them to find a cure and maybe we can end this.

Thanks

Minimum Wage explained

A great article HERE discussing the issue of minimum wage and why raising it is not a magic fix.

Just like Obamacare raising the minimum wage may help a few but it will harm far more folks than it helps.  It will probably hurt the economy and slow down job growth as folks slow or stop hiring since they can't afford the higher rate.  Some companies may be forced to lay folks off over this. . .

Go give it a read.  There is no such thing as an easy fix to these issues and if you think there is you are not looking at the full picture. . . or you are in Congress and don't care as long as you can buy a few votes.

Children in Harms Way

Saw this on a post about the latest school shooting:

According to a recent article in The Daily Beast, there have been 25 school shootings in 2013 with a total of 18 lives lost. Not mentioned in that story is the fact that 1,600 children on average die of child abuse and neglect each year in the U.S. -- more than 4 per day -- and 60% at the hands of a parent or family member. That's a Newtown tragedy every five days without end.

The fact is -- school shootings are responsible for less than 1% of child homicides each year but seem to garner 99% of the media's and public's attention. So while we acknowledge the tragedy of this particular shooting, perhaps we could also use it as an opportunity to focus some attention on the much bigger and more prevalent problem of child abuse, which kills exponentially more children per year.

This was posted in the comments.  Makes you think don't it.

The gun grabbers are all about the kids when they get shot in one of the gun free zones that the gun grabbers created.  If they really care about the kids why don't they get upset or grab the front page of the papers and top of the news casts with info on child abuse or neglect?

This shows the facts.  The sad truth is they don't care about the kids.  They love these shootings because they can use them to go after our civil rights and our guns.  They don't care about the kids they care about grabbing power in our country and an armed populous prevents that.

By the way a quick Google search shows that according to the .gov the numbers this person quoted.  There were 1570 killed last year alone.  Data is HERE.

Why are we wasting our time on guns when so many kids are killed by neglect and abuse?  Someone please tell me?  Isn't it time we stop playing politics with our kids lives? 

Another School Shooting. . .

I love how the news is editing this story to only let you get the facts they want. . . but they failed and word has gotten out on the net.

This 18yr old who I won't name was looking to kill the debate teacher that dropped him from the team.  He showed up at school with a shot gun, a machete, and Molotov cocktail.  I guess the laws about weapons on school grounds didn't stop him. . . .

What they don't tell you is he was a socialist who was proud of it and took bullying over it.  He was what you would call a committed Socialist.  He was also very much for gun control and like making fun of Republicans.  He also has a squeaky clean record so no gun law would have flagged him or stopped him from getting a gun.  The gun he used was a normal shotgun that no one even talks about when they want to ban things. . .

What this anti-American dirt bag did was go the school and shoot some girl that they don't think had any ties to him at all.  He then shot and killed himself.  Over within 80 seconds.

I have heard one report that he bought the gun a week ago.

It is sad that he didn't just shot himself and save this poor girl a lot of pain and suffering for nothing.

Oh and by the way this keeps the streak going. . . the other mass shooters you hear about have all been Dems. . . . in Newtown, in Aurora, etc. . . .

Affluenza is BS

THIS story makes me SICK

A little rich kid PUNK kills four people while drunk driving.

Normal sentence for this? 5-20 years

He gets 10 years PROBATION with NO JAIL.

why you ask?

His lawyers say he is too rich, and his parents let him have everything so he does not know right from wrong so he should not be held responsible for his actions. . . . .

This is what is wrong with the country.

It was just on the news and the juvi hall he will do his probation in looks like an expensive spa but the lawyers tell you he is being punished because he won't have his X.

This is SICK!

All the families who lost loved ones have left is to sue in civil court.  I hope they wreck these folks bank accounts.  That this "kid" is not rotting in jail is sickening.  And we wonder why kids these days have no respect for life, or each other, or right from wrong. . . .I guess we got the answer.

Buderus Boilers

Folks if you are ever told to get one of these Buderus heaters/boilers for your house fire the guy right then and there and run.  I ended up with mine because I let the contractor for the addition pick the boiler instead of going to my oil guy. . . . live and learn.  I am told they are one of the best. . . ya, maybe for the repair guy but not for me. . . .

I had one of these put into my home when we added an in-law apartment.  It worked for about 1 maybe 2 years and that was it.  it has been six years now because I can't afford to toss it but every six months or so I need to have my oil guy come back and fix it.  If I ever hit the lotto this thing is out with the trash as soon as the first check clears.

This sucks in a New England winter when it can get cold and the heat goes out. . .  .

I will NEVER own one of these again.  If I move and one is in the new home that is a deal breaker for me.

To put it simply they SUCK!  I have the repair bills to prove it.

GOAL Concealed Carry Class

I would love to thank GOAL for putting on a great class on "The Art of Concealed Carry" at my gun club last night.  The instructors were Jon Green, GOAL’s Director of Education and Training and Attorney Lisa Steele Esq.

The class was a bit over four hours long and covered many of the legal and practical issues involved in carrying a gun in Massachusetts.  We have many confusing and sometimes contradictory laws in this state that you need to know to carry without breaking the rules.

The class started with Lisa giving us a great presentation on the various laws in MA and how they come into play.  Where can you carry?  How do you lock it up in the car if you have to?  What happens if you have to defend yourself?  These are just a few of the things she got into.  

Now I have been a pro gun advocate for years now (just ask my Reps at the State House I am sure they are sick of all my emails = )    ) but I still learned a lot from this class.  It was good to get you thinking about what you would do, and what the law says you can do. . . .

It was also great to get some insight from someone who deals with this for a living in the courts here and to get a feeling for how you will be treated if you have to defend yourself.  The best part of this is you get a great view of how the law will be looking at what happened if you ever do have to defend yourself or your family.

She was full of great advice and stories to help educates us in this critical information.  I know I learned a lot and would recommend this course in a second to anyone that is going to carry in MA.

After the presentation from Lisa we had Jon give us a great class in how to carry concealed.  It was funny to watch as he managed to pull out nine guns from various places on him that you really could not tell he had if you were looking at him.

From there Jon went over the different ways to carry and the good and bad points of the most popular based on his experience.  He also had a lot of good info on what NOT to do if you carry so you don't give away the fact you are armed.  You don't want the bad guy to know and you don't want to have the cops asking you questions do you?

We ended the night with a few roll playing scenarios to look at how you react to an issue, and then discussed what we felt was good or bad about how the actors reacted in each situation.  I won't give away the scenarios but they were very much what you could face any day and there is no right or wrong answers for them.

This was a great night and again I highly recommend taking this class if you are an instructor or someone who carries in MA.  It brings up many issues that you may not have thought of that you really need to know and gives you a lot to think about so you can be prepared to carry and do it legally in MA.  Go take this course if you get the chance.

Unemployment is Down

Well at least according to CNN. . . .

I would be thrilled if it was true but I doubt it.  All they have done is change how they calculate it now so it looks good for the sheep.

You see they count added jobs but don't bother to tell you how many are seasonal and or underemployed.

But the big lie is they don't count folks who have been out of work so long now that they are no longer collecting unemployment.  The .gov says they are no longer looking for work so they don't count.

Isn't that great?  If you can't find a job and it has been longer than the .gov says then you obviously don't want to work so they won't count you.  You don't exist any more.

Don't buy it.  Unemployment is still way up there folks.  Many folks have had to take temp jobs or part time just to try to pay the bills.  The Obama plan has done nothing to help us.  We need new folks in DC that will actually do something and get America back to work.

Unskilled Labor

So the fast food folks who are unskilled labor want to have their wage doubled from $7.25 to $15 an hour. . .

Do they really think in this economy that the companies can afford this or that others will pay it?

Please tell me how many jobs would be lost if this pay rate goes through . . . . how many folks would just stop going to a fast food joint.

It is basic folks.  I don't go to McDonalds  because it is great food.  I go because it is cheap and tastes OK for the price.  And I can afford to feed the family there.

Now double all the prices and you are now on par with a sit down restaurant.  If I am going to pay sit down restaurant prices why settle for fast food?

The simple answer is I won't.  All the money I spend at the fast food joints will be gone as I go someplace else to eat. . . . so they won't need as many workers and they will lay off folks and close stores.

It is that simple.  You don't have to like that the job is only worth minimum wage, but facts are facts and doubling the cost will cost jobs.

Democrats and Socialists

While watching a story on the history of our Submarine Service it hit me this morning.

How can anyone sane support Socialism?  You look at the history of the USA vs USSR and I just don't get it.  Even the poor here are better off than most in Russia, yet Obama and co. still want to be socialist.

Now I see why Obama wants to be a Socialist, he wants to be on top and one of the few that is well off while the rest of us slave for him.

But how can his supporters support him?  Even the most basic look at the two countries shows how successful the USA is at raising the standard of living for all, and how much of a failure the USSR/Russia is.

I just can't get my head around it.  The only excuse I can see is ignorance or stupidity to explain support of Obama and his goals.

Socialism never worked, and never will.  If you want to see why look at an East German car vs a West German car and you will see it all.

This was the East German or Socialist idea of a car. . .

And this is the West German or Capitalist idea of a car

Which one do you thing works better?

Which system do you think really allowed it's people to move forward, advance technology and have a better life?