Enoch_Root « POWIP

17Jan/1212

Teh Gays and Teh Fashion of Starvation

I will begin with the obligatory statement that I love homosexuals. I have no problem with them. As a Catholic I am called to love the sinner and hate the sin. But this post is not about homosexuality per se.

Numerous times in the last couple years various web publishers have pondered how the more womanly (shapely, curvacious) pin up girl of prior generations have come to be supplanted by "waifs" and women with the so-called "Athletic body type" as the archetype of what is physically desirable.

A well-known expert on the topic of eating disorders and the modeling industry, MamaV, happens to be a friendly of mine in meat space. She and I talked about this very topic last year. Her site chronicles the struggles many women in and outside the Industry have with eating disorders. You can read her blog on Women Body Image & Eating Disorders here.

As a father of 3 girls, two of which are teenagers and one of which has had a brush with an eating disorder, MamaV and I have discussed the topic at some length.

The last conversation we had (last year, perhaps?) we went down the rabbit hole and covered the more commonly identified antagonists... the media, Hollywood... the unrealistic images of women plastered in magazines and consumed voraciously by young impressionable girls. We covered these more obvious themes. I still believe there is some merit to placing the blame for our cultural frenzy over the unattainable - as in, air-brushed 12 and 13 year olds being passed off as twenty something corporate go-getters in the pages of Mademoiselle for instance.

Do I think Fashion Publishers and Hollywood are worthy of some blame as it relates to the corruption of body image and the bastardization of what is "beautiful"? Yes. Absolutely. To profit from advancing an unreal-istic goal... by selling fiction as achievable is scandalous and damaging.

Yet, the question we are treating on relates to the morphing of what is considered beautiful in American Pop Culture.

How did it happen that Monroe became "plus sized" and that people like Keira Knightly became the goal?

Also not at all offensive to me.

BTW - Full Disclosure: I like women of mostly all shapes and sizes (within reason), but do have a preference for so-called "Athletic" body typed women like Keira Knightly. I like em long and lean. But I have no problem appreciating the more voluptuous body types either. It really is sort of a case-by-case basis for yours truly. Point being, I do prefer to look at more slender women. But even so, there is a point at which someone looks sickly. If someone is too skinny for what they are natively apt to be, it is as off-putting as someone who shaves off their eyebrows and replaces them with tattooed ones in my book.

Back to the topic at hand.

When speaking with MamaV it occurred to me that perhaps the domination of the Fashion Industry by Gay Men has a great deal with today's "perfect body".

It makes a great deal of sense that men who prefer men would think that less-curvy women are more attractive.

Lots of Stuff to Contemplate.

Let me put it this way: if you're not into hips and boobs... if you prefer the "perfect male physique" (different topic), it makes sense that you would find women with narrower hips and smaller boobs relatively more attractive than the chick on Mad Men. You know, the one with the abundance of outstanding assets.

Someone will accuse me of Homophobia or something for writing this. But I am sure it is not a novel line of thinking. I just haven't encountered this hypothesis before.

Odd to think that perhaps women are being pressured to look more like boys by people who prefer "boys/men".

Then again, I am a middle-aged, overweight lump whose fashion hasn't changed substantially since the Nineties. What the hell do I know? Not much.

UPDATE: Thx to Stacy at TheOtherMcCain for the linky love!

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Filed under: Celebretards, Ni Una Idea 12 Comments

14Jan/121

Cruise Ship Tragedy & Bain Capital

Survivors of the horrific Italian cruise ship tragedy are purportedly being forced back onto the crippled ship.

Says Newt Gingrich, former GA Congressman and current presidential hopeful,

"Look. What happened in Italy is a tragedy. Here we have several people who lost their lives and we have survivors who did not. How is that fair? It's not. It's shameful and wrong."

When pressed on this bizarre stance and the even more bizarre insistence by Italian authorities that the survivors return to the doomed vessel, Gingrich added,

"The Italian Authorities have made the right call here. If that ship is doomed, we must get those survivors back onto the ship before we commit a flagrant act of choosing winners and losers."

He went on to add,

"That a ship could run aground in this day and age is unforgivable. I bet we'll find that when the Captain knew the vessel was in trouble, he started getting lifeboats ready to evacuate the passengers. But if he was aware he couldn't get ALL of the passengers off the vessel safely, he should have ordered his crew to scuttle the lifeboats instead."

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Filed under: Too Lazy to Categorize 1 Comment

11Jan/120

The Mansion of Your Life (an open letter to Grandchildren)

Essay by Daniel P Collins, Sr, Naples Florida

The famous author, James A. Mitchner, in “The Fires of Spring” announced authoritatively:

“For this is the journey that men make: to find themselves. If they fail in this, it doesn’t matter what else they find.

Money, position, fame, many loves, revenge, are all of little consequence. And when the tickets are collected at the end of the ride they are tossed in a bin marked FAILURE.

But if a man happens to find himself – if he knows what he can do; the limits of his courage, the position from which he will no longer retreat… the secret reservoirs of his determination, the extent of his dedication, the depth of his feeling for beauty, his modest and unpostured goals – then he has found a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.”

Inspirational, striking words; but allow me a few criticisms.

One does not just “happen” to find the code of conduct chronicled. Mitchner does not tell the reader how to achieve these virtuous characteristics.

Fortunately for you, beloved grandchildren, Grandpa will explain what tools and resources are at hand to build your Mansion.

Of course the most essential is the Foundation: hence the name, and in life the Foundation is Moral Truth. The Truth is essential to all Human endeavors. First, you must find it. Then, you must defend it and be faithful to it.

Let’s start our search with “Natural Law”, a concept that spans from the ancient Greek philisophies, honored by the Church, acknowledged by the founder of the Republic. Philosophers recognized that things of nature had characteristics that were inherent, essential to their function and could not be removed (ie. water freezes and boils at fixed temperatures). Humans also have rights and moral knowledge. These were listed in the Declaration of Independence as unalienable; “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

According to Catholic teachings, you are created “in the image and likeness” of God and since God is Pure Love and All Good, He has engraved this knowledge on your heart and conscience.

The other unalienable rights, “Freedom and Pursuit of Happiness” (ie. private possession are to be “ordered” (ie. dependent on Tuth)). Blessed John Paul II states “Authentic, ordered freedom is ordered to truth”. (Veritas Splendor Enciclical) Truth is ONE, what is philosophical and theologically true will not conflict with schientific truth. Truth is now a matter of consensus; Truth is Truth even if no one believes it; and false is false even if everyone believes it to be true. It’s not enough to have a hunch or possible, probable, or even beyond a reasonable doubt. You must have certitude: Truth is unchanging.

So, starting with Natural Law, add Reason and Scripture, the inspired word of God indirectly given through Prophets and directly through Jesus who is Truth. Reason validates the Ten Commandments but accepting the Truth of the Beatitudes because of their paradoxical confrontation of worldly values requires the final Finishing Fool: Wisdom. The Sapiential Books (Books of Wisdom) of the Bible proclaim “Fear of the Lord is the first step to Wisdom”; God’s plan of conduct that allows us to “live life more abundantly”. Fear does not mean “subservient slave-like fear” but a healthy awareness of God’s awesome power as manifested all around us and how inconsequential we would be except for His magnificent, majestic, unending, unconditional Love.

This will not only lead you to the Mansion portrayed by Mitchner, but to one that will reduce it to a birdhouse or a toy in a box of Cracker Jack.

We hope you will understand we write of these things not only out of our love for you, but also as a responsibility as stated in Psalm 78.

3 What we have heard and know;

things our ancestors have recounted to us.

4 We do not keep them from our children;

we recount them to the next generation,

The praiseworthy deeds of the LORD and his strength,

the wonders that he performed

5 God made a decree in Jacob,

established a law in Israel:

Which he commanded our ancestors,

they were to teach their children;

6 That the next generation might come to know,

children yet to be born.

In turn they were to recount them to their children,

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Filed under: God Bothering, Too Lazy to Categorize No Comments

7Jan/122

Sole Saves Soul

Essay by Daniel P Collins, Sr. - Naples, Florida

My dad was a fireman in downtown Chicago for forty-three years. His rise from fireman to Division Marshall over the politicians determined obstructions was aided by the prayers of his favorite charity; The Little Sisters of the Poor. Sister Bertha and Sister Brigid would show up on pay day and dad would "encourage" all to contribute.

On a freezing Winter day, the nuns came in and Dad told them to warm their feet at the glowing pot belly iron furnace. When they put their feet out to warm their toes, Dad noticed each had large holes in the soles of their shoes. He called his Jewish friend Harry Gold... "Harry, I've got two nuns over here with holes in their shoes. If I buy one pair, will you pick up the other?"

"Bring them over, Chief", said Harry the shoemaker.

This inaugurated a bi-weekly tradition. The nuns would visit the firehouse, Dad would ask what happened to their new shoes. The nuns would reveal they had given the new shoes to "someone who needed them more". Dad and Harry would split the cost. And Harry never hesitated.

Do I think this son of Jacob "has a place in Heaven? You bet. I think he's a "shoe-in"!

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Filed under: God Bothering, Too Lazy to Categorize 2 Comments

29Dec/112

Of Owls and Black Babies

I keep threatening to write a book about what I have referred to as "Luxury Politics". These would be the politics of a leisurely society whose comfort and lack of immediacy enable it to call "Sacred" things that are profane.

Perhaps no situation causes me so much frustration as the treatment of animals as if they were akin to children. Often times better. Each of us has a friend or relation who claims without reservation that their dog or cat is no different in import to them as a child is to a parent. Each of us can probably point to pet owners who shower their possessions with better medical care - including prescriptions and operations, pathology and preventative care - than is defensible for a lower creature whose value is arguably more than a snail, but less than a goat.

It is common for me to come across stories wherein we are reminded of how morally bankrupt we have become. Few instances demonstrate this better than a couple which come immediately to mind.

A more helpful post here.

Let us mention here a situation near to me involving a wonderful friend, James Shore, whose life was cut short by a certain James Arthur Ray. Ray, convicted of 3 counts of negligent homicide, received 3 concurrent 2 year sentences in Arizona for his crimes.

In contrast,

"On December 10, Vick appeared in U.S. District Court in Richmond for sentencing. Judge Hudson said he was "convinced that it was not a momentary lack of judgment" on Vick's part, and that Vick was a "full partner" in the dog fighting ring, and he was sentenced to serve 23 months in federal prison."

For...

"being involved in the destruction of 6–8 dogs, by hanging or drowning. The "victimization and killing of pit bulls" was considered as aggravating circumstances that led prosecutors to exceed the federal sentencing guidelines for the charge."

But a far more disturbing pattern has emerged over the past couple decades in respect to Human Life and Society's valuation thereof.

I could cite a newborn human baby being drown at a high school dance.
I could cite a certain mother driving her car into the drink, getting out, and watching her 3 children drown.
I could cite all of the "missing" toddlers and related cases.

But why cite National stories when I could cite the happenings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin?

Oddly, a new, heretofore, unknown cultural by-product has become a regional rage: namely, what has been euphemistically-coined "co-sleeping death". In a nutshell, it appears to be a sort of condition whereby inner-city Black Human Babies go to bed alive only to be smothered by the mother or aunt, father or sibling.

There have been some 10 of these "accidents" in Milwaukee, WI, over the course of the 2011 calendar year. Oddly, no such occurrences were reported in 2011 for Madison, WI or Green Bay, WI. Or, for that matter, anywhere else in WI. My search was not exhaustive. But, at least anecdotal-ly speaking, this trend seems to be isolated to inner-city Black Milwaukeean Families.

So, what gives?

The death is at least the 10th this year of a baby who was either co-sleeping with someone or who was in an unsafe sleeping environment. The girl's mother, who is 22 and unemployed, has two other children who live with their father.

No worries... the City of Milwaukee is on it!

Let me take you to November the 9th of this year,

Minutes before city officials unveiled a new safe-sleep advertising campaign Wednesday, the medical examiner's office announced that a 7-week-old baby was found dead on Milwaukee's south side after co-sleeping with his or her mother.

The best part of this campaign is that it speaks directly to the highest risk families, doesn't kowtow to Political Correctness by say showing a White Baby in its ads, even though there is zero evidence this trend has been picked up by the milk toast denizens of this city everyone in Milwaukee feels much better now knowing that:

1) Milwaukee is all over this!
2) Some Ad Agency is employing a couple more White Agency Rookies to get the message out!

Granted, babies are kind of boring. Especially expendable are Black inner-city babies. An Owl stolen from its cage and let loose to fend for itself? Now that's newsworthy shit. Something any compassionate Homosapien can sink his energy and emotion into. Thankfully he (Dakota the Owl) took a crap today and is now eating solid foods.

Let's put this spike in co-sleeping deaths in Milwaukee in a statistical perspective:

According to the CPSC, at least 515 deaths were linked to infants and toddlers under 2 years of age sleeping in adult beds from January 1990 to December 1997:

121 of the deaths were attributed to a parent, caregiver, or sibling rolling on top of or against a baby while sleeping

WTF is happening in Milwaukee?

Really, really sick and twisted priorities. And what's worse? I am not sure there isn't a much more nefarious motive behind these snuffications. Head. Sand. Nothing to see here.

Manimals: I am talking to you. Viva Dakota! Olvide Los Sin Nombres!

DOUBLE-EFFECT WARNING: Enoch_Root (a White guy) is drawing attention to deaths of Black Babies in Milwaukee. And further, he is suggesting that statistically-speaking, all of these cannot be "accidents". Further, Enoch_Root is accused of butting in to the affairs of a certain minority community. Clearly, his not-so-subtle conjecture is that this is some sort of cultural phenomenon occurring in said minority community. This is clearly a racist piece. He has been denounced in advance.

a more helpful post, here

UPDATE: 1/3/2012 - Another Dead Black Baby.Where's the outrage?

"At approximately 9:47 a.m...the 22-year-old aunt came out to the living room to check on the children and noticed that [Gilmore] was lying supine next to the 10-year-old aunt and was unresponsive."

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Filed under: Hypocrisy, Invincible Ignorance, Rants, Tavis Smiley & Company 2 Comments

28Dec/110

Prayers Are Good Tidings

Each Christmas I am faced with the conflict. On the one hand, with children in the house we feel obliged to do silly things like purchase gifts and prop up Santa Claus. But another part of me realizes that this is silly and a horrible distraction. Nevertheless...

In terms of end of year tidings, one is relieved to have Christmas in the rear-view mirror. One looks forward, mostly, to a new chapter. It is a very pagan way to go. Out with the old and in with the new. XTC has a great song to this effect.

Fire they cried
So evil must die
And yields are good
So men pull back hoods and smile
The scapegoat blood spilled
Spittled and grilled
it crackled and spat
And children grew fat
on the meat
Change must be earnt
Sacrificial bonfire
must burn
Burn up the old Ring in the new
Assembled on high
Silhouette against the sky
The smoke prayed and pranced
And sparks did their dance
in the wind
Shadows wore thin
with less and less skin
And the clothes that were draped
Was all that told man from ape
Change must be earnt
Sacrificial bonfire must reign
Reign over good
Banish the bad

It is interesting to note that Christmas itself, to the Christian, marks the very point in history when Mankind's bondage was in jeopardy of being remanded. If you will, it is the point in history where the Scapegoat is introduce to the storyline.

We wait for Good Friday to spill the Blood of the Lamb, of course, but the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies is nigh. Predestined history unfurls from this point at a relatively rapid pace. All Systems of Men are put to shame in the ensuing times.

This Singular Cosmic Shift - the Birth of the Christchild - the Advent of Emmanuel - God Among Us... culminates in the Greatest Event the world has ever witnessed; whereby God reconciles His Creation to Himself through the Paschal Sacrifice of Himself on our behalf to Himself for expiation of all Sin past, present, and future.

This is a really, really big deal.

What the Great Pagan Philosophers discerned without the Light of the Holy Spirit - and what was known to the Jews through revelation and guarded so jealously - was confirmed. From there, Pagans and Jews alike were presented with another amazing Gift - the first being Redemption - for the taking.

That second gift is the Gift of Hope.

It seems to me that the idea that we exist and then do not exist is so much crap. That we exist and then seize to exist is goofy. How were the Pagan Scholars of Note able to divine an afterlife without the Holy Light of Grace? They did so using Reason as their guide. It is no different today. But that we had only Reason as our guide - without the Advent of the Lamb of God - and possessed the same towering intellect as the Greats - would we not come to the same conclusion? Yet, we have the extra benefit of an Singular Occurrence that they did not. So, perhaps our rather smallish abilities are brought on par with those who fumbled in the dark and arrived at the conclusion that Man is so distinct, so Unique, so Superior in species, that the natural ends of squirrels and birds is not equivalent to what awaits the Human Being.

Right now, many of our cyber-family, our modern-day neighbors, are suffering terribly. On the threshold of Death itself.

There is no need to name them, as most of you know in your hearts who these Souls are.

In the New Year, we are likely to lose some of them from this physical world.

We have Hope. Let us pray that all of these - those who will find physical health again and those that will be liberated from this physical reality - are buoyed in the knowledge that there is so much more behind the veil that awaits them.

Paradise awaits those who desire it with a contrite heart - and burn with Hope in anticipation of the Eternal Vision of God's Face for Eternity.

The body will fail. But we are free. Free to pray for the Souls at Death's Doorstep. Free to pray that our neighbors suffer with purpose and realize the benefits to be had as they pick up their cross and follow the Christ to Calvary - and ultimately Golgotha. Free to pray that they demonstrate Fortitude in their sufferings and grow ever closer to the Christ by mimicking his trials.

Let us pray for these, our brothers and sisters. Let us pray for those Dearly Departed in Purgatory and those Militant who are set to join them this year.

May God bless them and keep them and have Mercy on them today, tomorrow, and for all Eternity.

May they in turn pray for each of us from On High in our hour of need.

Happy New Year. God Speed, Faithful Pilgrims.

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Filed under: God Bothering No Comments

24Nov/111

“fairness” and “charity” and “Charity” – Cookies Part I

Charity:

Kid 1 sitting at the lunchroom table.

Kid 2 sits next to him.

Kid 2: No way! You got cookies?

Kid 1: Yeah. My mom made these last night.

Kid 2: Ugggh. My mom never bakes cookies.

Kid 1: Would you like one?

Kid 2: For real?

Kid 1: Here.

Fairness:

Kid 1 sitting at the lunchroom table.

Kid 2 sits next to him.

Kid 2: No way! You got cookies?

Kid 1: Yeah. My mom made these last night.

Kid 2: Ugggh. Not fair! My mom never bakes cookies.

Kid 1: Would you like one?

Kid 2: One? You have three.

Kid 1: Here. Have one.

Kid 2: It's good. We should split the 3rd one.

Kid 1: Ummm...

Kid 2: How is it fair that you get two and I only have one?

Kid 1: I just gave you one.

Kid 2: I am just sayin'. It hardly seems fair! If you don't share I'll tell Mrs. Engels!

Kid 1: I did share! And I didn't have to. Jeez...

Kid 2: It's not fair.

Kid 1: Life isn't fair.

charity

Kid 1 sitting at the lunchroom table.

Kid 2 sits next to him.

Mrs Engels walking past table.

Mrs. Engels: whatcha got there, Kid 1?

Kid 1: Huh?

Mrs. Engels: Let's see what you got. Ahhhh, cookies. Those look good.

Kid 1: My mom made a bunch of them for her Church group. She put some of them in my bag.

Mrs. Engels: Well, isn't that nice for you!

Kid 1: Yeah.

Mrs. Engels: What about you, Kid 2?

Kid 2: I don't have any cookies.

Mrs. Engels: Hmmmm.

Kid 2: It's not fair.

Mrs. Engels: Well, I'd have to agree. Kid 1, give Kid 2 some cookies. It's only fair.

Kid 1: Huh?

Mrs. Engels: Your a Christian, after all. Give Kid 2 some cookies.

Kid 1: I gave him a cookie yeasterday. But then he argued with me about how it was unfair that I had two left and had only given him one. He wanted me to give him another.

Kid 2: No! I wanted you to give me half of the other, so it would be fair. We'd each have had one and a half cookies then. Instead of you having two and me only getting one.

Kid 1: I didn't have to give you the first one.

Mrs. Engels: I though Christians were supposed to be Charitable. Now give him one and you keep one.

Kid 1: What?

Mrs. Engels? C'mon. What would Jesus do?

Kid 1: Ummm...

Mrs. Engels: Now do it.

Kid 1: Okay, I guess.

Kid 2: Hey! That leaves him with two and me with one!

Kid 1: But my mom packed those for me!

Mrs. Engels: You mean to say their yours, right?

Kid 1: Well I guess.

Kid 2: You're greedy!

Kid 1: I just gave you one.

Kid 2: Only because she made you. And it's still not entirely fair.

Mrs. Engels: He's got a point. Here, let me take that third cookie.

Kid 1: But... hey!

Kid 2: Hey!

Mrs. Engels: Now it's fair. These are good.Kid 2, you happy now?

Kid 2: I guess.

Mrs. Engels: This way everyone is happy!

Kid 1: What?

Kid 2: Hey, whatcha bringin' tomorrow for me?

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Filed under: Series of Unfortunate Posts 1 Comment

27Oct/111

Announcing the Cookies Series – a Conservative Tutorial for Liberals

I am forming in my mind a series of posts relating to conveying the rightness of Conservative logic to Liberals in a manner in which Liberals can digest.

I am reminded that we must appeal to our audience in a manner which is pithy, simple, and direct.

In this series of posts I intend to explore the following:

1) the concepts of "fairness" and "charity" and "Charity"
2) the concepts of "equality" and "equity"
4) the difference between "liberty" and "license"
5) the difference between a "right" and a "privilege"
6) "prudence" vs "principle"
7) objective discernment of "right" vs "wrong"
8) crimes of "commission" vs crimes of "omission"
9) inherent dignity
10) probability
11) history
12) language
13) "truth" vs "Truth"
14) "skepticism" vs "cynicism"

this could take a while. suggested topics welcome.

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Filed under: Series of Unfortunate Posts 1 Comment

10Oct/113

Entendre Raison

Written By: Dr. Dan P. Collins, Sr

This past year I have been pondering the age old question, "why do bad things happen to good people?". All who have seriously studied have reasoned the answer is to be found in the "spiritus" (spiritual) aspect of man ("the soul") rather than the profain ("material") aspect. A course on the Sapiential Books of the Bible (ie. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon...) given by Father Joseph Korterski, S.J., of Georgetown was informative and all pointed to the love and fear of God as the beginning of wisdom. Fear in not the fear of a slave, but an acknowledgement of the enormous discrepancy between God's omnipotence and our total dependency. Wisdom "resplendent" comes with "solicitude" to Job: God has reasons but has no responsibility to explain himself.

In my quest, probably as a result of my limitations, two sources provide greater satisfaction. One is a poem I will attach. The other four words from a Third Century theologian. Irenaeus's concept of the redemptive tutelage of suffering. Meditating on suffering as a tutor or a teacher that promotes redemption brings insight.

Suffering requires an increase in faith and hope; promotes virtues of Patience, Perseverance, Humility and above all Love... "The fulfillment of the Law." Seen in this dimension suffering is the reason itself.

The poem "The Silversmith" makes this point in a more artistic way.

[poem to be inserted here]

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Filed under: God Bothering, Series of Unfortunate Posts 3 Comments

27Sep/111

In WEA We Don’t Trust

In the wake of the passage of Governor Scott Walker's Public Union Employee curtailing of collective bargaining privileges, the citizens of Wisconsin have begun to learn to what extent they have been scammed year-over-year. No where is this more apparent than in regard to the School Teachers' Union insurance concern WEA Trust (Wisconsin Education Association Trust).

In district after district, Cheeseheads are learning that not only have they been gouged but gouged mightily in this unholy alliance of Big Labor and Monopolistic business arrangements, but that the abuses are being revealed to be more significant than was touted by the Walker Administration and state legislators.

How we know this is the case is that for those districts that refused to extend Public School Teacher Union contracts before Walker's reforms became law, budget surpluses are now being realized. For those school districts that extended Union contracts before the new laws went into effect budget shortfalls. As a result, in those districts with new-found surpluses, property tax levies have either remained flat or been reduced. Of course, the opposite is true for those unfortunates living in districts whose boards shamefully chose the Unions over the taxpayers on behalf of whom we have been reminded they are to serve (ie. Milwaukee Public Schools district).

The extent of the grift perpetrated under the Democrats at the state level and their allies in the Teachers' Union is stunning.

To say nothing about overpaying, double-dipping (whereby a teacher retires and is rehired the next day and subsequently receives full pension, full benefits, and full salary all on the taxpayers' pocketbook), mandated cost of living adjustments, tenure (or the inability to weed out the awful teachers), the worst scam of all appears in the form of WEA Trust.

For years upon years, the Wisconsin Teachers Union has baked in a mandate for a good many districts to purchase Cadillac insurance plans from... wait for it... the Wisconsin Teachers Union. Being over-insured is one thing. Over-paying to over-insure teachers is another thing.

Yesterday, it was revealed that one district in Wisconsin (Oshkosh)

...could save about $774,000 this year and another $1.3 million next year by leaving its union-affiliated health insurance for a new provider".

The district requested proposals from providers in July after its labor unions gave the board full control over health insurance as part of a one-year collective bargaining agreement.

... Business director Bob Tess said[,]"We weren't just looking for the cheapest plan. It just so happens that the best plan was also the least expensive."

Read the whole thing Here

Makes one wonder aloud who will benefit most from Obamacare.