Monday Medley

Over the weekend, an unnamed senior government official announced that BP will replace Tony Hayward as CEO in October. Later that day, a senior BP official announced that in 2012 the United States will replace Barack Obama as their president.

On Saturday, seven men were charged in Randolph County with participating in a cockfighting ring. Six of the seven are being held for federal authorities for deportation. Maybe those folks in Arizona are on to something.

Arizona has evidently discovered that there is no need to import criminals when we have an ample supply of domestic criminals.

About forty years ago at the Waffle House in Tampa, one of our waitresses was reading a story in the Tampa Tribune about a cockfighting ring in Riverview being raided. Earlene was stunned to find out that it involved roosters.

We have an employee who dons a chef's coat and hat to promote the restaurant. He entertains passing motorists, while holding signs such as "Chef Bobby says, All you can eat pancakes. $2.49" A customer asked me one night, "Is he a real chef?" I answered his question with one of my own, "Are those real cows at Chic Fil A?"

We celebrated "Christmas in July" at the restaurant yesterday. I was trying to explain this to a customer when she asked me, "Is that why there is a Christmas tree in the lobby?" Yes, and that will also explain why that man over there is dressed as Santa.

I love online language!! I don't understand it, of course, but that's another story. I got a message telling me that I needed to "friend" someone on Facebook. I'm old, "friend" is a noun, not a verb. I miss Alexander Haig. That guy could turn nouns into verbs quicker than I can cuss. Haig could spit out acronyms and abbreviations at the speed of sound. If he were alive today, he would be teaching all those BFF's, WTF's, OMG's, and LOL's how to communicate. I'm in charge here!!

This just in!!- The Encore

On Friday I received a comment from KB at Guilford College about my post on Thursday. Here is his or her comment:

I've thought some of your thoughts before, but hadn't taken the time to publish them. I appreciate your comments. I have heard this opposing argument and want to get your opinion on it.
-Most colleges are historically white and male. And congress, yep, mostly white and male. So, an all female college and an historically black college and a negro college fund are all unique and important for the minority to feel heard within the majority. There's no need to call a school historically white... when all of them were.

Your thoughts?

First, like late night radio DJ's, it is always shocking to bloggers to find out that someone is listening. Having said that, let's give it a shot.

The argument that the United Negro College Fund, all-women's schools, and historically black colleges are important so that the minority can be heard within the majority has no legs. The Ku Klux Klan is attempt to see that a minority can be heard within a majority. To quote Dr. Phil, "How's that working for you?" To have a successful group, team, or society, some individuality must be surrendered.

If your goal is to make sure that we are all equal under the law and have equal opportunity, then it is simply insane to allow groups that are defined by race or gender. If race or gender should play no part in one's qualifications for school or a job or a political office, then why point it out??

If it's okay for women to go to schools without men, how can you possibly deny men the similar right to attend school without women? Is there some magic at women's schools that prevents them from seeing the unfairness of this situation? There have been scores of studies done showing the benefits of single sex education. Why won't we allow men to benefit from this?

There is a Congressional Black Caucus and there are two Congressional Hispanic Caucuses. I hate to quote people considered by some to be extremists, but on January 25, 2007, Representative Tom Tancredo, R-Co., spoke out against the continued existence of the Congressional Black Caucus as well as the Democratic Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Republican Congressional Hispanic Conference saying, "It is utterly hypocritical for Congress to extol the virtues of a color-blind society while officially sanctioning caucuses that are based solely on race. If we are serious about achieving the goal of a colorblind society, Congress should lead by example and end these divisive, race-based caucuses." Tancredo is correct.

The congress of the United States has more than 40 black members. The Congressional Black Caucus has no white members. They don't allow them. Can you say hypocrite?

Historically black colleges are struggling to maintain their role as the school of choice for blacks. They feel that this is essential to their survival. Can you picture someone at Harvard suggesting that if you are white, Harvard is the school for you due to their long history of educating white folks??

If you desire to assimilate into a society and receive equal treatment, you cannot keep pointing out that you should receive special treatment because you are different. I don't care what the law is, this is about human nature and human responses.

Here's the bottom line. If you define yourself or make decisions about others based on race or gender, by definition, you are a racist or a sexist. That applies to institutions as well as individuals. The Black Panthers are just as racist as the Aryan Nation boys. The Black Congressional Caucus is no better than the Council of Conservative Citizens. Historically black colleges trying to remain majority-black are making the same arguments that George Wallace made at the University of Alabama in the 1960's. They are all making judgements based on race. They are all wrong.

Racism is not the exclusive province of middle-aged, white males. If you don't believe me, turn on a radio and listen to some rap.


P.S.
A little background on the blogger. I have spent more than 40 years in the food service industry. Food service may be the most multi-cultural industry in the country. I have managed restaurants that looked like the United Nations. In 1975, as an operations manager, I spent several months at a Waffle House on Golfair Boulevard in Jacksonville, Florida while we trained a manager. The customers were more than 90%black and the staff was more than 75% black. I have experienced what it is like to be in the minority. I didn't form an association of white managers.

Thursday- This Just In!!!

The National Enquirer claims that there are two more Al Gore sex incidents being investigated by police.

There are two phrases that I had hoped to never see together in print, "Al Gore" and "Sex scandal". Who knew that one day global warming would affect Al's pants?? What did you expect? Al did spend eight years studying at the feet of the master, Bill Clinton.

Carolyn Coleman, Guilford County Commissioner, went to Raleigh the other day to participate in a protest against the Wake County School Board's decision to bring back neighborhood schools. She views this as a return to segregation. Apparently Carolyn is color blind. James B. Dudley High School, just a few miles from Coleman's home, is comprised of 94% black students, 3% Hispanic students, 1.1% mixed race students, less than .7% white students, and less than .2% Asian students. These numbers are from the school's official website. The question Coleman needs to answer is "Why is it OK to have a neighborhood school like Dudley in Greensboro, but not in Raleigh?" The answer is simple. Coleman, like many others, believes that integration means "I can go to your school but you can't come to mine." Why aren't black leaders in Greensboro calling for Dudley's student body to match the racial makeup of the entire Guilford County school system? The answer is again amazingly simple. They believe that blacks are entitled to have "their" school, but whites and other groups are not allowed to have "their" school. What's the hypocrisy level in this??

This liberal thought process is why we have a Congressional Black Caucus, but not a White Caucus. We have a United Negro College Fund, but not a United Caucasian College Fund. We have Historically Black Colleges but not Historically White Colleges. But before you assume that liberal stupidity is all about race, it isn't.There are only one or two all-male colleges left in this country, while there are almost 200 all-female colleges left in this country, one here in Greensboro. This is the result of a dumbass liberal concept of equality that says "Equality means that I can have what you have, but you can't have what I have."

The Greensboro ABC Board is meeting today in regards to a critical report issued last week about the ABC manager. The real problem is that the government is responsible for the distribution and sale of liquor in the state. What business is it that the government runs so well that would make you think that they could operate anything??

I have to take a different route to work today. A couple of lanes on U.S. 29 are blocked by an overturned tractor trailer that was hauling turkeys to a processing plant in Virginia. Cleanup efforts have been hampered by motorists stopping to secure a free Thanksgiving dinner.

Road Trip Rant

A few weeks ago, I made my regular trip to Ft. Walton Beach to visit my mother. A few thoughts from my trip.

Attention Highway Planners!!! Make my life easier and put in a lane for those of us willing to drive somewhere near the speed limit. About one more asshole riding my bumper while I drive in the right lane, and I'm going to be the poster boy for road rage.

In my travels, I have seen roads, bridges, and even interchanges named after someone. In South Carolina, I stopped to get gas and drove past a sidewalk named after someone. I can see it now. "Make a right after you pass the Gilbert Jones sidewalk."

But South Carolina is the state where they give out all of those warning tickets for walking on the wrong side of the highway. I got one of those when I was twelve. That's a story for another day.

In South Carlina I passed some porn shop, pardon me, adult bookstore, located next to I-85. Only in the heart of the Bible Belt would you locate a porn shop by the busiest road in the state. I don't know about you, but if I ever get the urge to visit an "adult bookstore", I want a little more privacy. Who wants all of their friends and relatives to see them carting a stack of movies and toys out of that place? What the hell, it is South Carolina.

Atlanta. One day I am going to invent a time travel machine. When I do, I am going back in time and get Gen. William T. Sherman. I am taking his butt to Atlanta and tell him to finish the job this time.

HOV lanes?? It DOES NOT stand for honkey operated vehicles. Irritated by the number of vehicles in the HOV lane with one occupant passing me, I started keeping count. In about an hour, 41 cars with one occupant passed in the HOV lane. Four (4) had white male drivers, one (1) had a white female driver. To prevent any misunderstanding of this data, the other vehicles had live drivers, not remote control. I can't decide if the 41 violators could not read or could not count. Nah, that's just one of those laws that applies to other folks.

Stupid Trooper Tricks

The commander of the North Carolina Highway Patrol, Randy Glover, resigned last week. In office for less than a year, he has been plagued by a rash of "stupid trooper tricks." In a meeting with Governor Beverly Perdue, he offered his resignation and Aunt Bev accepted it. Tough ending for a guy who has been alleged to be more than friends with Aunt Bev.

Aunt Bev has been in office for less than two years, it seems like longer to those of us who live in North Carolina. Where is that ethical administration she promised? Only Obama is a bigger crook than Aunt Bev.

The NC Highway Patrol is an organization in need of a good ass kicking. Here's a list of incidents recently published that involve the Highway Patrol since Aunt Bev took the reins.

"Maj. Everett Clendenin: The patrol's spokesman for much of the last decade, Clendenin resigned June 23 after he sent more than 2,600 messages, many of them sexually explicit, to his secretary. (2600 messages in less than 3 months, when was he working?)

Capt. James Williams Jr.: Williams, who supervised patrol operations in a 12-county area that includes Wake, was fired May 13 after he was caught driving drunk while off duty on Interstate 85. Three officers from Butner Public Safety, a state agency, were also fired for failing to arrest Williams, deciding instead to give the trooper a ride to a nearby motel.(How many of us would get a ride to a hotel in a similar situation?)

Trooper Larry B. Lovick: Lovick, of Raleigh, resigned June 7. He is under investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation after a report of criminal misconduct against a woman during a May traffic stop. The patrol has refused to release further information about the incident.

Master Trooper Timothy S. Stiwinter: Stiwinter resigned June 25 after being charged by Asheville police with drunken driving and felony hit and run. A trooper since 1999, Stiwinter was arrested after a late-night wreck in which a vehicle ran a red light and hit a car, before leaving the scene. Stiwinter, who was off duty at the time, was later stopped by a police officer, who smelled alcohol on the trooper's breath and noted that he appeared unsteady.

Trooper Anthony Scott: Scott was fired in February. He had been at the home of a Pittsboro lawyer with whom he was having a relationship when her estranged husband showed up, choked her and threatened her with a gun. Scott, who was on duty, failed to intervene.

Trooper Ronald Ezzell Jr.: The patrol dismissed Ezzell, a helicopter pilot and 19-year veteran in February 2009 after he showed a doctored photo of a naked boy with a large penis to a state credit union teller, claiming it was a childhood snapshot of himself. He was in uniform and in a patrol car at the time.(It doesn't get any dumber than this!)

Trooper Shawn C. Houston: Houston, who lives in Granite Falls, was charged in October with cruelty to animals and injury to real property, both misdemeanors, after he trapped his neighbor's 5-month-old kitten and shot it to death. The patrol dismissed him in January.

Trooper Timothy J. White: White, of Salisbury, was fired in June 2009 after he had a drunken sexual encounter with another trooper's wife in the back seat of a car headed home from a Christmas party. The woman's husband was in the front seat at the time. (Which one of the three told?)

Trooper Thomas C. Wetherington: A trooper since 2007, Wetherington was fired in August over lying about the fate of a campaign hat lost by the side of the highway at night."

A quick review of these incidents makes one thing clear, there's an alcohol problem in the Highway Patrol. Is there a problem with sex-related issues?? Check this out from the Charlotte Observer.

"Since 1998, at least 30 members of the patrol have been disciplined or fired for sexual misconduct, including having on-duty sex encounters in and on their patrol cars. During one romp, a trooper inadvertently dropped his state-issued handgun, which was later found by children. He received a five-day suspension.

Trooper Michael Steele Jr. was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for abducting and fondling Hispanic women at traffic stops in Orange County in 2008 and then threatening them with deportation if they told.

Two years ago, the Highway Patrol hired a team of outside consultants to examine its troubled culture.

According to their report, the consultants concluded that the patrol is "an exceedingly macho, pseudo-military culture" where some veteran troopers described sex on the job as 'an expected fringe benefit.'"

Well, enough about booze and sex, in my next post, we will discuss their driving habits.