They didn't wreck my life. They gave me a Reason to fight against Injustice, Greed, and Tyranny.

Honor

29 July 2008

27 July 2008

Fish + Estrogen = ???

You gotta see it to believe it!

24 July 2008

"Mom! There are so many day laborers here!"

It's Thursday morning, and I'm off to The Home Depot just off the Rhode Island Ave.-Brentwood Metro stop in the hopes of acquiring employment there. I can commute with my father to the region (and use his stash of discarded Metro passes), work during the day, and return home with him. The Law of Resolution is a rather tasty treat one might find in Prince William County. I've been out and about during the summer, and the County is looking rather glorious :)

The Metro slows and comes to a stop. The electric bells chime and the matter-of-fact announcer says, "Doors opening." DING-dong , go the chimes again. I step out, relishing the 75° morning temperatures. I head down the platform and walk the trek to the store. As I round the bend, I have to stop because I am in utter shock: about 40-50 men are milling around in The Home Depot parking lot, sunning themselves while sitting on the curb and chatting amongst one another. I am stuck by the fact that a day laborer is something I have not seen in many, many months, particularly in Prince Willliam County. I had often wondered where many, if not most, of the day laborers had gone if they fled PWC. I guess I had found them.

I nodded to one gentleman and said buenas to another. I approached a foursome. Speaking spanish, I chatted with a laborer who said that many of them had been waiting for work since five or six in the morning. It was eight-ish or so when I arrived and asked if there had been any one to pick them up. They shook their heads no, there hadn't been too many people this morning. I thanked them for their time and left.

I took some pictures of the laborers milling around. I was a little nervous about getting close to them with a camera, so I took the shots from across the parking lot:











I returned in the afternoon. While the number of laborers was less than what it was in the morning, there were about 20 or so guys. I conversed with a couple fellows who were taking refuge from the sun in the shade. I told them that I thought there would be no one here because it was the afternoon; naturally, wouldn't someone have picked them up? This laborer said no, today had been a little slow. I chatted some more with the guys until I realized that I was no longer speaking to just two men. The other laborers had noticed there was someone talking to them and perhaps they thought I was a contractor. I paused for a second and saw that I was speaking to about 20 men. I got slightly nervous but figured as long as they didn't make any sudden or threatening motions towards me, I would be fine.

I asked them where they lived. They were from the D.C. area, they said. I told them about Prince William County and the Law of Resolution. They chuckled; it didn't look like they would try to go there. They seemed fine to try and earn a living while waiting in The Home Depot parking lot. It was a little hot that afternoon, and I asked them if they had enough water while they were standing outside during the day. Nearly all shook their heads in unison. "No agua, no baño," one said. "No food," offered another. I asked them how long they had been standing there. "Doce (12) horas," someone told me. I saw that the laborers were looking at me in a sort of eager, anticipating expression. "I didn't bring my car," I told them in Spanish. Nope, I was not there to hire them. I was looking for work myself! Nevertheless, they were interested in this person who had stopped to talk with them.

I talked with the laborers for a little while longer, then I bid them good-bye. I said that if I hopefully got the job at that Home Depot I would see them again. I thought I could hear one of them ask me what my name was, but the words were lost in their own good-byes. I stopped for a moment. He asked again.

"¿Cómo te llamas?"

I gave them my nickname.

21 July 2008

¿Adiós?

Okaaaay, I REALLY don't know what to make of the whispers and rumours and whatnot that's been spreading like fire on spilt gasoline in Prince William County and Greece, NY. It began last Friday, July 18 with an e-mail I received from someone stating that Steven Walts was resigning. I was out of town during that time, and when I returned home, my father had more information. As early as last month, the school board had apparently offered a buy-out for Walts. The amount wasn't quite what he was looking for. But then word comes around that he was resigning. The reasons spanned from being "caught en flagrante with a male math teacher" to suspicions that "one of the employees he brought from New York was his mistress and the wife found out. " A friend of my father's had called asking for confirmation. I would think that something this big would be reported in the Potomac News and/or Washington Post, but when I checked, there was nothing. However, underneath the hum of rush-hour traffic there is a palpable electricity, especially up in Greece.

It began with a post on the Smarter CATS in the Greece Central School District blog titled ALL POINTS BULLETIN?
PWC Resident said...
There's word out that Waltsie and possibly his boys are going to waltz out of Prince William County Public Schools.
Keep a sharp eye out for these hoodlums. Do NOT give the bad guys any reason to return to your system. 7/18/2008 7:12 PM
This post sparked a furor. These comments give reason for pause:
Anonymous said...
Impeccable sources close to PWC report that Walts resigned yesterday (Friday) rather than be fired for cause. It is alleged that Walts was caught with an employee engaged in behavior that would be considered cause for dismissal . The cheering in PWC has just begun!!
Are their people on our board that are sick enough to want to bring him back?
Stay tuned for breaking news!
Oh, he allegedly overspent the budget on the new admin bldg. by $15 million. And the Board of Education members are profoundly embarrassed by this turn of events. Of course they were warned about Walts' behaviors three years ago, and again and again. 7/19/2008 2:39 PM
Anonymous said:
If the story about Walts resigning is true, then some hard questions need to be asked.
Was the employee wishing to be given a raise by Walts?
Was the employee seeking to get ahead at work?
Did Walts overplay his hand?
Was there bad-mouthing of or by either party?
Clearly a subordinate employee can be compromised by a powerful superior. It is called sexual harrassment!
Can Walts' lifetime health care paid by Greece residents be stopped immediately for actions that warranted dismissal by the current employer?
Or will Boily and puppets want to ignore yet another smoking gun!!! 7/19/2008 3:52 PM
A further post allowed for discussion of the former comment: OOPS!! HE DID IT AGAIN?? In the following discussion, an anonymous post that seemed to originate from PWC offers more:
The rumor started here in Prince William early in the week that he was going to resign. It spread among the principals and teachers in summer school like wildfire. When people called the admin office, it was denied. But then on Friday, the talk expanded and it was coming from people who worked on the Hill in or close to the super's office. They said they saw what was happening Friday morning and that he definitely was resigning or going to resign. He was taking things out of his office clearing it out. By Friday afternoon, it was all over the county, although not officially reported anywhere. At my school we never heard any rumors as to why or any allegations about Dr. Walts, just that he was leaving. But there have been wild rumors for weeks that Kisha left because of sexual harassment and misconduct. We're just as baffled as everyone else is.

We have rumors like any school system but I can't remember any rumor being this talked about and not true. I'm not saying it is true but the people it was coming from are people who have never spread rumors like this in the past. They seemed fearful of losing their own jobs with a new administration so I think they were being honest about what they saw and thought was happening on Friday. 7/20/2008 3:51 PM
And here's my comment:
At this point, I'm getting told two different stories left and right. For all the announcements our school board makes, it would be VERY helpful to hear one verifying or busting this rumour. >:( I am astounded that SCATS appears to have more info on this than our own papers. ><

For those wondering about blog coverage, there is at least one. BLACK VELVET BRUCE LI July 20: "No, PWCPS Superintendent Walts is not resigning/been fired or whatever, despite rumors to that effect. Some folks have confused the resignation of the State Superintendent with Dr. Walts. For beter [sic] or worse, Dr. Walts is still with us."

Hopefully, more info will come to light in the coming days. 7/21/2008 4:32 AM
I know, Wikipedia isn't the best source =)


Personally, there is nothing I'd like better than to see a certain someone walking out of Independent Hill with his tail tucked between his legs. I can only hope that all school systems have been warned of this character and will keep their doors shut to him and his associates.

09 July 2008

Put this in your toolbox

All Citizens should have this page bookmarked ASAP, courtesy of FAIR:


Stick 'em all over the discussion boards. Let's see the liberals try to spin this.

"Amnesty" my big American a**.

PSA for Illegal Aliens wanting to rob houses

It may very well be the last time you do so. Thanks to a Texas man, there are two fewer illegal aliens in the United States. Two men were shot and killed when a neighbor saw them crawling out of a window, and then came over to the yard of the neighbor and began threatening him. After ample warnings, Joe Horn opened fire. The illegal aliens were dead at the scene.

The two illegals already committed a crime by entering and remaining in this fine Country illegally. I guess it would only make their rap sheet prettier by adding burglary and threatening someone. Kudos to the 61-year-old for defending not only his life and his own property, but also the property of his neighbors. I don't know what's funnier: having the family of the dead men actually wanting something done to Horn, or trying to imagine what Horn's trophy wall currently looks like :)

Story can be found here and here.

07 July 2008

Sell Out the Bad Stock

I've received intel this afternoon that the Prince William County School Board has been looking into buying-out the current superintendent, sort-of like a "we'll-pay-you-to-skip-town" thing. Funny, but this is coming from the same group of people who released a statement back in February saying:
"Dr. Walts continues to have the confidence of the ... board. The Prince William County community can rest assured that the School Board has long-standing and transparent policies and audit procedures assuring integrity and effectiveness of all division operations."
Good job! This is certainly worthy of a medal. The Citizens are presented with a front that denies any and all wrongdoings of their star employees, yet at the same time, a hand or two sneaks underneath the table to bid a completely different errand.

Unfortunately, the likelihood that the position will be vacated due to a buyout (and the school board members getting their heads out of each other's rear ends) is, sadly, quite unlikely. When offended parties win their lawsuits and student performance continues to spiral downward in the Math department, we may very well have eight school board representatives walking the plank. And those sharks are getting mighty hungry...

Rumours have been going around that Freedom High School may see new leadership within the next academic year or so. I'll be keeping an eye out on the job posting.

After you've voted

After you've voted
They say the taste of Revenge is sweet ^_^