Aptos Sage: Govt. and private sector jobs. What a disparity between private and public sector! Not even 1/2 govt. workers have college degree yet they make 60% more money: Average govt worker gets $116,450 including benefits. Pain in private sector, not in public. www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

Selective Sacrifice
By: Vasko Kohlmayer
FrontPageMagazine.com

“Again and again President Obama has been asking all Americans to sacrifice during this season of economic hardship. But the president’s call apparently does not extend to federal employees. At a time when the private sector is being ravaged by layoffs, pay cuts, and benefits loss, the federal government has embarked on a hiring spree. Even as the country’s unemployment soars toward double digits, our government is handing out tens of thousands of jobs each month.

While the private sector shed 611,000 positions last month, the ranks of federal employees swelled by 66,000 new hires in April. The current federal civilian workforce currently stands at nearly 2 million (not counting the US Postal Service and military), which makes the federal government the largest employer in the United States. And given the president’s ambitious agenda, the government will inevitably continue its dramatic growth in the months and years ahead. Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group whose goal is to expand the ranks of government employees, recently stated the obvious when he said, “There’s no doubt in my mind that if the Obama administration is going to get done what it set out to do, it’s going to need more federal workers to do it.” It is not clear at this point exactly how many, because the Obama administration has yet to release its precise plans. The Partnership for Public Service estimates that the number will be around 600,000 through the end of the president’s current term, but the tally will likely be higher, especially given the president’s preference for turning government contractors into permanent employees.

By any measure, the new army of hires will receive handsome compensation. The average salary of a federal worker in 2007 was $77,143. This was more than 60 percent higher than the average in the private sector, which stood at $48,035. When the benefits are added, the total compensation of an average federal worker comes to an eye-popping $116,450. This is more than twice the private sector average.

The fact that not even half of all federal employees have a college degree makes the figure even more startling. That a workforce with such an undistinguished education profile is compensated on average close to one hundred and twenty thousand dollars a year is truly remarkable. One can only think of only two other industries where people with relatively scant academic credentials average well over a hundred thousand – professional sports and entertainment.

The Wall Street Journal points out that the growing disparity in income between the federal and private sectors is a result of long-term trends. While in 1950 the average federal employee received $1.19 in compensation for every dollar the average employee earned in the private sector, the number expanded to $1.51 in 1990, and today it stands at $2. Notably, the differential grew at an increased rate during the Bush years. From 2000 to 2005, federal pay rose by 38 percent, nearly triple the 14 percent wage rise in the private sector. Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute calls this the Bush Bounce, noting that “the Bush administration has caved into federal union demands for expanded pay year after year.”

Unbelievably, the union bosses still regularly complain that government employees are underpaid. On the website of The American Association of Federal Employees, the 600,000 strong union which caters to the federal workforce we read:

“The morale of the greatest civil service in the world is at risk because of the paltry pay raise for federal employees proposed by the Administration.”

But as Chris Edwards points out, one of the most accurate measures of employee satisfaction is the rate at which workers voluntarily quit their jobs. That number is very low among federal bureaucrats, only one fourth of what it is in the private sector. This means that government employees are far more content in their jobs than their private sector counterparts.

This should not surprise given the working conditions they enjoy. It has been often observed and remarked that work in the federal bureaucracy is generally far less demanding and stressful than in the private sector. The not-too-taxing work regimen comes with the best set of benefits to be had in any industry.

At this time when many companies are either cutting or reducing health care benefits for their workers and their families, we learn from the government’s website that, “Federal employees, retirees and their survivors enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country.” Notice that these health programs continue not only throughout beneficiaries’ retirement but also after their death. In contrast, almost 40 percent of workers in the private sector lack adequate health care coverage.

Chris Edwards of Cato sums up the employment conditions of federal personnel in this way:

“Federal workers typically have generous holiday and vacation schedules, flexible work hours, training options, incentive awards, excessive disability benefits, flexible spending accounts, union protections, and a usually more relaxed pace of work than private work.”

Not surprisingly, the Wall Street Journal observed that, “High-paying federal jobs are so coveted that they are now like rent-controlled apartments in Manhattan: Once you’ve got one, you hold on to it for life.”

Federal employees enjoy unparalleled job security, since tough economic conditions do not adversely affect the size of the government’s workforce. Never has this been more evident than today when during the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression the government is hiring at an accelerated rate. And once in the job, it is almost impossible to earn a dismissal. According to statistics, only one in 5000 federal workers are dismissed for cause. There have been cases where wayward employees who were fired were later reinstated upon filling one kind lawsuit or another. The Wall Journal notes that a federal job “is the closest thing to a lifetime sinecure in America.”

It is a paradox that even as they are being battered by the unfolding economic crisis, private sector employees are forced to support a rapidly growing federal workforce. To make that paradox even more glaring, they are forced to do this at twice the rate of their own compensation. In light of the economic hardship that is ravaging the private sector, is this not high time for President Obama to finally ask the vast army of federal employees to tighten their belts also?

For more go to: Front Page Magazine

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Aptos, CA thoughts: President Obama changes WAR activities into CRIMINAL ACTIVITY by giving Miranda rights in Afganistan. Our troops criminals too? freedomOK.net/wordpress

0050860086.jpgWhat CRIME did the enemy combatants commit for which they should have the legal protections of our Miranda rights — to remain silent, to have an attorney, to be tried in an American court of law?

Persons have to be accused of a CRIME to have the protection of the Miranda rights.

Put the shoe on the other foot: what CRIME did American boys in uniform commit when they shot at Afghanistan citizens?

Islamic countries are known for swift justice for criminals: cut off hands for those who steal, cut off heads for those who murder. Is Obama in effect CONDONING the use of fast violence by Islamic countries by viewing WAR as CRIMINAL ACTIVITY?

Shall we decide what “crime” was committed by going to a “higher court” like the U.N. which supposedly should decide who should have nuclear war technology?

War has different “rules” than crime. President Obama has blurred the two activities. Deliberately.

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Aptos psychologist: In England, 50% of persons with autism fall through cracks…www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

English doctors
English doctors
Do you want nationalized health care? Look at what socialized medicine provides persons in merry old England: NO services for roughly 1/2 of all persons suffering from autism. See what following article says:

“Eight out of 10 doctors need more training to spot the signs of autism, according to a new report.

The study, from the National Audit Office (NAO), also found that around half of the estimated 400,000 adults in England with autism may be falling through the gaps due to a lack of services.

This is because they do not have a learning disability and services are mostly set up for people with illness, physical or learning disabilities, and mental health problems.

A poll of 1,000 GPs for the report found 80% thought they needed additional guidance and training to identify and manage those with autism more effectively. Many did not know where to refer people with autism due to a lack of specific services.

The study said: “In our survey of GPs, 64% told us that they referred adults with suspected high-functioning autism to adult mental health services, and 19% to learning disability services.

“(A total of) 12% were not sure where they should refer such patients, and only 10% reported that they would refer them to a specialised autism diagnostic service.”

The NAO found that most NHS organisations and local authorities do not know how many people with autism live in their area, something it said should change. It also called for specialist support services.

The study – called Supporting People with Autism through Adulthood – said: “Providing specialised support could improve outcomes for this group of people and their carers, and potentially enhance value for money, as the costs of establishing such support could be outweighed over time by overall savings.”

Tim Burr, spokesman for the NAO, added: “Greater awareness of the numbers of people with autism, as well as better understanding of autism amongst those providing health, social care, benefits, education and employment services, would lead to improved quality of life for those on the autistic spectrum.”Mark Lever, chief executive of the National Autistic Society (NAS), said: “Neither the Government, people with autism nor the taxpayer are getting value for money from existing autism services and support, leaving those affected by the condition feeling isolated, ignored and often at breaking point. This is simply unacceptable.”

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Aptos psychologist: mothers know that rewarding bad behavior results in MORE bad behavior. Are we rewarding bad behavior by North Korea? www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

Good parents know that it’s best to nip bad behavior early on. So why did the US for years reward North Korea’s bad behavior? Why didn’t we cut off their credit so they could not buy the nuclear materials they wanted? The government needs good mothers runnning foreign policy!

The Wall Street Journal Sat. June 6:
Once again the Dear Leader has defied the international communiy with a nuclear test

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Aptos Ferenzie sage: Hispanic is a meaningless term. www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

Homogenizing ‘Hispanics’ from American Thinker
J.C. Arenas

To liberals, those of us with origins in Spanish-speaking cultures are a voting block or interest group. They aren’t interested in celebrating our real diversity, only in mobilizing political power to support their policies. The bigger the group, the bigger the clout, so create an imaginary identity like “Hispanic” or “Latina” with no cultural roots or authenticity.

Case in point: Ruth Marcus published an article the other day entitled Souter with a Salsa Beat that goes to the heart of liberals’ racial profiling and stereotyping.

The title of her article serves as no surprise to me, after all the liberal think tank of Hollywood, perpetrates this behavior all the time.

How often do we see in movies some Latin heartthrob enter into the scene and a track of Spanish music is cued in the background?

I am going to give Marcus the benefit of the doubt and assume that she chose a “salsa beat” because salsa is popular amongst Puerto Ricans. However, if she had really wanted to demonstrate some level of knowledge, she would have chosen a reggaeton beat, a popular Spanish mixture of hip-hop and reggae that originated in Puerto Rico–Cubans are credited with the origination of salsa.

Marcus’s circumscribed view of Latinos allows her to attribute a “salsa beat” to a Puerto Rican nominee to the highest court in the land and exemplifies the problem with the “Hispanic” classification.

The Latin American culture is one that should be celebrated for its inherent multiracial, multinational, and multicultural nature. To assemble all of us under the same umbrella rationalizes ignorance to the fact that we embrace and represent our own individual nationalities. Our multifarious appearances, uses of the language, and tastes in food and music — just to name a few — are clearly unrecognized by the Left.

Why many of us have embraced their discriminatory philosophy and brethren whom fail to recognize even the basic variability amongst our various nationalities is beyond me.

Do we want to be taken seriously as a distinct faction of American society or do we just want to be pandered to for votes with chants of “Si, se puede”?

The political party that realizes they should do the former will have our allegiance and the latter can walk off in defeat to a salsa beat.

For more, go to: American Thinker

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Aptos psychologist: How much HIGH DENSITY housing is FAIR for one small corner of Aptos? www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? That’s a tongue twister. It has no real meaning. Just something we teach young children.

Here’s a society tongue “twister”: How much high density, taxpayer paid for housing can one small corner in Aptos be forced to absorb?

Answer: Plenty! And maybe even more! The Board of Supervisors will decide in early June the fate of Poor Clare’s property. That is the Catholic owned property near the entrance to Sea Cliff beach which currently houses Aptos Four Square Church located at 280 State Park Drive. And what organizations with clout support even more low income, high density housing on the Catholic owned property? COPA is one.

But is it FAIR to jam so many families together without any family resources? No park coming soon! No family resource building planned! No basketball courts or skate park! No sandbox and slides for small children!

Right by the freeway in Aptos, there will be 5 acres of high density family housing with no resources for those families. And now the Board of Supervisors may decide to allow even more high desity housing. And maybe a hotel.

Is COPA a pivotal force behind the scenes influencing government? COPA stands for Community Organized for Relational Power in Action. Locally about 30 + organizations and churches participate. It is based on Saul Alinsky’s social theories. It is my understanding that COPA supports even MORE low cost housing at 280 State Park Dr.

The Episcopal Church of St. John’s will soon occupy a 2 1/2 acre parcel next to the 5 acres of high density low income housing. The church opens its Aptos doors in June, 2009. Just to open its Aptos doors has cost the church roughly $3 million. The existing church structure will be a large area for both worship and community gathering. St. John’s wants to be a “good neighbor”. Is St. John’s acting as a “good neighbor” by seeking even more high density, low income housing on the Poor Clare property?

It is my understanding that COPA – of which the Episcopal Church of St. John’s, Temple Beth El and Resurection Catholic Church are members – supports MORE high density, low cost housing on the Catholic property. I would like to know more who funds COPA and who really “runs” the organizaton.

I wonder if COPA, who ever they are, has thought through the implications. Is it FAIR to crowd so many low income families into one small area of Aptos? Driving by the existing parcel of jammed together, high density housing, you can see teenagers bouncing basket balls on their stairs with no place to go. There is no park for youth within walking distance. The area that was to be a park is walled off.

To qualify for low cost housing, families have less money. They have fewer resources. Why jam even more low income families together in an area LACKING family resources? There is no plan to put in a family resource center such as Live Oak has. There are no parks for mothers with young children such as the Blue Ball park next to Soquel High School.

What if instead of low income families only clean and sober homes were located on those 5 acres next to the freeway in Aptos? Or what if only severely disabled persons could inhabit that area?

It is simply better that we encourage a diverse neighborhood. Before jamming more families into one tiny area of Aptos, the County of Santa Cruz needs to step up to the plate and create parks, tennis courts and family resource centers. And no, just because the beach is close by is not equivalent to a REAL park and REAL resource centers. And REAL basketball courts. All families need resources that allow youth to engage in healthy activities.

It would not be healthy to have one corner of the Santa Cruz County where all the clean and sober homes were located. Nor would society benefit were all the disabled housing located in one tiny area. And it is not healthy to educate largely autistic children in one school classroom. Likewise, it is not healthy to locate huge numbers of low income families jammed together in high density housing. Without family resources. All in one tiny corner of Aptos.

How best to use the Poor Clare property? Let the County buy it and develop it into a resource for the existing 5 acres of high density, low income families. And as a resource for all the families in Aptos, Seacliff and nearby areas. With a REAL park like the BLUE BALL park in Soquel. And basketball courts. How about a public swimming pool! And a skateboard park. And real, organic vegetables growing. And the sound of woodchucks chucking wood! Yes, how much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Answer: Lots of wood!

written by Cameron Jackson cameronjacks@gmail.com 831 688-6002

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Aptos, CA:Easter Seals shows parents how to PLAY & ENGAGE their autistic child.www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

From Aptos psychologist Dr. Jackson 831 688-6002

Easter Seals offers P.L.A.Y., a method that is softer and more gentle than Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Parents need to educate themselves about the different techniques available for assisting children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Parents need to be in the driver’s seat as to what kind of therapy they think will be best for their child.

There are “squishy” softer methods such as P.L.A.Y. and FloorTime. And there are “prickly”, harsher methods in my opinon such as Applied Behavior Analyisis (ABA). Different methods for different severities and kinds of autistic symptoms. Each child is unique. Parents who have educated themselves will make the best decisions.

Call EASTER SEALS in Aptos for informantion about how to PLAYFULLY engage with children with social and communication delays. Go: Easter Seals

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