Musings For A Darkened Room

Pizza Hut sent out an apology letter today following a mass e-mail that mistakenly left it’s servers Wednesday.  The e-mail which was sent to the chains current e-mail subscribers list, offered a sports promotion of 2 Medium pizzas, 1 one-topping and 1 specialty or up to 3 toppings. The e-mail was apparently sent during some testing that the pizza delivery chain was doing to better their e-mail functionality. In the apology Pizza Hut says, “It was not theintent of Pizza Hut for this email to besent to you. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused. We value your relationship with us and understand that communicating with you via email is a privilege not to be taken lightly. We have identified the cause of the mistake and have taken steps to make sure this does not happen again.”

In addition to the apology Pizza Hut mentions an update to their privacy
policy in the e-mail. However, whether or not the update was in relation to the
accidental e-mail is unclear. My question is, where’s my free pizza? And do you
suppose they will start offering spam on their pizza’s?

I hate to rip off Foamy the Squirrel, but I think Starbucks officially hit schmuck status tonight when the news reported it’s 4 hour closure and the masses distressed in front of the cameras. If you didn’t hear, Starbucks Coffee shut down all 7,100 company-operated stores in the U.S. this evening to “Perfect the Art of Espresso”.

It was reported that the chain closed all of it’s doors this evening at 5:30 pm to conduct an in-store education and training event for more than 135,000 of it’s employees across the U.S. This coming quickly after the recent announcements about nearly 100 U.S. stores scheduled to close later this year and the cutbacks of over 200 corporate employees last week. However, in a written statement made by the company Chairman and Chief Executive, Howard Schultz, the focus seemed to be more about the customer experience, than making money. “Tonight is about making sure our baristas have what they need to deliver on the promise we’re making to every customer, and for every beverage.”

I think it’s a brave move for Starbucks, and I think for a company to be able to admit their faults and essentially cutoff all revenue for four hours or more is outstanding. It shows a commitment to improvement that many companies would scoff at.

Starbucks even went to the trouble to try and lighten the blow in their press release by giving it’s customers alternatives to Starbucks during the closure:

“12,600 Seconds in Time” – 5 GREAT THINGS TO DO IN JUST 3 ½ HOURS
1. Thinking of a change in hair color? A full color with highlights takes just about 3 hours.
2. Watch almost all of the nominated short films.
3. When was the last time you made a home cooked meal? You can roast an 8lb -12lb turkey in 3 ½ hours.
4. What better time to organize those closets, it’s a jump start on spring cleaning.
5. After patiently waiting 12,601 seconds, head to Starbucks to get that espresso!

Though Starbucks was able to make light of the matter, most of it’s L.A. customers could not. Instead we got to see a bunch of people piss and moan about it on the evening news. Aren’t we fighting a war in Iraq? Aren’t there political debates going on? Don’t we still need to think about immigration reform? If this were a business bit, I would get it, but this was headline news for some of the local stations (Watch the video associated with the story).

Sure, Starbucks is an icon, and in my opinion it’s not even that, it’s more a status symbol for people. But honestly, do you need to stand outside the doors and cry into your latte because they closed shop for a few hours? Break out of your routine and try something new, you might just surprise yourself. You might discover that The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf have a pretty kick ass coffee too. Hell they have some kick ass teas as well. Or perhaps you can hit your local coffee shop and try their fresh home brew, maybe it will blow your “Tall Skinny Mocha hold the whip cream” out of the water. Regardless, I think people should be getting fired up about more important things than time without their local trendy coffee shop…

I’ve noticed that ever since I started cross posting my blogs or bulletins I’ve started taking a lot of heat from people. I seem to get it most when I post about illegal immigration. I know it is a heated topic throughout the US, however I felt it might be beneficial to post something that backs my standing on why illegal immigration bothers me so much.

First off let me stress that I am not anti-immigration. I am simply anti-ILLEGAL immigration. I don’t think that it’s right for law breakers from another country to reap rewards provided by tax paying legal citizens. I recently had the opportunity to write an argumentative essay in my English class and though it would be fitting to repost it here. The topic I chose was the negative effects of illegal immigration here in California. Maybe after reading this you’ll all understand why I have such a huge issue with illegals.

You know that we live in a sad world when news like this comes out. News broke yesterday that residents in Boiling Spring Lakes, North Carolina are cutting down trees at an alarming rate to protect their land from an endangered woodpecker species. You’re probably wondering what kind of threat a woodpecker poses, residents in the area fear that if the woodpeckers nest in their trees it will be impossible to further land development in their area. Since February Residents have been swarming City Hall to apply for lot-clearing permits. The mentality behind the clearing is that if there are no trees to support the woodpecker habitat the federal Fish and Wildlife Service would not be able to set aside the land as a woodpecker habitat.

Currently the agency has issued a map marking 15 active woodpecker “clusters,” and announced it was working on a new one that could potentially designate whole neighborhoods of this town in southeastern North Carolina as protected habitat, subject to more-stringent building restrictions.

The red-cockaded woodpecker was once an abundant species in the region. They could be found in longleaf pine forests from New Jersey to Florida. Now the number of birds in the wild has been cut down to numbers as low as 15,000. What makes the red-cockaded woodpecker so distinct from other woodpeckers is that it nests solely in living trees.

Sadly the same people who are out to destroy potential homes for the red-cockaded woodpecker are the same people who created homes for it in the past. The trees that stood in the forest before it was turned into a town were used to collect sap to make turpentine. Locals carved V-shaped notches in the pines to drain the tree’s sap and collect it. These wounds allowed fungus to infiltrate the tree’s core, making it easier for the woodpecker to excavate its nest hole and probe for the beetles, spiders and wood-boring insects it prefers.

What makes this story even more saddening is the amount of time it takes for this woodpecker to even complete a nest. It can take a red-cockaded woodpecker up to six years to create a single nest hole. While this may seem like an extremely long time to create a nest the work is not done in vain. Unlike most birds the red-cockaded woodpecker actually passes down its nest generation to generation.

Pete Benjamin, supervisor of the federal agency’s Raleigh office told The New York Times that, “Landowners have overreacted. Having a woodpecker tree on a piece of property does not necessarily mean a house cannot be built there, Mr. Benjamin said. A landowner can even get permission to cut down a cavity tree, as long as an alternative habitat can be found. For the most part, we’ve found ways to work with most folks.”

While the federal Fish and Wildlife Service have an optimistic outlook on the woodpecker “problem” others are not so sure. A resident in the area named Bonner Stiller has been holding on to two wooded half-acre lakefront lots for the last 23 years. When the federal Fish and Wildlife Service put Boiling Spring Lakes on notice that rapid development threatened to squeeze out the woodpecker, Stiller stripped both lots of longleaf pines before the government could issue its new map. Stiller a Republican member of the state General Assembly told The New York Times, “They have finally developed a value, and then to have that taken away from you?”

For many this just sounds like a story of residents protecting their assets, but what most people aren’t looking at is the whole picture. While the residents have cut down the trees to prevent the woodpeckers from nesting they have also destroyed the homes and habitats of other species. What is to become of the insects and numerous other creatures that use these trees as shelter from the elements? Furthermore if they force the woodpeckers to other regions that do not provide the proper habitat they risk endangering the woodpecker further. By forcing it into areas that do not provide adequate nesting grounds or introduce new threats or predators to the species.

I stumbled upon this story at an interesting time in my life, as I am focusing much of my energy on becoming a better person and grounding myself in nature. I am currently thumbing through the pages of The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in The Rhythms of Nature by Starhawk. The book discusses many issues like this one. Stories where people focus solely on bettering the situation for themselves and do not think about the long term consequences their decisions may have on the land or on the people and animals that live on that land.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to find their place in the “Big Picture” that we call earth. The small section of the book I have already read has already opened my eyes greatly to the huge difference that small changes can make. For more information and to read a brief excerpt of this visit Amazon.com.

No, it’s not the name of a new hip morning news show. It’s an outcry to the American people to start paying attention to what is going on around them. With September 11 still fresh in our minds it’s not hard to forget how vulnerable America can be. Now more than ever we face a global war against Terrorism and Anti-American extremists.

What most Americans don’t realize is it’s not Al Qaeda or Iraq that we really need to worry about. We are in fact surrounded by numerous enemies, some that aren’t too far from our borders and their numbers grow by the day.

For those of you who are paying attention you may have heard in the news recently about Iran’s President, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Both Presidents are heading up a strong Anti-American campaign, with Iran heading up a worldwide attack on the U.S. and its foreign policy.

You’re probably asking yourself at this point, why are they such a threat? We are America, we have the largest and strongest military, what do we have to lose? The truth is, if we don’t wake up, everything. Iran and Venezuela are just two small pieces in a very large puzzle. If Iran were to pose a military threat on the U.S. they would also have the backing of Venezuela and Hezbollah. This threat may also bring larger parties into the equation, parties that are just waiting for the prime opportunity to strike the U.S. Countries like North Korea, and possibly even China and Russia.

We are teetering on the brink of World War III, yet most of the American public is completely ignorant to what is going on. But what can America do at this point when we are already knee deep in poor foreign policy and high disapproval of our government’s action worldwide?

First, we need to focus on the war here at home. With mid-term elections just around the corner politicians aren’t going to touch the issue of immigration. We do not have a solid homeland security system in place if we cannot control our borders. Not just the Mexican borders, but all of our borders. America will not be secure until it puts in place a system that will prevent terrorists from entering our country where we are most vulnerable. Americans need to stop focusing on the negative effects this has on Mexican immigrants alone, and start looking at the whole picture. Whether you are here legally or illegally, whether you’re Mexican, American, or Canadian, if you live in this country a significant terrorist or military attack on the U.S. WILL effect you.

Second, while not all terrorists are Muslims the Muslim community needs to stand up and take their part in stopping the Muslim extremists. Too many Muslims are wasting their days claiming racism and prejudice, and not putting a stop to the actions of a few in their community. The percentage of non-extremist Muslims greatly surpasses that of the extremists, however the extremists and gihadists are quickly gaining numbers.

Recently, the first Muslim to be crowned Miss England warned that stereotyping members of her community is leading other Muslims towards extremism and terrorism. She said, quote, “Even moderate Muslims are turning to terrorism to prove themselves. They think they might as well support it, because they’re stereotyped that way anyway”.

This mentality has to stop. This mentality is what is causing the problem to begin with. Muslims need to unite as a religion and as a community and show the world that they are not going to let their religion and their livelihood be controlled and effected by the actions of a few. Glenn Beck, syndicated radio host and host of the Glenn Beck Program on CNN had a great monologue regarding this that aired back on September, 5. I am posting a transcript of his monologue below, because I think it sums everything up.

“Let’s just say I was profiled as a pedophile and every time I went to Disney World, the Disney police would stop me and say, “Uh you, not so much.” Here’s what I would do. I’d be annoyed. I’d probably stop going to Disney World, and I might even start hanging out with other people who were having the same kind of problem, provided they weren’t actual pedophiles.

I wouldn’t ever, however, say to myself, “Ah, you know what? Everybody thinks I’m a pedophile anyway. I might as well start downloading child porn and start molesting kids.”

Why wouldn’t I do that? Because I’m not an actual pedophile or child molester, but according to Miss England’s logic, I’d be perfectly justified in doing so.

This is a great example of why I think since 9/11, Americans have gotten so fed up with the “yes, but” Muslims. The “yes, but” Muslims are the ones who show up on talk shows and in the media and say, “Yes, terrorism is bad, but” — and then they go through a list of reasons on why we should try and sympathize with people who fly planes into buildings.

I also hear a lot about Islam being a religion of peace, that terrorists aren’t true Muslims. Fine. OK. I believe that. But if you do accept that, then you can’t really go along with Miss England and the rest of the “yes, buts” and say, “Oh, gee, maybe it is our fault. We’re making good Muslims go bad.” Which is it?”

“…The Muslim community better find a spokesman who isn’t a “yes, but” Muslim. They shouldn’t even understand the word “but”, because if they don’t, when things heat up, the profiling will only get worse, and the razor wire will be coming. That’s why.

Tonight, here’s what I know. We are sick and tired of the “yes, but” crowd. I don’t even care what precedes it. There’s no excuse for flying planes into buildings, kidnapping journalists and random beheadings.

You want the profiling to stop? Then here’s an idea. Stop murdering innocent people. Stop excusing the people who do. You do that for a while, and I guarantee you won’t have anymore any more problems at the airports. Stop blowing stuff up and the world just might be your oyster.

Otherwise, it’s going to be like that movie “The Siege”. You remember that movie? The Muslims will see the west through razor wire if things don’t change.

I also know the Muslim community is in trouble. Everybody seems to be in denial. It’s been reported that the FBI may be testing for radiation outside mosques in Dearborn. Is that the way Muslims want to live? I don’t think so. Look, I’m not saying all Arabs and Muslims are anti-American. Far from it. We should get to know these people and embrace the good Muslims, and eliminate the bad ones.

Here’s what I don’t know. I don’t know if the Muslim community will ever step to the plate like the Japanese-American community did during World War II. You know, it was absolutely disgraceful how we rounded innocent people up then and, sadly, history has a way of repeating itself no matter how grotesque that history might be. The Muslim community can prevent this if they act now.

But I also don’t know why Muslims everywhere aren’t kicking up dirt over what Miss England had to say. If Islam truly condemns terror, then why isn’t anybody coming out and saying, “No matter how bad things get, our religion forbids terrorism, period”? To the casual observer, the silence makes her appear to be right.”

Wake up America. This is what is going on around you. These are imminent threats that surround our country and if we don’t start acknowledging the threat neither will the government. If we stay the course we are bound to be caught off guard by these terrorists and Anti-American sentiments and will face the same destruction and life loss seen on 9/11/01 of not worse. Iran and the terrorists have already starting moving their pieces on the game board and began what could be the starts of World War III. We as a nation need to do all we can and start getting involved. We need to appoint people into our government offices that will actually act on the issues and the threat and not play “Politics as Usual”.

Many of you may recall the Illegal Immigrant problem that has plagued our nation over the years. Sadly, many of you have probably already forgotten about this issue since it hasn’t seen news coverage since the start of “World War III” in the Middle East. So let me refresh your memory, you may recall the marches in protest by illegal immigrants and their supporters, perhaps even the legislation that was passed by the senate earlier this year strengthening border security, establishing a guest-worker program, and providing the means for millions of illegal immigrants to stay in the country and possibly become citizens. Now do you remember? Good.

Illegal immigration is not so much a problem it is in fact an implemented part of our society. If it was truly a problem we would be doing more about it. Law enforcement agencies would properly enforce laws that pertain to immigration, companies would stop hiring illegals, and our products and signs wouldn’t appear in both English and Spanish. The fact of the matter is that our economy welcomes illegal immigrants and their families as consumers. They know that illegal immigrants often come here to live the American Dream and spend American dollars to make that dream come true, regardless of the long term effects.

Look around you when you are out at the store or at a restaurant. Pay attention to signs, packaging, and instructions. I guarantee you’ll find at least one of these things in both English and Spanish, and if you only find one then you probably don’t live in the southwestern half of the United States. I was eating dinner at the local Burger King about a month ago and while I was there I realized that all of the promotional material for their Extreme Spicy Tendercrisp Chicken Sandwich was in Spanish and only Spanish. At the time I dismissed it as being a promotional tactic since after all it is “Spicy”. However, a few weeks later I stopped at the Burger King near my work and saw the same promotional material in both English and Spanish. Then this morning as I was sitting on the toilet pondering life and all it’s mysteries I looked over and noticed that a box of Dixie cups we had purchased for our bathroom had an English side and a Spanish side.

Many Americans want us to build a fence along our borders. I think at this point we might as well just roll out a 1,951 mile long red carpet because to be perfectly honest we’re like a five star hotel with full accommodations. We give them jobs because it saves our businesses money because they are paid wages that are so low they should be criminal. Many argue that they do the jobs that Americans won’t do. The fact of the matter is that Americans will do the job, but they refuse to do it for an unfair wage. We give them housing because no one cares that they are illegal as long as they are paying the bill at the end of the month. Oh and of course when it comes to products and services we offer most of them in both English and Spanish.

The truth of the matter is, Mexicans can illegally enter our country, chase the American dream, and be fully accommodated along the way. We as a society have gone above and beyond to make their stay here, legal or not as comfortable and easy as possible. The president of Mexico was right when he claimed that Mexico doesn’t have an immigration problem. America has an immigration problem, and until businesses step up and stop hiring illegals, housing companies stop housing illegals, and law enforcement starts enforcing immigration laws we will continue to have an immigration problem. If we refuse to face the reality of the society we live in we will continue to see this problem and it will only get worse. The sooner we refuse jobs, refuse housing, and imprison law violators the sooner these immigrants will realize it’s really not worth the long, hot, dangerous trek through desert to come to America. They might actually stay home and try and make things better in their home land rather than make things worse in ours.

As you may recall in late December thousands of Wal-Mart employees were awarded millions by a jury for lunches they were allegedly denied. According to CNN, Wal-Mart was ordered to pay $57 million in general damages and $115 million in punitive damages to roughly 116,000 current and former Southern California Wal-Mart employees. While Wal-Mart argues that many of those employees waived their right to take a lunch, many argue that those cases aren’t the concern. In 2001 California passed a law that requires employers to offer employees unpaid lunch breaks if they work at least six hours. The complaint was not in regards to those who waived that lunch break, but in fact those who after the law passed were denied that lunch break.

Wal-Mart is America’s largest retailer, and one that is constantly under the microscope for its employee policy. However, how many other companies which aren’t under the microscope get away with this on a daily basis?

My wife came home from work last week visibly agitated about her day at work. When I asked her what was wrong, she explained to me that she was not given a break on that particular evening. Atop that frustration when she was denied the break she had just as much difficulty wanting someone to cover her register long enough so she could at least use the bathroom. When I asked her why there was no one to cover her break she explained how that store manager cuts back hours after the department managers make the schedule. The department managers schedule out what they need each day, and then the store manager will go in and cut back hours to where he sees fit leaving the departments with insufficient staffing.

No my wife doesn’t work at Wal-Mart, she works at the fairly new Sears Essentials here in Corona. This new discount retailer is the bi-product of the K-Mart/Sears merger that began back in 2004. So why is Sears, one of the most trusted economic institutions in US History allowing something like this to happen at one of its newest stores? Furthermore, if this is how corporate America is treating its middle class working force why isn’t anyone speaking up?

This isn’t the first time my wife has fallen victim to a break free work environment. Prior to being employed by Sears she worked as a cashier at a dry cleaners. There she was given no breaks or lunches during her shifts. When she was allowed to grab lunch she was forced to eat it while she worked. She was not given a designated break area to rest, and was forced to cut her break short whenever customers needed help.

When I went to make a payment at my storage facility last week the girl at the counter was discussion with us how busy they were on New Years Eve. Apparently the girl that worked that day had come in and complained the next day because she worked with no breaks all day. The lady we spoke with scoffed at the idea of breaks and made it pretty clear that she too, rarely saw an actual break.

So why is it that our workforce puts up with this? Is it a fear of repercussion if they speak out? Is it fear that they will look weak if they ask about their breaks and lunches?

What do you think about the increase in businesses denying their employees breaks and lunches? Have you been a victim to this unlawful act? Tell me about it.