The Reverend Mourns

I received word this day that my nephew George Cortez of the Phoenix PD was shot and killed last night by a person or persons trying to cash a forged check. I mourn this day.

George grew up in a broken home until he and my sister were taken in by my parents. My dad was the father figure to George during those tough impressionable years. George turned out great. He had his issues but was a person that lived by KYFHO.

Friday July 27th, dregs of the society took his life. My nephew, a son, a father, and a husband was killed because three people (hearsay) did not want to work for a living. What a shame.

I am all cried out for this day but I am sure there will be more bad days ahead.

I remember taking George on his first road trip while we both mourned the loss of my father/his grandfather. I even let George drive even though he didn't have his license. As we drove down I-8 on the way to Yuma, I watched George's eyes get heavy and close, knowing that he would drift slightly to the "wake up" bumps that run along that road. I laughed at the look on his face when he hit them. When I asked if he fell asleep, of course he said "NO!!!"

I was proud of George for the way he handled himself through the death of his father figure. I was proud of him the day he graduated High School. I was proud of him the day graduated from the police academy. I am proud of him that he died a warriors death, in battle with the enemy of our society. He was trying to make a difference.

The day George graduated the police academy, my wife and I emptied our bank account to buy him the best ballistic vest on the market at that time. We felt it well worth the cost of eating Ramen for dinner more than a couple times a week.

Today I mourn.

Be good to one another,

Rev. Biggus

The piece of paper is just an excuse

I have been noticing a flaw in the job market. Nobody wants to accept responsibility for making a decision. They hide behind company policies. Here is the example.

I know of a woman who is a nurse. She currently holds an unemcumbered nurses license. She is an LPN or LVN depending on where you live. She has valid licenses in three states. She has a bachelors degree in psychology on top of the nursing degree. During her 15 years of experience, she has been a floor nurse, charge nurse, and a case manager. She has every qualification that an RN has...venipuncture, IV's, etc.

With all these qualifications, she still finds resistance in the workforce. She is finding that all of her hard work garners less respect than someone who just received her RN license (through an AA in nursing) who has zero experience. Less money too. A brand new RN that knows absolutely nothing about the real world, who hasn't proven themselves to be honest, reliable, or valuable receives a starting pay of $60K. An LPN as mentioned in this post applying for the same job caps at $50K. Here is the kicker...the position being applied for is an administrative one. There is no on hands patient care. I have reviewed the curriculum of both the RN program and the LPN program from accredited schools and I will tell you, there is no significant difference in the programs when it comes to the administrative duties of the position mentioned here. The differences that did exist were compensated 100 times over by this LPN's experience in the actual position; yet a company would rather hire a new RN so that when a mistake is made they can blame the Nursing Board for having too low standards.

Let's recap for fun. A new RN who just finished her ASSOCIATE'S degree in Nursing warrants more than an LPN whose education consists of and ASSOCIATE'S degree in Nursing, a BACHELOR'S degree in Psychology, and 15 years experience as a nurse/charge nurse/case manager and an established, reliable work history. Remember, C's get degrees. Makes no sense to me.

You can go to school all you want, but the real education starts after you graduate, but that appears to not count for anything. That piece of paper really does carry a lot of weight, but I would not want to rest my organization on it.

Following those industry accepted standards takes the responsibility off the individual and organization. Liability is a scary term in our litigious society. Again, we have brought this on ourselves.

Of the nurses mentioned in this post, I know what one I would want to be working on me. Too bad corporate america has to bash so many to protect itself from the people it provides service to.

Next time you search for a job and get offered less than you are worth, think about what I said. You are a liability and the corporation is trying to protect itself. Then think about how we got this way.

Be good to one another,

Rev. Biggus

Two Minutes...

"How long do I need to put this in the microwave?" I hear this a lot and it is very disconcerting for me. The question says a lot about our future...have we been so conditioned to follow what "authority" says that we can no longer think for ourselves? Not only that but our society's laziness is put out in the open. First off the instructions are on the label of whatever crap you are cooking. By reading the label and answering that question for yourself, you are showing the world that you are one of the smart sheep. Still a sheep, but not one of the idiot, lazy sheep. There is possibly help for you yet.

I am going to give the most enlightening bit of information I think that I can give. The answer to the question at the beginning of this post is...get ready to change your life...the answer is "Until it is hot."

Now I want you to think about your first answer. If you answered "I see, that makes sense", then you may consider yourself on the path to enlightenment. If you answered "But how long is that?", there is little hope for you and you should turn in your voter card as I do not want your ignorance hurting this country any longer.

What the latter answer conveys is that you are willing to do anything that anyone tells you, including the important decisions like voting, raising a child, or consumerism. People who answered the latter will vote for the candidate with the best hair, or the cutest, or the one all their friends do. I was going to say without knowing the issues, but that would be incorrect. You will know the issues but you will consistently regurgitate the opinions of others on those opinions. Ne'er an original thought will come out of your mouth. The sad thing is that you will not even know you are a puppet.

Think things out for yourselves. This life is supposed to interactive so get involved. If you don't then you are just biding your time waiting for death. That is no way to live.

We listen to the "experts" who cannot come to a consensus on a single issue. Bottled water is the best for you, but if you drink bottled water, you are killing the environment because of what it takes to process and transport that water. How many of you thought this was some sort of revelation when the story broke? Everything seems so complicated because you are not doing any investigation for yourself, so there is no real knowledge.

The content of this post is the reason the society over reacts to a number like 517. This is the number of bicyclist who died from brain injuries (http://www.helmets.org/stats.htm). Sounds like a lot but that is .000006% of the bicyclist. Now statistics are another issue because if you do not know how to analyze this stuff, you will be led to believe what the ones who understand want you to believe. We are creating laws based on .00000206% of the population. No wonder there is a sense of entitlement in this country.

Let's put this in perspective for you. The odds of your child dying from a brain injury while riding a bike is 1 in 164410.05 while the odds of you hitting 5 numbers on the lottery and collecting $100,000 is 1 in 89677 (http://www.lottogenie.com/html/odds.html). You are twice as likely to hit 5 numbers on a 54 number lottery than you are of dying from a brain injury while riding your bike.

I don't know about you but I have never even come close to getting 5 numbers. I guess I should mention that the death figures include those who are wearing helmets; something the helmet companies don't tell you (they let you assume).

Do yourself a favor and quit regurgitating what others tell you to. C'mon 5 numbers!!!!!!!!!

Be good to one another,
Rev. Biggus

More "More Crap"

Was watching the news this morning. They were recapping the GOP campaign polls. Funny thing, there was no mention of Ron Paul. He is running for the GOP spot and somehow the media did not want to mention anything about him.

Doesn't this sound like a loophole to that equal time law? If every candidate gets equal time, the one who can garner more of the unregulated media time gets the most exposure. Of course this falls under the first amendment, but with great power comes great responsibility. The media has let us down. This is nothing new, but had to be said.

So now not only are the third party guys being stifled, but selected individuals from the two party/one goal system are being kept in the dark. Somebody doesn't want change and I am willing to bet that it is not the people of this country.

Be good to one another,

Rev. Biggus

What is good for the goose....

The link in this post (http://www.break.com/index/are-you-friggin-kiddin-me.html) takes you to a news report about FBI capabilities. All I can say is WTF!!! Yes even a Reverend says the F-word in situations as extreme as this.

The news report says that the FBI can activate the microphone on your cell phone by tapping into it on the GPS feature. Most phones today have the feature which can be turned off...no problem right. NO! The feature stays enabled for 911 calls and therefore can be traced.

Here is my beef. It is not that they can listen into my calls, because I pray that people will listen to what I have to say...they may snap out of their sheepy sleep and delusional perceptions if they listen. I am a law abiding person with nothing to hide. My problem with it is a moral one.

The government outlaws guns and is trying to outlaw all guns based on a chance. You, the reader, cannot own a gun because you may use it to do something wrong. That is the whole premise of their reasoning. I say what is good for the goose is good for the gander. The fact that they have the capability to listen my phone is good enough reason to make that technology illegal by their reasoning. They may use it to do something wrong.

Here in lies the mentality that the government sees themselves above the law. I am not talking about the law that those, you elected, create on a whim. I am talking about the right way to live (KYFHO). Now before anyone bitches about the term "you elected", I say that because the people I vote for have never been elected to office.

Also note that I delineated between laws and the right way to live. This stems from a comment made by Nancy Pelosi on that show with Chris Matthews. She was talking about the abomination of the Patriot Act and how America needed it even though the processes and procedures in it were illegal; those processes and procedures would remain illegal until they change the laws to make them legal. Talk about carte blanche. A violation of rights is still a violation if you change the laws. Laws dictate the leeway with privileges...a right is absolute and is not affected by whatever cornball law the fickle society comes up with.

If we start letting the human rights in this country fall to laws, there will be no consistency in anything. In our litigious society, laws are made to help one sector of the populace; the full intent is to better one sector without regard to the others (affirmative action, Arizona's smoking ban, etc). This selfish trend is taking over because the law makers have forgotten what a right is; in the eyes of the government, we have what we have because they allow us to have it. Sounds like slavery to me.

Be good to one another (and pass that on to your elected official before it is too late. They won't listen, but at least you can say you tried to do something about it. Too bad it is this same lackadaisical attitude that got us in this situation in the first place),

Rev. Biggus

More Crap

I was thinking about how the country is lazy. I have been watching the news and I hear "the republicans are screwing up, vote democrat!" or "the dems are screwing up, vote GOP!". They are both right, Washington D.C. is full of screw ups.

"Third parties" are a viable solution but the ones in power prey on the fear of the sheep playing the masterful game of misdirection to keep the public scared.

I could rant for hours on this subject, but I will spare you. Look into the other parties. Make your own choice instead of regurgitating your parent's or peers' opinions. You have great power with your vote...it would be irresponsible for you to just vote the way someone tells you.

The current government does not want to educate you because this is how they have been able to rape this country and its constitution for decades without resistance. I personally have had enough and my voting record shows it.

Be good to one another,

Rev. Biggus