I have lived with gay family members all of my life, and I love them for being who they are, not what they do. I simply disagree with some of their choices in life and I hope and pray that they find the kind of peace their hearts truly need. People can have have compassionate disagreements on difficult subjects like this, but that isn’t enough for some people who must punish everyone around them for daring to have a different point of view. This is the exact kind of intolerant hatred that was waged against them so many years ago, and now they too have emerged to become the very same kind of people they feared and despised so long ago.
Continue ReadingThe Old Racism Made New: Compassion is the Answer
In today’s world we hear a lot about inclusivity and diversity coming from what has become a more socialist and aggressive left, but what comes with that is a new racism and bigotry against conservative religions and now white folks. The racism represented by CRT & 1619 is simply just more of the same. The […]
Continue ReadingTips: Indecent expectations.
When I walk into a place that has a mandatory tip on the bill; I walk out and never go back because that is just pure arrogance and I will not pay a single dime to any establishment that does that.
Continue ReadingWhere Did Civility Go?
Yeah he’s probably the loudest, most socially reactive President we’ve had in decades, but the wheels didn’t magically come off the country…
Continue ReadingMemorial day: Our Living Tributes
Another Memorial Day is here, and I think back on friends I have lost who served. I remember standing in front of my father’s coffin and the vault engraved with the Navy Cross he was so very proud of. I remember Sgt Mulkern’s bagpipes, Stripe’s crooked smile and SSgt Arnold’s tortured grin… When I […]
Continue ReadingInformation Security. It’s About Integrity
How your company addresses security is often seen as a simple cost-value equation. …How you approach information security today often influences how the public views your overall integrity whether you like it or not.
Continue ReadingInstalling Cumulative Updates on Exchange Server 2016
Microsoft has released cumulative updates for Exchange Server 2016 (CU2) and Exchange Server 2013(CU13), clearing the technique for .NET Framework 4.6.1 use by organizations. Microsoft Unlocks .NET Framework 4.6.1 : possibly the most outstanding updated…
Continue ReadingHow To Pick This Year’s President
Many folks on social media are inundating me with political propaganda this month; I’ve been guilty of sharing a few tidbits myself and I get it: You want your candidate to win, or you hate both of them and want to revolt. The problem is that 90% of this stuff is pure garbage (or satire) from […]
Continue ReadingRepublican Party: On the Brink
Straddling the precipice seems to be where the Republican Party feels most comfortable this year. Between the elementary school playground slap-fights played out on the national debate stage to massive policy shifts by the party front-runner in a given day, there seems to be ample evidence that the Republican Party lacks both stability and integrity […]
Continue ReadingQuickBooks Not Windows 10 Compatible
Windows 10 has been in general release since last July, and since that time Intuit has released yet another version of its desktop accounting software as well: QuickBooks 2016. However, if you are one of those small businesses taking advantage of Microsoft’s free Windows 10 upgrades, you will be in for a bit of a […]
Continue ReadingExam 70-345: Designing and Deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 (beta)
Microsoft is offering 350 beta seats for the Exam 70-345: Designing and Deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 https://borntolearn.mslearn.net/b/weblog/archive/2016/01/13/designing-and-deploying-microsoft-exchange-server-2016-beta-exam-now-available…
Continue ReadingWindows 10: Releasing the hounds
I look back at the history of this latest version of Microsoft’s new flagship operating system and I find myself hopeful. Surprisingly hopeful…
Continue ReadingWindows 10: A Sys Admin’s Preview
I eagerly await how the actual delivery of these features turns out, but this very well could be the turning point that takes the public scorn of Vista and 8-8.1 out of the public consciousness and replaces it with something business users and managers have been anxiously awaiting over a decade.
Continue ReadingThe fleecing of Idaho: A prescription drug coverage scheme
If you’ve had to get your own healthcare, then you’ve seen Mountain Health Co-op; the newest addition to the Idaho marketplace. Unfortunately, they are playing an all-too-familiar game with their healthcare coverage that you may have already found upsetting… It seems like a good deal, their rates are low and the coverage appears to […]
Continue ReadingMemorial Day: 2015
All through the ages our proud men & women have served and fought as well as did their families who also served by supporting them.
Continue ReadingObama Sits Upon His Throne To Watch The World Burn
This President has abandoned this nation as no other before him has ever done. Carter? Obama outpaced Carter’s idiocy years ago.
Continue ReadingA new direction: Technology Advocacy
My goal today is to take IT Consulting in a bold new direction by abandoning the “Value Added Reseller” model which just doesn’t allow for the flexibility required to serve customers more effectively.
Continue ReadingBefore the Berlin Wall Fell: A Parting Shot
The base motor pool began to thunder with the sound of massive engines as every tank and Bradley Fighting Vehicle crew began loading up a full fighting load of arms and men. Downs Barracks in Fulda West Germany had gone from silent to a war footing in mere minutes.
Continue ReadingSpeaker John Boehner: A Spine At Last?
So now what? We’ve won the House again and the Senate… We still have the weakest leadership we’ve ever had and just because we have control doesn’t mean the same fools who squandered it before won’t turn around and do it all over again.
Continue ReadingAbraham Lincoln: A Fearless Revolutionary
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. -Abraham Lincoln It shouldn’t be a surprise that Abraham Lincoln is our revolutionary for the month of May. He fits our definition…
Continue ReadingThe aftermath of Windows 8
They (Microsoft) had no clue how attached people had become to their beloved start button and the comfortingly familiar desktop.
“Hey, look! Here’s a cool new touch feature to play with!” Would have gone over so very much better than the “Hey look! We took away everything you like and replaced it with a cool new (mandatory) feature most of you can’t use!” we all received.
Continue ReadingMicrosoft Windows: You took away my what?!?
Most of us have a very personal (-ish) relationship with our computers, we connect to people through them, we pay bills and explore through them too. So, when Microsoft turned our familiar Windows on its head, the public let loose.
The tile interface idea for Windows 8 by itself wasn’t all that bad; for users with touch laptops and tablets it works just fine, but then Microsoft went a step beyond. They took a nice innovation for touch devices and inexplicably shoved it into the desktop realm.
Continue ReadingHas Microsoft Learned its Lesson?
When you can’t get more than 12 percent buy-in on a flagship OS after nearly two years in a market you nearly monopolize, you’ve made some earth-shatteringly bad assumptions about your customers.
What were they? Has Microsoft learned anything from it?
Continue ReadingFree Appliance Pickup: Convenience, or Raw Deal?
If you’ve ever heard those commercials from your local power company urging you to use less electricity, then you’ve heard the plea to use wisely, conserve energy, and they even offer to pick up your old appliances for free if you buy new energy efficiency ones. Sometimes they even offer to pay you a small amount of money to pick them up for you.
It seems like a decent gesture on the surface of it, why else would they want to haul away your broken appliances?
Continue ReadingMemorial Day: Promises Broken
The list of broken promises to our nations heroes is growing longer every day, the resignations within the VA will not raise those veterans who died at the hands of the own caregivers.
…And but for a proud few; as a nation we have yet to do anything but stand aside and watch it unfold… Unmoved, unstirred and apparently uncaring: United we stand, our integrity stolen, our honor besmirched, our heroes forgotten…
Continue ReadingHow to secure your home computer without the scare tactics
Every time an advertisement on a website declares they’ve found a “Weird new trick” that will magically evade all car insurance rules, or will make you rich “while you work at home,” you open the door yourself to invite disaster in for a free meal.
Continue ReadingThe Magical Mystery Batch, how bank’s use it to rip you off.
Some banks have changed how they process payables, and by payables I mean those checks or other types of transactions that pay funds from your bank account to other people or businesses. This type of processing, which for simplicity’s sake I’ll call the Magical Mystery Batch…
Continue ReadingWhat you (or your IT department) should do right now to secure Windows XP
Everyone keeps telling you how every hacker on the planet is now targeting you and your XP machine. But is it really the end of the road for Windows XP? Are you left hanging in the breeze with no recourse? The answer may surprise you.
Continue ReadingMicrosoft: Digging out of the XP hole.
Recently, Microsoft has been faced with several major problems: We’ll take a look at each of those problems, how Microsoft appears to be overcoming them, and how that’s going to affect the very nature of your relationship with Microsoft. Along the way we’ll look at how this all shapes up from a business perspective from […]
Continue Reading2014 Conservative Policy Summit: An Agenda to Unite America
2014 is a crucial year for our country. This fall the American people will go to the polls and choose between two vastly different visions for the future. The Left offers more of the same: managed decline and the further Europeanization of our nation. Conservatives, on the other hand, have a positive agenda that […]
Continue ReadingWhat “defines” you?
Someone asked me today “What defines you?” I thought about that for a minute… Here’s my answer:
Continue ReadingCommon Core: A Principal’s response
As a follow up to my previous article, I asked the Principal at an Idaho school some rather pointed questions about Common Core and how it relates to my instruction for my child in particular. I have placed some of those questions and answers here for your review.
Continue ReadingCommon Core: What does it mean for parents?
So far, the teachers I’ve talked to express more resignation regarding the common core standards than anything else. In the case of my oldest daughter’s school, the teachers of AP courses are expected to work completely without a syllabus of any kind and are mostly winging it and creating their own as they go. When […]
Continue ReadingOur Historic President
You know, when people across the country touted Barack Obama’s election to the Presidency as “Historic” I bet they never dreamed that this President would actually slap one third of the entire population right across the face and kill their medical coverage in one fell swoop…
Continue ReadingMinus One Leg, Wounded Vet from Lake Orion Tears it Up on the Ice
Wounded vets “have overcome just about every obstacle you can think of to get back on the ice,” says a Marine who played in last week’s Wounded Veterans Hockey Classic at Comerica Park. The Canadians beat the United States in the first Wounded…
Continue ReadingSpeaker Boehner: Deja vu all over again
I mean, how many times have we, the people been suckered by this very same bait-and-switch routine? Are we so willing to believe in the integrity of our public servants that we so blithely ignore the fact that this bill is nothing more than a con-man’s shell game? …Cave-man Boehner has once again lead the charge to certain defeat and our collective ruin by taking this budget compromise and attempting to shove it down our collective throats through intimidation and issuing threats against any republican politicians who stand up to him. Interestingly enough; in the process he has presented us with a very familiar and distasteful choice to make.
Continue ReadingThe day after Thanksgiving
We have given thanks appropriately for all that God’s gracious bounty has afforded us the opportunity to enjoy. The meals are over; friends & family have gone home and the turkey, ribeye, fruit salad & other leftovers reappear as sandwiches, lunches and snacks while that leftover pie beckons for one last shot at becoming that […]
Continue ReadingWhy critiques are so critical
What motivates me to write most often is what stirs me to shout out… It also becomes the outlet for expressing opinions about events and people who I believe to be doing harm to the world we live in.
My writings do not reflect the course of my life, they merely reflect the course of my writing.
Continue ReadingCraigslist Pet resellers: How to stop them cold
There has been a lot of drama about serial pet re-selling (selling a pet you just got for free or cheep on Craigslist) on Craigslist recently, I’ll explain how that happens and give you a few basic tips on how to stop from being a victim:
Continue ReadingChina Palace: Masters of disaster
The food itself is average Americanized Chinese fare with the usual staple offerings, nothing outstanding, but not too bad either; kind of a study in middle-of-the-road adequacy if you will. But what we found next will curl your hair…
Continue ReadingGarden City’s Egg Factory: A study in mediocrity
My wife’s been bugging me to try out the egg factory, so this morning we gathered up the kids and went to see how it was. …All in all, the experience was somewhat less than satisfying, but Julie, Bubba & Skittles, (our three dogs) were very grateful for the leftovers we brought home.
Continue ReadingObamacare: Faceplant on entry
You were warned of the impending failures inherent in the deployment of Obamacare: Warnings came from all directions, detailing missed deadlines and the lack of transparency preventing anyone from finding out just what progress was being made in all of the myriad of working pieces that make up the enormous undertaking of creating this (2x […]
Continue ReadingCave-Man: The demise of principled leadership in the House
Initially, conservative thought that we would finally see some real action on our behalf, some truly principled leadership such as we hadn’t seen since Speaker Newt Gingrich. Alas, that was not to be; we traded the daily vitriol of Speaker Pelosi for the boot-licking antics of John Boehner, and we still have Nancy Pelosi singing background to John Boehner’s never-ending surrender ballad.
Continue ReadingMy first 10 minutes with iOS 7
Texts are definitely easier to read, so I can see some benefit to the new color scheme in some places, but in others it’s just plain annoying. Themes anyone?
Continue ReadingRemembrance day: 9-11
This day is yet another reminder for us to give thanks to those around us who serve or have served, and to remember their families who serve and sacrifice in support of them as well. A day that should drive us to continue to remember them beyond this day and carry it throughout our daily lives.
Continue ReadingObamacare circling the drain
A while back (Mid 2012) I made several observations about the impending Obamacare and how it would negatively affect businesses as a whole and people individually. Let’s take a look today at where things are and how much of those predictions have come true: Businesses are declaring they will cut healthcare completely from their […]
Continue ReadingWhen Telephone services become telephony
Technology gripe of the day: Something I found out about my phone service provider recently that I found very surprising: They may not actually BE your telephone service provider… OK, for some, not so surprising I suppose, but when you get a DSL or other provider and you buy into an “Unlimited” […]
Continue ReadingObituary: The demise of a once glorious California
I grew up believing in the California of achievable dreams, of justice, honor, freedom, fairness and respect.
Continue ReadingInternships: A replacement for a College degree?
In the short term, the lack of college education especially in technically challenging fields such as Information Technology, is more of a hindrance than a benefit, and an internship indeed provides a far more valuable real-world experience relevant to the actual workplace, but what happens when you reach the point where you wish to advance beyond that?
Continue ReadingWhen good men do nothing: Speaker Boehner asleep at the wheel.
There is a time when good men should stand up and say enough is enough. Today, with new Government scandals coming to light every day, I thought that time had come to see this take place and like so many like me, I turned to the good people we elected to see if they would […]
Continue ReadingShelter-Skelter: A true story of death, deceit and betrayal at the Boise Humane Society animal shelter
I wrote this article a few year back when my wife & I used to volunteer for the Boise shelter… Fostering animals for the Boise Humane Society is at best, a dodgy enterprise; take a litter of kittens home with you and they promise total care and support, but bring them in for minor care, […]
Continue ReadingForeign outsourcing: Why companies go “off shore,” and the sacrifices involved.
Someone asked me recently why Accountants do not outsource their bookkeeping to companies outside the USA. As someone with an interest in the bookkeeping industry, (I help my wife run Duker Books, a bookkeeping company in Eagle Idaho) I have a few thoughts on the matter, but this topic is equally true of other industries, […]
Continue ReadingHunger Games: “festival of human depravity”
Today I finally broke down and watched Hunger Games… It was a challenge, as a father, to sit through this piece of filth all through to the end, but lets take a look at the premise this movie is based on, and no, I don’t really care if there are spoilers here because anyone who […]
Continue ReadingGuild Wars 2: A gamers review
I do have a few hobbies and one of them is playing an online game. Yes, I know, the stereotypes abound regarding the antisocial single man living with his mother playing video games in the basement until 40, but most of those stereotypes really aren’t exclusive to gaming anymore than they are to any other […]
Continue ReadingIdaho’s Insurance exchange: Giving the Feds a stick to beat us with?
Idaho has taken the first steps towards creating a health insurance exchange for the state, but many do not agree with this decision. Let’s take a look at how this looks to be playing out: The Federal government has yet to define the rules governing the creation of the state health insurance exchanges, or […]
Continue ReadingA comedy of errors: This week’s Obama gun control & child safety speech by the numbers
In his speech, Obama mentioned a number of goals and his office released the following list outlining those goals in more detail. So here’s the list and my take on what it means: Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system. Great. So […]
Continue ReadingTechNews Daily Mangles Critique of Hobbit
I really hate it when I find someone spewing pure garbage in an attempt to grab attention and in this instance, I really got sucked in by this negative review which turned out to be pure trash…
Continue ReadingBoehner retreats on taxes
Today, House Speaker Boehner sounded the clarion call for a full retreat on the conservative’s no tax pledge. According to Fox News and Politico, House Speaker Boehner has declared that if you make $1 million or more, you need to pay higher taxes. If you happen to work for one of those people, get ready […]
Continue ReadingThe ins and outs of Climate Science: Scientists being less than scientific.
Have you tried to search for the word climate change lately? Or global warming? You will notice two things, the UN has completely canvassed the entire internet with its climate change dogma. Also notice the Global warming is no longer used, because the global temperatures have tended to stop rising in the late 90’s, so […]
Continue ReadingDear Republicans: Get a clue!
Dear Republicans: Stop milling about as if your head has just been lopped off and find your backbone! OK, that may be considered a bit severe by some folks, but the message is nonetheless quite poignant for our current circumstances. Ever since the election, House & Senate Republicans have been falling over themselves in […]
Continue ReadingGetting that second opinion and why it can save your life
I recently went through a rather hair raising experience lately that brought something to my attention that I did not know before, and to be quite frank, was surprised at the simplicity of it all. That lesson was so eye-opening that I need to share it. Now the point of this is not to point […]
Continue ReadingWhy this scoffer of Organic food myths drinks only Organic coffee
I am one of “those People” who has never bought into the mythology surrounding organic goods as being the end-all, be-all of human health and wellbeing. The exhaustive studies published by Stanford University have more recently borne out my initial disdain for the fad craze of supposedly natural foods which it turns out are no […]
Continue ReadingThe second 2012 Presidential debate: Eyeballing it from the cheap seats.
Do we truly need any further examples of media bias? Is there anyone out there who has not realized that journalists standards are sure and truly dead in the majority of media outlets in America today? I watched the debate Between President Obama & Governor Romney the other day and today I looked for […]
Continue ReadingPoem: I love my life…
[important] Audio version available! I love my life [/important] I love my wife, I love my life My heart shines through my children’s eyes Troubles come and then they go Through it all she won’t let go Cloudy skies don’t trouble me No silver lining do I need When in […]
Continue ReadingPresident Obama’s double-eagle salute.
President Obama just flipped you the bird, now what? Today the Supreme Court ruled on the Arizona immigration bill. (found here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-182b5e1.pdf) No surprises there: Some portions of the bill were struck down and one key provision was allowed to remain. What is surprising though, (Shame on me, I should know better by now right?) […]
Continue ReadingTexting and driving is driving me nuts!
I am so completely done with people using their cell phones while they drive. I get the attraction, really; you want to see that emergency message that just popped up from your boss and such, but so many people take it so far beyond common sense that their swaying car might as well have a […]
Continue ReadingThe digital divide: The cause of poverty in America, or just the latest tscam on the poor?
Most of us have heard this claim: There exists a “digital divide” between the poor and the rich. Those who don’t have internet are getting farther behind those (the rich supposedly) who do because they don’t have access to the same internet tools that are (supposedly) so vital to their success. Let’s take a closer look […]
Continue ReadingIdaho’s backroom politics: Business as usual?
Last week, a bill requiring a sonogram for every abortion caused quite a stir. It brought activists from both sides of this topic out of the woodwork and into the streets in droves, but the bill itself made no sense at all, since sonograms are already required in order for doctors to determine the age […]
Continue ReadingAmerican Healthcare: Why so expensive? Where do we go from here?
So then we must ask ourselves: “What is causing our system of medicine to be more expensive than it should be?” And of course that leads directly into the next question: Where should we go from here? Now, certainly I am not a medical professional and this is an outline of my own thoughts and […]
Continue ReadingCuban Healthcare: A glimpse into our future?
What to do with Healthcare: Is our system of healthcare truly as broken as we are told, or is that only one side of the story? Some would argue that we absolutely must cover every person in America with some form of blanket healthcare coverage and inevitably a number of people will also pipe in […]
Continue ReadingIs your presidential candidate insulting your intelligence?
As I sit here, watching the news coverage of the GOP candidates, I am struck by the rather blithe coverage of what must seem to politicians as a way of life, but to me it seems somewhat surreal. The newscaster and pundits refer to one candidate or another as having trouble “Appealing to the conservative […]
Continue ReadingHedging your bets in 2012? (The cowardice of timed political endorsements)
Normally, when you hear from someone today about the Republican Presidential candidates, you you hear hedging and equivocation until very close to the end of the primary season. Why? Because nobody wants to be seen on the losing end and lose the public image of being an authority on all things political. Why else would […]
Continue ReadingSt Luke’s Meridian: Hospital of Horrors
I must say that I was until now, blithely unaware that here in the Treasure Valley there was such a huge disparity between our two major hospitals, St. Alphonsus and St. Lukes. I recently had the opportunity to evaluate the hospital care of both. What did I find? Massive differences, and some very troubling problems. […]
Continue ReadingA question of service: A look at Military service and citizenship
A question was raised to me recently that I have heard before often enough and it deserves a little time and attention to explore a few of its twists and turns: Should we force all of our young to serve in the military? Other countries do it, and some think that doing this would cause […]
Continue ReadingYogurt: A weighty subject
I recently visited a new Yogurt shop here in Eagle that sells frozen yogurt self-serve by the ounce. Now let that sink in a moment and consider the pro’s and cons of this arrangement: While you ponder, let me walk you through my own recent visit. The selection of flavors and toppings is quite generous, […]
Continue ReadingOccupy [your city name here] Powerful movement for change, or pointless whistling in the wind?
Perhaps at some point when they (the Occupy Movement) begin to make actual sense and can articulate something other than “Rich people, bad. Give me their money!” Someone might take notice for some reason other than to fill a slow news day. So far, all I’ve seen during countless interviews is malcontents that have no […]
Continue ReadingUnpatriotic youth today? Really? In Idaho?
My letter to the Mayor of Eagle, Idaho: Dear Mr. Mayor, I am sincerely disturbed to learn that not a single day after being elected as the Mayor of the City of Eagle, you have already expressed publicly your ignorance of the community whom you serve. I am deeply saddened that you publicly regard […]
Continue ReadingThe wolf at your door. Is it your own employer?
A look at today’s job market from the inside: You’ve worked for one company for more than ten years and even in hard times it seems to continue growing. The pay is good; extremely good, until one day your email stops working. You call in to troubleshoot and find your account has been turned off and […]
Continue ReadingAn Iphone for an eye…
Yes, there are indeed far too many smart phones running amok these days, and I really do hate to be jumping up onto the Apple bandwagon (it’s a cart, really), but I have to say that Apple’s iPhone 4 is by far the best product out at the moment. I’ve tried a few of the […]
Continue ReadingHome Warranty: A good deal, or ripoff?
Buy a home and you’re likely to be offered the safety of a home warranty to make you feel better about taking a chance on buying someone’s existing house. The chances are also good though, that the whole thing is worth less than you expect and becomes far more troublesome than simply having the work […]
Continue ReadingObama’s new Jobs Act. Will it work?
Someone asked today if I thought Obama’s Jobs Act would work. That got me to thinking… As I listened to his speech the other day I was impressed by how many things he said that sounded truly amazing. I thought to myself; “Has he finally found that bold new direction that will turn this around?” […]
Continue ReadingIs small business’s approach to healthcare turning into a full retreat?
I follow many discussions in LinkedIn, and one popped up the other day that really got me to thinking. With the economy taking top billing in the news every day and jobs nearly impossible to come by, How are businesses supposed to plan for the future? What started this whole topic was this posted article […]
Continue ReadingLong term care Insurance: For whom doth the bell toll?
I was approached one day by a huckster for long term care insurance and they dutifully pulled out their prize turkey for all to view: “A common misconception about long-term care is that it is just for the elderly. However, anyone of any age or occupation may need long-term care at any time and for […]
Continue ReadingWorkforce motivation: Where’s the sweet spot?
A workers view: In my experience, there are three things that provide the most motivation for an employee to produce at a higher level. Two of these things can be provided by the employer, but one of them is something that the employee must already possess: Trust: If they trust their coworkers and management to […]
Continue ReadingToday’s newest star employees: Yesterday’s managers?
In today’s fractured job market, a new reality just might become more and more commonplace: Former managers taking entry level jobs, and liking it. It could be that Web designer sitting next to you at work is an MIT Neuroscience graduate, or that lineman climbing the power pole in front of your house; fixing your […]
Continue ReadingThe ethics of workforce reductions
At what point does your conscience take over? When do you reign in that desperate grab for cash before you alienate the very employees who keep your business running?
Continue ReadingOne plywood shelter doth not a home make.
A dear friend of mine is in a rough spot. He’s living in a plywood box with no running water and one outlet with just enough power to charge his shaver. He has access to food, but water sometime runs out to the point of being life-threatening. Most nights he gets little more than a […]
Continue ReadingNet Neutrility: Why go there?
Why get the government involved? Why legislate the Internet with Net Neutrality? The impetus here was provided by a bit of tampering with the market by the ISP’s in order to undercut those like Vonage and Netflix (among others), who have been in that market all along because more people are consuming their services, causing […]
Continue Reading1984 Olympics Reagan Assassination attempt
He came home all agitated and upset, but at the same time excited. All of us were watching the Olympics on TV, but he stepped in front of the set and turned it off. “I have something really amazing to tell you. I just watched someone try to assassinate the President!”
Continue ReadingWho really supports a repeal of the 17th amendment?
I recently got into a discussion on this topic in the LinkedIn forums with Jeff Stucker.Here’s the text of our discussion: My initial question: Are we truly all that fired-anxious to abdicate voter control over senatorial appointments? Really? Contrary to the latest Tea Party talking points, repealing the 17th amendment actually does nothing to […]
Continue ReadingThe case against tape
Tapes have major disadvantages that disks no longer do. With current disk systems, you have capabilities that tape just can’t match. Still hanging on to that 30% (Verified by 5 or 6 different failure rate studies) failure rate out-of-the box for your tapes? Disks have only a 3-5% failure rate for the first 3 years […]
Continue ReadingOne Nation under God
One Nation Under God Each morning I wake up and go through the morning routines of feeding the horses, getting the girls ready for the day and heading off to work. It’s the mundane everyday tasks like these that nearly everyone goes through each morning, but how many of us stop to really think about […]
Continue ReadingMerry Christmas: The breath drawn in the aftermath
I wish to all of you, a merry Christmas, from our family to yours, as well as the following thoughts: Merry Christmas: The breath drawn in the aftermath The holiday draws to a close as the presents have been given and received, prayers and good wishes spread across the land. Left basking in […]
Continue ReadingHealthcare reform act: Costing you much?
A few months ago I posed this question: New laws just put in place by the healthcare reform act are going to be costing companies significantly more than they have been used to. AT&T, for example, just took a Multibillion dollar hit to it’s bottom line due to these changes. 3COM followed with million charge […]
Continue ReadingFrom the archives: Shelter Skelter
Shelter-Skelter A true story of death, deceit and betrayal of the public trust at the Boise Humane Society. Greetings: Fostering animals for the Boise Humane Society is at best, a dodgy enterprise; take a litter of kittens home with you and they promise total care and support, but bring them in for minor care, […]
Continue ReadingFrom the Archives: To hell in a handbasket
Published 11-01-1997 in “The Why!? Paper.” To hell in a Handbasket. Is that where the world is really going? We hear an awful lot about how today’s society is falling apart around us; rebellions in Africa, mutual genocide in Bosnia, car bombs exploding in England, and retaliations in Ireland. The list is endless. Even in […]
Continue ReadingFrom the Archives: Legalizing Prostitution?
Published Sept. 01, 1997 in “the WHY!? Paper” Should prostitution be legalized? Hmm. Let us ponder this a bit. But first let us take a look at a few of the players. It seems apparent to me (though not to some), that our society’s moral integrity has been under assault as of late by those […]
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