CrankyYankee
Joined: 03/20/2007
Posts: 5

Recent Comments by CrankyYankee
What makes me mad in Walker County is...
10/29/2008 10:09:02 AM
Humbucker, I am curious if you sit in front of a microphone from 1 to 4 pm. Your writing seems similar to my second favorite Chattanooga OPED person, with Jeff being the first.... Don't shout at me... I am on your side more than you think.
What makes me mad in Walker County is...
10/29/2008 09:59:17 AM
The first step is to seperate this into the two different categories that apply to the situation.

First, the reason for arrest. They were arrested for possession, which upon first hearing this conjured up a vision of sipping hot toddy's from hip flasks on the sidelines to keep warm....Nope! Surely, they had to have a keg in the back of a pick up truck with a "We are here to stomp your Pirate @$$" sign, bragging like fool-hearty college fans.....nada

You mean they had a couple of beers over dinner before a game, and were arrested for possession of a belly full of barley. Better start building the jails, near college towns, convention centers and sports arenas...

In the event that these individuals were loud, boisterous,cursing or in any way making a scene, I am certain that the whitfield county law enforcement would have added the charge of Drunk and Disorderly. But thats not the case, so I will not pay any attention to the rumors of such behavior. Along with any of the other rumors that are being thrown out without any validation. Thrown out to be used as a wedge issue against administrators, superintentdants, or School board officials. Yes, imagine that people are trying to make political hay out of this. I suspect the charges will be dismissed when a good lawyer gets involved, as they should be. The real issue to ponder is who drove. Four persons were charged, and all had a blood alcohol level at least an hour and a half after being arrested. Logic states that they drank at dinner prior to the game which would have concluded around 6:45 pm (just a guess). But they were reportedly signed into jail just prior to 10pm. Aside from embarassment to the arrest, the men involved need to realize this was a close call of another sort, which is the more important lesson here. Lesson - A few guys going out for a few beers needs to be done responsibly, otherwise the consequences are just around the corner.

Secondly the issue of judgement.

For a while now I have been wondering about the logic of having to drink in conjuction with other events. My personal rule to imbibe upon is when I don't have to go anwyhere, and I am able to be under the influence with no responsibilities to be depended upon. For instance camping at a music festival, or sharing a bottle of wine with friends over dinner.
But not before I am going to be represtenting my employer, not in the midst of impressionable children who are struggling for role models in our area. If some of these kids had better role models at home they wouldn't have the drop out rate that we experience, but thats a shameful topic for another time. As a former part-time coach while in college, I do not understand why a person would take this type of risk. Risk their personal careers, the displayed conduct of character in front of the students from both schools who may have come into contact with them prior to the game. I believe that they had an obvious smell of beer that several people noticed, and someone decided they didn't need to be at the game, which is what most people would want.

Let's pretend for a second that it was some dottering old man smelling of alcohol trying to get in the LaFayette gate past an SRO, I think most people expect that scenario to ended with the individual at least being turned away from admittance to a game, and possibly an arrest (don't forget he had to drive).

I don't believe there is any criminal case here. But it's hard to tell kids not to drink before Prom, even bringing smashed up vehicles to "drive" the point home, when their coaches are drinking then going to high school football games.

How to resolve this.......

I believe along with others on this blog in a second chance. But you have to teach these teachers a lesson in the process. The two most effective ways to do this are financial and shaming.

First the coaches would surrender their coaching stipend for the year and publicly turn over a check to MADD, or another alcohol awareness related campaign. After all a DUI would run between $6000 - 8000. Secondly they would have to go and speak candidly with students about their experience, using better judgement, ETC. No they shouldn't be fired, suspended maybe, but this is a case of bad judgement in a personal situation carrying over to how they are percieved professionally in public among their peers.

They are still capable teachers and dedicated coaches whom I have personally seen serving the community with their teams helping give out free Thanksgiving meals to help the less fortunate. For those who are being overbearing and unrealisitc, I hope you never make a mistake but chances are that you already have....We all do, it's what we learn from those mistakes that make the difference.
Focus on Fuel: How government agencies are feeling the strain and what they are doing to offset it
08/18/2008 10:40:42 AM
Well you could always do like the private sector and just under-reimburse your employees for mileage expense.

Law enforcement is sworn to duty, and I am guessing that citizens realize an off duty officer who roles upon an accident is going to respond, or when their next door neighbors husband commits an act of domestic violence. It's not a 9-5 in an office, so lets be realistic.

However on the other hand, there is quite a bit of county employee pilfering of resources that are not theirs, vehicle usage being at the top of the list. Unfortunately, the only way to prove this would be to spend even more money on those GPS tracking devices that some bigger corporations use.

The level of apathy and indifference locally is mind-boggling, if you don't believe me, take a look at the sides of the road, especialy after it's been mowed.
Larry Brooks: Economics 101 -- Opportunity instead of crisis
08/18/2008 10:11:06 AM
http://www.debtclock.com/

The proof says otherwise. Just like a college student with a maxed out credit card you can pay me now, or you can pay me much more later. The question is who is going to do something about all of our foreign held debt, or who will try to make promises during a campaign only to find out that may not always work like former President Bush (41) did after former President Reagan's term. What will this clock look like with Sen. McCain's extending of President George W. Bush's deficits.......12 trillion....14 Trillion "Wait and see" simply amounts to someone else at the helm correcting course after being thrown off course for a while. How does "wait and see" explain the lack of oversight in the housing and lending debacle or Enron for a few examples.

American's have had their wake up call on fuel and they have no interest in the largest redistribution of wealth in the history of man. Enough of American dollars going to 24 karat gold toilets in Saudi Arabia. Let us not forget that 15 of the 16 terrorists were from that county. If they aren't lining their pockets with our dependency, they hate us to the point of commiting terrorist acts, neither of which we should stand for.

Don't forget that grandstanding on going to war with Iran and now Russia, like Sen. McCain is trying to do will cost a significant amount of money. Nevermind the fact that the war in Afganistan, the only one we should be fighting, is in much need of funds and troops where a troop surge would be a benefit.

You are correct about an American crisis could become an opportunity for China.
Larry Brooks: The greatest enemy facing America is liberalism
04/18/2008 10:51:59 AM
Ironic that a conservative writer is touting the problems of liberalism, you must not have too many positives to be writing about from the current administrations time in Washington, or the accolades of the Republican candidate which many conservatives dislike, with Ann Coulter even claiming she would vote and campaign for Hillary if John McCain is the candidate. The great successes of the 2003 tax cut, "PSSSTT, the rich people that benefited from this war-time tax cut didn't stimulate the economy, it didn't even pay for its self, but it did give them back some cash for funding 2004 campaigns".

"Robbing us of our money", last time I checked it was President Bush who doubled up the national debt, and turned a blind eye to illegals (actually offered amnesty) while watching manufacturing jobs heading further south or (far) east. Yet he continues to indebt the next generation, even giving us a rebate for an upcoming tax year when he is out of office. However, he hasn't been fiscally responsible since he took office, job well done or shall I say "Mission Accomplished".

Maybe there needs to be some offset for shipping jobs overseas, above and beyond the usual Workman's Comp payments an employer makes. Something that takes immediate, something that helps us from being inundated with lead laced toys from Mattel, or other chinsey Chinese products. However, the misguided American consumers who shop at stores, like the one previously mentioned, which have less than 20% of American made products on their shelves. As long as our American dollars go to stores and companies that are "pimping" inferior products with minimal governmental oversight, we have only ourselves to blame for the exodus of jobs from American factories.

But the illegal immigrant situation is a "catch 22". If they are here doing those jobs that other Americans don't want, they are filling a void. How many (white or black) high school dropouts do we see getting in line for jobs at chicken processing plants..... I have a feeling I could count them with one hand.... while holding a hot dog. However if we ship off the immigrants to whichever countries flag they are flying in their front yard. The corporate stiffs with their million-dollar golden parachutes in hand will just ship those jobs down there. Damned if we do and damned if we don't, so there are no simple answers.

I guess in this area I agree with you, no one is entitled to a Governmental "Golden Ticket" regardless of being here legally. However there is a need to protect the masses from our own ruination. There should be a safety net for society, not a cozy indefinite handout. If you attend school here you should have to produce a Social Security Card verified with a birth certificate, otherwise you pay for what you are receiving from the country you are choosing to live in....illegally. Just grab $1500 per student, from under the bed and pay your fair share. While you’re at it put down the six-pack or pack of cigs and pay for your child’s lunch, after all what’s more important. The illegals do have one concept others could espouse to achieve. Personal self-motivation.

The personal self-motivation of illegal workers who are after all working, which is far better than collecting a welfare check for a decade. Personal self-motivation is key in determining success in life, and is a lesson that the dropouts of Walker County and elsewhere will have the next decade to contemplate. If you plan to get ahead in life you may just get there, but failing to plan may leave you behind for quite some time.

"at the checkout line at Wal-Mart saying gimme , gimme , gimme.” - While it is true there are some who abuse the system , there are others who need it to get by in times of crisis. There does need to be a bit of Are you suggesting we turn a blind eye to the laid-off workers at Maytag, and La-Z-Boy, when the corporate greed mongers made the decision to move some of their operations to Mexico. Yes, lets cat away the workers for a small bump in the stock price of which will likely be offset by fewer sales due to lesser quality products. Yet, you have the cavalier conservative attitude of "Let them Eat Cake" Some of the extreme liberal democrats may seem like socialists, to which I say- Socialist Ideology+ American Spending habits = Soaring Taxes which would result in a short political career.

However, quite a few politicians on both sides of the aisle have made a long career of expensive pet projects and pork-barrel earmarks, ninety percent of which are done on the sly to hide who is bilking the tax payers. This is the first thing that needs to be fixed to get spending back in order, then secondly get campaign finance reform. As of April 18th there has been $435,936,662 dollars spent for this run for the Presidency, which will pay less than one tenth of one percent of that total annually in earning. Just a thought.

But that is another topic for another time..........


Cranky Yankee
Independent minds vote Independently!