One Man's Blog » Philosophy

Hey, How About NOT Being an A-Hole?

John P. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:23:03 +0000

Have you ever been to the zoo? I was at the Dallas Zoo the other day, staring at the primates. Don’t worry, they were staring right back. Anyway, this big male gorilla, who had been sitting quietly with a couple of females laying around nearby, suddenly just got up and freaked out.

Now, I should emphasize, nothing caused this. Seriously. He’s a gorilla. There is nothing to piss him off. But all of a sudden, he got in a bad mood and started taking it out on all the other gorillas nearby. They are all running in fear, the people staring at them are freaking out, and I’m just thinking… you big, dumb ape.

Well, I expect that creatures who lack the ability to use a spoon might be wild and unpredictable. But you know what drives me crazy? Humans who do the same damn thing!

Lately I’ve heard a rash of stories from friends and family about situations they’ve been in at work in which customers are just complete assholes for no apparent reason. In fact, I was even at McDonalds today when this snooty woman came in carrying her child that was acting up. The extremely courteous young lady behind the counter greeted her quickly and politely, and then this dirtbag of a woman just started acting like that aforementioned gorilla.

Back in my grandfather’s day society didn’t tolerate that kind of behavior. They’d have escorted a rude customer right out of the joint, and then that woman would have been the talk of the town. I actually got so offended on behalf of the girl behind the counter that I snapped at that lady, “Hey! If you’ve got a personal problem, keep it to yourself! No need to ruin these nice people’s day, so how about NOT being an a-hole?!? It’s no wonder your kid has a bad attitude. Take a look in the mirror.”

For a second after I said that, the entire place was so quiet you could have heard a McNugget drop. The kid shut up. The lady turned and looked at me, and her mouth dropped open. And you know how sometimes you just know when someone is about to say something? Yeah, I saw it coming, so I hopped in real quick with, “You don’t want to say anything to me. I guarantee I am meaner than you ever dreamed of being in your entire life.”

It was amazing. She turned around, completed her order – clarifying that it was “to go” – and quietly walked off to the side. About that time, my food came up. I politely thanked the nice young lady behind the counter, who thanked me right back, and took my food to a table to sit and eat in peace.

Now here is the problem with all of this. What goes around, comes around. All of these jackasses are simply adding to the decay of our polite society. I bet I’m the only guy who ever reproached that lady in her life. And she goes around ruining people’s day and leaving a trail of destruction in her wake. But someone has to come in line after her. And once she ruins the attitude of the person who was helping her, service diminishes for the next person.

You see how this works? It’s a chain reaction. You ruin someone’s day, and they pass it on. But guess what! It works the other way too! I wrote about this over two years ago, so in case you missed it go find out how I Discovered the Secret to Happiness at 7-11.

PS – Thanks to Squid for the gorilla image.

British Couple Commits Suicide Together After 54 Years of Marriage

John P. — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:00:25 +0000

Just a few weeks ago my beloved dog Sandy came to the end of a long and debilitating struggle with kidney failure. My wife and I did everything we could to prolong her life and make her happy and comfortable, but none of us can cheat death, and eventually it was upon us.

One of the most difficult decisions of my life came when I was forced to choose to euthanize my faithful companion of more than a decade. It was compounded by a feeling of guilt – not that I had acted too soon, but that perhaps I had waited too long out of grief and a sense of personal loss. I remember wishing for days that she could tell me if it was worth living, or if she merely wished she could die.

When we finally had our vet come to the house and put her to rest it was a traumatic experience for the family, yet the death was so quite, fast and peaceful that not only did it remove any feeling of lingering doubt that we had done the right thing, but it made me consider my own mortality and caused me to realize that ultimately I would rather be able to go like this, than be imprisoned in a body stricken with ailments, waiting for death to take me.

Well, this is the situation that Sir Edward Downes, and his wife of 54 years, Lady Joan, found themselves in. And luckily for them, they were able to make the decision to leave this world on their own terms. I only wish that we had the freedom to choose for our selves here in the USA.

According to the UK’s Guardian:

One of Britain’s most respected conductors, Sir Edward Downes, and his wife, Joan, a choreographer and TV producer, have died at an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland, their family said today.

Downes, 85, was almost blind when he and his 74-year-old wife, who had become his full-time carer, travelled to Switzerland to end their lives, a family statement released to the BBC said.

Born in Birmingham, Downes had a long and distinguished career, including conducting the first performance at the Sydney Opera House. He worked with the BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Opera House in London.

The statement from the couple’s son and daughter, Caractacus and Boudicca, said they “died peacefully, and under circumstances of their own choosing”.

The statement continued: “After 54 happy years together, they decided to end their own lives rather than continue to struggle with serious health problems.”

The couple died at a clinic run by Dignitas, the Swiss organisation that operates a specialist euthanasia service.

In my opinion, the notion of a society making assisted suicide a crime among humans, while allowing the very practice with our animals is the absolutely pinnacle of hypocrisy. On one hand, we recognize that the suffering is so great that death is a better substitute – but we then imagine that it simply doesn’t apply to humans?

The problem we have is an over-estimation of the value of life in this case. We actually strip the individual of their own free will to act in their best interests, and instead impose a false concept that absolutely nothing could justify the request to die, nor the assistance given to the individual to do so.

The same people who would often pose religious or sociological arguments in opposition to assisted suicides would be willing to give their own lives in defense of their beliefs. A choice, I would remind you, of one’s own life or death.

As for me, I can imagine any number of scenarios where I would pray for death rather than suffering the indignity of living. I only hope that one day my country wakes up and decides to grant me the freedom to choose my own fate.

Did You Know? A Philosophical Video for the 21st Century

John P. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:30:02 +0000

Fantastic video on the progression of information technology, researched by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Bronman, remixed. I actually thought I posted this video previously, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. Even if I did, it’s worth taking another look.

The concept of the video is to throw out statistics at you which are shocking, enlightening, or just plain make you think. For example:

If you are one in a million in China, there are 1,300 of you.
The number of text messages sent daily exceeds the population of Earth.
By 2013 supercomputers will be more powerful than the human brain.

So, what are we to make of all this?

Thanks to Mike Mitchell for sending this vid my way!

My, How History Repeats Itself

John P. — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:25:13 +0000

So what have we learned in two millennia?

“The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”

– Cicero – 55 BC

…Evidently nothing.

I Take Issue with Mark Cuban’s Open Source Funding Plan

John P. — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:33:42 +0000

Mark Cuban pitched an idea over on his blog in which he offers to fund business plans for people, but only if:

People completely detail out their business plan in public.
The businesses must show a profit within 90 days.
You use the bank of Mark’s choice and allow him control over expenditures.

Unfortunately, I believe Mark is off base with this concept, and left the following comment over there on his blog. I doubt he’ll respond, but he did at least get people talking – even though he might have done more harm than good.

Mark,

I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while. Never left a comment before. Decided now was the time.

First of all, let’s be clear about one thing. I don’t want your money. Won’t take it if you offer it just on principle of being entirely candid. Now that that’s out of the way.

I’m not sure I understand your impetus for putting this “offer” out there? Trying to figure out if it is a publicity stunt, a VC pitch in disguise, an “off the top of your head” idea, or what? But I fail to see how asking all of these people to pitch an idea in the open and asking them to “open source” the project adds value?

You are asking people, in essence, to forego first mover advantage on any sort of good idea. You are asking them to forego the ability to get patent protection, copyright, or any other sort of valuable intellectual property. This will only serve to weaken fledgling businesses – not help them get launched.

In addition to that, you’ve placed restrictions on cash flow and profitability that will have the exact opposite effect on employment as you purport to be seeking. Anyone looking to hire employees can barely get them up to speed in 60 days much less have the business break even. This means you are pretty much limiting the opportunities to one man shows in fields that have extremely low barriers to entry.

I would suggest that if you wish you really help fund businesses and put people to work you should change your parameters.

- Allow 6 months to reach break even, 9 to turn a profit.
- Ensure that the plan requires the business to actually hire a minimum number of employees (like 3-4).
- Remove the restriction on generating “any” ad revenue in lieu of ad revenue being only a secondary source (if a business can be profitable without ads, why not allow ads as a bonus?)
- Ease up on the cash flow and banking restrictions. You can’t tell people that you won’t be available, but that you have to approve of monetary decisions. You’ll stifle the business.
- And for God’s sake, don’t require them to publish the entire plan in the open and encourage stealing of the idea!

I know that you said that you are “trying not to be a VC”, but frankly these “terms” are worse than any VC terms I’ve ever seen. They are unrealistic when it comes to creating real employment, they are more restrictive than necessary, and they just aren’t going to work.

How about doing something completely different? Why don’t you buy a small building which can be partitioned into “open source office space” and give small businesses a free place to actually get together, work and share ideas. Augment this by inviting successful business people to come in and help with brainstorming sessions, etc. And perhaps organize a group of Angel investors to listen to real business plans. (I’d help, and even consider Angel investing if you did this.)

In short, I’m a fan of the Open Source model. But I think the way you’ve gone about open sourcing this particular concept is a bit off.

Cheers, and good luck!

John P.

Of course, Mark is as free to do with his money as the rest of us are. But I hope that he changes his mind about this particular project because I don’t see anything good coming of it.

From the Sand Pit – Message From a Recon Marine in Afghanistan

John P. — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:27:52 +0000

Wow! I’m not sure if the letter below is legitimate or fabricated. It sounds like it could be from a real Marine, and so I’m going to publish it just in case. Either way, it gives you a lot to think about…

It’s freezing here. I’m sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains along the Dar ‘yoi Pomir River watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave. Stake out, my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area around my ass every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting. I’ve actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but them scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like a bastard. The antidote tastes like transmission fluid but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.

The one truth the Taliban cannot escape is that, believe it or not, they are human beings, which means they have to eat food and drink water. That requires couriers and that’s where an old bounty hunter like me comes in handy. I track the couriers, locate the tunnel entrances and storage facilities, type the info into the handheld, shoot the coordinates up to the satellite link that tells the air commanders where to drop the hardware, we bash some heads for a while, then I track and record the new movement.

It’s all about intelligence. We haven’t even brought in the snipers yet. These scurrying rats have no idea what they’re in for. We are but days away from cutting off supply lines and allowing the eradication to begin.

I dream of bin Laden waking up to find me standing over him with my boot on his throat as I spit into his face and plunge my nickel plated Bowie knife through his frontal lobe. But you know me. I’m a romantic. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: This country blows, man. It’s not even a country. There are no roads, there’s no infrastructure, there’s no government. This is an inhospitable, rock pit shit hole ruled by eleventh century warring tribes. There are no jobs here like we know jobs.

Afghanistan offers two ways for a man to support his family: join the opium trade or join the army. That’s it. Those are your options. Oh, I forgot, you can also live in a refugee camp and eat plum-sweetened, crushed beetle paste and squirt mud like a goose with stomach flu if that’s your idea of a party. But the smell alone of those ‘tent cities of the walking dead’ is enough to hurl you into the poppy fields to cheerfully scrape bulbs for eighteen hours a day.

I’ve been living with these Tajiks and Uzbeks and Turkmen and even a couple of Pushtins for over a month and a half now and this much I can say for sure: These guys, all of ‘em, are Huns…actual, living Huns. They LIVE to fight. It’s what they do. It’s ALL they do. They have no respect for anything, not for their families or for each other or for themselves.

They claw at one another as a way of life. They play polo with dead calves and force their five-year-old sons into human cockfights to defend the family honor. Huns, roaming packs of savage, heartless beasts who feed on each other’s barbarism. Cavemen with AK47’s. Then again, maybe I’m just cranky.

I’m freezing my ass off on this stupid hill because my lap warmer is running out of juice and I can’t recharge it until the sun comes up in a few hours.

Oh yeah! You like to write letters, right? Do me a favor, Bizarre. Write a letter to CNN and tell Wolf and Anderson and that awful, sneering, pompous Aaron Brown to stop calling the Taliban ’smart.’ They are not smart. I suggest CNN invest in a dictionary because the word they are looking for is ‘cunning.’ The Taliban are cunning, like jackals and hyenas and wolverines. They are sneaky and ruthless and, when confronted, cowardly. They are hateful, malevolent parasites who create nothing and destroy everything else. Smart. Pfft. Yeah, they’re real smart.

They’ve spent their entire lives reading only one book(and not a very good one, as books go) and consider hygiene and indoor plumbing to be products of the devil. They’re still figuring out how to work a Bic lighter. Talking to a Taliban warrior about improving his quality of life is like trying to teach an ape how to hold a pen; eventually he just gets frustrated and sticks you in the eye with it.

OK, enough. Snuffle will be up soon so I have to get back to my hole. Covering my tracks in the snow takes a lot of practice but I’m good at it. Please, I tell you and my fellow Americans to turn off the TV sets and move on with your lives.

The story line you are getting from CNN and other news agencies is utter bullshit and designed not to deliver truth but rather to keep you glued to the screen through the commercials. We’ve got this one under control. The worst thing you guys can do right now is sit around analyzing what we’re doing over here because you have no idea what we’re doing and, really, you don’t want to know. We are your military and we are doing what you sent us here to do.

You wanna help? Buy Bonds America.

Saucy Jack

Recon Marine in Afghanistan
Semper Fi

President Barack Obama’s 2009 Inauguration and Address

John P. — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:25:11 +0000

Today The United States of America took a profound step forward. I don’t believe that any of us can yet comprehend the gravity of the day, but I am certain that we witnessed an event that will be forever etched in history. We, the people, freely elected Barack Hussein Obama as our leader, and today he took control of the most powerful and prosperous nation, perhaps ever, on the planet.

The video below captured this historic event, including both the presidential inauguration and President Obama’s address to the nation. If you were unable to see it previously I suggest taking a look at it now. President Obama’s address was meant not only for the citizens of the United States, but for the people of the world.

I also encourage you to view the Microsoft Photosynth site to see the pictures from the event overlayed in 3D so you can get a perspective of the entire event from multiple angles.

My Commentary

The 2008 race for the presidency was an historic one, because no matter which side won, American’s would be celebrating a changing of the guard. No longer would the Executive branch of the government be dominated by old, white men. We were either going to have a Woman for Vice President, or a mixed-race President (half white/half black).

We may choose to disagree over political topics such as taxes, court appointments, abortion, gun control and the like. But there are still many areas where Americans can stand together and demonstrate our unwavering conviction to freedom, liberty and one another.

Photo courtesy ZachStern

No longer may race be deemed a handicap or weakness. If we are colorblind to the most powerful man on Earth, surely we can be colorblind to one another. Young men and women of color can stand a little taller tomorrow and know that the rest of us judge them by their character and contributions – not by the color of their skin. This is as much of a responsibility as it is a relief. The only excuses for failure are now personal.
“Hope” is an idea that we are free to convert to reality by the simple application of conviction. A great number of our citizens were moved to act based on a hope for change. Their reasons are varied. Some were moved by war, others by ideology, still others by economy. But the collective spirit of the American people, through a collaborative act of conviction, impressed their will on the future.
Our American community has a responsibility to one another, our future, and our Global neighbors. We understand the consequences that our activities and decisions bring, and we are willing to accept them. We are also willing to change everything when necessary. Our elected officials, our lifestyles, and even the very principals that define us as a nation. Our forefathers did this throughout history, and today we still have the strength to carry on the tradition.

I, for one, am indeed hopeful. I hope to live in a world free from religious intolerance. Free from greed and corruption. Free from bigotry – be it race, religion, sex, or sexual preference. Free from tyranny. Free from starvation and illness. My hope is based on the belief that we, as a global community, have the technology, wealth and wisdom to make all of these things true… and more.

The only question that remains, is whether we have the conviction to see it all through.

Castro’s Cuba Leaves Nothing to Be Admired

John P. — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:33:42 +0000

I have a very close friend (who shall go unnammed) that seems to admire Fidel Castro. Well my friend, I came across this post at IBD editorials about Cuba’s 50 years of failure, and I just had to share it!

Spare us the fireworks and media-parroted claims of Fidel Castro’s dictatorship bringing universal health care and education to Cuba. The real story is that a prosperous Cuba was turned into ruins in just five decades.

Its inflation-adjusted gross domestic product is a mere 5% of what it was in 1958, the year before Castro took over, according to Jorge Salazar-Carillo of Florida International University.

1957: Cuban GDP is about $2.8 billion, unadjusted for inflation.

1959: Castro and his guerrillas take over and begin confiscating U.S.-owned private businesses.

1960: President Eisenhower imposes trade embargo, excluding food and medicine; Castro responds by “rapidly nationalizing most U.S. enterprises,” as he himself wrote.

1961: President Kennedy tightens the embargo. Castro blames it for plant shutdowns, parts shortages and 7,000 transportation breakdowns a month, leaving 25% of public buses inoperable. He then targets Cuban companies for expropriation.

1962: Begins food rationing. Half of passenger rail cars go out of service from lack of maintenance.

1963: President Kennedy freezes Cuban assets in the U.S.

1965: Signs deal with USSR to reschedule $500 million in debt.

1966: Signs new deal with Soviets for $91 million in trade credits.

1968: Begins petroleum rationing, says Soviets cut supplies.

1969: Begins sugar rationing in January, announces state plan to produce 10 million tons of sugar by the following year.

1970: Castro announces only 8.5 million tons of sugar produced. Blames U.S. Diverts 85% of all Cuban trade to the USSR.

1973: Tries for the first time to tie wages to productivity.

1974: Ramps up wartime spending to send 3,000 Cuban troops to Africa. It hits $125 per person, highest in Latin America, by 1988.

1975: President Ford announces softening of the embargo, letting foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies sell products in Cuba.

1979: President Carter lets Cuban-Americans visit family in Cuba. Soviet aid totals $17 billion from 1961-79, or 30% of Cuba’s GDP.

1980: Economic hardship forces Castro to permit farmers to sell surplus to state quotas in private markets with unregulated prices. 100,000 Cubans flee the island for the U.S. via the Mariel boatlift.

1982: Cuba doubles military spending. President Reagan re-establishes travel ban and prohibits spending money on the island.

1983: Cuba signs accord in Paris to refinance its foreign debt.

1984: “Armed Forces of Latin America” yearbook says: “Cuba is probably the world’s most completely militarized country.”

1985: Cuba signs new debt restructuring, blaming Mexico’s crisis for its debacle. Permits selling of private housing for the first time. Total aid from USSR since 1961 hits $40 billion.

1986: Castro defaults on $10.9 billion in Paris Club debt. Blames sugar prices. Abolishes coffee breaks, cuts subsidies. Soviets give $3 billion more in credit and aid. Castro bans farmers markets.

1987: Stops paying entirely on $10.9 billion Paris Club debts.

1988: Forbids release of inflation data, making it impossible for researchers to assess Cuban economic performance.

1990: By official statistics, GDP per capita declines 10.3%.

1991: Sugar crop falls to 7 million tons. Politburo purged. USSR ends $5 billion in subsidies. “Special Period” of austerity begins.

1992: Horse-drawn carts replace cars, oxen replace Soviet tractors. Time magazine reports tin cans are recycled into drinking cups and banana peels into Cuban sandals.

1993: World Bank says GDP contracts 15.1% per capita, as industrial output plunges 40% per person.

1994: Some private-sector activity permitted. GDP per capita shows no growth, but Castro hails “recovery.” Agricultural output down 54% from 1989, with sugar at 4 million tons. Castro blames bad finances, and “errors and inefficiency.” Food consumption, according to USDA, falls 36%. Some 32,000 Cubans flee for Florida.

1995: Havana admits GDP fell 35% from 1989 to 1993. Vice President Carlos Lage claims GDP grew 2.5%, as inflation hits 19%.

1996: Castro hikes private business taxes. President Clinton tightens embargo. Castro claims GDP rose to 7% in year.

1997: GDP reported up 2.5%, falling short of 5% projection. Failed sugar harvest, bad weather, crop pests, foreign debts blamed.

1998: GDP growth claimed at 1.2% with no inflation. U.S. embargo, global financial crisis, low commodity prices, too much rainfall, Hurricane Georges and severe drought blamed. Castro urges other debtor nations to form a cartel.

1999: GDP claimed at 6.2%. Subsidies from Venezuela begin. Castro blames U.S. dollar for woes and urges use of the euro.

2000: Cuban court rules U.S. owes Cuba $121 billion for embargo.

2001: 3.6% GDP growth, output remains below 1989. Blames loss of subsidies, second-worst sugar harvest ever at 3.5 million tons.

2002: Freezes dollar sales to preserve foreign reserves. Shuts down 118 factories due to power shortages. Buys $125 million in U.S. food. Defaults on $750 million in Japanese debts.

2003: Earns more tight sanctions from President Bush and European Union over dissident roundups. GDP rises just 1.8%.

2004: Castro declares GDP a capitalist instrument, adjusts calculations, declares GDP growing at 5%.

2005: Foreign firms asked to leave and market liberalization scrapped. Imports hit three-times the level of exports. Hurricanes blamed for falling farm output. Sugar figures not released. Castro calls economic crisis an “enemy fabrication.” Claims GDP up 11%.

2006: Castro claims 12.5% economic growth, “despite the crippling effects of the U.S. embargo,” Luxner News notes.

2007: 7.5% GDP growth claimed; adverse weather said to have affected construction and agriculture.

2008: 4.3% GDP growth claimed, far short of 8% forecast. “One of the most difficult years since the collapse of the Soviet Union,” economy minister says. Hurricanes and fuel prices blamed.

That, in sum, is Cuba after 50 years. But lest you get the wrong idea, Cuba hasn’t failed at everything: “Given their goal — to destroy capitalism and entrench themselves — they’re a success,” said Humberto Fontova, an expert on Castro’s regime.

Oh, and because I have to pour salt on open wounds, here is a video about the “success of Cuba” too. Enjoy!

Religulous – Bill Maher’s Impassioned Argument Against Religion

John P. — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:14:44 +0000

Bill Maher seems to be following in Michael Moore’s footsteps by putting out a movie called Religulous. This film, which I’m certain will prove to be extremely divisive, makes the case that the most dangerous force on earth is religion.

Maher’s ultimate message is simple: Abandon religion… or we’ll all die.

In the clip that follows, Maher lays out the foundation of this statement. Here are a few choice quotes which I believe pretty much sum things up:

“If one believes that the world is going to come to an end, does it not drain one’s motivation to improve life while we’re here?”
“Religion must die for man to live.”
“Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking.”
“Those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are intellectual slaveholders.”
“Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings, who don’t have all the answers, to think they do.”
“The only attitude for man to have about the big questions is not the arrogant certitude that is the hallmark of religion, but doubt.”
“The solace and comfort that religion brings you, actually comes at a terrible price.”

What’s Next? America After the Obama / McCain Election

John P. — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:41:52 +0000

Here we are on the eve before we discover who will become the next President of the United States. Already it is set to be a historic election.

We will either have the first African-American as Commander in Chief, or the oldest ever President and the first woman in an Executive office.
We will see record voter turn out all over the US (California, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Louisiana, Minnesota and more…)
We’ve been on the election trail for nearly two years… the longest and costliest campaign in US history.
The next President follows Bush’s historically low approval ratings and many difficult challenges.

But what happens after tomorrow?

Well tomorrow we are going to have a new President. Like him, or not, we are all still Americans and if there is anything this election can teach us, it’s that we all care deeply for our country. So the question of America’s greatness will not be measured by how voraciously we campaigned for “our” President, but how openly we embrace our future and one another.

Let’s not forget that all of the good people we are about to put in office across this land are there to represent each and every one of us. The political process is not something we should merely dust out once every four years. It’s something that requires an ongoing open and honest dialog with our state and federal representatives – and with one another.

Mark my words, within a week the emotional coffers of the campaign will be drained. But you and I will be the same. What then, my friends?

Today at work I heard one employee encouraging another to vote by using the argument, “If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain for the next four years.” But is that really the end of the story? I don’t think so…

I would submit that free and democratic governance is a process that allows us to actively contribute on a daily basis. I know that I have done my part, and I would suggest the following ways that you can participate as well:

Attend a city council meeting. Learn what issues are facing your local community. Don’t be afraid to stand up and share your opinion (but please do some research first).
Volunteer for a committee. You’d be surprised at how many your city has that you could participate in. You and your fellow citizens will have direct control over local governance.
Set an appointment to speak with your local state or federal representative. If you have two to three topics you’d like to address, take some notes and share your opinion and rationale. Don’t spend more than 5 minutes on any subject, and make sure you’ve got sound bites he/she can remember when the topic comes up.
Write your senators and Governors and regularly express your opinion. They actually read these things – or at least have staff that do in order to keep track of trends and areas of concern.

I’d like to finish this editorial with a little story, if you don’t mind.

In 2006 I was honored to be asked to serve on the Citizen’s Bond Committee for the city of Frisco, TX. The committee was made up of 21 residents, and we were asked to evaluate the infrastructure requirements for Frisco for the next three to four years in order to send a recommendation to the City Council which would ultimately end up on an election ballot for the citizens at large to vote on.

During the months we spent deliberating and debating I witnessed a lot of fierce disagreement. I also remember arguing my points, and listening to other points of view presented. During that time I changed my mind on various projects, and I witnessed others change their minds as well. The people in that room were neither Democrats or Republicans. They were just concerned citizens.

In the end no one was 100% satisfied, but we managed to put forth a unanimous recommendation to the Council nonetheless. That recommendation was accepted without modification, and later every line item was overwhelmingly approved by the citizens.

There are a few morals to the story:

If you volunteer to serve, you absolutely have a shot at making a real difference.
People can and will change their minds over time. This is not a weakness, but a strength of being human.
In the end, it is possible to bring both sides together on most issues. And it’s always worth at least giving it a try.

So when it’s all over and done with are you going to go back to your old routine, or are you going to continue to take action?

Did God Really Grant Houses to the Poor? You Betcha!

John P. — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:25:10 +0000

Time magazine just put out an article about how a certain type of Pentecostal Evangelism likely put a large number of consumers more or less in harm’s way by preaching that “God will give you a house, if you first give to God (as in… make an offering to the church).”

The religious movement, spearheaded by Godatorium super-star Joel Osteen (who may also be the devil), is called Propserity Gospel – and teaches that, dammit, God wants you to be rich in this lifetime as well as the next!

And quite a few folks are apparently coming around to this idea…

In three of the Gospels, Jesus warns that each of his disciples may have to “deny himself” and even “take up his Cross.” In support of this alarming prediction, he forcefully contrasts the fleeting pleasures of today with the promise of eternity: “For what profit is it to a man,” he asks, “if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” It is one of the New Testament’s hardest teachings, yet generations of churchgoers have understood that being Christian, on some level, means being ready to sacrifice–money, autonomy or even their lives.

But for a growing number of Christians like George Adams, the question is better restated, “Why not gain the whole world plus my soul?“

After the movement gained significant ground, and was later followed by the massive economic woes associated with the failed housing market, some people began looking into any possible correlation.

That’s what a scholar of the fast-growing brand of Pentecostal Christianity believes. While researching a book on black televangelism, says Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at the University of California at Riverside, he realized that Prosperity’s central promise — that God will “make a way” for poor people to enjoy the better things in life — had developed an additional, dangerous expression during the subprime-lending boom.

Walton says that this encouraged congregants who got dicey mortgages to believe “God caused the bank to ignore my credit score and blessed me with my first house.” The results, he says, “were disastrous, because they pretty much turned parishioners into prey for greedy brokers.”

Others think he may be right. Says Anthea Butler, an expert in Pentecostalism at the University of Rochester in New York: “The pastor’s not gonna say, ‘Go down to Wachovia and get a loan,’ but I have heard, ‘Even if you have a poor credit rating, God can still bless you — if you put some faith out there [that is, make a big donation to the church], you’ll get that house or that car or that apartment.‘ ”

Adds J. Lee Grady, editor of the magazine Charisma: “It definitely goes on, that a preacher might say, ‘If you give this offering, God will give you a house.’ And if they did get the house, people did think that it was an answer to prayer, when in fact it was really bad banking policy.”
…
A recent publicly posted testimony by a congregant at the Brownsville Assembly of God, near Pensacola, Fla., seems to confirm his intuition. Brownsville is not even a classic Prosperity congregation — it relies more on the anointing of its pastors than on Scriptural promises of God. But the believer’s note to his minister illustrates how magical thinking can prevail even after the mortgage blade has dropped.

“Last Sunday,” it read, “You said if anyone needed a miracle to come up. So I did. I was receiving foreclosure papers, so I asked you to anoint a picture of my home and you did and your wife joined with you in prayer as I cried. I went home feeling something good was going to happen. On Friday the 5th of September I got a phone call from my mortgage company and they came up with a new payment for the next 3 months of only $200. My mortgage is usually $1,020. Praise God for his Mercy & Grace.”

I’m not making this stuff up folks. Those are religious people who are crying foul on this topic.

So, I have some advice for all of those parishioners out there…

Remember that Jesus was poor as dirt. He forsake Earthly possessions. So the minute your preacher starts focusing on financial issues you best believe that he is no longer focused on your eternal salvation… but has turned his attention to your worldly monetization.

Hallelujah!

The US Declaration of Independence

John P. — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 06:41:48 +0000

I was recently reminded of just how cool the U.S. Declaration of Independence was, and how it united the citizens of the original 13 colonies in the common goal of establishing freedom and abolishing the reign of a tyrannical dictator.

Since both of the major political parties are currently advocating “change”, it is apparent that the citizens of the United States are once again seeking a radical departure from our current ways. Here is how we did it once upon a time… back when we had some real cajones!

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

You can download a full size scan of the original Declaration of Independence here.

US Declaration of Independence

Educational Qualifications: Obama and Biden vs. McCain and Palin

John P. — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:28:39 +0000

Since we’re in the process of selecting not only the new leaders of the United States, but also the new leaders of the Free World, I wanted to do a little research on their educational backgrounds. Personally I view wisdom as an important trait in a leader, and there can be no wisdom without knowledge. It also seems to me that humans have basically always universally held this belief, as we even see evidence dating back to Plato’s Republic in which the Guardians of the state required strict educational training.

I then decided that we should include the Vice Presidential candidates in the research because, after all, they are next in line for succession to the Presidency in case something terrible happens. On top of that, the Vice President of the United States is also the President of the US Senate. So, they’ve got one hell of an important job either way.

The following descriptions are all taken directly (and unedited) from Wikipedia.

The Democratic Ticket

Barack Obama

Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at Occidental College for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations. Obama graduated with a B.A. from Columbia in 1983.

Obama entered Harvard Law School in late 1988 and at the end of his first year was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review based on his grades and a writing competition. In his second year he was elected president of the Law Review, a full-time volunteer position functioning as editor-in-chief and supervising the law review’s staff of 80 editors. Obama’s election in February 1990 as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review was widely reported and followed by several long, detailed profiles. He graduated with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991.

Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years, as a Lecturer for four years (1992–1996), and as a Senior Lecturer for eight years (1996–2004).

Joe Biden

He attended the University of Delaware in Newark, where he graduated with a double major in history and political science in 1965. He went on to receive his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968, and was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1969.

The Republican Ticket

John McCain

Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. There, he was a friend and informal leader for many of his classmates, and sometimes stood up for people who were being bullied. He also became a lightweight boxer.

McCain came into conflict with higher-ranking personnel, he did not always obey the rules, and that contributed to a low class rank (894 of 899) despite a strong intelligence. He did well in academic subjects that interested him, such as literature and history, but studied only enough to pass subjects he struggled with, such as mathematics. McCain graduated in 1958.

Sarah Palin

Palin spent her first college semester at Hawaii Pacific College, transferring in 1983 to North Idaho College and then to the University of Idaho. She attended Matanuska-Susitna College in Alaska for one term, returning to the University of Idaho to complete her Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism, graduating in 1987.

Now a Little Commentary

John McCain was born in Panama because his father was in the military. Growing up he attended about 20 different schools. But wait, he did manage to do really well in wrestling! Of course, the guy is 5′7″ tall and probably weighed about 125 pounds. So, I’m guessing that he was quite a scrapper as a kid.

Suffice it to say that that sort of an early education can’t be good. So how the hell did he get into the US Naval Academy? Simple. His father and grandfather were both four-star United States Navy admirals.

The guy was then ranked number 894 of 899 in his class! WTF?!?!? Do you know how bad you have to be in order to be ranked that low by military personnel who know that your father and grandfather could have you shipped off to a freakin’ base in Alaska? You can’t justify that by saying you’re “a rebel”! It’s the freakin military! That just means you have no discipline whatsoever.

But speaking of Alaska, Sarah Palin took 6 years and 5 colleges to receive a BS in Journalism. Holy crap! It reminds me of the movie Tommy Boy:

Tommy: You know a lot of people go to college for seven years.
Richard: I know, they’re called doctors.

After only one semester in 1982 at Hawaii Pacific University in the business administration program, she transferred to North Idaho College (What? From Hawaii?? Why???) as a general studies major for two semesters in 1983.

From there she transferred to the University of Idaho, and majored in journalism from fall 1984 to spring 1985. She then returned to Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna College in fall 1985, but then returned to Idaho, in 1986 and 1987, when she graduated.

Interestingly, she never worked for any college newspaper or other agency.

Now, speaking of college newspapers. On the other hand we have Barack Obama who not only was an editor for a little college called Harvard (the #1 University in the country), but was also elected as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review!

Crikey, even his backup running mate has a Juris Doctorate degree (from the #53 University in the US)!

So, in summary it all comes down to the following decision:

Do I want the two most powerful people on earth to have barely survived their pathetic college experiences (one of whom only even gained entrance because of what his daddy and grandpa did) while gaining no usable educational value?
Do I want the two most powerful people on earth to have extremely advanced degrees, which they earned themselves despite coming from poor beginnings, and one of them having even spent 12 years as an actual college professor?

I would submit that if you were looking for someone to do any kind of a job for you (eye surgery, ship captain, your taxes, consultant… whatever!), and you were looking at these two sets of candidates, the only viable choice would be Obama, Biden.

Sarah Palin’s Church Videos Show America in Flames?

John P. — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:15:29 +0000

Ok. This scares the crap out of me! Sarah Palin’s church, Wasilla Assembly of God, apparently has created the Master’s Commission: Wasilla Alaska which is some kind of… um, I don’t know what to call it… cult? And for the record, she was baptized in this church at age 12 and attended it for most of her adult life. As I understand it, when she was inaugurated as governor, the founding pastor of the church delivered the invocation.

Anyway, no need to guess as to what is being preached, luckily all of the sermons are online so you can spend as much time listening as you please.

According to one anonymous person, you’ll hear the following if you listen to them (heck, I’m not gonna do it):

“Pastor Kalnins” has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war “contending for your faith;” and said that Jesus “operated from that position of war mode.”
Kalnins bristled at the treatment President Bush was receiving over the federal government’s handling of Hurricane Katrina. “I hate criticisms towards the President,” he said, “because it’s like criticisms towards the pastor — it’s almost like, it’s not going to get you anywhere, you know, except for hell. That’s what it’ll get you.”
Kalnins has preached that the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Iraq were part of a “world war” over the Christian faith, one in which Jesus Christ had called upon believers to be willing to sacrifice their lives.
He preaches repeatedly about the “end times” or “last days,” an apocalyptic prophesy held by a small but vocal group of Christian leaders. During his appearance with Palin in June, he declared, “I believe Alaska is one of the refuge states in the last days, and hundreds of thousands of people are going to come to the state to seek refuge and the church has to be ready to minister to them.

Anyway, ignoring all of that, just watch the promotional video for their “intense discipleship training program”:

Yikes! So, tell me this… Why the hell does the video result in fire and explosions traveling throughout Alaska, into Canada and then into the mainland United States? Seriously, WTF is that all about?

It reminds me of the Oklahoma City bombing, or even more like the David Koresh compound in Waco, Texas. I really mean that too.

So, here are a couple of parts from a lecture that Palin herself gave at her church with her preacher. Hard to say what scares me the most, but I’m certainly not calmed by her statements about the war in Iraq being a holy war:

“Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,” she exhorted the congregants. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan, and that that plan is God’s plan.”

(PS – If these videos get removed from YouTube try this link.)

Part 1

In which:

Sarah gives a lecture saying that God needs to help build a pipeline in Alaska.
She says that if people’s hearts are not right with God that nothing else matters.
And goes on to state that the War in Iraq is God’s plan.

Part 2

In which:

One of Sarah’s ministers says, “God wants to tap into the oil as a refuge.”
The other one starts crying while he’s saying a prayer.
Near the end of the video her minister conveys a Master’s Commission diploma on Sarah.
Palin’s final comment: “I gew up at Wasilla Assembly of God, nothing freaks me out about a worship service!”

And to sum things up, here is “A Deeper Look” at the Master’s Commission: Wasilla Alaska.

Your thoughts?

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

John P. — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:39:53 +0000

If you haven’t heard of Randy Pausch, you need to. Randy was a Carnegie Mellon Professor (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) who gave his famous last lecture at the university on Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium.

In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. The significance of the lecture was that Randy was dying of cancer.

This lecture is an hour and fifteen minutes long. It is funny, touching, and inspirational. Some of you may weep.

10 Things I Wish I Had Known About Business

John P. — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:37:41 +0000

Today I’ve been asked to attend an event designed to provide mentoring to young people. The format of the event puts me at a table with 2-3 people for 20 minute sessions to answer questions and dish out advice.

It got me thinking… what do I wish I had known before I started my career? My first thought was… everything! But that’s not really true. Some of the fun in life is the journey. Without the ups and downs we wouldn’t be the people we are today. Still, there are a lot of things that would have been useful to know.

So, I decided to jot down a few ideas based on my own experience. Some items from this list are things I wish I had known, and some are things I wish other people would have known. By all means, I hope you’ll add to the list if you think of something I missed.

Listening is the most important tool in the business arsenal. Before you give your opinion, ask others for their opinion first. If you’re going to agree it makes it easy. If you’re going to disagree you’ll know before they do and be able to change your delivery to “sell” your idea to others. And when you ask a question, be patient as you wait for an answer. Knowledge is power and your goal should be to get as much as you can while giving out only what is absolutely necessary.
Patience is a prerequisite to success. Everyone is looking for the quick buck, but no one wants to earn it. Heck, I understand. I wish for the same thing too! But it just doesn’t work that way. If you’re going to be successful you are going to have to resign yourself to the fact that it’s going to take hard work, and a lot of it!
40 hours a week won’t make you rich. Think about it. You can’t expect to work the same hours as 95% of the population, but somehow be in the top 1% of incomes. If your main goal is financial in nature you are going to have to really work in the same general percentage of the bell curve as you want to be rewarded.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. The only thing that matters in a business setting is how much a person contributes to the overall cause. It doesn’t matter how they look, or if they boast about how great they are. The only thing that counts at the end of the day is if they are continuing to move the business forward.
Whoever said “I didn’t learn anything useful in school” was an idiot. It’s true, you can’t learn everything in school, some things only come with experience. But believe me, you are going to have to learn everything, so get yourself a huge head start by learning it early and you’ll leapfrog all the other people who are sitting around wondering “why do I need to know this”?
Whiny, angry people are destined for failure. If you have a bad temper, or if you find yourself complaining a lot, you need to work on that. No one in a work environment wants to see either of those things. You have to be calm, cool and collected to solve problems, and problem solving is what business is all about. Don’t even bother pointing out problems unless you plan on being part of the solution.
Work harder than anyone around you. Arrive earlier, take shorter lunch breaks, and leave late. Not only will you get more actual work done than your peers, the folks in charge will love you and consider you for advancement.
Keep your personal and work life separate. You need to be friendly at work, but never, never forget it’s a competitive environment. Tell people you have problems at home and everyone will soon think, “it’s affecting your work”. Tell people things are going great and they’ll think, “its affecting your work”. You need to craft your work image carefully, and protect it like your reputation counts on it! Oh, and don’t drink. Getting drunk around people you work with is a recipe for disaster.
Take calculated risks. Risk, generally speaking, is a bad thing. Calculated risks however, can leapfrog a career. A calculated risk is one you feel has been thoroughly investigated, has a reasonable chance of success, and most importantly leaves you with viable options in case of failure. I’ve seen too many people take huge risks and fail because they simply lack the patience to wait for the success that comes from hard work.
Don’t be so certain you’re right. Every day I see people assert things they know to be “true” only to be proven wrong. The world is not black and white, so keep your ego in check and constantly challenge your own assumptions. Do the research to back up your opinions, but remember that the research could be flawed. Don’t be afraid to try things, but don’t be too proud to admit when it doesn’t work.

I’ve got some seriously successful folks who read this blog, so even if you’ve never left a comment, now’s a good time! Got anything to add to the list? It’s for the kids!

How Taxes Determine Your Religion

rixtopia — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:22:28 +0000

By Guest Star: Karen Rhodes

I am agnostic….

Now a lot of people confuse this term and here is my way of clarifying the matter. The way I look at it, I can’t even figure out my taxes, so what chance do I have of figuring out which universal belief system I should subscribe to?

I actually have a theory that accountancy helps people select their religion.

If you are happy with a more nature centered life and pay taxes in grain/produce or the profit from selling such, then paganism may be the religion for you.
If you are more in the commodities market and find solace in diversified highly portable wealth then Judaism is just for you.

Eventually this system has had to expand as people found new and more inventive ways of being at peace.

People that liked portable wealth and commodities, but didn’t like all of that saving up became Baptists.
People who liked the commodity aspect of Judaism, but only for a year get to be Mormons.
Then there are people who have otherworldly ideas of money and they are called Scientologists.

I figure this is why I am agnostic, it’s because I just can’t figure out my taxes!

About the Author
Karen Rhodes is a System Engineer for Layered Tech. She enjoys gardening, playing video games and weaving 17th century Japanese lace.

Baz Luhrmann Presents: Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

John P. — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:37:49 +0000

People ask me for advice nearly every day of my life. And I’d say that 95% of the time I have to give vague answers like “…in most cases…”, or “…usually…”. But every once in a while I’m able to hand out some advice that I feel is absolute. This is the best kind of advice, and Baz Luhrmann dished out some of this advice back in 1999 with the release of Everybody’s Free to Wear Sunscreen.

“Wear Sunscreen” or the “Sunscreen Speech” are the common names of an essay actually called “Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young” written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997.

For what it’s worth, here is the complete text from the original article:

Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young
A newspaper column by Mary Schmich, published by the Chicago Tribune on 01 June 1997.

Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying to get out, some world-weary pundit eager to pontificate on life to young people who’d rather be Rollerblading. Most of us, alas, will never be invited to sow our words of wisdom among an audience of caps and gowns, but there’s no reason we can’t entertain ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for Graduates.

I encourage anyone over 26 to try this and thank you for indulging my attempt.

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ‘97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Frank Zappa Defends Free Speech on Crossfire

John P. — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:10:22 +0000

Here is a fascinating debate on Crossfire from 22 years ago in which some tool (John Laughlin) from the Washington Post was repeatedly insulting Frank Zappa (you know he’s half Greek, right?) and arguing for censorship of freedom of speech.

What I find most interesting is that Frank remained very calm and collected despite the fact that he was being personally attacked. Meanwhile the other guys work themselves into a frenzy.

Now that we can look back two decades ago, before anyone ever dreamed of the Internet, this whole debate just seems absurd. Indeed, anything that anyone wants to say, sing, or do, can be freely accessed by anyone else. But it hasn’t changed the people we are. Parents still have to instill a sense of morality in their kids, and we each have to follow our own moral compass.

I just wish we could get all of those guys back up on TV for another go round on the same topic today. Oh, and I wish Zappa would have kicked Laughlin’s ass!

The War on Pot Costs America $42 Billion Annually

John P. — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:20:57 +0000

Hmmm. I’ve got a question. Why not let Marlboro sell packaged marijuana just like they do normal cigarettes or clove cigarettes? If one can believe the stats in the article below, the cost to fight the Pot war is simply amazing!

Arrests for marijuana possession — not sales or trafficking, just possession — totaled 738,916. By comparison, there were 611,523 arrests last year for all violent crimes combined.

Wow! I don’t understand that on so many levels:

How do so many people actually gain access to an illegal drug like that? I wouldn’t have a clue where to go buy some pot, and I’d be scared to ask anyone!
If 3/4 of a million people got CAUGHT, there must be 50 people for each one that got away! I mean, America must love it’s pot!
I never heard of anyone high on pot committing violent crimes. I thought it had the opposite effect? Making you tired and lazy, right?

What would you buy if you had an extra $42 billion to spend every year? What might our government buy if it suddenly had that much money dropped onto its lap every year?

For one thing, it might pay for the entire $7 billion annual increase in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program that President Bush is threatening to veto because of its cost — and there’d still be $35 billion left over.

Or perhaps you’d hire 880,000 schoolteachers at the average U.S. teacher salary of $47,602 per year.

Or give every one of our current teachers a 30 percent raise (at a cost of $15 billion, according to the American Federation of Teachers) and use what’s left to take a $27 billion whack out of the federal deficit.

Or use all $42 billion for a massive tax cut that would put an extra $140 in the pockets of every person in the country — $560 for a family of four.

The mind reels at the ways such a massive sum of money could be put to use.

Why $42 billion? Because that’s what our current marijuana laws cost American taxpayers each year, according to a new study by researcher Jon Gettman, Ph.D. — $10.7 billion in direct law enforcement costs, and $31.1 billion in lost tax revenues. And that may be an underestimate, at least on the law enforcement side, since Gettman made his calculations before the FBI released its latest arrest statistics in late September. The new FBI stats show an all-time record 829,627 marijuana arrests in 2006, 43,000 more than in 2005.

That’s like arresting every man, woman and child in the state of North Dakota plus every man, woman, and child in Des Moines, Iowa on marijuana charges … every year. Arrests for marijuana possession — not sales or trafficking, just possession — totaled 738,916. By comparison, there were 611,523 arrests last year for all violent crimes combined.

Basing his calculations mainly on U.S. government statistics, Gettman concludes that marijuana in the U.S. is a $113 billion dollar business. That’s a huge chunk of economic activity that is unregulated and untaxed because it’s almost entirely off the books.

Of course, the cost of our marijuana laws goes far beyond lost tax revenues and money spent on law enforcement. By consigning a very popular product — one that’s been used by about 100 million Americans, according to government surveys — to the criminal underground, we’ve effectively cut legitimate businesspeople out of the market and handed a monopoly to criminals and gangs.

Strangely, government officials love to warn us that some unsavory characters profit off of marijuana sales, while ignoring the obvious: Our prohibitionist laws handed them the marijuana business in the first place, effectively giving marijuana dealers a $113 billion free ride.

All this might make some sense if marijuana were so terribly dangerous that it needed to be banned at all costs, but science long ago came to precisely the opposite conclusion. Compared to alcohol, for example, marijuana is astonishingly safe. For one thing, marijuana is much less addictive than alcohol, with just nine percent of users becoming dependent, as opposed to 15 percent for booze. And marijuana is much less toxic. Heavy drinking is well-documented to damage the brain and liver, and to increase the risk of many types of cancer. Marijuana, on the other hand, has never caused a medically documented overdose death, and scientists are still debating whether even heavy marijuana use causes any permanent harm at all. And then there’s violence. Again, the scientific findings are overwhelming: Booze incites violence and aggression; marijuana doesn’t.

Despite all that, we now arrest one American every 38 seconds on marijuana charges. And we do so at a staggering cost in law enforcement expenses, lost tax revenues, and staggering profits for criminal gangs.

The alternative is clear: Regulate marijuana just as we do beer, wine, and liquor. The only thing lacking is the political will.

Rob Kampia is executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, DC