January, 2012

Let’s look around us at the developments of the day:


The weather here on the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Reservation has been close to tropical, but I wouldn’t plan on it staying that way. These unplanned days have allowed me to get more work done in the yard. I had some branches cut in my back-yard and I hauled them off over the weekend and one big branch decided to whip back at me and it cut me above my eye and knocked off my glasses. I had my grandson, Pat ko shuk, administer first aid to stop the bleeding and I went on my merry way. Some day, I will cut back on this labor, but don’t know when!

With the National Championship game being played tonight at 7:30 between LSU and Alabama, I bet those Cowboys from OSU will be kicking the proverbial rock down the street for losing to Iowa State,  which goes to show you can’t let your guard down at all during the regular season. OSU ended up with a 12-1 record.

A local political observer told me the other day: “The federal government wasn’t meant to run everything. That’s why we have local government.” Well let’s see how that plays out in Wichita. Boeing is leaving Wichita after a million years being there and 2,160 employees have lost their jobs. Politicians pushed hard for pork and they were awarded all kind of contracts and given numerous tax concessions to stay, but they left anyway. This is a blow to that city, and now Kansas politicians and the D.C. delegation are under fire for not doing more.

Speaking of politicians if you want:

Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal on Thursday apologized for an email that made fun of first lady Michelle Obama’s hair style and mockingly called her “Mrs. YoMama.” According to the Lawrence Journal World, O’Neal forwarded from his personal computer the email that said, “I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing Mrs. YoMama a wonderful, long Hawaii Christmas vacation — at our expense, of course.”

The O’Neal incident comes just weeks after U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, apologized to the first lady for commenting on the size of her backside.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Sensenbrenner referred to Obama’s “big butt” while talking to church members at a Christmas bazaar. According to the newspaper’s account, Sensenbrenner thought Obama was a hypocrite for undertaking a national initiative to fight obesity. Politicians don’t have to worry about racial comments, I guess!

But in the business world, last month an employee cashier reportedly used "Ching" and "Chong" in the customer identification line on the receipts. He was dismissed for violating operating standards. In another incident, Papa John’s terminated an employee for writing “lady chinky eyes” on a receipt in New York City. Customers said “Your employees are your brand,” Yet, politicians can make remarks like those two yahoos against the first lady of the United States with no consequences. This is another case of stupid politics and a lack of respect.

An a lesson to us all: A 58-year-old man accused of drinking while driving a lawn mower has been charged with assaulting a southwest Missouri law enforcement officer in Willard, Missouri. And what was that message:  Maybe don’t’ drink and drive while you mow your weeds.

Oh well, it makes for interesting reading !