tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52735658573294702892024-02-08T10:35:54.651-06:00Jason FedelemJason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-56032740941982051302010-09-06T15:32:00.002-05:002010-09-06T15:33:50.117-05:00The Green Zone, or did the U.S. cover up bad intel about Iraq?<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=jasonf0b-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B003U1MV26&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
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Holidays are always slow at the job (as in maybe 5 calls all day), so I usually check out a couple of Redbox films and while away part of my day. I watched two films today; The Book of Eli (which I’ll talk about in the next post), and the Green Zone.<br />
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I was half expecting Green Zone to have a Bourne feel to it considering the star and director, but it really didn’t. The movie has a strong message to it: there were no WMD in Iraq and the US Government created a cover up so that they could go in and topple Sadaam.<br />
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Your view of how good the movie is will probably be proportional to your agreement with its premise, so let’s talk about the premise for a minute. The CIA report concluded that there were no WMD there, and Bush said his greatest regret was not finding any WMD. On the other hand, in 2006, small amounts of degraded weapons (around 500) were found, but certainly not on a large scale. So for the sake of argument, let’s agree with the movie that there were no WMD.<br />
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Two questions remain: Was there a cover up and what were/are we doing over there? <br />
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I don’t think there is any evidence for a cover up. If someone is pointing a loaded gun (or in this case WMD with significant range) at your head, and you’ve taken reasonable steps to determine whether the gun is loaded or not, at some point you have to take defensive step yourself. Other than the cries of the liberal anti-war crowd, there is no evidence that Bush lied about WMD’s. Hindsight is always 20/20 and when you are in the chair trying to determine which intel is good and which intel is bad, with stakes that are higher than anything the average person can imagine, erring on the side of caution to protect your country is the expected response. All that to say, under the circumstances we were probably right to go in.<br />
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But once you’ve invaded a country and taken down their leadership, and then find out that your original premise was wrong, it’s easy to try to keep from egg getting on your face. And yet, the CIA published a report saying just that. There were probably some people who tried to keep the report from being published, but the CIA handled it properly and admitted that we were wrong. Granted it’s just a movie, but that is part of the movies message and that part is very likely wrong.<br />
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The second question is what we were/are doing over there. When your original premise for being somewhere turns out to be wrong, do you dig your heels in? The argument I usually hear is that we had just toppled a government, destabilized a region, and therefore we had to patch it back together. Please excuse me while I try to stop laughing. The Middle East has NEVER been a stable region. Sadaam killed thousands of people, and terrorists killed thousands more. Any arguments saying that the U.S. pulling out would have caused a bloodbath completely ignore the bloodbath that was already there. As much as I would like to see the spread of democracy around the world, we need to protect our strength as the world’s best hope for democracy here. Part of preservation is that even if you can beat the other guy in a fight, you do everything you can to avoid the fight and preserve your strength. I am not, and never have been, in the military so I’m not going to make and absolute statement on this, but it seems to me that we should have pulled out of Iraq as soon as practicable after confirmation that there were no WMD there. <br />
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Would this have created a bloodbath? Probably. Has Iraq been a bloodbath ever since we invaded? Absolutely. It’s hard to know what would have been, but part of protecting our strength is to know when to fight. The amount spent on the Iraq war was tremendous, and the return is meager at best. The debt incurred has become a major burden on our country (although other factors have been even greater contributions to said debt). Because of all the above factors, a good argument can be made that we should have been out of Iraq completely at least 5 years ago. <br />
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Does this mean the bad guys win? Maybe in Iraq. But until they are actually threatening America, it’s not really our business. At that point, any red-blooded American will be completely in favor of taking them out.Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-47011998432267708822010-08-24T17:54:00.003-05:002010-08-24T18:02:40.673-05:00Iraq war v. Obama's stimulusI recently posted the following article on my Facebook page: <a href="http://bit.ly/bd3QPm" target="_blank">Little-known fact: Obama's failed stimulus program cost more than the Iraq war</a><br />
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One of my liberal friends came back with a response but the conversation will not fit into the facebook boxes so I’m bringing it to this blog. His post is below:<br />
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You have to spend money to make money at this is a direct reflection of the bush years and if anyone says anything different, they are in denial. Instead of just getting the info from right wing outlet like that Washington Examiner. If you look at their site, there is nothing balanced about it; it’s just another scare site.<br />
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Fact:<br />
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Reagan blew five trillion on the military without raising taxes to pay for it. Bush blew five trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without finding a way to pay for it. Matter of fact, not only did he increase spending but then gave tax cuts that DID NOT trickle down like what he said would happen. Obama is trying to get us out of the hole by a stimulus package by rescuing several companies to prevent the total bankruptcy of the US. The major difference is that Obama will raise taxes on the rich to help pay for these items. Plus some of the money that he is spending will be paid back to us. If you look at the charts during the great depression, you will see a sharp increase of government spending in order to turn things around. There are many sites that are unbiased, that show the facts. The Washington Examiner is not one of them. Trusting that site would be the same as trusting FIXED News. <br />
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I have a question. Why is no one talking about the $1 million News Corp and Fox Owner Robert Murdoch gave the Republican Governors Association. Why is there no talk that the person that owns the 2nd largest share of FOX NEWS is one of the main money contributors of the Mosque being built at Ground Zero? They like to talk about why it would not be right to build it but never say that they have a hand directly in it. These are things that need to be pointed out as well but I never hear any of that from the right. All i hear is spending is bad but never come up with a plan as to what they would actually do, except for using bumper sticker slogans. What is there plan?? Can someone tell me that? Cutting social security and Medicare is not a plan either like Mitch McConnell is proposing. That is crazy. He actually wants to do that in order to extend the bush tax cuts for the top 2% of Americans. So let the rich keep their money but then take it out of the hands of people that are less fortunate. They preach that this is a Christian nation; that does not sound too Christian to me. I find you to be a smart person Jason. Do you not see any of this, or are you just so anti Obama that you turn a blind eye? Just curious man, friendly debate, hit me back.</blockquote><br />
A couple thoughts in response:<br />
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1. Bias: There is no such thing as a non-biased news outlet. Everyone has a bias. Fox News is biased conservative, NBC/MSNBC is biased liberal, CNN is more centric but leans slightly liberal, etc. There is no way to completely eliminate bias. As I recall from a previous FB post you made, you prefer to watch MSNBC. It speaks to your view point and that’s fine, but you have to keep its bias in mine. And I freely admit that I prefer conservative news sources.<br />
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2. Reagan/Bush: I don’t see how Reagan’s tax cuts are probative to the current situation, other than to say that they were effective in lifting us out of the economic stagflation that characterized the 1970’s. That seems to be an argument against the Obama stimulus so I don’t really understand why you brought it up. As far as Bush, his mistake was in extending the war in Iraq long after we should have. The reason we went in was because of bad intel that was provided. The deficits that Bush ran were because of the war, not the tax cuts. In fact, if you go back and look at the tax cuts which became effective in the 2004 tax year, you will see that the total amount of tax revenue went UP after the tax cut rather than down and has continued to do so: <br />
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1998 1,769,408,739<br />
1999 1,904,151,888<br />
2000 2,096,916,925<br />
2001 2,128,831,182<br />
2002 2,016,627,269<br />
2003 1,952,929,045<br />
2004 2,018,502,103<br />
2005 2,268,895,122<br />
2006 2,518,680,230<br />
2007 2,688,946,349<br />
2008 2,742,190,129<br />
Source: <a href="http://bit.ly/bJgrOi" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/bJgrOi</a> <br />
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3. As to the effect on the little man: most of the working force works for small companies, not large corporations like we do. If a business owner does not see a financial advantage in expanding his business, which is seriously cut into by the level of taxes that they are starting to see, they will have less motivation to hire more people. This contributes to the unemployment/underemployment rate that we are seeing. Also, on a theoretical level, this goes against the traditional promise of America being the land of opportunity. There is little motivation for someone our age to go into business if the risk does not match the reward, and the risk is high. This leads to an eventual shrinking of the private sector which even Obama admits is the vehicle of growth.<br />
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4. Great Depression: A perfect example of why the government is ineffective at turning things around. It spent billions of dollars (in today’s dollars) when adjusted for inflation on government programs to try to start the economy again, but what actually was effective was the private enterprise being forced to build the mechanisms of war for WWII. Granted, they were building for the government but it was the private sector doing it, and doing it very efficiently. <br />
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5. Fox News/Mosque issue: Rupert Murdoch has the right to give money to whoever he wants to, so does Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. This issue bears some clarification. First of all, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal owns 7% of News Corp, Fox News parent company, which no one will attempt to argue is a controlling interest. Fox News is also the fastest growing news agency in the United States. Any businessman wants to invest in growth. Businessmen regularly buy stock in companies whose products they don’t like because it makes them money. So while it is certainly disturbing to see him contribute to the Mosque, I do not see this as inconsistent under the circumstances (desire to make money and to support his religion).<br />
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6. Social Security is not what anyone would call a “going concern”. If you expect to get anything out of it when we’re in our sixties, you have another think coming. As far as Medicare, or Medicaid for that matter, Obamacare has made that more expensive for the middle class. We didn’t need Mitch McConnell for that. As far as Mitch McConnell, I’m not sure what I think of him at this point. He seems to be Republican old guard which I don’t like at all.<br />
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7. Economic plan: Get the government out business. Sure, keep the corporate taxes there, just put them at levels that will not kill investment and growth. Allow medical insurance companies to compete across state lines. De-Regulate businesses in general. <br />
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8. The Church: The modern American church is a sorry excuse for what it should be. Instead of focusing on the commands of Christ to feed and clothe the poor and do good works it is focused on the latest building programs. I completely agree with you in that regard. Having said that, the government is terribly inefficient in any kind of charitable endeavor. A solution needs to come from the church side on this.<br />
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9. I don’t turn a blind eye and I’m always willing to be shown the error of my ways, but this is something that goes to core American principles for me. At its very basis, the Federal government is not supposed to be there to take care of people. Its supposed to protect us from all enemies foreign and domestic, and solve disputes between the states. All other powers are supposed to be reserved to the states and to the people. Both parties have done a miserable job of pursuing these ends. We may disagree on these things, but I respect your opinion while strenuously disagreeing with it.<br />
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P.S. For a better understanding the Great Depression economics and how it effects us today, see the following book:<br />
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<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=jasonf0b-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1935071181&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-91448846054660006142010-08-23T18:10:00.002-05:002010-08-23T18:21:52.785-05:00The Potential Effect of the healthcare bill on the underemployment rateYesterday the Waco Tribune had an article entitled "<a href="http://www.wacotrib.com/news/Waco-companies-search-for-ways-to-cut-insurance-costs.html" target="_blank">Waco companies search for ways to cut insurance costs</a>". It specifically addresses how the costs are exponentially increasing for small businesses to provide healthcare to their employees. The bottom line is that either the employers will have to raise their prices and pass it along to their customers, or they will keep their prices the same and reduce benefits while increasing costs to their employees. Either way, the cost increase to the employers is inevitiable. What the article does not address is the potential impact on the unemployment and underemployment rates.<br />
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One way to avoid a significant increase in healthcare costs is to backfill any open positions with two part time positions rather than one full time position. This avoids having to pay expensive healthcare benefits, and it also decreases the unemployment rate. The job market being what it is right now (an employers' market), there is not much motivation for employers to be competitive with benefit packages as many people are just happy to have work at this point. <br />
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The problem comes with the much-ignored underemployment rate. Just because people have a job doesn't mean that it is providing their financial needs, as happens with underemployment. Underemployment does not jump start the economy and does not pull an economy out of a recession.<br />
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In the past, employers were more likely to hire full time, all things being equal, because it had less mobilization costs and created a more stable workforce. However, with the increase in healthcare costs, the mobilization costs for two part time employees may not look as bad compared to the healthcare costs for one employee.<br />
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So we see yet another potential way in which the healthcare bill will likely hurt the economy thru the underemployment rate.Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-72790123632610128462010-08-20T18:45:00.002-05:002010-08-23T18:21:32.065-05:00Sam Walton's Way<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=jasonf0b-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0036IODHE&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>This is another short by New Word City Books about Sam Walton. Sam was incredible in that he started with just about nothing, and built an empire. One of the keys was that he did not try to build all at once. He built one store at a time and grew his business slowly and surely through its formative years. <br />
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This short book outlines several things that differentiated Sam Walton and provided him the success that he enjoyed:<br />
1. He defined his overarching goal and never lost sight of it, no matter what little things tried to trip him up.<br />
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2. He empowered his employees by giving them information about the business. He stated that the more they know, the more they would understand and the better decisions would be made.<br />
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3. Listen and Look. He watched his competitors and listened to his employees for ideas.<br />
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I found this interesting because Wal-Mart is a corporation that I do not like very much. I see them as a company that puts small mom and pop businesses out of business. On the other hand, the way Walton built his business reads like a textbook on how a business should be built. He was just very diligent about it, which is a good thing. <br />
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So maybe my issue with Wal-Mart isn't a principle issue, it's a charity issue. Wal-Mart obviously doesn't need my business, and probably doesn't even care about my business. I can get better quality merchandise at the same or slightly more prices elsewhere and make me feel that I am actually making a difference in their business and helping someone succeed.<br />
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On the other hand, I shop at big box electronic retailers and buy books on Amazon.com. Call me inconsistent, but I'm human.Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-75679054054122601192010-08-09T22:43:00.006-05:002010-08-10T15:41:30.226-05:00Some quotes from Peter Drucker<span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=jasonf0b-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0035XOQTU&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe></span>Tonight I read a short book on Peter Drucker who was a business theorist during the 20th Century. While I usually have little respect for theorists because they don't usually know from what they speak and ignore the pragmatic side of things, it seems that Peter Drucker had his feet planted squarely on the ground. The following is a list of quotes from the book that I wish modern management would live by:<br />
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</div><div>1. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">One either meets or one works</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">2. The best way to predict the future is to create it.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">3. Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">4. There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">5. The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">6. When you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Some good thoughts for modern management.</span></span></div><div><div><br />
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</div></div>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-89692788676555081752010-08-07T12:30:00.004-05:002010-08-10T08:56:36.716-05:00How Obama is about to screw the neediest of the lower middle classActually, he's already done it. I know, I know, he said he wouldn't raise taxes on anyone making under $250,000 per year. The buck stops with him, he made a campaign promise. He gave his word.<div><br /></div><div>Please stop laughing in the peanut gallery. We're trying to have a serious discussion here.</div><div><br /></div><div>This has to do with Flexible Spending Accounts. Now, lets be clear. An FSA is not an entitlement program like Obamacare. It's a tax cut. It allows you to specify a specific amount of money you want your employer to withhold from your paycheck throughout the year, and this money can be used, PRE-TAX, for medical expenses. In other words, no tax on medical expenses. The catch, of course, is that if you don't use it, you lose it. No big deal, just lowball it a bit and you get a great deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Roughly 20% of employees take advantage of an FSA account. Of the 20% that participate, 80% of them keep their annual contributions under $2500 (significance of this number discussed below).</div><div><br /></div><div>Currently, there is no Federal cap on how much you contribute, although most employers place their own cap. My employer has two programs, with caps at either $4000 or $5000. The former program works better for us. Due to my daughters medical expenses, we use every penny of this $4000 every year and it is a huge help. Many other families with special needs kids have used it to great benefit also.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Obama has to raise taxes somewhere. And this is a way to do it that won't bring a lot of news media or attention. An added benefit? It only effects those who REALLY need medical care, and will be forced to upgrade to more overpriced, government mandated plans that give the same coverage to special needs kids as to kids with runny noses.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, in 2011 all over the counter medications will need a doctors order to be FSA eligible. Wow, that sounds cost saving. Where before I could have just gone and got the $10 worth of medicine, now I'll have to take them to a doctors appointment which is a $20 co-pay typically and counts towards my FSA limit.</div><div><br /></div><div>On top of that, in 2013 the government will cap the FSA contributions at $2500. More revenue for them, more taxes for those in need of medical care. Win-Win for Obama.</div><div><br /></div><div>Glad that he's looking out for the little man. I feel so cared for.</div><div><br /></div><div>For more information, <a href="http://tinyurl.com/38evqh7">click here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-7472424266249206242010-07-29T07:19:00.002-05:002010-08-10T08:59:38.597-05:00The Life of Benjamin Franklin<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;">I recently finished reading the autobiography of Ben Franklin.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I think this book should have been more aptly named “Excerpts and Principles from my life”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is an enjoyable read, but don’t expect to have a complete chronological account.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He wrote it at three different times in his life and there are gaps in the chronology.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He does cover his formative years very well which is good, because it gives a lot of background on how he became who he was.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;">One of the interesting things he addresses is his religion.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He states that he became a Deist, but soon left it off because he found it didn’t explain God fully.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He returned to mainstream Christianity but, although he was raised Presbyterian, refused to join any specific denomination.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He does speak twice of attending a church.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The first was a preacher who seemed to think that his pulpit was a seminary classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He soon bored Franklin who stated that he felt that every sermon should have some moral or virtue, in other words, application to our daily lives.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The second minister did a good job of this, but because he differed with the denomination on some points of doctrine was soon expelled.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Unfortunately, we have the same issue in the modern church.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We get so far beyond the essentials of our faith that we major on the mint, thyme and cumin and ignore the weightier matters of righteousness, justice and mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;">Not being a member of any specific sect helped Franklin.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He was able to be the mediator between sparring factions more than once and became a friend to many different denominations.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He had an especially interesting relationship with the preacher George Whitfield.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Whitfield did not see Franklin as saved, and attempted to convert him, but Franklin did not budge.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Franklin was familiar with Whitfield’s oratory and went to listen to him one time, knowing that Whitfield was going to make an appeal for money for the orphanage he was putting together in Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He made the firm determination that Whitfield would not get a penny.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>However, by the time Whitfield had finished, he had given all the money he had in his pocket!<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Interestingly enough, one of his few criticisms of Whitfield was that Whitfield printed his sermons.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He stated that in print they sounded far different than when preached and that it gave rise to being taken out of context and criticized unfairly.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The interesting part about this was that it was Franklin’s printing business who did all the printing for Whitfield in America!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;">Franklin also understood the need for experience.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>During the colonial period in the French/Indian war, the city of Philadelphia organized a militia to defend and watch the city.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>By this time he was considered one of the city fathers and could easily have demanded leadership in the militia.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In fact, it was offered to him, but he refused and served as a private.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He stated that as he had not been a military man before, and knew nothing of the subject, he would serve his city as a private.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At a later time when he had the experience he accepted a leadership position.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;">Franklin understood business.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Here I’d like to quote an excerpt:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:37.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Partnerships often finish in quarrels; but I was happy in this, that mine were all carried on and ended amicably, owing, I think, a good deal to the precaution of having very explicitly settled, in our articles, every thing to be done by or expected from each partner, so that there was nothing to dispute, which precaution I would therefore recommend to all who enter into partnerships; for, whatever esteem partners may have for, and confidence in each other at the time of the contract, little jealousies and disgusts may arise, with ideas of inequality in the care and burden of the business, etc., which are attended often with breach of friendship and of the connection, perhaps with lawsuits and other disagreeable consequences<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;">In other words, business is about expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If you set the expectations correctly and then follow thru, much of the angst that can be caused will be avoided.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Having said that, Franklin was in partnership several times and only one of his partners treated him fairly.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The others ended up costing Franklin.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He paid off the debts and did not seem bitter, but it still cost him dearly.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>His last partner worked out well and they were in partnership for 18 years.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He had been a journeyman for Franklin for 4 years already so Franklin knew his work habits quite well.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;">Franklin was a man who was always trying to improve himself.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He understood his faults and attempted to correct them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He had an interesting way of looking at it:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:37.0pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">…My faults in it vexed me so much, …that I was almost ready to give up the attempt, and content myself with a faulty character in that respect, like the man who, in buying an ax of a smith, my neighbour, desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as the edge. The smith consented to grind it bright for him if he would turn the wheel; he turn'd, while the smith press'd the broad face of the ax hard and heavily on the stone, which made the turning of it very fatiguing. The man came every now and then from the wheel to see how the work went on, and at length would take his ax as it was, without farther grinding. "No," said the smith, "turn on, turn on; we shall have it bright by-and-by; as yet, it is only speckled." "Yes," said the man, "but I think I like a speckled ax best." And I believe this may have been the case with many, who, having, for want of some such means as I employ'd, found the difficulty of obtaining good and breaking bad habits in other points of vice and virtue, have given up the struggle, and concluded that "a speckled ax was best"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">The system he is talking about is his 13 virtues.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He found 13 areas of his life that he wanted to work on, wrote them each down on a card, and worked on one per week, letting the others fall to the natural chance.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In doing this, he was able to improve his character.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Below are his 13 virtues.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Temperance</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Order</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Resolution</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Frugality</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Moderation</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Industry</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Cleanliness</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Tranquility</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Silence</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Sincerity</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Justice</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Chastity</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:.5in;line-height:normal"><b><span style=" font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"; font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Humility</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">He stated that his biggest issue was orderliness, which I can relate to.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;">Franklin was a giant of his time, and an example to ours and future generations of the benefits of hard work and benevolence to your fellow man.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This book is highly recommended.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;color:black;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;Arial","sans-serif"font-family:";font-size:10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-26137567159051880462010-02-27T11:12:00.003-06:002010-08-10T09:13:50.400-05:00Texas Election Recommendations<b>Governor: Rick Perry</b><br /><br /><div>Kay Bailey Hutchinson talks conservative and votes liberal. She was never an option in my book. The choice between Perry and Medina was much more difficult. I like Medina’s libertarian leanings and agree with much of what she says, but I am extremely leery of people who run for the top office without working their way up the ladder and learning as they go. I think this becomes a valid concern due to some of the public statements she has made and the unrealistic expectations she has. She needs time to mature and refine herself before she’s ready to become governor. I would probably vote for her if she was running for state representative or an equivalent position, but not for governor. We don’t need a Jimmy Carter running the State of Texas.</div><div><br />On the other hand, I’m not completely comfortable with Rick Perry either, mostly due to the HPV vaccination issue and the Trans Texas Corridor. However, my biggest deciding factor is that he has done a fairly good job of keeping Washington out of Austin and rejecting federal dollars that come attached with strings. He has grown a backbone and become much more effective in recent years.</div><div> <br />My biggest issue is keeping Hutchinson out of office. Let’s be honest, Medina doesn’t have a chance and I really don’t want to see a runoff between Hutchinson and Perry as that would give more time for Hutchinson to win.<br /><br /></div><div><b>SBOE Place 5: Ken Mercer</b></div><div><b></b><br />Tim Tuggey has made significant donations to liberal democrats and then gone one to lie about Ken Mercer. Mercer seems conservative.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Texas Supreme Court Place 3: Rick Green</b></div><div><b></b><br />Personal friend and strong conservative.<br /><br /></div><div><b>Propositions: Yes to all</b></div><div><b><br /></b>Prop 1: Photo ID necessary to vote. In favor in an effort to make voter fraud more difficult<br /><br /></div><div>Prop 2: Controlling government growth. Limiting government spending and creating accountability to taxpayers is always a good thing.<br /><br /></div><div>Prop 3: I’m voting in favor of this, but don’t see how it is going to help. It seems more of a resolution to me than anything. I agree that taxes should be cut and we shouldn’t have economic “stimulus” packages, but just don’t see how this will override the federal governments runaway spending<br /><br /></div><div>Prop 4: Same position as 3. I agree that GOD should be publicly acknowledged, but federal laws are to the contrary. Nevertheless, I am voting in favor of this since I agree with its sentiment.<br /><br /></div><div>Prop 5: Requiring a sonogram before a medically unnecessary abortion. In favor as this has been shown to be a deterrent to abortion.<br /></div>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-22621817133113446312009-11-27T19:54:00.006-06:002010-08-10T09:16:39.571-05:00Not for geeks only: RSS Feeds<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">RSS feeds are your best friend. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br />We all have sites that we like to visit on a regular basis; local news, Facebook, etc. So we sit down at a computer and bring them up one at a time. Wouldn’t it be nice to just be able to go to one website and see all the content you want to see? Of course.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And that’s what RSS feeds do. They mine the sites that you have specified for new content and deliver it to your reader. Sound good? Let’s set it up.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">First you have to choose a reader. There are many out there, and your choice is probably going to be based on personal preference. There are two basic types: program based and web based. If you only use one computer and don’t get internet on your mobile phone, then maybe having a program on your computer to read them is fine, but if you use a phone or multiple computers at all, you will want a web based reader. I personally use Google Reader (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://www.google.com/reader/" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/reader/</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">). If you already have a Gmail account, this is easy: just sign in with your Gmail account information.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If not, set up a new account.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Now that you have a reader, we need to find content to have delivered to it.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This is as easy as the website makes it, which can be either easy or hard.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Blogger is probably the easiest.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">At the top of the person’s blog, click the “Follow” button.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Other times you will see a symbol that looks something like this:</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4787764/rsssymbol-main_Full.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 179px;" src="http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/4787764/rsssymbol-main_Full.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal">When you click that button it will usually take you to a page that lets you choose your reader and subscribe.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The third way can be slightly harder and is usually on websites that either are intended for geeks or don’t know what they’re doing.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">You’ll see the link for the RSS feed and get a page of gibberish that looks something like this:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DFXyqY5gdNg/SxCNpdgpuOI/AAAAAAAAAQo/9aNB7oX4V4c/s1600/rss.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 202px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DFXyqY5gdNg/SxCNpdgpuOI/AAAAAAAAAQo/9aNB7oX4V4c/s320/rss.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408978895907698914" /></a><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The first time I saw this, my response was “What the heck am I supposed to do with this?!”<span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It’s actually simple: copy the URL (the thing in the box at the top of the screen) and go back to Google reader, click the "add a subscription button and paste it.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Viola.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There is one downside to most web-based readers, such as Google Reader: they do not yet support password based feeds.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For example, they don’t naturally let your friends Facebook statuses come thru.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The solution to this is easy. Go to </span><span style="text-decoration:none;text-underline:nonecolor:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://freemyfeed.com/" target="_blank">http://freemyfeed.com/</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and paste the URL of the RSS Feed along with your username and password.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It gives you a new rss feed that you paste into the “add a subscription box” in Google Reader.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Done.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Most modern websites that are worth their salt have RSS feeds now.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I currently follow 24 websites on a daily basis.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I couldn’t keep up with this if it weren’t for RSS feeds.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">All it takes is a second between other activities and I’ll look at whatever has come in.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It allows me to keep up with the content I want to keep up with without wasting time hither and yon all over the internet kingdom.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-21609819915510154492009-11-21T07:50:00.001-06:002010-08-10T09:18:24.761-05:00Obamacare: More Government Inefficiency and Waste.<div>Free men are not equal and equal men are not free.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, Mr. Obama and his cronies don't seem to get this. Or actually, I think they do and they revel in it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mr. Obama is socialist. He wants socialized medicine, socialized car companies, and socialized whatever-he-can-get-his-hands-on. Last I checked, GM and Chrysler were still struggling. Oh, they've quit whining to the federal government for a bailout, but they'll be back. What makes us think that socialized insurance will be any more successful?</div><div><br /></div><div>When we were in China we were talking to some Australians who were there at the same time. They were talking about how people were having to wait 2-3 years to have surgeries such as cataract removal and knee replacement.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not saying our medical insurance system doesn't need an overhaul, because it does. But since when has the government been efficient at running ANYTHING?</div><div><br /></div><div>I was talking with my brother who is a paramedic. He was telling me about a patient he had who called the ambulance to go to the hospital and get an aspirin because since she was on Medicare the ambulance and the aspirin were free, and if she went to the store she'd have to drive and spend a couple of dollars. According to law, the ambulance cannot decline to take her. Unfortunately, there is a lot of waste that goes on just like this.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another reason healthcare costs are so high is because people do not see the full cost of their healthcare many times. My daughter's medical care has cost well over half a million in the last two years and Medicaid has picked up most of the tab. Do I like this? Well, when I look at the bill and see them charging $10 for a pair of rubber gloves I have to wonder how much of that is true charges and how much of it is stuffed with down feathers. </div><div><br /></div><div>As someone has said, I don't have a complete answer, but I admire the problem. What I can say is that capitalistic systems have always been more efficient than socialistic systems. I don't think having the government run our healthcare will cause any costs to go down, just more government waste and longer lines at the doctor's office for simple medical procedures.</div>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-73990681845844040062009-06-03T20:48:00.002-05:002010-08-10T09:22:40.825-05:00Urgent Need For Some Friends of OursDear Friends,<br /><br />Rosetta and I have some friends by the name of Chad and Autumn Van Cleave. They have three small kids and live in Cameron, TX. Below I'll tell you whats going on with them, but their immediate need is someone who would be willing to trade about 4 hrs a day of work in return for room and board (they can't pay in money). My understanding is that it would involve basic things like dressing the kids, making lunch, and then getting the kids down for a nap.<br /><br />Now for whats going on with them. Chad recently went to the hospital with what appeared to be a heart attack. After investigation it turned out to be a virus that damaged a significant amount of heart muscle. The doctor has told him he needs to be on complete rest for 6 months. This would be possible except for the fact that around the same time Autumn has been diagnosed with something similar to chronic fatigue, only it effects her body in other ways too. The result is that she can't really work around the house either. I don't pretend to know everything about their conditions, but they're pretty serious. <br /><br />The result is that Chad is doing all the day to day work around the house. This is not allowing his heart to heal but right now they do not have an alternative. Fortunately, he is self employed so if he can get someone to help around the house, he can direct his energies to working again and get some money coming in for the family. The work he does is rather low energy and low stress so thats not a problem, but he has no time for it at present due to household duties. <br /><br />First of all, please pray for them. Second of all, please distribute this email to your friends who are local to Central Texas. The sooner they can find someone to help around the house the sooner they can get back on track both health wise and financially.Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-59032017093360522382009-05-17T15:06:00.005-05:002010-08-10T09:23:27.357-05:00Two Trillion TonsI have an idea. I'm going to go out and buy a brand new Lamborghini, a beach house and hire a personal cook. Initial outlay will be roughly 5 million, upkeep 500k/year.<br /><br />The reason behind this is that it will get me out of debt and create prosperity for me. Oh wait, I don't have the money but that doesn't matter because a lot of "brilliant economists" agree that this works.<br /><br />Of course, the above is silly. We know that to get ourselves out of debt we have to reduce spending, get debt under control, and create a product.<br /><br />But this is exactly what Obama is doing. His so called stimulus bill has done nothing to stimulate the economy and only put us further into debt. Of couse, privately he's grinning with glee because what his administration is really all about is bringing the American people in complete bondage to government. All he needs is a financial crisis to do it.<br /><br />Notice something. The things that Obama says will bring health back to our economy are government improvement programs. They are not goods and services and ultimately the citizens end up working for the government. As with most of what Obama has been doing, its brilliant and diabolical.<br /><br />Someone sent me this song which illustrates what I'm talking about. I'm not sure whether to cry or laugh.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sightforsierra.com/TwoTrillionTons.mp3">Shades of Old Tennessee<br /></a>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-609646632741391542009-04-23T03:29:00.002-05:002010-08-10T09:25:04.334-05:00The Bible Should Be Rated "R"<span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">What is "family friendly" supposed to mean? Usually it means some form of media that has a happy go lucky, simplistic message without much content.<br /><br />Consider this. In movies today, we rate them on a system: G, PG, PG-13, R, NC17. Very few movies end up being NC17, the highest most go is R. And what do they recieve this rating for? Violence, sexual content, thematic material and vulgar language, mainly. With the exception of vulgar language, the Bible is filled with these.<br /><br />Consider Judges 9. After Gideon's death, his son Abimalech puts together a plot to kill his 70 brothers. Now first of all, the fact that he <span style="font-weight: bold;">had</span> 70 brothers implies that Gideon was busy and had lots of wives. Second of all, Abimalech was the product of a concubine that Gideon wasn't married to. But putting all that aside, Abimalech obviously doesn't have a problem with mass fratricide.<br /><br />Skip over a couple of chapters to Judges 11:29. Jephthah vows that if God defeats Israel's enemies he'll sacrifice the first thing that comes out of his house, which ends up being his daughter. So now we have filicide.<br /><br />Judges 19 deals with a Levite who lets the men of the city sexually abuse and kill his concubine. Then he chops her up and sends one of her body parts to each of the tribes of Israel. So now the Bible has exhibitionist mayhem.<br /><br />2 Samuel 11 deals with David and Bathsheba. No commentary necessary. Homicide and adultery.<br /><br />God ordered Jeremiah to walk around naked and Hosea to marry a harlot who then cheated on him.<br /><br />Moving to the New Testament, Christ's death <b>did</b> get an R rating for Mel Gibson's <i>Passion of the Christ</i>. Paul’s life would get at least a PG13 rating for action, and if displayed correctly would get an R rating for all the beatings, floggings and stonings. Last but not least Revelation would get an R rating for all the "stylized action violence".<br /><br /><br />So what should we be watching as a family? This is up to your conscience, but lets not make the mistake of thinking that just because it has some uncomfortable moments that our kids should not be exposed to it. After all, the Bible should be rated R.</span>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-19309353155988395172009-04-22T10:22:00.000-05:002009-04-23T04:16:51.236-05:00Name ChangeSome of you will have noticed that now that I've decided to start using this blog, I changed the name to "A Libertarian in Exile". This is a take off on Sean Hannity's calling himself a conservative in exile.<br /><br />This is an apt description considering that we're all about to get steamrolled by liberal socialistic policies for the next four years and they won't even ask for our input since they have such control of the government.<br /><br />Hang on for the ride folks. It's not going to be pleasant.Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-15605808877549111752009-04-20T20:09:00.002-05:002010-08-10T09:35:43.215-05:00Loyalty: To Whom?<p class="MsoNormal">Who are we supposed to be loyal to? Anyone with a Christian worldview would say God first, and I do not dispute that. However, is there a difference between being loyal to your country and loyal to your government?<br /><br />I recently watched the movie <i>Valkyrie</i> about the last assassination attempt against Hitler. The point behind what they were doing is that they said they were loyal to Germany and therefore Hitler had to be killed.<br /><br />Romans 13 states that we are to be subject to our rulers. But the Bible is also clear that God's law is higher than man's law.<br /><br />It is no secret that I am no fan of President Obama. The policies that he espouses are not ones that encourage life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness. He wants more babies to die (abortion), more businesses to die (taxing the foundation of the economy, small business) and he wants everyone on socialistic dependence (welfare and universal health(non)care.)<br /><br />On the other hand I am grateful to live in the United States where we still have some vestiges of our Judeo Christian heritage. That is something I will always support.<br /><br />So the question comes, can the two be divorced? I think it depends on what you mean by "not support the government". I don't think anyone would dispute that what the folks in <i>Valkyrie</i> did was a good thing, but its obvious that our country is not anywhere near this point yet. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br />I respect the office of the President, and I give Mr. Obama the respect that is due him because of that office. But on the other hand it is the duty of all Americans who love their freedom and liberty to do everything they can to oppose the policies he is putting in place. To do this we need to stay abreast of what is happening on both the State and Federal levels and tell our Senators and Congress men and women where we stand. The recent TEA parties were good, but we need more of this kind of thing. Its all out there on your state and Congressional websites. There are organizations like ACLJ and HSLDA that will help you keep abreast of it.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Make your voice heard!<br /></p>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-86354756986948793872009-04-16T23:05:00.004-05:002010-08-10T09:38:45.506-05:00Socialism<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.libertyshirtmarket.com/v/vspfiles/photos/6-2T.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 250px;" src="http://www.libertyshirtmarket.com/v/vspfiles/photos/6-2T.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Facebook has been targeting me with ads lately and one of them has been for a conservative T-Shirt site. This one is my favorite. Ronald Reagans words are as true today as they were almost 30 years ago. Too bad Obama and his cronies were not listening. Their vision is so short sighted, and they can't seem to see that they are putting a short term band-aid on a long term problem. My grandchildren are going to pay for this.<br /><br />I recently got an email from a friend of mine that I think was brilliant and wanted to share it here. Obviously, I'd prefer no government bailouts, but if we have to have them, Mr. Walker's proposal is one of the best I've heard so far:<br /><br /><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><u>Patriotic Retirement:</u><br /> <br />There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force; <br /><br />pay them $1 million a piece severance with stipulations<br /> <br /><br />1.) They leave their jobs. Forty million job openings -<br /> <span style="color:blue;"><span style="color: blue;"> ***</span></span> Unemployment fixed<br /><span style="color:blue;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span> <br />2.) They buy NEW American cars. Forty million cars ordered -<br /><span style="color:blue;"><span style="color: blue;"> ***</span></span>Auto Industry fixed.<br /><span style="color:blue;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span> <br />3.) They either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing<br /><span style="color:blue;"><span style="color: blue;"> ***</span></span>Crisis fixed </span></span><br /><br /><br />Oh well, I'm going to need lots of grandkids so they can help pay for all the spending the government is doing now.Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-63539489983733153412008-08-03T07:19:00.000-05:002009-04-23T04:18:00.811-05:00FlawlessSynopsis: A 70 year old janitor (MICHAEL CAINE) and a low-level executive (DEMI MOORE) at one of the worlds largest diamond companies feel underappreciated and decide to steal a thermosfull of diamonds. But he's not telling her the whole story.<br /><br />Thoughts: Superb filming. Excellent acting, although the dialogue can be difficult to hear in places. This film is a great lesson on the subject of revenge, and how when you try to get revenge, you effect a great many people. This movie is worth seeing.<br /><br />Stars: 4<br /><br /><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780516/">IMDB Listing</a>Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-61644247720034695252008-08-02T00:02:00.000-05:002009-04-23T04:16:51.236-05:00HDTVI decided a few weeks ago to take the plunge and upgrade to HDTV. It was great for the stations that I already had a strong signal for, but those that had been fuzzy were now either unavailable or so choppy it wasn't worth watching.<br /><br />I got fed up with it today and started looking around for a commercial antenna to purchase that was better than rabbit ears. I found out that not only would I have to order it, but it was going to be more than I wanted to spend (minimum $70, more by the time I bought cable and what not).<br /><br />I then did a seach for building your own, and found the following video: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw</a><br /><br />Believe it or not, it works great. It is directional, so in my case I have the boom facing north and I now get a beautiful signal on all the local stations. I did put it on my roof to get it up higher, and also it seems to need to be horizontal, not vertical. Project cost about $20 and took just over an hour.Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-21112407493375799472008-07-29T20:38:00.000-05:002009-04-23T04:16:51.236-05:00UpdateWell, we finally joined a church. Its been quite a while that we've been looking for one, but finally settled at Grace Community Church in Waco (www.gracewaco.com)<br /><br />I'm still working at Sprint, and so glad that I chose to go there. Advantage Rent A Car, who I used to work for, shut down operations in Temple on July 11. I saw the handwriting on the wall, but I just didn't think it would be quite that fast. <br /><br />We finally finished remodeling our house. The back room got a new roof, drywall on the ceiling, paint and tile. The kitchen also was re-tiled. I have to get all the stupid glue removed from our hardwood floors. I still cant believe that anyone would put carpet over those floors. We're happy to have the house back in somewhat of an order.<br /><br />I'm going to try to post more often. I like movies and I may start posting my thoughts on them as I watch them. We'll see. All posts related to Sierra will be posted on her blog at http://sierrarose-miraclebaby.blogspot.com/Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273565857329470289.post-34934593159843142102008-03-19T22:10:00.000-05:002009-04-23T04:16:51.236-05:00HelloJust starting a new blog here since my daughter has one here too, and its all linked to my gmail. I dont update too often so dont hold your breath.Jason Fedelemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09370487270212469342noreply@blogger.com0