What is wrong with this country?

[PhilliePhan]

Exactly my point, he earned it but I don't believe anyone in his place deserves such pay outs!

I think the word "earn" is inappropriate in these cases. I hate reading about how much an athlete/actor, etc... "earned." I do not believe it is humanly possible to "earn" some of these ridiculous salaries.

It is interesting to look at some of these salaries broken down by performance goals ($ per TD or Home Run, etc...).
I do realize that a ton of work goes on behind the scenes to turn these people into superstars, but salaries are waaay out of hand these days.

Don't get me started on CEOs who wreck a company and then get a "golden parachute" on their way out . .. . .

As for the teachers, police, etc.. well, yeah some of them aren't paid what they should be. ..some too much, many too little.

Not only are teachers underpaid and over-stressed, but they often end up spending their own money on school supplies - How ridiculous is that!?
It is right up there with how we treat our military - overworked. Underpaid. Crappy benefits that are constantly being cut.


Ahhh . . .I better stop before I really get ranting - This is TL's rant thread!

http://www.adoptaclassroom.org/index...rivate=&inter=

http://www.donorschoose.org/about/about.html?zone=0

[jholland1964]

I agree, sports saleries...movie stars too...are truly unbelievable and have gotten out of hand for sure, but if some idiot was willing to pay any of us this type of money can any honestly say that they would say, "no just give me minimum wage." I doubt it.
At the same time many of these athletes and stars are making this kind of money, many ARE paying a lot back to help others;
Peyton Manning with his PeyBack Foundation;
Established by Peyton Manning in 1999 is a Public Non-Profit Organization to promote the future success of disadvantaged youth by assisting programs that provide leadership growth and opportunities for children at risk. The Foundation has donated more than $2 million since its inception. Grants are given to organizations actively advancing the welfare of disadvantaged children in Indiana, New Orleans and Tennessee. ALL of the Indianapolis Colts are active with and participate in this charity.
Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at St. Vincent in Indianapolis. Manning has made many visits to meet with young patients at the hospital and participate in holiday parties. His charitable PeyBack Foundation has events such as pizza parties and zoo trips for young patients. The chief executive of St. Vincent Health, said having the 78-bed pediatric hospital carry Manning's name will help the facility raise significantly more money to help expand its reach and mission throughout Indiana. Manning and his wife made a monetary donation to the children's hospital, but they asked that the amount not be disclosed.
His brother, Eli Manning is going to do the same thing in New York.

Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital in Charlotte, NC begun with $1 million donation from NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon.
Yes, these guys names are on these hospitals so they do get some glory from it of course, but as the CEO of the Manning hospital said, having these hospitals carry these names raises their ability to raise more money FOR the hospitals to be able to care for more children.


Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, founded by Agassi and his wife, Steffi Graff. Located in the heart of Las Vegas' most at-risk neighborhood, AACPA was created specifically to improve skill levels and combat lowered academic expectations while creating a climate of hope among this community's most challenged children.

And yes, the Tiger Woods Foundation, initiates and supports programs that enhance their learning, growth and development.' 'Start Something' is an educational program, focused on at risk kids ages 8 to 17 years, that helps them discover and achieve their dreams and goals. This includes the $25 million Tiger Woods Learning Center which provides youth from diverse backgrounds an interactive enrichment program that will improve individual aptitudes in reading, math, science, language arts and technology. As a result, youth will develop personal accountability, independence and resilience leading to greater knowledge of career options and an increase in college enrollment. TWF also funds and supports youth development, and educational programs and scholarships for disadvantaged youth.

These are just six of these highly paid athletes who DO give back and I am sure there are many more. Maybe this money and time they give is a "drop in the bucket" but each drop helps fill the bucket. I am not defending the money they receive, it IS ridiculous but many, many do give back. That is what is GOOD.
Notice I did NOT mention the Michael Vic Fund for Animals or the O.J. Simpson Slice Your Wife Foundation...but I believe those two are the exception, not the rule.

I thank PP for posting both of those links to help our schools. Our daughter is one of those underpaid teachers in an elementary school where 75% of the students come from low income households. She herself is a single mother with two children who purchased folders, pens, pencils, paper, erasers, pencil bags, crayons, glue and scissors for her entire class of 29 students just so they could begin the school year with new supplies. Last year for Christmas and at the end of the year, purchased a brand new book for each one of her students because many of them had never owned a book of their own. I am very proud to brag that her class, as a whole, scored the highest in the school on all of the required state and national achievement tests, and all scored at end of the year grade level or above.

[knight0334]

Notice I did NOT mention the Michael Vic Fund for Animals or the O.J. Simpson Slice Your Wife Foundation...but I believe those two are the exception, not the rule.

LMAO! Thanks for the morning laugh!

[TurcoLoco]

Maybe this money and time they give is a "drop in the bucket" but each drop helps fill the bucket. I am not defending the money they receive, it IS ridiculous but many, many do give back. That is what is GOOD.

Yeah, the time and especially the $$ they provide is really trivial in amount but I have to agree, it still is something and probably more valuable that they took the time and effort to initiate something, anything. In that regards, my hat is off to those who has helped in one way or another.

I thank PP for posting both of those links to help our schools.

Good links indeed, thanks PP! There is a lot of $$ being wasted in this country, mainly by the government and it angers the hell out of me to see that the same dollar wasted by the military to bring so called 'democracy' to those who neither asked nor wanted it, could have helped provide the supplies needed for a child from a low income family, provide higher salaries for much needed fields in education, healthcare and law enforcement, etc.
As PP mentioned too, how about the families of all the soldiers who lost their wife in the 'Bush' Wars? The survivors of 9-11? Thos who had the "We'll never forget' stickers on their vehicles were the first to move on with their life, thinking buying a rubber wrist band or a sticker (Made in China mainly for profit) made them patriotic or at least helped the survivors in any way?
If they collected 50 million, probably less than half of that amount actually made it to a so called non-profit organization that managed to eat away at least 25% of it due to their overhead and expenses (hint: United Foundation). Bad deeds still outweigh the good deeds and what upsets me most is the people either acknowledge and pretend they care or simply deny the whole thing.

So sick of the world today, may be that is why I am not married nor wanna get married, may be that is why I can't sleep most nights unless I toxicate myself? As soon as I am capable of building my very own space ship, I wanna get out of this planet!

Gizmo I might take you with me so you can keep me occupied with midless arguments about some trivial stuff or try to explain the 10 things that makes you think you are better than me!
With my luck the food supplies will run out before I reach somewhere, so you might come in handy at that point yet again!

Ok, I am sorry, my rant thread gone way off base.
I will no longer post anything. I will keep listening to Morrissey till I turn gay or commit suicide.

LMAO! Thanks for the morning laugh!

[Gizmokid2005]

Gizmo I might take you with me so you can keep me occupied with midless arguments about some trivial stuff or try to explain the 10 things that makes you think you are better than me!
With my luck the food supplies will run out before I reach somewhere, so you might come in handy at that point yet again!

I will be sure to bring extra supplies also. it would be nice to get off this hellacious planet...

[jholland1964]

Well you know ~TL and Giz I am certain that I am old enough to be your Mom and I can say that yes, things are or can be bad but I have made it this far and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. My husband and I went through the Viet Nam War. He received his Draft papers in the mail leaving his house for our wedding! He went to Basic Training two weeks later and was in Viet Nam BEFORE our first anniversary and thankfully came home in one piece just before out second anniversary. Our oldest daughter was born while he was there. Before he went over we survived on $185 a month which paid rent, utilities, gas, car payment, insurance, food... The base we were stationed at had a lousy commissary and px so our shopping was done in "regular" stores, at the end of the month we purchased our food by clipping coupons and turning them in for cash...you could do that "way back then".
What has not changed is the giving of the American People...never count on the government, count on the people. They always come through. Saw a long piece last week on the Katrina clean up....the bulk of rebuilding has been done AND paid for by the private sector, NOT FEMA or any government agency. So this shows when something is needed the American people come through. As the commentator said, "if you want to know what kind of help you can get if YOUR town has a natural disaster look at Mississippi and Louisiana. It is the American people you can count on NOT the government, not FEMA. If you count on them you will just find yourself drowning in paper with nothing to show for it except stress related illness."
Look at Heylinder's Habitat For Humanity Project to show you that. You can ALWAYS count on "We the People".

[PhilliePhan]

I thank PP for posting both of those links to help our schools. Our daughter is one of those underpaid teachers in an elementary school where 75% of the students come from low income households. She herself is a single mother with two children who purchased folders, pens, pencils, paper, erasers, pencil bags, crayons, glue and scissors for her entire class of 29 students just so they could begin the school year with new supplies. Last year for Christmas and at the end of the year, purchased a brand new book for each one of her students because many of them had never owned a book of their own. I am very proud to brag that her class, as a whole, scored the highest in the school on all of the required state and national achievement tests, and all scored at end of the year grade level or above.

Good for her!
At least now I think she can get some sort of a tax credit for the monies she has spent out of pocket for her students. Just a drop in the bucket though....

-- Those achievement tests are awful. That unfunded mandate of "No Child Left Behind" is government BS at its worst.
A few years ago I volunteered some time at a poor inner city high school where very little learning was done outside of the few AP classes. They were losing teachers right and left because they had to "teach to the test" and were judged solely on those test results.
Really tough situation - lots of single parent homes + Huuuge population of Somali immigrants who didn't speak English. How are they supposed to fare on gvmt mandated tests??
No Child Left Behind pumps money into schools that test well, rather than those which don't . . . seems counter-intuitive to me.

I will keep listening to Morrissey till I turn gay or commit suicide.

Too funny!

Hang in there, man. It's gotta get better sometime . . . .Right?