Is The Glass Half Empty, Or Half Full?

Nobody’s Opinion; The brain works in a very funny way, at least mine does. I try to control my brain. I’ve given up.

Is there anyone out there who actually has control of his or her own brain? You do...?

Well, I can make a bet that you do not work for any department of the United States Government.

Neurologists have studied the brain for some time now, and the best of them can’t for the life of themselves tell you exactly how it really works. Oh---they can tell you quite a bit…but the real mystery is still beyond their grasp. Not that the Japanese haven’t tried really hard.

The Japanese have seen “The Matrix” just one too many times.

For one thing, scientists can’t seem to find out where the “conscience” is. You know…the part that says “I think, therefore I am.” They can tell you where everything else is, but they really haven’t any clue how it is all processed. They can’t tell you just how imagination comes about, and I for one, don’t really care to know, because as we have seen…there is no limit to the human imagination. If we didn’t exist, we could have thought ourselves up easily.

Like cancer, bin Laden, and Noah’s Ark, it might be awhile yet for some kind of breakthrough. This mystery of the brain has not helped me with my problem, which is very annoying and uncontrollable.

I get brain glitches.

Did you ever get a brain “glitch?” You know, like the worst song of the century keeps coming back to you at the oddest moments? (“Strangers In the Night” by Frank Sinatra is one of my brain’s favorite.) and it usually comes into my head when I'm cooking pasta.

It's the excuse I give for my burnt meatballs.

Anyway there was an article I read in National Geographic many years ago. It pops up in my memory at least ten a year, because of something else that reminds me of it. Today it was an article on Newsmax, reporting about double pay for Federal Workers.

Basically it said that federal workers not only make twice the salary of the private sector, but they receive government health benefits, pension plans with inflation protection, a retirement savings plan with a very generous match, great holiday and vacations, flexible working hours, training options, etc, etc.--- In other words, if you can’t decide what to do with your life, get a government job. You can’t lose.

I did not even try to look for this article. I have every National Geographic since 1953, spread out on the upper two shelves of a bedroom closet. With no closet lights. I’m sure they will be the first thing donated to the local library after I’m gone. But it really doesn’t matter, because in my brain glitch I rememberd that article as if I had just read it again this morning, and the feeling I got after I read a few simple sentences… was not good.

The glitch came along with a severe case of dyspepsia.

The article as I remember, was about a dilemma happening somewhere on an island that was owned by France. Half the islanders worked for the government of France, and half the islanders did not. Half the people loved being dependent on the state, the other half wanted freedom.

The people, who wanted to change the status quo, were not happy campers. But they needed the help of those that did work for the government to go back to more of a democracy. Of course those that worked for France had it pretty well, and did not want to lose their jobs. So the stalemate was expected to last forever, or until the next tsunami.

And that’s what has always bothered me. Just how many people work for our Federal Government as opposed to the private sector?

Let’s see...there is the Departments of Agriculture, of Commerce, of Defense, Housing and Urban Development, The Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, Appalachian Regional Commission, Office of Personnel Management, Commission of Civil Rights, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, FCC, Federal Maritime Commission, Federal Mediation and Conciliation service, Federal Trade Commission, General Services Administration, Government Printing Office, Interstate Commerce Commission, Library of Congress, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Credit Union Administration, National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, National Labor Relations Board, National Science Foundation, President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, Railroad Retirement Board, Securities and Exchange Commission, Small Business Administration, International Trade Commission, Tennessee Valley Authority, Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, National Gallery of Art, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Action, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Department of Energy, United States Information Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Education, Harry Truman Scholarship Foundation, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, National archives and Records Administration, United States Institute of Peace,, National Council on Disability, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Executive Office of the President. (1.9 million civilian workers alone, who made $200 billion in 2004.)

Whew! Now add the Post Office, the Patent and Trademark office, all public schools teachers and administrators, Universities, and veterans hospitals, and all branches of the armed forces.

Throw in the billions that go for our Congress and all their perks, the Pentagon, NSA and black hole ops…..and those guys in the desert somewhere in area 51.

And that list was from before 9-11! Homeland Security was not invented yet.

Hillary Clinton, if elected, will double that.

Now--- just how many people work for each and every department?

I tried to find out…but there was a glitch somewhere.

Is this our "service" economy?

I have a girlfriend who became an English Teacher. She really sweated losing her job until she made tenure of three years. After that, every teacher knows they have a lifetime job, and can never be fired, as long as they don’t shot the principal. Anyway, the government will pay for their education at hardly any costs to them. So my girlfriend got a degree as a CPA.

One day she admitted that she had a problem. She did not like her job. If she quit she could be making around $70,000 a year, more than she was making as a teacher, but she would have to work long hours, and she would never get the pensions, medical, and assured standard of living raises. She has a little girl to raise alone. She needs the security. There was really no choice.

The way the system is set up it’s door number one; never have to worry or door number two, you might end up homeless.

And that’s the ominous feeling I get in the pit of my stomach. Most people who work for the government are liberal, because the government is their ticket to security. They will never stick up for freedom, and will do whatever the government asks without a thought…they could be lead to a slaughter like lambs.

So that leaves rest of us in the private sector to fight to keep freedoms.

“The federal civilian workforce has become an elite island of secure and high-paid workers, separated from the ocean of private-sector American workers who must compete in today’s economy.”

I've always wondered what happened with that little Island I read about in National Geographic.
Did the private sector convince the other half to go with them and fight for a better government?

Or is the glass still half empty?


Nobody’s Perfect: Arkansas teachers are sending home notes to parents to inform them that their kids are fat. So parents should insist that the kids drop recycling class and put in an hour of gym. Right, they don’t care if the kids can’t spell, add or subtract, or read, because they don’t want to damage their self esteem---but they can tell the kid he’s a porker and his self-esteem will not suffer? In this case, the teacher’s glasses are empty are not only empty, they're broken.

Nobody’s Knows; Have you notice the difference lately in Condoleezza Rice’s outfits? She is going all out, with bright bold colors! Today, it was bright red! What, is this another “Oh No, I’m not running for President!” but I’ve got the best fashion consultants that your money can buy rue?

Nobody Cares; Next time you see a fat teacher in Arkansas…tell her she’s fat, and she’s a disgrace to the state. After all, you pay her salary and expect her to be a role model to your child.