Memorial Day Question

This has been turning over in my brain ever since I read Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote. “Lest I keep my complacent way I must remember somewhere out there a person died for me today. As long as there must be war, I ask and I must answer was I worth dying for?”

For His Son I was worth dying for. And for that sacrifice I am forever grateful.  

On this Memorial Day Weekend I ask: did those who went to war and paid with the ultimate sacrifice die for me? Did they go off to war for me, the one who enjoys the life, the liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Or did the soldier die to defend, protect and preserve the Constitution which sanctifies my God given rights as an individual equal among all others? 

It is a noble cause to die for another and many have done so, but I say the soldier died to uphold the Constitution, to preserve the country under which it was founded.  That was what I swore to do when I served.    

No man should die for another as no man should be in bondage to another.  By no means do I say to neglect a moral obligation to another. I talk of war. However, we are all equal in what was freely given to us by the Creator.  Let all men take up arms to protect what each man was given so that another does not steal his rights.

When men unite in limited government to insure their personal liberties and freedom they assume a responsibility to defend the bond that they made which secured their rights. That is what we shall die for. That is what they died for.

But for another man to die for me, I think not. Die for my country, my Constitution and the principles and values she holds. Not for me, for I too shall be in battle. That is my responsibility as a soldier and as a citizen.

Spewing Waste

Can I give you an example of governmental stupidity?  On the Big Island of Hawaii we have an active volcano, Kilauea. It spews all kinds of crap into the air to the tune of up to 2000 tons of sulfur dioxide per day. A conservative output for Kilauea is 660 tons of sulfur dioxide. Grasp this fact.

It is important to realize the environmental impact this volcano has on the island. On the mild side is the visible blight known as vog which casts a dull haze over blue tropic skies.  Of course, in this thick cloud lives all sorts of chemicals. Also spewed are things like hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, carbon dioxide.

The junk emitted from the volcano causes metal to fatigue, clothes to rot, grasses and other plants to die, and when eaten by animals can be harmful to them causing such things as bone loss. For humans the gases cause respiratory conditions, body aches, lethargy, eye irritation and even depression.  Yes, paradise living at its best.   

Now consider the EPA, our good intention government friends who oversee the rules and regulations to keep us safe from shit that comes out of volcanoes by proposing caps on emissions on electrical plants.  That's right. We have three electrical plants on the Big Island.  Fossil fuel burning menaces. The Hawaii Electric Light Co, known as HELCO, pumps out a whopping 575 pounds per day.  Look at the numbers…pounds from the plants, tons from the volcano.  That means the emission from the three plants is .04 percent of the volcano.

Nevertheless the EPA proposes to cap emissions at the three plants to “improve visibility to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.”  EPA’s associate director, Kerry Drake, out of the Air Division at EPA’s Region 9 office in San Francisco says, “We did take into account the volcano.”

Please! 

Now, I am all for clean air and reducing pollution. But as our government spends more and more as Americans struggle to keep up, and worry about job loss in hard economic times,  I wonder how much this cap is going to cost for a negligible result?  Hawaii already has the highest electricity rates in the nation.  We already pay $5.00 a gallon for gas. Here’s just another reason for HELCO to increase rates to pay for an "improvement" that will have same impact as you not pissing in the ocean.

This Ain't Philly

The other day a perfect stranger yelled at me. 

My co-worker at Diamond Parking asked if I had ever watched the reality TV show on A&E called Parking Wars. Seriously? There’s a show that follows the Philadelphia parking authority people around the city as they write tickets and impound cars for parking violations. A year after I ended my recycling gig, I still think Redemption Wars would provide much mind numbing entertainment  The behind the scenes look at the nasty business of recycling – and why people bring stinky trash to the redemption center. Alas, the good things I miss in life because I don't have a TV.  I can't tune into the ½ hour show which highlights Philly’s most arrogant idiots who think they can park anywhere, anytime.  However, after I had my first irate person hunt me down to complain about his ticket, I jumped on the Internet and watched Episode 18 to see how the Philly job compares to tickets writing in paradise.

I was making my way back to my moped when a man stopped his car in the middle of the road "to discuss" why I gave him a ticket.  Granted, he was a little upset, but I honestly thought we were going to discuss it. I should have known that when a person prowls the streets looking for you they are either a Good Samaritan trying to do you a favor - like return your wallet - or they are insane.  He was insane.

I let another car pass before I could respond to why I wrote his parking ticket. I addressed him with sir and braced myself for the worst.  I kept my voice low. Figured it might diffuse the situation. Not really.  I remembered his car and knew exactly where he had parked,  a newly designated pay-in-advance parking lot. He had not paid.

“You got no business giving me a ticket. I wasn’t even in one of your spots.”  That was true. It was not parked in a number stall.  He managed to squeeze it into a space too small to number. It had been part of a handicap spot, but since that was removed the space by itself was not large enough to park a car in. For most.  I  could have written a ticket for improper parking...not in a stall.  Instead, I issued one for no advance payment.  Either way, you owe $40.00.

“You have no authority to issue tickets.” I was puzzled. I wasn't some random person wandering the Kona parking lots tagging cars. My company had been hired to manage the private lot. The owner decided to charge for the use of the space. I was hired to enforce the fees. I looked at my hand-held phone that contained the program for ticket writing. The program is awesome. With it I record all the necessary data on the car. It computes the length of time a car was parked in any "free for the first two hours" parking lot.   It takes a photo and prints it as part of the ticket along with the GPS coordinates.  No, “my car was never there” excuse. I'm sure the owner, my employer or I are not breaking any laws. 

“I’m going to the police and file a complaint. I’ll have you arrested.” You parked in a private parking lot which charges $3.00 for two hours and you arrogantly didn’t pay. I think that is theft. I'll have you arrested.

“If you don’t take this ticket back I am going to see my lawyer and sue you. And I am going to sue you for the cost of my attorney.”  I’ve been threatened by better and for far worse. Piss away your money as you will. That is your right. 

“Are you going to take this ticket back?” He shoved the ticket at me. Not flinching I said, “ No sir."

“Then I am going to the cops.”

“Okay.” Good call.

He zoomed off. I’ve been waiting for him to run over me. 

Its tough doing a job where people hate what you do. But I do make people happy too. Two Japanese girls ran up to me after I gave them a ticket. “I paid. I paid. The machine took my money.” I waited for the story. She called her friend over to corroborate it. “I put six dollars in machine. I didn’t have enough cash to pay seven. I didn’t have. The machine would not return my money. And no ticket. I could use credit card. I called the phone number on the machine.” The friend showed her phone and pointed to the called phone number.

 The story seemed plausible.  

“Please, no ticket,” she pleaded.

“Okay,” I said.  But that was too easy and they were suspicious.

“I won’t get a ticket when I get home?” Apparently, this is an embarrassing event back home. I assured them they would not. I wrote void on the ticket and showed them. She gave me her name -Alice- and her phone number so I could check their call.  I had no intentions of doing that. I placed an empty envelop on their car so I won't tag it again.

“Thank you. Thank you. We are not bad kids.” That cracked me up. They skipped away. Really, they skipped.

Yeah, Kona ain’t Philly.