Friday, January 29, 2016

St. Paul Public Schools Bans Holidays


St. Paul Public Schools Bans Holidays
UnAssociated Press
January 29, 2016


In order to make children from diverse backgrounds feel more welcome, St. Paul Public Schools plans to ban "dominant" holidays; that are enjoyed by the majority of children throughout the United States. Such horrid traditions as celebrating Valentine's Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving, will no longer be tolerated in the spirit of making everyone feel equally left-out. "How can we celebrate the pilgrims feasting and eating turkey with the indigenous Americans, when it might be upsetting to an immigrant from another country?” said one school administrator. “We just can't assume that a holiday like Thanksgiving could have a wide appeal and be a truly secular American celebration!" Already plans are in the works to eliminate Independence Day, Christmas, New Years and any other "dominant" holiday that might not be celebrated by people arriving here from other parts of the world. St. Paul Public Schools is also planning to eliminate the English language, as it could be offensive to people who speak other languages. Already heralded as a positive step in the right direction by a number of "do-gooder" white people who want to prove their political correctness, Valentine's Day will be the first to go—since it occurs already next month. "How can I feel good about a holiday that promotes love, when there is already so much hate in the world?" said one elementary school principal. This certainly does sound like a much more important and worthy goal than teaching children to embrace other cultures (and holidays) and to pursue academic achievement! I say Bravo St. Paul Public Schools! Way to make the children suffer to make your point... ummm whatever it is...

Trump Wins Debate


Trump Wins Debate
UnAssociated Press
January 29, 2016


Though Donald Trump was not at the GOP Presidential debate yesterday, he still won! Undeniably, Mr. Trump sounded smarter and more likeable when he wasn't there; than if he had attended. Furthermore, it should be (but isn't) plain to everyone that if Trump is faced with unpleasant people or situations as President, he will likely just skip the debate or conference and have his own by himself. This will be a good strategy for America—and will show the rest of the world how cooperative the USA is. It seems that no matter what Trump does, there are enough angry right-wing conservatives to prove that he is always right! Hopefully, Donald Trump will miss more events—as it can only serve to increase his popularity when he is absent!

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Trump Afraid to Debate

Donald Trump will not be participating in the GOP Presidential debate on Fox News tomorrow night. Even though Fox TV is the most conservative venue, it seems that Trump does not like Megyn Kelly. Since Kelly will be one of the moderators, Trump is going to take his toys and go home! Good for you Mr. Trump! Now we know how you will handle uncomfortable situations that might come up if you become President!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

20% Chance of Snow

Outside the window, the snow is flying sideways. On the Internet, the weather report says that there is a 20% chance of snow. The fact that it is snowing quite a lot right now leads me to believe the chance is actually far greater than that. But the good news is that if the snow is flying sideways, there should be no accumulation right? It should just blow away!

Friday, January 22, 2016

Business as Usual

I've actually been pretty busy in my job. But I have gotten pretty good at it so I can do it pretty fast. Therefore I can keep up with the current workload and do some other projects. Still, the manager had to throw another rewrite of some documentation at me today—with the (highly motivating) comment that I'm "not that busy right now." It made my blood boil. I said to look at "sent" mail instead of incoming to gauge the activity level. It seems that if I work fast and keep the customers satisfied, it translates into "not that busy" to someone who looks only at the number of unfinished requests. So should I work more slowly then?

MONDAY UPDATE: I just finished Friday's work. I haven’t started the stuff that came in over the weekend. I’m going to have lunch first since I’m really "not that busy." I might be able to start on today’s work this afternoon. It’s great being appreciated.

Updated Update: Apparently we have an office tattle-tale who is monitoring what is up on other people's computer screens. That is interesting, because I have seen lots of non-work related things on other coworker's monitors. It is my experience, that those who do this behind the back stuff are often the people who are the worst offenders themselves. It is interesting because many of us have something else up while we work. One coworker watches golf. Another plays video games. I know they all do a lot of work too and I would never have thought to make an issue of it.

Eastern U.S. Closes Before Winter Storm

Why wait for the snow if you can close now!!!

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/21/us/winter-snowstorm-washington-blizzard/

The Pounders


By Kevin J. Curtis


    On the Planet Ganus 12, things were not good. There was a rift that had developed between the inhabitants and it was blamed on how they looked—rather than how they acted. It was looked at superficially without ever trying to understand the true reality of the unfortunate situation.

    The Pounders looked like everyone else in most ways. They had two eyes, two arms, two legs a nose and mouth just like everyone did. Except that they had wedge-shaped heads. Oh don’t get me wrong, there was nothing substantially wrong with their heads; they were just wedge-shaped. The Pounders’ heads were of relatively normal size and were topped by normal looking hair.

    Most Pounders went to school, had jobs and were hardly noticed by the rest of society—except for one thing. A certain percentage of Pounders were involved in an activity that had led to the unfortunate name this group had become known by. There were some who for no apparent reason, would suddenly jump upon an unsuspecting victim and pound that person with their fists!

    After some time, other people became wary of the Pounders; even if most of them didn’t usually pound anyone. But the trouble was, there was no way to know if the Pounder standing next to you on the street corner was merely waiting for the traffic signal or if they were ready to pound you!

    Even the police had to take notice of the trend. They began eyeing the Pounders suspiciously. This was unfortunate for the majority of Pounders who were not engaged in pounding other people. This went on for a long while and no one thought much about why the Pounders were more likely to pound people than non-Pounders were. But over time, the blame began to shift toward the non-Pounders.

    It was argued that the non-Pounders were acting negatively toward the Pounders. Non-Pounders, it was argued, did not want Pounders working in their businesses or coming into their establishments. The police were even condemned for handling Pounders too severely when they were called in to stop a pounding or to arrest a Pounder who had just perpetrated a pounding.

   So this went on and on until eventually the Pounders had had enough! They organized protests and boycotts and publicly condemned the mistreatment that they had received at the hands of the non-Pounder community. They were joined by non-Pounders who agreed with them and who had their own reasons for making sure that all Pounders were treated fairly!

   Still, no one sought to address the underlying issues. Was it poor parenting? Was it a lack of education? What was the primary cause of the Pounders propensity toward pounding people? It was largely decided through public opinion, that the root cause of the pounding issue was the fault of non-Pounders, police, the system, education and lack of opportunities. In no way were the Pounders responsible for their own behavior. As this notion prevailed, new generations of Pounders were brought up to believe that they were always in the right and so they continued pounding and protesting and relations between the various groups continued to deteriorate.

   Finally, after a long struggle, the issue of Pounder rights was taken up by the Supreme Court of Ganus 12! In a unanimous decision, the court ruled in favor of Pounder rights and so Pounders were given special considerations in hiring and housing and other areas where they had been discriminated against in the past.

   But it was not enough. The Pounders were angry, the non-Pounders felt guilty. One non-Pounder spoke to a news reporter from his hospital bed while recovering from a recent pounding and said that he was indeed “asking for” a pounding when he was assaulted.

   Finally, the President of Ganus 12 spoke on television and said that any disrespect of the Pounders would not be tolerated on Ganus 12! Anyone caught discriminating against Pounders would be severely punished. There was much cheering and revelry after the important speech and the President was very pleased with himself. And as he got out of his car and began to walk to the front door of his house, a person with a wedge-shaped head jumped out from behind the bushes and pounded him!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-butt Endorses Trump

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-butt Endorses Trump
UnAssociated Press
January 21, 2016


First Vladimir Putin endorsed Donald Trump and then Sarah Palin did. With outstanding backers such as that, it was only a matter of time before the leader of North Korea followed suit. If anyone is wondering if Trump is fit to lead the United States, they only need to look as far as who his supporters are.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

This is the Status Quo in America

No one is responsible for anything anymore. It’s the police’s fault or the “system” or white people or education or anything except for themselves.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

CuTRis to Boycott This Year's Oscars


CuTRis to Boycott This Year's Oscars
UnAssociated Press
January 19, 2016


CuTRis is calling for an all-out boycott of this year's Oscars; because he says there are not enough bald people who were nominated. Citing the need for more diversity in gratuitous award ceremonies, CuTRis said that he would not be present this year. "I believe this is the most mature way to handle my upsetedness," said CuTRis.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Olá Portugal!

Hoje povo português está lendo meu blog!
Olá! Obrigado pela leitura!

What Would MLK Think of Trump?

The Peanuts Movie

Yesterday being below zero temperatures all day, we took our son to see The Peanuts Movie at the cheap theater. The movie was good and at 88 minutes was just about as much as a four-year-old could sit still for—even if he was thoroughly into it. The movie contained all the original shtick that one would expect plus a few new twists. In my opinion, Charlie Brown may have the widest appeal of any comic/cartoon character. Of course the supporting cast is exceptional too. I highly recommend the movie for children of all ages.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Charter School Discusses Transmogrification Policy

A long and possibly unnecessary meeting took place yesterday as a St. Paul Charter School discussed its Transmogrification Policy. Students are already forbidden to harass each other over transmogrifying into new forms. That is not good enough for the various groups who want to protect transmogrified students by pushing non-political issues into the political arena. The child(ren) involved are likely too young to fully understand the concept of transmogrification—and fortunately there are plenty of politically correct adults who are ready to make a big deal out of it to further education, liberalism and confusion about who "we" all are.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Is It Cold Enough Yet?


Minneapolis/St. Paul

Clear
-6°
4° | -8°
  • Feels like: -25° F
  • Wind: WNW 13mph
  • Humidity: 75%
For all those people who thought Winter was too mild this year.

Tuesday, January 05, 2016

January Grilling

Aside from having to go out into the cold and that it gets dark earlier, there is really no reason that you can't grill in the winter. You might even enjoy that "taste of summer" more when there is snow on the ground! I made this on Sunday...

Charcoal Grill

Grilled Chicken Legs


Grilled Sweet Potato


Which Lives Matter?

Amongst all the talk about police "gunning down" people of African-American ancestry, I keep seeing stories like this one.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2016/01/04/police-maplewood-woman-strangled-in-home-invasion/

Then I start wondering if "everyone" has lost focus about which lives matter?
Does anyone protest after a child is killed or after (as in the story I mentioned above) an elderly woman was robbed at gunpoint and then strangled and left for dead? Does this elderly woman not matter and if so why not? Is she the wrong color to matter? I think most of us can agree that all lives matter. However, I would seriously wonder about that person who could steal the money and valuables that an older, weaker person had worked for—and then stand over her and listen to her choke and watch her pain as he strangles the life out of her. Does this person really deserve a protest when the day comes that he is confronted by police? What kind of message are "we" teaching to our young people? Shouldn't we drop the false ideas that are so harmful to all people of all colors? Don't get me wrong, the radical right is as bad as the radical left. Especially when they are angry and armed. Banning all Muslims or pretending that all black people who are shot by police are innocent is wrong. If the man who strangled this woman and left her for dead is shot by police while resisting arrest, will anyone care that he strangled an old lady and left her for dead? Likely not as much as caring about using the story to push a false agenda.

Update: http://kstp.com/news/stories/s4008251.shtml

Update: http://kstp.com/news/stories/S4010406.shtml?cat=1

Update: http://kstp.com/news/stories/S4011627.shtml?cat=1