I'll let you read a bit of one of his Q&A sessions at Kansas State:
Q Hi, I just want to get your comments about education. Recently, $12.7 billion was cut from education, and I was just wondering how that's supposed to help our futures? (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Education budget was cut -- say it again. What was cut?
Q Twelve point seven billion dollars was cut from education, and I was just wondering how is that supposed to help our --
THE PRESIDENT: At the federal level?
Q Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: I don't think that -- I don't think we've actually -- for higher education? Student loans?
Q Yes, student loans.
THE PRESIDENT: Actually, I think what we did was reform the student loan program. We're not cutting money out of it. In other words, people aren't going to be cut off the program. We're just making sure it works better. Part of the reconciliation package, I think she's talking about. Yes, it's a reform of the program to make sure it functions better. It is -- in other words, we're not taking people off student loans, we're saving money in the student loan program because it's inefficient. And so I think the thing to look at is whether or not there will be fewer people getting student loans. I don't think so. And, secondly, on Pell grants, we're actually expanding the number of Pell grants through our budget.
But, great question. I think that the key on education is to make sure that we stay focused on how do we stay competitive into the 21st century. And I plan on doing some talking about math and science and engineering programs, so that people who graduate out of college will have the skills necessary to compete in this competitive world.
But I'm -- I think I'm right on this. I'll check when I get back to Washington. But thank you for your question. (Applause.)
"So what [ended up happening] was they cut about $21 billion from student loans, then transferred about $8 billion of that to other student aid programs, leaving a cut of....$12.7 billion."
Source
So Mr. President, thanks for ruining our future, dick head. Education is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS in the world, and that cut just fucked a whole shitload of kids up the ass. So get your head out of YOUR ass.
We're spending more than 12.7 billion dollars a month in Iraq, how the fuck is cutting money, especially out of the pockets of students, the FUTURE of this country, going to defray the costs? When all those jackasses in Congress are drooling all over themselves in their old age, the young will be either uneducated or in debt up to their ears because of this irrational action. If anything, the government should be throwing more and more money into education. I'm getting tired of this shit. Fuck the bureaucracy.
1/10/2006
Mine Fiasco: Reply to Andrew
I will continue to attest that when normal people—not politicians, lawyers, but everyday people—tell you news, you tend to believe them. When someone comes home in my house and they say something such as, “There was a fire at Dunkin Donuts today,” my typical reaction is to believe them. I’m not going to wait for an official press release, and chances are that whoever told me, wasn’t at or near that Dunkin Donuts. I’m also sure that the foreman overheard, or at least heard it from someone else, but there was no reason to believe it was false. Hope was low, but not lost. This was a situation where if they survived the initial blast, there was hope for a period of time afterwards until they began to dehydrate and die (about 3-4 days). The major factor in speculating there health was an air quality test, which showed dangerous levels of gas.
“The outlook for the men appeared bleak Tuesday morning, when rescuers found deadly levels of carbon monoxide — a byproduct of combustion — in the mine, and got no response when they banged on a steel pipe.”
The miners were not stupid though.
“McCloy and the 11 others were found at the deepest point of the mine, about 2 miles from the entrance, behind a fibrous plastic cloth stretched across an area about 20 feet wide to keep out deadly carbon monoxide gas, Hatfield said. Such curtains, called battices, are used in mines to direct air flow, and miners are trained to use them in an emergency.
Each of the miners in the barricaded area also had a breathing apparatus that purifies the air and had been able to use it, according to mine officials.”
“The sole survivor, Randal McCloy, was in critical condition Wednesday with a collapsed lung and dehydration but no signs of brain damage or carbon monoxide poisoning after being trapped for more than 42 hours, a doctor told The Associated Press. At 27, McCloy was the youngest in the group.”
Unfortunately, it does not say how the rest died, out of respect for the families, but I speculate thirst, in addition to injuries sustained by the blast.
Hope was perfectly reasonable, and the families had no reason to believe that the news they were told, overheard or not, would be wrong. The news shouldn’t of gotten out, but it did. I don’t believe it is anyone’s fault. I assert that they were not lied to, and neither side is at fault.
“"There was no such word from the company itself," he insisted. "We have taken great precautions to be sure that our numbers were right, that our times were right, that the information was correct when we make a statement."”
All my information was taken from here
Sidenote from Andrew:
It looks like we've been arguing different points. I basically agree with everything you've said, that the people weren't entirely foolish to have hope. And it seems to me you agree with my point that to allege the mine had lied to the families is foolish. But god damn we're good at making points.
1/05/2006
Mine Incident: Tyler's reply to The Gallows'
First read my post about the mine accident at The Gallows.
Tyler writes in a comment:
Tyler said...
I wholeheartedly, and brutally disagree.
At least 2 families were contacted by a mine foreman, that 12 miners WERE alive. They were told they WERE alive, not that they might be, that they WERE. I'm not going to wait for hours for an "official report" when a large group of people say people are alive, I'm going to believe them, and they did to.
It is irrational to think that they are all lying. And the fact that one of them DID survive shows that there hopes were not misfounded. There was that mine collapse in Pennsylvania a year or two ago, and all of them survived down there for over a week I believe, granted it was different circumstances, but was it irrational then to hope that any of them survived?
I believe that the "12-alive myth" originated near the very beginning of the fiasco. Probably the 2nd branch of people to hear it. The guy on the cell phone listened to the information, and probably repeated something like, "You found them??" and most often when someone says somethign is found, it is a good thing, and as a result the mind of whoever overheard registered it as good news, and since that person was probably close to the chain of command, when they told other people, they had reason to believe them.
While I disagree with most of what you said, suing for any reason in this case would be pure idiocy.
I'm assuming you read this in an article written by the Associated Press, which is the only souce I could find that mentioned anything about the foreman phonecall.
So let's clear some things up. Two family members were contacted by one foreman, one of these members being the cousin of the foreman. Foremen are not part of rescue teams, for one. And if the foreman had any official capacity to speak for the mine, why didn't he just call everyone? Or drive down to the church and tell everyone? This was a man who overheard a conversation, part of one in all probability, and took it upon himself to play the savior. Who says that foreman was anywhere near the rescue site, was in any way attached to it officially, or otherwise knew what he was talking about? Other sources say that some "unidentified men" ran into the church shouting the good news. That's where the false news came from.
Though you utilize some majorly vague pronoun references in your second paragraph, I'm going to assume you're talking about the families. I take it you're referencing this sentence that I wrote: "And now they're pissed because "they were lied to." Yes, they were lied to. BY THEMSELVES." And I'm assuming you thought I meant that literally. For that, I apologize for not being clear enough. They didn't actually intend to not tell the truth to themselves, they didn't know either way. But they became so grief stricken, then ecstatic, that all reason flew out the window. A better word would be "deluded." I'd like to make it clear that it is impossible to fault the families for letting themselves be misled. However, they can not reasonably claim that they were lied to by the powers that be, because the REAL people in charge never actually said anything until the official report made by Ben Hatfield, the mine chief executive.
You have every right to disagree with me. I'm going to assume--again, since it's not too clear--you meant you disagree with my assertions that in no way, shape, or form did the mine company confirm that the miners were alive. I'll leave you with some quotes:
"The company and state officials did not think it was prudent to issue a statement without confirmation of identity of known survivors or the deceased,' [Ben] Hatfield said. (He's the mine executive officer, the man in charge) 'In the process of being cautious we allowed the jubilation to go on longer than we should have.' Source
Governor Joe Manchin: "...that's when someone said, `They found them, they're alive,'" Manchin recalled. "I looked at our communications people and I looked at my security and said, `Have we had that confirmed, do we know anything about that?' And they said, `No."......"They [families] kept saying `12 are alive, 12 are alive.' I looked at my detachment again and I said, `Have we confirmed that?' And we didn't," Manchin said"......"Within minutes The Associated Press issued an alert, reporting family members as saying the 12 miners were alive. There was no confirmation from International Coal Group, which remained silent for the next three hours. Subsequent reports would attribute the news to family members, most of them unnamed." Source
"Ben Hatfield, ICG's chief executive, said Wednesday that taking the miners to the church was never part of the emergency plan, which called for any survivors to immediately be transported to a hospital. "We had no idea what they were being told," Hatfield said.....Hatfield, the mining company chief executive, told reporters that mine officials held off announcing the men were dead while they tried to make certain that was the case. Source
"Hatfield said the rescue command center told state police to advise clergy at the church to caution against premature news, but for some reason, the word wasn't passed around." Source
As for the Pennsylvania mine accident in 2003, it was 9 miners stuck for 77 hours (3 days, not a week), and they were found relatively quickly, confirmed by the mine company that they were alive, then carefully dug out. That wasn't nearly as bad as this.
In conclusion, nobody can be blamed for the poor exchange of information that led to the intense distraught felt by the family members of the miners, except the jackass foreman and that unknown bastard who ran into the church. This applies to everyone. Grief is no excuse to be an ass. Nothing can be done to bring them back, no matter how hard you push the issue, so stop, and deal with the grief instead of pushing it off to the side to point fingers.
Tyler writes in a comment:
Tyler said...
I wholeheartedly, and brutally disagree.
At least 2 families were contacted by a mine foreman, that 12 miners WERE alive. They were told they WERE alive, not that they might be, that they WERE. I'm not going to wait for hours for an "official report" when a large group of people say people are alive, I'm going to believe them, and they did to.
It is irrational to think that they are all lying. And the fact that one of them DID survive shows that there hopes were not misfounded. There was that mine collapse in Pennsylvania a year or two ago, and all of them survived down there for over a week I believe, granted it was different circumstances, but was it irrational then to hope that any of them survived?
I believe that the "12-alive myth" originated near the very beginning of the fiasco. Probably the 2nd branch of people to hear it. The guy on the cell phone listened to the information, and probably repeated something like, "You found them??" and most often when someone says somethign is found, it is a good thing, and as a result the mind of whoever overheard registered it as good news, and since that person was probably close to the chain of command, when they told other people, they had reason to believe them.
While I disagree with most of what you said, suing for any reason in this case would be pure idiocy.
I'm assuming you read this in an article written by the Associated Press, which is the only souce I could find that mentioned anything about the foreman phonecall.
So let's clear some things up. Two family members were contacted by one foreman, one of these members being the cousin of the foreman. Foremen are not part of rescue teams, for one. And if the foreman had any official capacity to speak for the mine, why didn't he just call everyone? Or drive down to the church and tell everyone? This was a man who overheard a conversation, part of one in all probability, and took it upon himself to play the savior. Who says that foreman was anywhere near the rescue site, was in any way attached to it officially, or otherwise knew what he was talking about? Other sources say that some "unidentified men" ran into the church shouting the good news. That's where the false news came from.
Though you utilize some majorly vague pronoun references in your second paragraph, I'm going to assume you're talking about the families. I take it you're referencing this sentence that I wrote: "And now they're pissed because "they were lied to." Yes, they were lied to. BY THEMSELVES." And I'm assuming you thought I meant that literally. For that, I apologize for not being clear enough. They didn't actually intend to not tell the truth to themselves, they didn't know either way. But they became so grief stricken, then ecstatic, that all reason flew out the window. A better word would be "deluded." I'd like to make it clear that it is impossible to fault the families for letting themselves be misled. However, they can not reasonably claim that they were lied to by the powers that be, because the REAL people in charge never actually said anything until the official report made by Ben Hatfield, the mine chief executive.
You have every right to disagree with me. I'm going to assume--again, since it's not too clear--you meant you disagree with my assertions that in no way, shape, or form did the mine company confirm that the miners were alive. I'll leave you with some quotes:
"The company and state officials did not think it was prudent to issue a statement without confirmation of identity of known survivors or the deceased,' [Ben] Hatfield said. (He's the mine executive officer, the man in charge) 'In the process of being cautious we allowed the jubilation to go on longer than we should have.' Source
Governor Joe Manchin: "...that's when someone said, `They found them, they're alive,'" Manchin recalled. "I looked at our communications people and I looked at my security and said, `Have we had that confirmed, do we know anything about that?' And they said, `No."......"They [families] kept saying `12 are alive, 12 are alive.' I looked at my detachment again and I said, `Have we confirmed that?' And we didn't," Manchin said"......"Within minutes The Associated Press issued an alert, reporting family members as saying the 12 miners were alive. There was no confirmation from International Coal Group, which remained silent for the next three hours. Subsequent reports would attribute the news to family members, most of them unnamed." Source
"Ben Hatfield, ICG's chief executive, said Wednesday that taking the miners to the church was never part of the emergency plan, which called for any survivors to immediately be transported to a hospital. "We had no idea what they were being told," Hatfield said.....Hatfield, the mining company chief executive, told reporters that mine officials held off announcing the men were dead while they tried to make certain that was the case. Source
"Hatfield said the rescue command center told state police to advise clergy at the church to caution against premature news, but for some reason, the word wasn't passed around." Source
As for the Pennsylvania mine accident in 2003, it was 9 miners stuck for 77 hours (3 days, not a week), and they were found relatively quickly, confirmed by the mine company that they were alive, then carefully dug out. That wasn't nearly as bad as this.
In conclusion, nobody can be blamed for the poor exchange of information that led to the intense distraught felt by the family members of the miners, except the jackass foreman and that unknown bastard who ran into the church. This applies to everyone. Grief is no excuse to be an ass. Nothing can be done to bring them back, no matter how hard you push the issue, so stop, and deal with the grief instead of pushing it off to the side to point fingers.
1/02/2006
Team Cohesion, key to success?
I just came back from my favorite fast food restaurant, Taco Bell, and noticed a signifcant jump in overall quality in the restaurant. The food was good, as well as the service, I was impressed.
I began to think of many other fast food experiences that I have endured recently, and all but this one were lackluster at best. Most recently was last night. Me and Andrew ventured to KMart to pick up some bitchin' sleds for some deathsledding that would take place earlier, but afterwards we went to go buy some food at McDonalds. I had high hopes walking into the restaurant because the cashier looked intelligent, at least intelligent enough to competently work the cash register, or deal with any problems that could occur while operating it. Alas, he was not. I wanted 1 10-piece chicken nugget, instead after a full minute of searching for the right key, I got charged for a 10-piece chicken nugget and a XL Raspberry Iced Tea. 1-minute doesn't sound like a long time, but if you think about standing at a register for a full minute, you realize how much time it really is. If each customer took 1 minute, the lunch rush they typically receive would not get reconciled for over 2 hours. So after the first minute, and after I explained to him that he made a mistake he spent another minute trying to figure out how to undo it. I had tolerance and was curious to see how he would handle it. What he should have done is asked one of the 3 people within 5 feet of him how to fix it, so for one he would know for next time, and two, he wouldn't hold me up further. Yet he just tried to fix it himself, wasting another full minute. Finally he asked the guy next to him, who fixed it in less than 5 seconds. Now we were back to square one. I just told him to give me 1 20-piece instead, since Andrew was going to get the same thing. To make an unneccesarily long story shorter he eventually got it up to 3 10-piece chicken nuggets, then finally back down to 2 10-pieces which was charged for a 20. He then proceeded to give me 1 10-piece chicken nugget on a tray, when I had specifically answered his question earlier that I wanted my order to go. We stared at each other for a good 15 seconds until he told me I was all set. I told him he gave me only 10 when I ordered a 20. He took the 10 back and went to go look for a 20, which clearly was not there. I just told him to give me two 10-pieces, and we were on our way.
A miserable, yet slightly hilarious experience. I'd like to say this is an isolated incident, but alas, it is not. Though not to this severity, this is a typical occurence. Most often fast food teams are a loosely-knit, multi-langual, multi-cultural grab bag of suck. This isn't saying that different ethnicities can't work hard or well though. The key to 'team cohesion' is fun. At Sandwich Construction (where I work) we break up the monotony of making sammiches and cleaning up the store at the end of the day, with intermittent breaks, often only 30 seconds, that yield a laugh from the majority of the staff. Whether it be a well-planned ambush on a fellow employee driving in, drag racing the es-tangs (ford escort station wagons) or just throwing tomatoes at the cure for childrens cancer clothing dumpster, it has a positive effect. I'm sure some study somewhere says that laughter increases a workers productivity 'x' amount, but I'm saying from personal experience that when I'm having a good time, I work harder, as long as it doesn't get out of hand.
Now at Taco Bell today, they had a competent cashier, who spoke English well, knew what he was doing, and was quick and efficent. I heard the staff laughing a bit and seemingly having a good time. The lady who yelled out the orders was loud and clear. And unlike many times before at this particular location, my crunchy tacos were sufficently filled, and delicious.
Though often one non-conformist of them team can bring down the whole thing. i.e. a girl 'Nena' that I worked with on Fridays and Saturdays over the course of about 3-weeks. She was a complete waste of space, had no intention of improving her work ethic, and was just bad all around. It took her an hour and fifteen minutes to do a 20 minute job, then she would waste time and just walk around the store straightening out napkins and the like. Seeing this annoys everyone and slows them down. Eventually she was.... disposed of, and the morale of the team greatly improved from a disgrunteled worker level to one where optimal work efficeny was reobtained and happiness was palpable.
In conclusion, having a few people that can work hard, is a lot different than having a team that does work hard.
I began to think of many other fast food experiences that I have endured recently, and all but this one were lackluster at best. Most recently was last night. Me and Andrew ventured to KMart to pick up some bitchin' sleds for some deathsledding that would take place earlier, but afterwards we went to go buy some food at McDonalds. I had high hopes walking into the restaurant because the cashier looked intelligent, at least intelligent enough to competently work the cash register, or deal with any problems that could occur while operating it. Alas, he was not. I wanted 1 10-piece chicken nugget, instead after a full minute of searching for the right key, I got charged for a 10-piece chicken nugget and a XL Raspberry Iced Tea. 1-minute doesn't sound like a long time, but if you think about standing at a register for a full minute, you realize how much time it really is. If each customer took 1 minute, the lunch rush they typically receive would not get reconciled for over 2 hours. So after the first minute, and after I explained to him that he made a mistake he spent another minute trying to figure out how to undo it. I had tolerance and was curious to see how he would handle it. What he should have done is asked one of the 3 people within 5 feet of him how to fix it, so for one he would know for next time, and two, he wouldn't hold me up further. Yet he just tried to fix it himself, wasting another full minute. Finally he asked the guy next to him, who fixed it in less than 5 seconds. Now we were back to square one. I just told him to give me 1 20-piece instead, since Andrew was going to get the same thing. To make an unneccesarily long story shorter he eventually got it up to 3 10-piece chicken nuggets, then finally back down to 2 10-pieces which was charged for a 20. He then proceeded to give me 1 10-piece chicken nugget on a tray, when I had specifically answered his question earlier that I wanted my order to go. We stared at each other for a good 15 seconds until he told me I was all set. I told him he gave me only 10 when I ordered a 20. He took the 10 back and went to go look for a 20, which clearly was not there. I just told him to give me two 10-pieces, and we were on our way.
A miserable, yet slightly hilarious experience. I'd like to say this is an isolated incident, but alas, it is not. Though not to this severity, this is a typical occurence. Most often fast food teams are a loosely-knit, multi-langual, multi-cultural grab bag of suck. This isn't saying that different ethnicities can't work hard or well though. The key to 'team cohesion' is fun. At Sandwich Construction (where I work) we break up the monotony of making sammiches and cleaning up the store at the end of the day, with intermittent breaks, often only 30 seconds, that yield a laugh from the majority of the staff. Whether it be a well-planned ambush on a fellow employee driving in, drag racing the es-tangs (ford escort station wagons) or just throwing tomatoes at the cure for childrens cancer clothing dumpster, it has a positive effect. I'm sure some study somewhere says that laughter increases a workers productivity 'x' amount, but I'm saying from personal experience that when I'm having a good time, I work harder, as long as it doesn't get out of hand.
Now at Taco Bell today, they had a competent cashier, who spoke English well, knew what he was doing, and was quick and efficent. I heard the staff laughing a bit and seemingly having a good time. The lady who yelled out the orders was loud and clear. And unlike many times before at this particular location, my crunchy tacos were sufficently filled, and delicious.
Though often one non-conformist of them team can bring down the whole thing. i.e. a girl 'Nena' that I worked with on Fridays and Saturdays over the course of about 3-weeks. She was a complete waste of space, had no intention of improving her work ethic, and was just bad all around. It took her an hour and fifteen minutes to do a 20 minute job, then she would waste time and just walk around the store straightening out napkins and the like. Seeing this annoys everyone and slows them down. Eventually she was.... disposed of, and the morale of the team greatly improved from a disgrunteled worker level to one where optimal work efficeny was reobtained and happiness was palpable.
In conclusion, having a few people that can work hard, is a lot different than having a team that does work hard.
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