Government

More importantly, how many people did you share this with?

[][1]Sick, Poor? No thanks. You already know where I’m going— it’s in the title after all. At this time, I do not support the health care bill. Now before I get into the many reasons why I do not support this legislation, let me spell out the following disclaimers. I am a small business owner. I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I proudly check the NPA (no party affiliation), when I register to vote for one simple reason— I vote along my ideals and conscious; not along some party mantra. As a general rule, I feel that the government continually mismanages money and our current news media fails to account the statements of government officials to any fact check or truth test. With that introduction out of the way, I can now describe why I believe our government failed us— as we should expect it to. After all, the Founding Fathers did not want us to depend on our government; and for good reason. ...

[][1]Tell me about you. On a recent trip to Target, I decided to add some compressed air to my cart. Working in electronics, I find compressed air to be almost a necessity. The servers, computers, switches, and other equipment I use routinely need a good “spritz” of compressed air to keep the dust from accumulating. But I digress. When I went to check out, my cashier advised that I needed to scan my ID to purchase the compressed air. Not just show her my ID, but rather have my driver’s license scanned into their register. This of course allows Target to scan, read, and store my personally identifiable information. Although just someone’s full name fulfills the criteria of personally identifiable information, a Driver’s License barcode and/or magnetic stripe contains much more. By scanning the driver’s license, Target retains my full name, date of birth, address, gender, race, driver’s license number, license information (restrictions, endorsements), organ donation, and issue date. First, let’s look at the obvious… ...

I thought this was a very neat idea and well done.

Mint.com’s blog had a pretty interesting graphic posted on Charitable givings… ...

The best way to keep our skies safe. So, let’s pretend you’re with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA, created shortly after 9/11, provides security for the nation’s transportation systems. Employing approximately 50,000 people, the TSA “ensures your travels – by plane, train, automobile or ferry – are safe and secure.” After the recent “incident” (this is what the TSA calls it) where an airline passenger successfully brought an explosive device onto an American bound plane, the TSA initiated new travel directives. Apparently, one of these directives includes the seizing of computers owned by bloggers who discuss the new directives. ...

Did you know that the FTC believes they should police bloggers? It’s true… and well, long story short… here’s my FTC disclosure.

The great thing about government? No accountability for failure. [][1]Things that make you go hmmmmm

In the late 1800’s, after an explosion of immigration to the United States, a new metaphor started circulating — The Meting Pot. Referring to the fusion of different cultures, nationalities, backgrounds, and ethnicities, “The Melting Pot” became part of American culture in the early 1900’s. Although the metaphor intends to help create a national identity, many today see the phrase as antiquated and insulting. People want to keep their heritage, culture, traditions, and not be formed into a new being. In the late 1800’s, after an explosion of immigration to the United States, a new metaphor started circulating — The Meting Pot. Referring to the fusion of different cultures, nationalities, backgrounds, and ethnicities, “The Melting Pot” became part of American culture in the early 1900’s. Although the metaphor intends to help create a national identity, many today see the phrase as antiquated and insulting. People want to keep their heritage, culture, traditions, and not be formed into a new being. Personally, I like to look at the metaphor differently. I like to believe that the Melting Pot allows you to retain your uniqueness, but at the same time, not segregate you from the plate. Yes, the plate in this “Fred” metaphor is America. With this extremely long winded introduction, even more so than usual, I want to talk about exclusion, labeling, classification, and Fox News. Wait, Fox News?...

[][1]Fourth Amendment? Buh Bye I absolutely hate the sacrifice of freedom in the name of security. Benjamin Franklin once said, “Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” I believe in those words and wish we would keep those in mind whenever, without probable cause or due process, the TSA (the government) searches your belongings — like mine were this past week (both checked and carry on). I do not like it on a plane. I do not like it on a train. I do not like it on a boat. I do not like it with a goat. I do not like being searched Uncle Sam I Am. Opening my checked bag and finding this neither made me feel safe nor secure. ...