1. Uniform rights
A teen-ager was told that she could not wear a religious scarf while marching in a parade with her fellow ROTCers. A national Muslim civil rights group has filed suit.
Although I have no love for the ROTC, and believe that they should not be allowed to operate in our public schools, in this case, I think that the ROTC officers were right. What kind of military organization would it be if everybody wore a differently styled uniform? And what about separation of Church and State?
This reminds me of a decision I made when I was a Claims Authorizer for the Social Security Administration. A beneficiary wrote a letter asking that a religious abreviation be appended to his last name, so that it would appear on his monthly check. I thought about it, and figured "what harm could that do?" I made the change.
Letters started to come in from hundreds of other members of his religious sect, and changes were also made for them because of my precedent-setting decision.
However, shortly thereafter, hundreds of letters started coming in from members of a rival religious group which had found out about the changes. They wanted similar changes made to reflect their beliefs. Oh Oh! I had opened the proverbial "can of worms". Now I was in big trouble... so, a decision was made that all of the name changes already made had to be undone, and no changes of that type be allowed in the future. Such name change problems should not occur now that (supposedly) all Social Security benefits are deposited electronically to bank accounts.
I wonder what happens to the checks for people who cannot get bank accounts. Are they deposited in the bank accounts of Representative Payees?
2. Billionaires' Lament
I read where the rising cost of health care is causing trouble for Walmart and they are about to cut health benefits for some future employees and raise premium costs for others. The corporation employees a million and a half workers, so their employee costs must be astronomical.. but so are their profits, I've been told. I've also been told that their dividend rate is very low and profits are instead plowed back into the company.
Just try to get a parking place at the Westminster, Maryland store. The lot is always full. In contrast, the parking lot at the K-Mart in nearby Eldersburg, Maryland is almost empty, almost all of the time. Walmart has got to be making lots of money. Therefore, it seems to me that Walmart can well afford to "eat" the rise in the price of health care for their employees and should stop their complaining.
To be fair, I did visit the local Walmart recently and some charitable information was posted near the rest rooms, where all should be able to read it. It said that in 2010:
Walmart donated $19,299,556.00 within the State of Maryland.
Walmart donated $1,000.00 to each of these Carroll County entities:
Carroll County Public Library
Mission of Mercy
Literary Council
Walmart donated $467,000,000.00 in cash or in kind within the USA.
Walmart donated 99,000,000 meals within the USA.
Walmart employees contributed 1,500,000 volunteer hours within the USA.
3. Listen up!
Reverend Lou Piel has a solution for some of the ugly devisiveness that is presently plaguing our country. In his Column this week he makes a very powerful point: "... Knowing what I believe but being open to the thoughts of others creates a more healthy society. Good dialogue tends to break down the walls that we ourselves have created."
4. At last.. a raise!
It has just been announced that there will be an increase in Social Security benefits in January. A cost of living 3.6% increase is supposed to take place then. Of course, this also means that rents for the elderly will also rise. Where is President Nixon when we need him? Old Tricky Dick did a lot of bad things, but he also put a cap on prices for a while, to let people take a breath of fresh air and keep a few bucks for themselves.
5. Label Names
Since I have always loved junk mail, I have always gotten lots of it. For the past few years, I have tried to keep it confined by renting a post office box, but it still shows up at my home each day. Have you ever looked at your name on these mailings? Sometimes they get quite creative, at least for me.
For instance, at some long-ago point of time, I replied to a survey. Whoever ran the survey sent me a "thank you", addressed to Josurv Vaughan. The surveyer sold my name to mailers and now every few days I get junk mail with that name.
Yesterday, I got a piece of mail from the Learning Company. It was addressed to Joseph Called Vaughan. Since I don't have a middle name, I appreciate their gift to me. (I did call their 800 # once.)
(I gave a speech once at a Toastmasters Club meeting in which I told everyone about my love of junk mail. At the next meeting, I was presented with a massive pile of junk mail the other members had saved up for me. )
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My hour is up. See ya!
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