Meeting a Real Hero

People sometimes say I am a hero just because I served in the military. I don't think so. Today, during Saddleback College's Veterans Memorial, I met Congressional Medal of Honor recipient John Baca. He is a real hero. On february 20 1970 in Vietnam John encountered enemy fire and risked his life to save 8 men by puting his helmet on a grenade and then falling on it. Wow! What a real hero. He is a very nice man. He gave me a special cmoh coin and a signed picture. Those I will treasure for ever!

Anthropology

I am taking a class entitled Biological Anthropology. I personally find this class to be somewhat ridiculous. I remember learning in high school about evolution, but I don't remember being too affended. This is not the case now. Why should I be required to take a class that goes against everything that I believe in? It is my choice to go to school but they should offer a class on Genesis that should be equal to Anthropology. This is not the case. Though I do not agree with this subject I have the highest grade in the class, 111%. That's another thing how can I have anything over 100% on a hundred point scale but I do.

Why Toyota can get away with what they have done.

A little case (I'm being sarcastic) called State Farm v. Campbell happened in 2003. A brief synopsis on the case; for years State Farm, the auto insurance company was screwing their insured. During automobile accidents when the plaintiff sued the defendant for injuries and the plaintiff wanted to settle for an amount the insurance company would refuse and let it go to trial. In the case v. Campbell, the plaintiff wanted to settle out of court for $50,000. State Farm refused and let it go to trial. By that time the plaintiff asked for $100,000 and won. The problem is, is that Campbell's policy was only covered to $50,000. So they had to pay the balance. Well Campbell sued and State Farm's client historical claims were subpoenaed and they found out that Campbell's case was one of a lot of similar cases. Long story short Campbell won and was awarded $145 Million in punitive damages. State Farm in turned appealed and in went all the way to the US Supreme Court where the justices reversed the ruling making it law that no one can be awarded punitive damages over 9 times the amount awarded for pain and suffering.

What does this have to do with Toyota? I will tell you. Punitive damage's only purpose is to punish the defendant for something they did wrong. SO companies like McDonald's (hot coffee case) and Toyota no longer have to fear plaintiffs in cases like this because 9 times pain and suffering is way less then 154 million dollars. These companies are no longer in fear of the little man. So Toyota in my opinion decided to save a few bucks, cut a few corners and make more money. Hopefully the Supreme court will change this soon.

Awesome life, but so tiring!

So Saturday I went to the Eagles concert at the Hollywood Bowl in LA. ON my way in to the show I met Bill Maher, I am a big fan. I know he is very liberal but I like him. the show was great! They rocked until the Geritol ran out. Knowing that this will probably be one of their last tours, I enjoyed it thoroughly! Their story is great, going from being mortal enemies playing again "when hell freezes over!' to playing again but not really hanging out together. They sounded just like any recording, so it was amazing. Men at their age, to be able to harmonize and hit every key is so cool.

My last blog I noted that I had a C in my law class. Well, I went to the professor and asked for extra credit because of the low C test grade and she offered to allow me to take it again. I got an 88%. I might be the smartest man alive.

I am so tired of studying, three tests in three days. I can't wait for this week to be over.

Random thoughts

Last night I experienced a complete fail of my preconceived notions. I was at a show for my friend's band, Badfeet(check them out). As the band before Badfeet was loading in I saw a guy carrying equipment in who looked to be very "nerdy"(who knows what really defines nerdy these days). Little did I know he was the lead singer of the band "canyons" and they rocked! After their show I no longer thought of this dude as nerdy but as a rocker! I will no longer judge people by their appearances.

To bring up my previous post about companies and what they do to their senior employees, I want to add that I don not think this implies to teachers and other professions in education. I think that senior teachers should be an asset but I also think that it is beneficial to have younger teachers as well. Education is funny and constantly changing, so I think that having an equal number of older to younger teachers. Of course this is my opinion and I am only one man, but how would this not benefit. The future is on education, until the government realizes that we need more money in education nothing will change.

Today in school I was made aware of my midterm grades. Three A's and one C. I need to raise my C to atleast a B. It is not one of my core requirements for USC but will affect my overall GPA. It is all because I got a 72 on a test and each test is 25% of the overall grade. Making it extremely hard to get higher than a C overall. I have to get A's on my next two tests. Time to study, study, STUDY!!!!

Where I think we must go

In my first 27 years on this earth I have experienced quite a bit. I served in the military for 5 and half years, I won a small fortune in Las Vegas, I started my own record label, experienced recovery, had run ins with the law, and now I am on another journey to further my education. I decided to go back to school because I want to help people. I am not doing it for the money, I have enough(though I can't touch it),I guess I am selfish and I like to see people happy. Call me codependent call me what you like. I am going back to school during a time of great change. We are now facing a depression rivaling that of the Great depression. I am going to school to do my part to help this country get back on path. I may be just one person but it takes just one to start a revolution. When will our country get it? Our most valued workforce are the employees that are over 50 with years of experience. Sure you can pay a recent grad less money but a company can not and will not be successful without your seasoned veterans who have experience. Not only do they have experience they provide leadership.Don...'t layoff an employee 2 years before he can retire just so you don't have to pay a pension. Until our country learns we will not get out of this recession. Pay them, they are worth it. You may not see it now but hiring a recent grad because you can pay him less will only show them to leave as soon as a better offer comes. They see what happens to seniority. Just my two cents, I know I soon will be a recent grad but I believe in our older workforce. I think they are what matters. This blog will chronicle my journey which will hopefully end with a degree from USC, go Trojans! I love the Lord! SC