The Community Engagement Task Force

I went to the Community Engagement Task Force meeting tonight http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2016-09-01/lubbock-mayor-police-chief-face-tough-questions-community-forum#.V8j19o-cFxI.  I met some nice people, saw a few people I know, and listened to the comments of others. I made no comment.  I was just honored to be able to participate in such a forum. I want to watch for more.

Learning a New Routine

So, for my entire life as a social worker, paid since June 1977, I have been a salaried or exempt employee, which meant that I worked the hours required to complete my job requirements.  If my employer allowed me to accrue compensatory time, I did. If not, I had to "flex" time.

Because the Fair Labor Standards Act https://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/final2016/ has redefined the salary level for positions which can receive overtime, my position has been affected.  I am paid over the Federal limit to require overtime, but because the base salary for the position I hold where I work is under the payment level, all of the positions in that category are considered subject to the new Fair Labor Standards Act salary levels. So, I will be come a "non-exempt" employee subject to the new Fair Labor Standards Act and overtime laws.

So, my employer is very clear that overtime for my position will not be authorized.  An audit was conducted, and most of my coworkers only work 40 hours a week. I have a habit of working 45 hours a week. I have a habit of an 8 AM to 5 PM work week, but do not usually take an hour for lunch, although I have in the past. I did so when I worked at the Texas State Department of Health, and went home for lunch to check on my dog.  I did so, at my current position,  when I was bottle feeding a kitten and went home during the day to feed this kitten.  I am "practicing" working only 8 hours a day so I can be compliant with this new regulation when it becomes effective at my place of employment on November 1, 2016. 

I am accustomed to finalizing everything on my plate for the day it occurs.  That is not required of my position, but it is my preference.  So, I am having to adjust my mental status regarding leaving some tasks for the next day.  I have done this before. I can do this again.

On the other hand, I can use the time afforded to me by this change in my schedule to do more  personal chores or activities in my off time.  This amounts to between 2 to 5 hours a week.  I can benefit from that. 

This is actually a protection for me. In the past year, we have gone through some major changes at my employment, and we were told that to accomplish what the requirements were, we were expected to work what hours were required.  So, this will be interesting. If we experience these major changes in the future, will we be required to work overtime to accomplish the required tasks?  Will we be given required tasks that cannot be humanly accomplished within the 40 hour work week?  Will we be dunned or sanctioned because we cannot do the job required within the 40 hour work week? Will we be authorized for overtime?  Hmmm.

The 8 hour work day will be a little anxiety producing for me, but I can adjust.  I have in the past. I can do so again 

Is This Treason?

Okay, so I am not sure what the legal definition of treason is for our country.  The Merriam - Webster Online Dictionary  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treason provides this definition:

1 :  the betrayal of a trust :  treachery

2 :  the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign's family

So, today, when I heard that Donald Trump, Republican Party nominee for the President of the United States, advocated for Russia to hack into and publish the "missing emails" of Hillary Clinton http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-clinton-emails.html, I had to ask myself if this was treason.  I am not hearing that in the news. So probably, it is not. 

But I find this kind of rhetoric not just offensive, but frightening, full of hate mongering, and bereft of the human rights values that the United States strives to achieve. Is this the face of the United States that I want to represent our country to the world?  Of course not!  Really, would any thinking, caring, compassionate human being want this man to represent us in the world?  Would anyone who cares about our place in the world want this man to represent us in the world?

I am frightened by the possibility that Donald Trump would be elected as President. I have visions of Nazi Germany with the hatred of the leaders of the country for those unlike them, their grasp for power and greed, and the way the citizens of the country did not revolt, no matter what they thought of the policies of the government. 

We have had those years in our country:  Witness the Jim Crow laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws after the War Between the States. But we have learned, continue to learn, and are in conversation about continuing to need to learn that we are better than that. 

I have to believe that a hate mongering President would take us back 200 years or more in our human rights, civil rights, and moral rights. 

I am for peace. I am for human rights. I am for love.

Voters Rights and Civil Rights

I went to see the movie Selma http://www.selmamovie.com/ earlier this year.  I thought I had blogged about it, but maybe I did not.  It is a movie marking the 50th anniversary of the march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama, in an attempt to get voter's rights guaranteed for Afro-Americans.  It depicts the brutal treatment that not only the black people, but anyone who stood with them, received at the hand of the Alabama authorities. It is a bittersweet movie, at best. 

It is a story that needed to be told to the young people of our country who have no idea how racially divided we were until the Civil Rights Act http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm and the Voting Rights Act http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/intro/intro_b.php. were passed. Even passage of the acts did not guarantee equal treatment for people of minority status, as events of today indicate. These acts did not unite us by race or color, but helped with movement towards equality of civil rights, and responsibilities. But we are not there yet.

We have a President of Afro-American origin.  I was dismayed from the outset of his Presidency at the disrespect that the media showed him, often calling him Mr. Obama, instead of Mr. President. He deserves the title. He was elected.

Someone commented that with Mr. Obama as President, Dr. Martin Luther King's dream has been realized. I think not. Not as long as Mr. President Obama, and other black men have to have the talk with their sons, especially about being aware of where you are in public, how you present yourself in public, because police might perceive you as a threat just because of your race (racial profiling https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/racial-profiling), Dr. King's dream has not been realized.

So, the commentary at this point in time of our nation is sad:  The public spokespersons for the minority communities talk about the fact that there is only about a 35% turnout of voters for elections. This is a travesty!  The people who fought in the Civil Rights campaigns, and the Voters Rights campaigns did not give their lives and their selves for 35% voter participation.

I am not sure what I can do to encourage voting, but I think this is another of my social work missions that I need to embrace.  I have been too complacent, too long.

Weather Caution: I Don't Get It

So, I have previously written about the massive shutdown by governments, schools and businesses based on the prediction of a massive storm that hit the Northeast.  The massive part of the storm missed New York City, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.  Government and business officials were criticized for the shut downs.

Another storm was predicted for over the weekend and into Monday.  I think the airlines rescheduled flights, but I did not hear about the massive shut downs of the previous storm.  And, the winter punch was heavy. There were deaths, accidents, lots of problems with storm clean up and people being stuck on the roads.

So, here is my question. Which was the better response? I know for me the radical response that required people to hunker down and shelter in, and be safe, no matter the cost to government and industry, was worth much more than the response that allowed personal freedom that resulted in multiple deaths, problems with clean up, and other issues regarding the storm.

Sorry, the older I get, the more I vote for safety first..