This morning evil visited Conneticut and brought tragedy with it. More than a dozen children woke up, grabbed their backpacks, hopped on the bus to their elementary school, and were dead before lunch.
The shooting spree lasted less than 10 minutes, but that was long enough to leave multiple families childless. We are heartbroken, yes, all of us, but in the wake of tragedy comes an opportunity.
We have the opportunity now to discuss stricter gun laws. I have heard people say now is not the time to discuss the incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School being a precedent for gun laws. I disagree, because ever since Columbine, it should be all we talked about until it changed something.
If the teachers had been allowed to carry a concealed weapon on the premises this could have ended better. I know some of you are weary of the teachers carrying a handgun would be more volatile, but think about it, it’s never the teachers that shoot up the school, it is always a student or disgruntled former student.
Jose Luis Nunez had a handgun in order to protect his son. The 4 year-old accidentally shot himself in the face with it in Houston on Tuesday. Joseph V. Loughrey had one for the same reason, and his 7-year-old son, Craig, died on
Saturday outside of Pittsburgh when that handgun accidentally went off while the boy was getting into his safety seat in front of a gun store.
And that was just this week. The same week that the NRA proudly tweeted it had reached 1.7 million “likes” on Facebook.
We cherish individuality in America. We see raising children as no one else’s business, and we have never managed to band together as a “parenting” bloc. It is
time. Guns are a parenting issue and we need to control them in the name of the children who died this morning. Even more, we need to do it in the name of their mothers and fathers.
So cry today. Comfort your kids. Curse, and pray. Then pick up the phone, a pen, a keyboard, or your checkbook and make your demands heard for stricter gun laws. All day and every day. But most especially, today.
Author Archives: snsproductions
Wendy’s Future
In today’s society, nothing can grab the attention of a consumer than value. Nowhere is that more true than in the fast food business, and Wendy’s is no exception.
Customer traffic at Wendy’s has been “flat to slightly down”
this year, Chief Financial Officer Steve Hare told investors
at a conference Wednesday. “I think one of the reasons…is because we’ve been more effective on the premium side than on the value side,” he added.
Wendy’s is in the midst of revitalizing, both, it’s image and menu, in hopes of becoming viewed as “a cut above”
traditional fast food. The chain’s premium burgers, salads and sandwiches also generate higher profit margins and have thus been of greater interest to franchisees.
“We’re so large; we also have to be competitive on the value side of the business,” Mr. Hare said. “And that’s one of the areas where we’ve been inconsistent.”
For 2013, Wendy’s is working with franchisees to come
up with a core menu of 99-cent items that every location will offer, and then another grouping of slightly
higher-priced signature items and more-filling foods that still represent value.
I, for one, think it is a good idea because it serves as a base model for other fast food chains to follow suit. In Texas, the McDonalds brand has a dollar menu that includes its large drinks but in Las Vegas, Nevada the McDonalds does not. Defining a set value menu to be offered at all corporate and franchised locations will increase the traffic of consumers whom the failing economy has hit, of which there are more of today than just 6 years ago.
Not everything on an establishment’s menu should designated premium and certainly shouldn’t be priced as such. Though the rising costs of food remain a challenge for all companies, value today will drive your core bottom line up and raise customer satisfaction.
Sad Day in Conneticut
In an emotional response to the horrific school shooting in Newtown,
Connecticut, President Obama said
today, “As a country, we have been
through this too many times.”
“Whether it’s an elementary school in Newtown, a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora…these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods and these children are our children,” he continued, appearing to choke up at times. “We’re going to have
to come together to take meaningful
action… regardless of the politics.”
Around 9:30 a.m. this morning, a man armed with at least two guns opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The shooting left 27 people dead, including at least 18 children ages five to 10 years old. The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Ryan Lanza, is now dead. The motive for the shootings is still unclear, but Lanza’s mother was a teacher at the school.
Most of the shootings were in her
classroom, and Lanza’s mother was
among the dead. Mr. Obama was first notified of the shooting at 10:30 a.m. by Homeland Security Adviser John Brennan.
The president called Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, the governor’s office said today, to express his condolences and pledge whatever resources the federal government can bring to bear to assist the families and the investigation.
According to the White House, the
president also spoke with FBI Director Robert Mueller about the incident, and the FBI providing support to state and local police.
Geminid Dinner Party
In honor of the Geminid meteor shower, I held a dinner/ meteor watching party. In attendance were a few friends, which is a change of pace from cooking dinner in my clients` homes.
I bought some sea scallops, center cut bacon, red and green bell peppers, and fresh ginger from the store.
Combining the ginger, some olive oil, garlic, fresh rosemary and lemon juice, I let the scallops and 1″ x 1″ cut peppers marinate for 1 hour.
Meanwhile I diced the bacon and let all it fat render out and combined the bacon fat within the marinade and let it set 1 hour more at room temperature.
After grilling them on skewers for around 10 minutes, or until the scallops were done, we all sat outside eating the delicious shishkebabs and watching out for the geminid meteor shower.
I had a bottle of Australian Shiraz we shared as streaking lights of white, red, and green loomed overhead. It was nearly perfect.
Restaurant Jobs “On the rise.”
According to the National Restaurant Association, this year will mark the 4th consecutive year of real growth for the industry, because of record sales to exceed 660 billion dollars. That’s a 3.8% increase according to the Restaurant Industry Forecast released today.
This is supposed to mean that the nation’s nearly one million food service establishments will continue their lead role as job creators in 2013.
This is true to a certain extent. As a worker in the above mentioned industry, I can tell you that the main reason for job creation in this business is the minimum required salaries. When it is cheap to hire hourly employees then employers will hire more workers.
The problem, though, is that I fear a decline in the growth of our sector. In an age of political corruptness, a backsliding economy, and the rising costs of food, it is more pertinent now, than ever, to downsize a workforce just to add a minute amount to your bottom line.
While restaurants are cutting employees and costs, those that do get to work are forced to work part time so the company doesn’t have to include healthcare benefits. Without good pay, benefits, and regular hours, people aren’t going to want to show up for work anyway. Getting quality, highly trained employees is even harder because of it.
I am of the opinion that minimum wages for food service employees should be on par with the salaries of other service industries. Benefits should be standard practice and regular hours a must. If we can get over this hurdle then we might truly see real growth.
1424 Bistro
In today’s ever changing restaurant industry, the escalating rate at which trends come and go, is staggering. Nothing is worse, though, than when an establishment begins it’s decline and does nothing to remedy it’s situation.
Nowhere else is this more true that 1424 Bistro, located in downtown Waco, Texas. It’s location on scenic Washington Avenue should have given rise to exponentially increasing service. But, after noticing the consistantly empty parking lot, I wanted to see why it stayed so dead.
Upon arriving at the upscale Greek bistro, I was met by an out of the way and littered parking lot. The door was even harder to find. Walking in, the aroma of olives, wood, and toilet cleanser hit my nose. It smelled Greek to me.
The rude hostess seated me and I placed my order. While waiting I browsed the wine list and was surprised to find mostly the same 11 dollar bottles I could have gotten at the dollar store.
After getting my food, I ate most of it, but, what I found was that the calamari appetizer was only lukewarm and served with what tasted like a cold jar of tomato sauce. The lemon butter cream sauced scallops were okay, but, tasted like watery butter. At least they were cooked well.
The asparagus with a kalamata hollandaise was just asparagus with butter and olives. My house salad could have been good with that delicious cold chipotle dressing, but the lettuce was wilted and the tomatoes were sour.
Overall, with an outdated interior, mostly horrible food, and rude service, I think next time I dine out, I’ll spring for a much better dining experience and go to 135 Prime in Hewitt.
I give this outdated bistro 2.8 out of 5.0 Stars.
SnStarr Productions 