the way I see it - TK's Blog - Tehachapi News

Once Upon a Mountain: a Pet Parade

This evening is the Tehachapi Mountain Festival Pet Parade at West Park / Read Field on D Street. Sign ups are at 6 with the Parade beginning to march at 6:30. Contests and Raffle will be directly after the parade. Contests this year are Most Unusual Pet, Best Costumed Pet-Owner Look-a-like, Best Trick, Shortest Legs, Tallest Pet, Best Tail Wagger, and the Howling contest (when audience participation is mandatory!). So load up the kids and the animals (and your camera) and head over to Read Field for the evening. See you there!

you tube question

I saw a You Tube video and I'd like to download it, either onto a CD or into a file on my computer. Is this possible? Does anyone know how?

MORE ON LOUSY DRIVERS

This just happened to me for the fifth time. Both the eastbound and westbound 202/Valley at Tucker has three lanes: left turn, straight through, right turn. I have been unpleasantly surprised by drivers going straight through the intersection from the right turn lane. Twice I was able to speak with the driver and neither realized it was a right turn lane. Didn't that bent arrow give you a clue?

Cheap Tomatoes

Cheap Tomatoes - an English teacher speaks out!

This English teacher has phrased it the best I've seen yet!

She is with LAUSD but it could be anywhere USA.

"As you listen to the news about the student protests

over illegal immigration, there are some things that you

should be aware of: I am in charge of the

English-as-a-second-language department

at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1

school, meaning that its students average lower socio-economic and income

levels. Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens ,

Huntington Park , etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools. Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. ( OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK - disgusting )

I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately

overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. And they love to text message during class time. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the

upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning

center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less then 3

months, who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them 'Putas' (whores) and throwing things that the teachers were in tears. Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc., Is it any wonder they feel entitled

to not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?

To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs. Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, lower wages for citizens, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc, etc . For me, I'll pay more for

tomatoes.

We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it! Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return? It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate,

and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about 'political

correctness' that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about? Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage. Consumers don't want expensive produce.

Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs. But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase 'cheap labor' is a myth , a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as 'cheap labor.' Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or 6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents,

he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return,

he gets an ' earned income credit' of up to $3,200 free. He qualifies for Section 8

housing and subsidized rent. He qualifies for food stamps. He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care. His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school. He requires bilingual teachers and books. He qualifies for relief from high energy bills. If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled , they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense! He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance. Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material. He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits. Wake up people!

WALK A DAY IN MY SHOES WITHIN

THE LAUSD SYSTEM AND YOU TOO WILL BECOME CYNICAL

THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING TO THE

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FROM EITHER PARTY. '

AND WHEN THEY LIE TO US AND DON'T DO AS THEY SAY, WE SHOULD REPLACE THEM AT ONCE! "

May Karma Smite You

To begin, thank you Canine Creek for the shot / microchip mini-clinic. I always enjoy dropping by and chatting with y'all and I will ask people to sign the petition for a shelter. It's too bad the day took a tragic turn. I am so sorry about that little dog who slipped away from the child in the parking lot. It was a short run onto Tucker and underneath that vehicle. And hey, driver who ran over the little dog, I wish many nasty things upon your head. Did you know that even if it isn't your fault you are still required BY LAW to stop? There were three children who watched as their little dog was scooped up from Tucker where you so callously took a life and fled. So, poop-for-brains driver, you think you were lucky today that I did not get your license plate. Since I cannot track you I will leave it to Karma to smite you. Hopefully that will be worse than anything I could have done.

Bureau of Automotive Repair

A friend of mine was cited for "too loud" an engine. It is now a state requirement to have a BAR referee check if fix-it tickets have been fixed. His car tested within legal decibels and smog emissions (with no work being done) but one part had a serial number that did not match those on the BAR list for that vehicle so the referee wouldn't sign off the form. I am confused. Why is California so worried about whether every part is stock or not? This was a used car purchased from a guy who works on engines. My friend figured the car would be in good shape, mechanically speaking. How do any of us know if the used car we are buying may have a part replaced with one which fits but isn't on some state certified list? Sounds like the car makers had a friend in Sacramento.

new place in town

Has anyone checked out the Edelwiess yet? It's over by the Olde Towne plaza, next to A+Pets. I need to schedule time to drop in and try the food. If anyone has been there already then please leave a comment.

fire equipment

I read that Tehachapi donated equipment from the defunct fire department to Bakersfield College. I heard that some things were donated to a city in Mexico. My question is: why didn't the equipment get donated to Sand Canyon Fire? Wouldn't that have made more sense than sending it so far afield? Those folk out in Sand Canyon have not been treated very well by County Fire. They pass a hat and sell home-baked goods to raise money for equipment. They could have really used the Tehachapi stuff and it would have stayed local. The citizens of Tehachapi paid for it; it shouldn't have been sent off like that. By the way, who is paying for the shipping charges to Mexico? The citizens, again?

NEW DIRECTORS

Since it doesn't seem like anyone reads the Forum section, I'm going to comment on a recent Forum submission in this section. Ms Huckins (In Support of TVHD) states that the new directors at the hospital, three physicians with local medical practices, are trying really hard to learn about the hospital and they have a steep learning curve. Didn't the public vote in a bunch of local doctors because they were supposed to know something about a hospital? Why do these physicians, a couple of whom have been in the community for decades, not have a better grasp of this hospital? Where were they in the past years?

The story was flawed

Since the Bakersfield Californian chose to print a story in the Tehachapi News [July 4, 2007, page B2] that was poorly written and flawed, I am posting the letter I wrote to the Californian (which has not been printed) as a rebuttal.

----- Original Message -----

From: Tehachapi Mountain Dog Fanciers

Sent: 6/24/2007 10:23:32 AM

Subject: Rebuttal to Story 6/20

Rebuttal to 6/20/2007 article by James Burger: Breeding rules off table for now
Mr. Burger’s essay would be more appropriate in Opinion than in News. He clearly shows his bias by tone and misinformation. It’s too bad that a "news reporter" with a personal agenda has to resort to name-calling when a meeting doesn't go his way. Mr. Burger, grow up!

The majority of those people who were slurred by the moniker "backyard breeders" are, according to David Price III in his status report presented to the KCACC,"[legitimate] ... breeders who are registered with recognized associations, clubs or registries that have ‘code of ethics’ and standards to which members must adhere ..." These people, these hobby-breeders, are not in the business of producing animals. A business does not operate with a chronic and increasing negative balance nor such a low volume of product. That is why neither the State of California nor the Federal Government consider them to be businesses.

It’s too bad that the Animal Rights faction ran out of the meeting for their interviews rather than stay and discuss the issues. It’s also too bad that the "reporter" decided to call Animal Rights people "animal lovers" as if those who belong to other clubs and associations are not. I think everyone in that meeting can easily be considered an animal lover and I think everyone there would like to see the true backyard breeders and puppy mills put out of business, permanently. Cheap shots under the guise of reporting news is not the way to do it. Shame on you, Mr. Burger!

tehmtdogfanciers@earthlink.net

http://home.earthlink.net/~tehmtdogfanciers/