The Truth About Everything

Mortgage Meltdown - Top Ten Reason Housing Bubble Burst

2012-01-28T16:09:00.000-08:00

President Obama has formed the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group to get to the bottom of the mortgage meltdown and to determine if there were laws broken or fraudulent behavior that until now has not been charged. There can be little doubt that there was plenty of fraud and undoubtedly laws were broken during the wild upswing in the housing market bubble, and then again as the CYA took place at every level during the housing bust. While it may be appropriate for the federal government to jump in years later to try and unravel the mess, it would really seem to be election year pandering more than any real desire to get the bad guys.

It might be more interesting to try and take an honest look at what went wrong on every level. Lets start with things that have been well reported and about which there is probably widespread agreement.

Almost all leadership agreed that home ownership was a good thing, and that many families were being left out of the benefits due to race, redlining, and other inappropriate activities. The "good guys" on both sides of the aisle determined that the answer would be legislation and pressure that would cause banks and mortgage lenders to be more accommodating and "fair" to those who had been left out. This resulted in banks beginning to make loans that they felt were risky.
As lending standards dropped, the potential for fraud by borrowers and lenders became rampant. People over reported income and under reported expenses, appraisers ginned up prices, and much of this was either encouraged or ignored by lenders for two reasons. The agents and the lenders didn't much skin in the game, and the potential immediate financial reward was huge compared to the potential loss.
Consumers rushed in to buy, to buy up, or to add on in typical goal rush fashion. Home became the way to wealth. This is no surprise. It happens with stock, commodities, or any other item in limited supply when the public perceives an opportunity to make gains with low risk.
Financial entities discovered a new way to generate the needed capital to underwrite all this borrowing. The new bundling of mortgages into various kinds of instruments was untested, and largely unregulated. This was an invitation to disaster.
Leadership at Fannie and Freddy had no benefit to reign any of this in, and plenty of reward for helping it to accelerate. They and other public and private agencies charged with properly evaluating the true value of these new instruments, did a horrible, and possibly fraudulent, job of estimating these values.
Most elected officials had no benefit from sounding alarms, creating restraints, or investigating agencies or banks. They were making money on their own investments as were their constituents. They would risk actually bursting the bubble by talking it down. That would surely not have been a great way to get reelected.

What were the elements that don't get talked about at all or that are largely under reported:

Massive speculation by investors and everyday folks. As in any bubble, the longer it goes the less sophisticated the crowd that tries to take advantage. So, in this case you had millions of homes being flipped by folks who were in way over their head. They were joined by others who refinanced to add on to their investment vehicle to enhance its value for a future sale.
Huge increase in "household formation." This was due to reduced household size as kids moved out or roommates went solo. But it was also due to the unprecedented number of both legal and illegal immigrants. This increase in household formation resulted in high rents that made the purchase decision a marginally better alternative.
The speculation, price increases, rent increases, family formations all led builders to overbuild.
Unwinding this mess was unprecedented. When the stock market or gold or oil or silver or a currency unwind after a bubble, you generally have a sector or two that are effected. In this case the unwinding would take five years and counting and touch every part of the market world wide.

The banks, government agencies, and elected officials overreacted by making mortgages almost impossible to get. The speculators accelerated the downward push on prices as they bailed or just left homes abandoned. As prices collapsed and building came to an abrupt halt, the economy tanked, leaving new homeowners stranded with high mortgage payments and reduced income. Household formations fell off a cliff as migration stopped, kids moved back in with parents, and roommates became fashionable again.

The unwinding does what unwindings do. It fed on itself. The more prices went down in value the less the underlying financial instruments were worth, and the institutions holding them were now the ones that were underwater on their holdings. Now it didn't matter whether lenders wanted to lend, they had no ability to lend.

So. Where do I go wrong or what did I miss?

A Good Divorce Attorney - Oxymoron or Possible?

2010-04-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

At one time in my life I wanted to be one. A divorce attorney doing good. My idea was to be both a marriage and family therapist and a lawyer. Then I could meet with a couple knowing that however things worked out, I would still get paid. My motives were more pure than that. The theory was that I would not be focused on the money, since I would get paid no matter what.

A few decades later, I now see that attorneys in general can't allow themselves to take an impartial look at issues. They are an advocate. So my new Encino Divorce Attorney (almost as fancy as Beverly Hills), is working my side of this divorce that I don't even want. I begin to see how the attorneys must work every angle to make sure they are fully representing the client. It is up to the client to say "no" if the approach is going to create unwanted long term ramifications.

I'm sure you can understand that I can't say much here, but I will say "stay married." No matter how bad you have heard that this process is for everyone involved, it is far worse than that.

The Consequences of Divorce on Our Children

2010-03-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

How utterly selfish is this process we as a society have allowed to flourish. How ironic that in an age when parents are so overprotective of their children that they allow such destruction of their emotional well being just to satisfy their own lusts and immaturity.

My parents enjoyed 61 years of marriage ending with my father's passing a year ago. I have no ability to know either of their hearts, but as far as I know, their was never any serious issue of the marriage vows being inviolate. However, there was a time when my siblings and I were worried that there was such a danger. And we were very, very anxious about the circumstances.

Kids need the security of knowing that their parents are BOTH going to be there for them. When there is even an unsubstantiated fear about that security being interrupted, it play havoc on their emotions. Merely seeing a divorce play out in the family of a family member or friend is all that is needed to create those doubts. But statements or actions within the home can drive the insecurity to levels that create emotional trauma. That trauma can lead to the child taking actions to relieve the stress or lower the pain.

When there is an actual leaving by one parent, then the potential for consequences is even greater. There are the obvious questions about fault. "What did I do wrong that caused Mommy to leave?" There are issues of being left by the other parent. And, of course all the issues around any loss such as anger, mourning, avoidance of future pain, and so on.

So in a time when we are putting helmets on our kids for skateboarding, carefully selecting the best schools, worried about the best methods of parenting, and involved in endless discussions about this food or that, this video game or that movie, how is it that we individually or as a society are so glib about divorce.

Prayer Time Interupted - A Death is Imminent

2010-03-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

I suppose my prayers this morning are directed at God and heard by God. But my goal has been to have a balanced prayer life. I don't want to spend all or almost all of my hour with God dwelling on the imminent death of my family.

In this case, it isn't a doctor giving the death sentence. The courts say that our family will end in 60 days or less. Oh, there could be minor changes in that, but the reality is only a miracle can save my family.

So, as I try to pray about others and their prayer needs and requests; as I try to pray about my childrens' futures; as I try to pray for my own needs and thank God for his provision; as I try to pray for strength and His comfort almost every prayer is tangent to the coming death. So I am distracted back repeatedly to wondering what life saving approach can be tried. Is there a cure? What will be the consequences for individual members of the family? What should I be doing to provide comfort and leadership to each of them?

The impact of a death of a loved one is pretty significant in the lives of those closest to them. But the death of a family has a much greater and longer term impact. Why has our society allowed this scourge to continue? Some in our culture are all worried about global warming, folks without insurance, or whether animals should have lawyers. Most of these who care so much about these questions have been impacted far more by a divorce in their family than they will ever be impacted by even crime or war. When will Western Culture wake up and realize that while they fret about hangnails, the heart is failing.

I suppose with the death so close and so certain, it shouldn't be surprising that today's prayer time is consumed by it. I pray that I can leave it at the alter today, so that tomorrow's prayer time can be more balanced.

Bible - The Books of the Major Recommendations

2010-03-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

Our Bible study class realized as we read through the books of the "law," that God didn't really suggest he was going to create problems for man if he failed to act in accordance with the law, but rather that there were natural consequences of sin. Do the right things and life will go well for you. Do the wrong things and you will suffer.

And yet, as every Christian knows, we see those who are sinning apparently doing well, and those who are living fairly righteously suffering consequences. While I'm certainly not the first to think of this, I had a new take on the issue during my prayer time.

For the person living outside of God's commands and admonitions, even on their best day they are waiting for the other shoe to drop. They live in fear, or at least stress over, the likelihood that they will get caught by those who are losing because of their gain, that the gravy train will run out, and they will be reduced to living like the rabble they so judge, or that illness or other consequences (STD's, stress related illnesses, etc.) will create discomfort or even death.

On the other hand, those of us who humble ourselves and attempt to live righteously will, as Paul points out, prosper even in our loss. We will be hopeful when we suffer, see potential good or gain in every loss, not be subject to stress due to anxiousness over our unexposed sins, and worry less about how others may be angry or unhappy with us.

Thus, we inherit the kingdom of God through our being meek now, not later. We who may be last come in first now, not later. Our riches lie in our good health ... healthy outlook ... even when our physical or fiscal health is not so good.

Death, Heaven, and Hell

2010-03-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

Turned 62 earlier this week. Kind of hard not to think, from time-to-time, about death. I'd like to ask my Mom (84 in 6 weeks) what she's thinking about death, or maybe some of the older folks in my church. But I feel uncomfortable bringing the subject up. Why is that? As far as I can tell, nobody ever talks about death.

We don't talk very much about heaven. Even in the church. I suspect that's because we have so many goodies here on earth that the prospect of heaven no longer offers much tangible benefit. Sure, no more tears. Sure, we get to meet Jesus. But in an age of plenty and toys that are so cool we couldn't have imagined them even ten years ago, one needs a very good imagination to think of how things will be even more exciting in heaven.

I actually think about heaven. I read Randy Alcorn's book on Heaven, and I've read numerous other books and parts of books on the subject. I'm totally confident that heaven is going to be amazing in every possible way, and beyond anything we could imagine in our wildest dreams. But, I don't wake up heavenly minded.

A close friend at church lost her Dad last week. She does not have the assurance that he knew Jesus. In fact, if he did, it would have been a foxhole confession in the last week of his life. But what about hell. If we don't talk or think about death or heaven very much, we sure don't talk about hell. No more pastors talking about hell and damnation. Can't go there. Too tough. People might leave. Hmmm.

Divorce and the Bible - Excommunication

2010-03-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

How amazing God is. Today is 60 days away from the theoretical final date of my divorce from my wife. I oppose this with every fiber in my body, but in today's world it only takes one. She is continuing relentlessly towards that outcome.

Just last week, I switched from listening almost exclusively to Conservative talk on the radio to listening to Christian talk. Sermons and such. I'm not a big fan of Frank Pastori, but that is the choice during rush hour. He had the pastor of a major church on today, of all days, talking about a woman in his church who was leaving her husband without Biblical grounds. They had tried every thing they could think of to lovingly persuade her to change her direction.

But she would have none of it. They decided as a church body to excommunicate her. Well they have come under all kinds of fire for that. But why? We excommunicate gays who act out their desires. We excommunicate others who sin. He pointed to the scripture in Matthew that says "turn the person over to the devil." He pointed out that this passage is not mean spirited but hopeful. Hopeful that the sinner will come to the end of themselves and repent.

After Bible study, I turned on one of my favorites, Chuck Swindol. What is he preaching on. The sanctity of marriage, and how we as a church are treating divorce as no big deal. He admonished the church to wake up and realize that divorce is a destructive act that totally flies in the face of God's plan. He was quick to allow for divorce where there is adultery, abuse, or abandonment. But other than that, the church needs to get back on the side of righteousness.

If you are reading this prior to May 17, 2010, pray that the mother of my 4 children and 6.5 grandchildren will get right with Jesus, and restore her family.

Disappointment with God and Others

2010-03-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

And I was doing so well. But for the past two days I've been going back and forth with someone in my life who is far from God, self destructive, and hurting me and my family. It made it so much harder this morning to get into real intimacy in my prayer time. Distracted.

Does that happen to you?

The Lord's Prayer - Thy Will Be Done - Intercession

2010-03-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

In a series of sermons on the Lord's prayer, Craig Henson, the pastor of Venice Church where I am a member, was discussing the phrase "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." I had always seen this particular request of God as just that. Please God, would you move the pieces of the chess board around so that people will start doing things on earth as it is in heaven. Or by including the first few words of the verse "Thy Kingdom come," I thought it might be a request of the Lord that her hurry up with the bring about of His end time plan where things on earth will be like heaven.

I make no claim to being very good at interpreting scripture. I am thrilled to have been gifted with a copy of J Vernon McGee's "Thru the Bible" several years ago (Thank you Christian), that is my guide to understanding context and intention. But I do have my own personal interpretation of this verse.

Until Your Kingdom comes I pray that my actions would be within Your will so that I might provide evidence of heaven here on earth, and thereby also experience some of what heaven will provide. This interpretation results in a few important results.

First, it put the responsibility squarely in my lap. Jesus was doing the will of His Father. I am to do the will of my Father. I have no responsibility for anyone else doing so, nor do I have an control over whether anyone else follows this directive. To the extent that I do the will of God, it undoubtedly will effect how others act, but my responsibility begins and ends with my own decisions and actions.

Second, I have no control over others anyway. The only hope I have in helping others to do the will of God here on earth is by example, by prayerful intercession, and by sharing the Word with others.

The Truth About the Bible - How Can Anyone Doubt?

2010-03-12T07:56:00.000-08:00

Out of a one small population of nomadic people has grown three religions that represent over three billion followers. By some amazing coincidence these three groups continue in the 21st Century after the birth of Christ to conform to Biblical descriptions of them laid down between 2000 and 7000 years ago.

The Jews, probably most remarkably, like no other group on earth, maintain their identity as a "nation" even though they are scattered over and over again throughout history. They constantly strive to come back to the nation of Israel just as the prophets said they would. This very small population group has been more reviled and despised than any other group even until today. They have been destroyed for no other reason but their identity as Jews over and over throughout history, even until today. And yet they persist. They neither proselytize nor subjugate anyone into their faith.

The Muslims, which according to the Bible, grew out of the same root as the Jews, but were described by the Bible as being wrong headed, have shown themselves, even until today, to be a religion which grows by fear and subjugation.

The Christians, growing out of the Jewish root, and following the Messiah, Jesus, have almost without exception shown themselves to be an unselfish, forgiving, and peace loving group. Their growth has come by preaching and conversion through the free will of the individual to choose Christ.

All of this is written and described and has come to pass in a way precisely laid out in the Bible. The historic elements of the Bible are specific as to names, places, prophesies, and details of both daily life and civilizations. The potential for non-believing or even believing scholars to find gaping holes in the Biblical account abound due to all of this detail, and yet no such gaping holes are found. If there could be a major showing of a huge error, hundreds of millions would fall away from the faith.

How can their be any serious doubt that the Bible is divinely inspired? If it is the Word of God, how can those who believe it so easily disregard it. This is the great mystery.

Day -4 - Returning This Blog to Its Original Intent

2010-03-09T18:12:00.000-08:00

You can actually watch my life become more secular if you check out the journey of this blog. Started 5 years ago, it was true to its intent. The last couple of years, the few postings were much more about me making a living. If I'm going to change my discipline, then this should be a place of pure intent.

Day - 5 - Christian Discipline: Appreciating the Father in Heaven

2010-03-08T07:09:00.000-08:00

Getting up early is not an issue. I generally wake up before six, and can probably back that down to 5:30 without any difficulty. I stretched my back, but I'm not ready to work out yet. I am ready to pray.

When I was in the disciplined mode the last time, I found that using the Lord's prayer as an outline for my time with the Lord was a huge help. At our church, we are currently studying this very thing. The teaching that had inspired this approach last time was Could You Not Tarry One Hour?: Learning the Joy of Praying by Larry Lea. I should probably reread this classic.

What have I learned already on this first morning of getting up out of bed and going to a prayer place to study and pray? That I am a sinner. My name should be "selfish."

Like every human being, I am a child of a parent. Like most, I am a parent to a child. As I contemplated these roles this morning I found that I am a better parent than I am a child. Sacrificial, unconditional love comes pretty naturally with regard to your kids. They are helpless, needy, and you can clearly know that you are responsible for their life. For most parents I suspect there is plenty of selflessness in their parenting. One thought I had as I prayed: how much of our willingness to sacrifice for our kids is based on the fact that we can play god in their lives.

But the more telling time for me this morning was my recognition that after my parents sacrificed so much for me, shouldn't I be willing, even anxious to return to favor. Shouldn't our thankfulness for their huge contribution to who we are result in an outpouring of devotion to them, rather than a begrudging sense of duty to call or visit from time-to-time.

Of course we are busy. Hugely busy raising our own kids, working for a living. We have other responsibilities to spouses, friends, siblings, brothers and sisters in Christ, hobbies, and God. Taking an hour a week for Mom and even less for Dad is about all that we can honestly spare. Let's see. 50 hours a year for the 30 years that you and they are both adults. 1500 hours. They spent that in the first year of your life.

Maybe an hour a week is enough. Or two or three. I think the real issue is the begrudging or duty part. And that's where we get to the God parallel. Is my hourly time of devotion with my heavenly Daddy going to be a time of duty offered up as a begrudging time when I'd rather be watching TV? Or getting more sleep in the morning so I can stay up for TV later tonight?

If we believe that God is who He says He is, how can we not want to spend half the day with Him or even more. The problem should be tearing ourselves away from our time with Him, not finding the time to spend.

Day - 6 - My Daily Chrisitan Discipline Plan

2010-03-07T14:45:00.000-08:00

If you checked out my insanity blog just below (and if you didn't you should), I am going the almost full immersion route to try and get myself back on track. So the title above is correct. I haven't started yet. Today is day minus 6. I am starting on Friday, March 12. My birthday is the 16th, which might have had some sense to it. I picked Friday because two of my favorite TV shows end their season this week.

I am winding up (down) toward that day. More time in prayer this morning. Only reading Christian literature. Listening to classic music on the radio, not news.

Stay tuned if you like. I'll try to remember to post daily.

Humans Are Stupid, Dumb, Even Insane - Repeat Their Mistakes

2010-03-07T14:24:00.000-08:00

Definition of Insanity - Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Back pain, I'm happy to report, is rarely an issue for me. Chronic back pain even less so. But a few years ago I did tweak my back in such a way that no amount of rest, heat, vibration, or Motrin seemed to get me any closer to relief. Then one day I was putting away Diet Pepsi cans on the shelf of my fridge, and I decided not to baby my back. Instead, I fully stretched my back with each few cans that I lowered to the bottom shelf. WaLa! The next day my back felt great.

Fast forward a couple of years. The last three weeks (after installing a water heater), my back was not responding to heat, vibration, rest . . . you get the point. And I have been . . . uhh, babying it. Has anyone else had a similar experience with their physical issues?

So that those who occasionally stumble across this blog become fully aware of my own insanity, here is a much sadder tale. In the early '90's I made a decision to seek the face of God through daily devotion and discipline. I began by immersing myself in the things of God, which by extension, meant divorcing myself from the things of the world. I stopped listening to news, reading secular magazines or books, and even turned off the TV.

The results couldn't have been better. For over ten years my experience with the Lord was nothing short of amazing. My prayer time was not limited to the hour in the morning, but was rather a constant connection during the day. My ministries soared as I participated in Men's ministry through Promise Keepers, taught adults, sang on the praise team, wrote a book on teen abstinence, did radio and appeared on the Geraldo show.

Amazingly all of these things were easily accomplished while raising four kids and running a medium sized manufacturing business. Looking back, it seems impossible. But I have witnesses. : )

One would think that a life that blessed would keep even the dumbest guy on track. One would be wrong. Having nothing to do with my work for Jesus, the business began to have troubles in the early '90's. Many decisions that I made to keep the company from folding were not Godly at all. But even the desperate and inappropriate decisions were not enough to save the business, and it was sold at fire sale in 2007.

While conducting myself in a way I knew was not Biblical, I pulled back from ministry. How could I minister to others while behaving in a way I would never have counseled them to do. I was pretty sure that God didn't want to help me out or maybe even have much to do with me. So my prayer time evaporated. (Of course, I really just didn't want to hear Him tell me to STOP sinning.)

Well, it's now over two years since I sold the business. I'm not sinning, but my spiritual life reaches about as far as the ceiling (I know. It isn't original, but it is exactly how it feels.) But, reaching back to the parallel story about my aching back. How smart would I have to be to see that I just need to stretch my spiritual muscles and begin to exercise again.

Are you experiencing anything like this? Have you fallen into a rut that has a clear answer? One that has even worked for you before? But you are plan insane, like me? I'd love to hear your story.

YouTube - Check Out This Amazing Video (and I didn't create it.)

2010-02-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

In the past couple of years I have produced over 200 videos, some of them very successful engines of business for my marketing consulting company and for my clients. However, I give my first Randy award for excellence in the use of YouTube to promote a product to BestBuyNeonSigns.com.

You have to love this video if you have ever marketed a product.

Google Search Loves YouTube--YouTube and Business Internet Marketing

2010-02-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

I have just started to use another major internet marketing tool, article directories aka article repositories. I posted my first article on the king of all such sites ezinearticles.com the other day, and it has already been accepted for publication. Now, that sounds nice. However, on going back and reading some of the other articles in the same genre, they take almost anything.

I spent a ton of time reading all of their requirement about punctuation: speling, and good righting. Well, I suppose I learned a few things, but ......

In fact, if the few articles I read on a subject I am pretty successful in were any indication, article directories may be the reason why the internet has a reputation for misinformation as much as information.

Anyway, if you have any interest in how to use YouTube videos to promote your small business, go to the link and read the first of four articles I am writing on the subject.

Mortgage Broker in Los Angeles Uses Randy Kirk & Associates for New Website

2009-11-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

Bill Rayman is an amazing home loan mortgage consultant working under the auspices of Mortgage Capital Partner, a Los Angeles based Mortgage Broker. Bill hired Randy Kirk and Associates to help him produce a state-of-the-art website with the goal of providing a truly helpful site to consumers interested in securing a mortgage. The website was launched today and can be viewed at http://www.mortgagehelplosangeles.com.

We have provided visitors to the site with a vast amount of information useful to first time home buyers, those interested in refinancing for cash out, lower interest rates, shorter terms, or lowered payment, and for those who want to purchase income or commercial property.

There are sections on FHA financing, calculators to determine payments, affordability, or compare renting with buying. Bill is currently at the leading edge of a new approach called short-pay refinancing. You can check out his video on the subject at the website.

Google Voice Has Internet Marketing Implications, But Great for Home Use Also

2009-09-20T22:52:00.000-07:00

Google Voice will be almost as big as Google Mail and Google Maps. They have the potential to own this space. You can now have free phone lines with all kinds of cool features just like you now have free email with all kinds of cool features. I have created a new blog just to cover Google Voice. It is that big of a deal. Please visit the blog to learn how you can Cut Your Cell Phone Bill in HALF!

For those who have any kind of small business, the uses for Google Voice are endless. Google Voice will be an internet marketing tool of almost limitless proportions.

Google Maps Local Business Center is Do or Die Site for Many Local Small Businesses

2009-08-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

Page1Listings.com has created a new group of blogs to help small businesses get better positioning on Google searches for key words important to them. The most critical of these blogs is for Google Maps Local Business Center. You are no doubt familiar with the little map that pops up when you go searching for a local business. For instance if you were to search for auto insurance Marina Del Rey, you would find what we call a "single." The map appears with just a single company listed. (This happens to be our client, Jaffe Insurance.)

Or you might search for Bike Shop Norwalk, and you would see the map with 10 shops listed to the right. (Pat's 605 Cyclery is ours, nicely situated at the top of the listings.)

For many companies, failure to be listed on Google Maps Local Business Center is the kiss of death. For some, a listing isn't enough. They need to be number 1 on the listing or business dries up.

Google Maps Local Business Center is called a "Local Search Engine" or LSE. It is only one of some 72 such LSE's. We have created a help site for Google Maps, one for Yelp.com, one for MerchantCircle.com, and one for HotFrog.com. These are the 4 most important at this time, and seem to be positioned to continue to out muscle the others such as CitySearch, InsiderPages, and even YellowPages.com.

Google Maps Local Business Center, Bing, Caffeine, Hot Frog - Effecting Your Business NOW!

2009-08-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

Change. The word is on everyone’s lips. It was the central theme of the just past political season. It is currently the underpinning of legislation being pressed on Health Care and Energy policies. Alvin Toffler in his talk of ever accelerating waves of change foresaw a time when change would be so rapid that the vast majority of the population would give up trying to keep up. Has the internet brought us to that place? For the local small business owner, the answer would
seem to be a resounding yes.

Marketing a small business in 2009 is complex beyond understanding, or at least the average small business owner thinks so. Internet marketing is now the primary driver of traffic to local businesses who supply goods and services to consumers (B2C) and to other local companies (B2B). Strategies for being visible on the internet change so fast that even many experts have difficulty keeping up.

In just the last three weeks, we have had the merger of two major internet forces. The resulting new search engine, Bing, raises new questions about how to stay relevant. Not surprisingly Google has responded with Caffeine, a faster, more sophisticated engine. Google
Maps Loca l Business Center, Yelp, YellowPages.com, CitySearch, MerchantCircle, and over 65 other national Local Search Engines (LSE's) duke it out for their share of search for products and services at the local level. HotFrog, a more recent launch, goes from obscurity to solid contender in just weeks, after Merchant Circle did the same within months.

Randy Kirk, CEO of Page1Listings.com spelled out the current situation: "For the local bakery, restaurant, lawyer, or general contractor, the ability to be seen on page 1 of a Google Search has
dropped exponentially in the last 24 months. Where a well designed website with decent Search Engine Optimization (SEO) may have provided that visibility two years ago, the LSE's now control most of the top 10 - 20 positions on most searches, not specific business websites."

Page1Listings.com President, Ollie Danner laments: "Unfortunately, the LSE's content is pretty awful across the board. When you go on even the best of them, a search for Italian Restaurant in Las Vegas will commonly include many, many listings that have nothing to do with
Italian Restaurants. Moreover the consumer may or may not realize that reviews on these sites may be "flames" (bad reviews) created by competitors. We realized this need for better results for local businesses and created local search engines directories such as
www.GoToKern.com and have plans to roll out close to 100 such GoTo sites in the coming months."

What can the local business owner do? Kirk, author of "Running a 21st Century Small Business" answers: "For many, the answer has been to move to other methods of advertising and promotion that are throwbacks. There is a lot more networking taking place. This is not
just the kind found on Facebook or LinkedIn, but real, face-to-face interaction with others in groups like LeTip or BNI. Where 20 years ago the major local business group might have been Rotary or the Chamber, today businesses are being far more explicit in what they hope to gain from membership in a business club. They want a business connection that will result in dollars in their pockets"

This new direction has spawned networking meetings that are similar to speed dating clubs. Twenty to 40 local owners will meet and spend five minutes with each of the other attendees seeing how they might be able to connect and do business together.

These ideas are useful and can produce business. But for many businesses, not being visible on the web is the kiss of death. So how can these small businesses possibly keep up with the change. Kirk points out, "there is a growing group of companies who specialize in visibility issues. We have created one such company that will use up to a dozen different methods to get our clients on page 1 of Google searches for key words that matter to them.

Danner adds: "We have used YouTube videos, PR releases, Flickr., Blogs, Craig's list, and many other methods. Of course there is still a need for an outstanding website, and for many businesses, we can get them excellent visibility with their website. We also concentrate on
those 72 Local Search Engines. We make sure that our clients are on all of them and that they're listings are optimized on those LSE's.

"While there are some other companies doing what we do, we believe that we are unique in that we employ a full-on marketing department to make sure we are creating the greatest potential for a return on the client's investment. Even with those resources being employed, our services are priced starting well under $1000."

But what about the changes? Won't there be another new LSE like HotFrog emerging next week or next month? Won't Bing and Google and other search engines be changing how they rate businesses almost monthly? Besides, the small businessman in this climate has to be constantly
changing, too. How will he be able to communicate his latest invention or idea or product to those 72 search engines.

Kirk acknowledges that it isn't easy: "We have to stay on top of all these changes every single day. The local owner does not have the luxury of doing that. So we offer them a service for about $100 a month that makes sure they stay up to date. We even call them from time-to-time to check on changes that they might not have called in to us. We insure that they will stay on page 1, and stay relevant."

So how do companies that need the kind of service you are offering find a quality provider? Kirk concludes: This is just one part of the change we are in. We don't know of anyone else that does what we do. We invite competition, because we can't possibly do this for 5,000,000 small businesses. We're even willing to create partnerships with others and teach them what we know. For now, we just try to handle all the business that is coming our way."

For more on Page1Listings.com visit their website or call 800-708-1748.

Change One Thing In Your Life At A Time

2009-07-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

This may be the most important self-help lesson I have ever learned. I suspect that if I had been paying attention to Zig Ziglar many years ago, I could have picked up on this idea a very long time ago. But earlier this year, several influencers converged with the same message over just a few weeks, and I was a 100% true believer convert. In fact I have been applying this new idea to my own life for the past few months with startling effects.

Let's start with giving credit where credit is due and using the actual words of the teachers who influenced me. It all started with my reading the hugely popular author Dave Ramsey and his book, The Total Money Makeover. You have likely heard the question: "How do you eat an elephant." The answer is one bite at a time. Dave Ramsey says it this way:

Find something you want to do and do that with vigor until it is complete; then and only then do you move to the next step. If you try to do everything at once, you will fail.

This is how I have attacked change my entire life. I need to increase sales to existing customers, improve collections, drive down costs, spend more time with my family, increase my ministry to others, and work on my next hobby . . . All at once. Dave Ramsey gave me the first hint that this was a futile approach.

Then while driving down the freeway listening to a CD series on Spiritual Formation by Dr. John Coe at Biola University, John described me perfectly. He said that those of us who are "self help" junkies will pick up a new self help book, read the first chapter and go, "WoW! There are some great ideas there that I should incorporate into my life." Then on to the next chapter. Soon, we've finished the book and then pick up the next one, eager to read more great ideas on how we could improve all these things in our lives.

To be perfectly honest, at least for me, some of those ideas filter in here and there. They are especially useful for telling others how they might change their lives!! But very, very little sticks, and in a few months it is all but forgotten.

John Coe said that the secret is pursuing one aspect of our, in this case, spiritual aspect of our lives that we wish to improve. Once that habit has been established we can move on to the next.

I honestly don't remember for sure where the next two admonitions came from. But they were dead on with the same advice. Soooooo . . . for once, I stopped. I listened. I did not go onto the next chapter in The Money Makeover Book. I decided to go 100% cash as instructed and to attempt to create a $1000 cash reserve. That was over four months ago. I have not used a credit card since. I am still working on the reserve. I have not turned the next page in the book.

Meanwhile, I was over at my daughter's house. My then two year-old grandson Grant checked me out thoroughly, and asked his Dad, "Does Poppy have a baby in his belly?" With the financial habit firmly in place it was now time to get something else firmed up. I had many things going against me. I'm in my 7th decade (61). I am a man of a very, very small frame. I hate exercise unless done with others in competitive sport. I work 60+ hours a week.

But you see, with the new plan, this was my focus. The rest of my life would continue to move along with its own special combination of bad and good habits. No other changes allowed until this one was successfully implemented.

I'm not going to publish the pictures, at least not yet, but Grant says he no longer worries that I'm adding to the population problem. My family members have noticed that there are actually cuts and bulges where there used to be flab and jiggly stuff. And this has happened in only 12 weeks.

With that element habitual and just requiring maintenance, it was on to phase three. In case you haven't noticed, we are in a recession. Being older than most reporters on the subject, I can tell you this is not the worst recession since the great depression. But it is the worst one since Carter's 21% interest rates and 17% inflation. And it is serious, and could get worse. In the middle of this recession I have started two new businesses. One is providing about 70% of what I need to pay my personal overhead. The other is just now starting up.

It is very easy to get distracted from a business, especially when the business is operated out of your home, and there are four other folks living in the house. To make it more interesting, all of them are teen or early 20 men who have a constant stream of similar aged male and female friends coming through at literally all hours of the day and night.

Phase three, begun just 6 days ago as of this writing, is to have a laserlike attention to business; to put in 12 hours a day 6+ days per week of solid prospecting and execution of client projects. This one thing at a time approach is still in the early stages of proving itself, but thus far it is very, very successful. I challenge others to try it and report back on your success.

Remember, you have to want the change more than you want the pain you are dealing with now. So my first pain was credit card debt. My second pain was two year-old honesty. My third pain is not being able to buy simple needs and wants. So if you have a pain in your life that can be excised, and you want it bad enough to concentrate for a few weeks or months to accomplish its eradication, go for it. Even send me an email that your going to do it, so I can keep your somewhat accountable if you like.

Publish Your Christian Novel or Non-Fiction Book with Best Self Publisher

2009-05-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Authors today are increasingly turning to self publishing as a solution to getting their books to market. With traditional publishers offering less and less and asking more and more of their authors, many are choosing self publishing in order to control their own destiny and to dramatically increase their profit. However, just as most folks who build an addition to their home don't act as a general contractor, authors who self publish are now discovering partnership publishers.

Companies like CSN Books Orange County provide comprehensive evaluation of an author's work at whatever stage the project has reached. CSN can then provide a full range of services including professional editing, proofing, writing, typesetting, cover design, publishing, printing, marketing and distribution of the book. Gary Kirk, president of CSN Books Orange County, explains how to self publish your Christian book in this video.

Nine Key Ingredients For Website Creation, Design, and Development

2009-03-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a business Yahoo Group in Los Angeles that I subscribe to got into a heated discussion of what a new website creation, design, and/or development should cost, including SEO, or search engine optimization. I decided to create a basic primer in order to explain why the cost will be $3000 or more for a serious site. Here's what I came up with:

Copy this list and put it in your website file for any future plans you have to create or update your website. If your website designer can't do these things, or has no proof of their ability to do them, you should either use a different designer or assemble a team to do the work.

Determine what the website is to be used for. Is it an online brochure? Do you expect people to take action (Call, email, sign up, come in, buy something?) Is it an information resource? Will clients continue to come to the site to "do work" after they become clients.
Set goals and objectives with regard to what the website is to achieve. Is it for placement on searches? What will be satisfactory?Is it to generate traffic? How many unique visitors per day? What bounce rate is acceptable? Is it for conversions? How many phone calls per day do you expect?
Keyword search. If you were a consumer of your goods or services, how would you search for you? Use keyword generators and evaluation programs to decide on keywords and phrases that are important to you to achieve desired results in #2 above. If you are a local business these key words would include local cities, neighborhoods, villages, and zip codes.
What is your message? What are your important brands/models, products, services. How can you create a compelling headline that will establish a need that you can then fill in the body paragraphs of your first page?
What is the competition doing? Learn from competition in your area and across the country with a review of best practices on other websites that are in your business.
Google loves content. How can you create substantial textual content on your site so that Google sees you as an expert? How does that content get properly arranged on the site in order for Google to pay attention.
How will people reach you? Automated email? Online Chat? 800# (not always a good idea?) Send away for white paper? Sign up for newsletter?
What graphic impression do you want to make? If you are retail, for instance, the impression you leave on the website should be similar to the experience the customer will get in store.
How will you maximize the traffic to the site once built? Use of the keywords in appropriate places is just one piece of that pie. How do you get back links? Where do you list the site?

I may have left something out, here, but these are the basics. This is the underlying effort required for a professional website. That's why $3000 is a reasonable number, and $5000 is not that much. This is not much different than creating the interior design, store front and signage for a retail location. It isn't cheap to do it right. It can be very expensive to do it cheap.

I have just worked with a team to create the closest thing I have seen to a perfect website. You can see it at http://www.UnwindMobileSpa.com

If you would like me to help you do a Great Website, call 310-920-9649.

Computer Data Recovery Business in Tampa Fl Creates SEO Challange

2009-03-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

My YouTube Videos have been bringing me serious business in the last few weeks. One call was from a Computer Data Recovery Company who has an office in Tampa Fl. They also have 30 other offices where clients can bring their computer hard drives, tape drives, or other media that has crashed and burned. As a big fan of CSI, it is fun to have this account. CSI would potentially send a purposely destroyed drive to VA Data Recovery to try to extract data.

Anyway, it turns out this is a pretty competitive category, and my now client is having trouble getting the visibility he wants on Google Maps. So I decided to tackle just one city first. The goal was to get a high position on Google Maps for VA Data Recovery under data recovery in Tampa Fl. If my techniques panned out for data recovery in Tampa Fl., then I could try for computer data recovery Tampa Fl or data recovery New York, NY.

So far, I did a few tricks on Google Maps, added him to YellowPages.com and MerchantCircle.com. The good news is that he is moving up under data recovery Tampa, Fl in the organic, but he is still not on the front page in maps. Next, I'm going to put him on several other local search engines, add pictures and video to his Maps listing, and try to get some reviews going.

The Best Plumber I Ever Had Is My Newest Client

2009-02-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

Now that is a pretty good name for an emergency plumber. He will come out any time of the day or night, including Sundays. His website is one of the longest I have ever seen, but you won't forget http://www.TheBestPlumberIEverHad.com. In addition to emergency plumbing, he also has a specialization in water heaters, including tankless water heaters. I've really been interested in the tankless concept. I took a close look at my water heater the other day, and it has all kinds of funny stuff growing out of the top of it. Vince, the owner, says that you need to do some maintenance on water heaters or they give out sooner. The only thing I've ever done to mine is fight with my wife over the temperature setting.

Of course, The Best Plumber I Ever Had does all the normal plumber stuff, too: Drain Cleaning , Water Heaters , Toilet Repair , Garbage Disposals , Video Camera Inspections , Sewer Line Repair, and Water Line Repair.

He prefers to work close to headquarters which includes Burbank, Pasadena, Glendale, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles 90027, Hollywood, Silverlake, and West Hollywood.

New Website for Venice CA Acupuncturist in Cooperation with Neon Wolf Web Design

2009-02-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

Check out this website for Urban Remedy Community Acupuncture in Venice. The owner, Eric Baumgartner did most of the writing on the inside pages, and Neon Wolf is 100% responsible for the graphics. I take credit for the text on the front page and some of the navigation elements. I think the final result is very cool. I am no collaborating with Neon Wolf in the creation of several additional websites, including a new one for me. He has some great skills, and I will provide more info on the new sites as the come on line.

Tax Problems Are Another Secret Sin

2008-12-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

I may have mentioned that I have joined an organization called LeTip. We trade business referrals. One of our newest members, who has also become my newest client, is Mike Montano. He works with folks who are having problems with the IRS over unfiled returns, delinquent personal income taxes or payroll taxes, and individuals and companies who have had the IRS file a lien or a levy against them. Do you know anyone like that? Probably not. Or better said, you may know several people who are in that boat, but who don't talk about it. Kind of embarassing.

I have a substantial background in this area (having had a few rounds of trouble with the IRS during the difficult years that my business went through), and studied it in Law School. Don't believe the current commercials regarding "Pennies on the Dollar." The IRS is no longer very helpful with compromises or reducing the principle. In fact, it is even difficult to get a reduction in interest and penalties.

Mike Montano is with Demetriou, Montano, and Associates. They have offices in Santa Monica and Newport Beach, but deal with client all over the US by phone and fax. If you are someone you know needs help with IRS taxes, and especially if the amount is over $10,000, the should call Demetriou, Montano, and Associates. You can learn more about them by checking out a PR release I just did for them, or you can visit their website.

Acupuncturist in Venice Has A Completely New Approach

2008-12-15T08:45:00.000-08:00

Acupuncture is definitely becoming mainstream. A quick bit of research for my new client, Urban Remedy Community Acupuncture in Venice, CA, revealed that acupuncture in now a standard part of the regime for detox and rehab in both public and private hospitals and clinics. Prior to meeting the proprietor and acupuncturist at Urban Remedy, Eric Baumgartner, I knew that some of my friends had used acupuncture for severe headaches and migraines, and I knew that acupuncture was being used for things like joint pain and stress, but I have gained a great deal of additional knowledge in a short few weeks on the extent of what folks visit acupuncturists to cure.

Hand-in-hand with the detox and rehab, similar methods are used for other habitual or addictive issues such as smoking or overeating. My own sense of things is that 75% of illness of any kind is related to stress, and Eric put the number even higher. Some of the less enthusiastic articles on acupuncture suggest that the needles don't do anything, but folks get better from the placebo effect and the nap that commonly goes with acupuncture. If that's true, then we just need to convince folks to take more naps. Somehow it is easier to get the overstressed adult in Venice to go to an acupuncturist for that relaxing procedure than to just put their head down on their desk for a half hour.

The Urban Remedy Community Acupuncture Center is a very unique medical practice. Check out a press release that I sent out on the center here, or visit their website here, or their blog here.

Marketing Is What I Do, Says West Los Angeles Based Marketing Consultant

2008-11-30T17:24:00.000-08:00

I now become even more shameless than in the past. I know that this blog is supposed to be about Ideas. Well, until I get about 15 more clients, I won't have time to share my ideas. That is not a threat, in that some of you may be breathing a sigh of relief that you are no longer expected to know what cornball thing I have recently posted when I see you. For those who are here by chance, and this is the only post you've ever seen, please check out some of the archives to see what is supposed to be here.

Anyway. The special marketing prices below are unprecedented. I am only offering these prices because I need the business. (The title of this blog is the Truth About Everything.) So, check it out, and if I can help your business, or aunt Minnie's business, or your hair stylist's business, have 'em give me an email or a call.

Call now! 310-920-9649
E-mail! RandyKirk77@Gmail.com

Specials

PR Release Value $500 NOW ONLY $149.00
1 Release including development of hook, all writing and rewrites, upload to Web based PR release service. Targeting of 6-8 news resources for direct pitch.
Example

Optimize one Website (basic) Value $500 NOW ONLY $149.00
Determine and agree on keywords to target, provide direction and written text to Client's webmaster as to how to make appropriate changes to the website. Provide client with direction as to how to increase positioning through easy back link strategies. Monitor progress and make additional changes as necessary.
Example: Google the key phrase: Bike Shop Mission Viejo Rock N' Road is my client. 5 months ago, they were not in the top 10 under this key phrase.

Create Blog with 4 posts (no special graphics) Value $400 NOW ONLY $149.00
Help with selection of url and title. Create agreed upon Description. Set up all back end. Create appropriate side bar information. Write 4 posts of one or two paragraphs with pictures (borrowed from others, legally or provided by the client.) This will be a Blogspot blog, which is free.
Example

YouTube Video (shoot, edit, title, keyword, upload) Value $350 NOW ONLY $199.00
Work with client to determine what kind of YouTube video is most likely to generate interest, establish a position on Google, and provide information for existing and future clients that will be useful in making buying decisions.
Example

Flickr.com catalog (6 pictures minimum) Value $250 NOW ONLY $129.00
Use client provided pictures of products or other materials that can represent products and services to create a Flickr.com catalog. Each picture becomes like a mini web page which can then provide one more way for clients to find the company in a Google Search.
Example

300 pens made from recycled material - custom imprinted 20% off list See picture
This fun pen, made from recycled paper and wood chips, is totally unique. I have noted several of my business friends still using the product months after I gifted them.

Put your business up on Google Maps, Local Yahoo, Info USA, and Super Yellow Value $249 NOW ONLY $149
The key to being found on the internet today is often being listed on local search engines. In order to maximize your exposure it is important to create the listings based on best practices. These are the top four. Once you have seen how I do it, you may want to do the other 30 yourself or I can do those as well.

Sales seminar (1-2 hours) for 5-25 people in Los Angeles County Value $1000 NOW ONLY $299.00
I have been writing and speaking on sales, goal setting, and motivation for over 30 years in the US and Canada. No professional motivator will even call you back for this cost. Next year this time, I probably won't either.

****Do all of the above, plus create complete custom analysis of your marketing with short and long term plan to increase sales. Value $5000 NOW ONLY $1499 SAVE $3501.00

Also available.

New product development (recent product designed from scratch)
Packaging design Example
Major event design and execution (grand openings, major sales) Testimonials available
Trade show development (Over 200 show booths in 15 different industries.)
Promotional Products, Corporate Gifts, Advertising Specialties (20 years experience)
Hiring, training, and motivation of sales personnel Over 100 seminars
Pay per click
Door knob hangers

Call 310-920-9649
E-mail RandyKirk77@Gmail.com

Great Meal at New York Style Coneys and Franks Restaurant in Newport Beach

2008-08-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

If you should schlep down to Newport Beach (actually, it's in Costa Mesa at 17th St. and Irvine Ave) and you were interested in a mouthful of flavor, and a VERY COLD BEER, I have found the place. Carm's Coneys is all about the REAL DEAL from New York. The owner, Carm, is a fanatic about his hometown in Syracuse, NY (upstate.) He believes, and he might be right, that the best franks, with names like Zweigle and Sabrett and Hoffman's, are made right there. He imports the franks and sausages and mustards from that distant land in order to insure his patrons that he is serving up food normally reserved for New Yorkers and folks who happen to travel there.

I dropped by with my little video camera the other day and shot some man on the street (also kid on the street) videos of other folk's opinions about the place. Check it out.

Best Beach Cruiser for The Money at http://Bikes-Cheap.com

2008-08-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

Need a really good cheap beach cruiser with bike shop quality at department store prices. Most of my readers know I've been in the bicycle industry for 30 something years. I have located a product line called 3G bikes that has made it possible for several of my clients to buy really good looking, good performing beach cruiser bicycles at cheap prices. The website is http://www.bikes-cheap.com. They have mens and womens styles and with three 3 colors in the ladies and 5 in the mens. Ready for the price. $149.95 if you mention this article or the website. Right now, on the floor of these same shops the price is as much as $189.95, which is still a great price for this quality.

These bikes make great prizes for events or raffles. They are inexpensive enough to purchase as a gift to a local boys and girls club or other charitable organization. Clearly, they make great gifts for family members.

Special Electric Electra Bike at Newport Beach Bike Shop

2008-07-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

If you head down to Newport Beach anytime soon, check out Zclipse bike shop. They are located just across from the Newport Beach Pier next to the crab cooker. Of course, they are another client of mine. They are totally different from all the rest. Their major income is from renting bikes and electric hybrid bicycles by the hour, day, or week. They sell them, too, of course. I rode one of the electric hybrids the other day, and they are a blast. Here's short video we did on the Electra beach cruiser bike that the convert to an electric Electra.

Marketing Consulting in Los Angeles is Coming Along

2008-07-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

Some of you may be wondering if I have found any more accounts for my marketing consulting and promotional products company here in Los Angeles. Yes indeed. I decided not to limit myself to bike shops, so now do consulting for a web design company, a graphic artist, a computer consulting company, and company that makes products that are UV sensitive. I am more than halfway to my goal regarding clients with about 14.

I can still use your help. If you know a company anywhere in the world (I am discussing doing business with a company in England) that needs more sales, more customers, better web presence or just a few hundred pens with their name on them, call me or have them call me at 310-920-9649. My new website for the marketing consulting and SEO work.

Glendora Has A Great Piano Teacher - See Her Play

2008-07-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

While I'm bragging. Here is a short recital from daughter, Christian, the Piano Teacher. She lives in Glendora, which is close to Covina, Monrovia, San Dimas, Pomona, and Irwindale. I say that to remind you all to send your friends to see her for piano lessons.

And, did I mention she is also my friend on my new facebook.

Music Lessons for Your Child in Glendora, California

2008-07-24T09:10:00.000-07:00

If you have a child and live anywhere near Glendora, Ca, like Covina, La Verne, Monrovia, Pomona, or Irwindale, and if you've thought you'd like your child to have music lessons, I've got a tip for you. There is an incredible music instructor living in Glendora who gives music instruction to children with gentleness and great skill. The name of the company is Musical Finger Piano Instruction, and I am totally biased and in the tank for the teacher, Christian Nichols.

She is my oldest daughter and took instruction under an amazing teacher in Culver City. Her musical technique has always resulted in friends and family asking her to play at any occasion where Christian and a piano are present in the same room. Now, as a mother of three little ones under the age of 5, she brings great parenting skills, teaching skills, and musical talent to the piano classroom

So if you don't have a child living in that area, but you have a friend, family member, associate or any one else who you think would benefit from such instruction, give Christian a call at 626-533-7712 or see her website.

Here is a video of her teaching 4 year-old Maddie (my grand daughter BTW)

Sewing Thread and Other Sewing Notions

2008-07-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are expecting me to discuss the fact that we are halfway through summer, and it would appear that we are not going to have a particularly warm year, much less a record hurricane season, sorry. Today, the lesson is on sewing thread. You see, right now I have to make a living. Then, when all my clients are doing well, and my family is eating again, I can go back to blathering about global warming, Obama, and such.

As my new little business (not small business, that would be like a business with a few employees. Little business is like me, myself, and I) makes course corrections, I now am offering marketing consulting to every and any kind of business. One of those is SolarActive Intl. They make cool products that change color when you take them into the sun.

At Cal Springs, LLC (the new name of my former business), they offer this UV sensitive approach in water bottles, and we did very well with SolarActive water bottles over the years. As my client, I now realize their biggest business is sewing thread, buttons, pony beads, embroidery thread, and lace. See picture as to how cool this is when it changes colors.

Why Do I Care About Windsor, Ontario, and a Local Business Called Advantages Website Solutions?

2008-06-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are used to my rants about global warming and the existence of God, I regret to say that making a living is getting in the way of my hobby and my hobby horses.

So, my new business is morphing, and that's how we end up with a story about Advantage Website Solutions in Windsor Ontario, just a few miles from Detroit Michigan. I discuss business marketing on a forum named small-business-forum.com, and there I met Jess, who is the owner of this web design company.

We agreed to do a trade. I needed a new website. She needed SEO or search engine optimization for her business. She wasn't showing up at all under website design Windsor ON or web design Detroit MI. Not in the organic or regular part of the search page or in the Google Maps.

She has proceeded to create a website for me, which may be up and you can go visit it. I attempted to get her onto page one of the google search for the keywords above.

I ran into two difficulties. First, in the organic area, she was competing with Windsor UK and with companies who have Windsor in their name. Now, why Google has a problem settling out Windsor ON and zeroing in, I don't know. And folks just aren't sophisticated to do the " "

So, I gave her some great advice (I hope) that may move her up in the organic. Then we ran into a bit of unfair behavior by Google Maps. When you type in a business type followed by the city and state or province, you get the little map up in the left corner of the search result. This has companies listed to the right of the map that fit the description. So if you go to SEO Consultant Los Angeles, you will see my new company on that listing.

But she wasn't coming up until the 2nd page. So I tried Detroit MI. She is only 5 miles away. When you put in to the search Web design Windsor ON, you will get lots of Detroit businesses even in the first few listed. However, when you put in Web design Detroit MI, you won't get any Canadian businesses EVER.

So, this little post is really designed to help Jess get better position. My blog is not a powerhouse, but it will provide her with a couple of links. We'll see what happens. See an example of her work above.

Experimenting on Bicycle Fitting YouTube

2008-05-05T10:57:00.000-07:00

I created a YouTube video the other day for a client and it went right to the top of Google pages within hours. I was really excited. Then all of a sudden, it was gone. So, I'm going to try linking it right here to see if that helps. If you have ever thought about wanting to get a very sophisticated fitting done for your bicycle, or if you are inclined to order a custom bike, you should visit PV Bicycle Center and see my friend Steve.

Picture Perfect Swing

2008-04-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

There's a reason Robert bats clean up.

Months of Practice

2008-04-29T22:13:00.000-07:00

We have enjoyed listening to Robert practice this one. Nothing like having free live music in your home.

Robert's Piano Recital

2008-04-29T21:47:00.000-07:00

Check out this video. The song, take 5 is written in 5:4 time and in 6 flats. It is much, much harder than Robert makes it sound.

Progress - Slow, But Sure

2008-04-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

One more shop has said yes to my proposition. It kind of reminded me of a bit of wisdom about slow and steady. I would like to have 10 shops signed up by now. Instead I have only Pat's 605, Palms Cyclery, PV Bicycle Center, and G's Cyclery. So thus far I am only signing up one every 1.6 weeks. I need 22 absolute minimum to pay the bills. So, math wizzes, at the current rate, I won't get to my minimum unitl week 35. That would put me somewhere in November. Not a pretty picture.

OK, starting June 1, I will be full time, thus hopefully doubling the output. I would have 8 accounts on June 1, then get to 22 by the end of August. Still not good.

The next question becomes, will my closing rate start to increase because a lot of the first few weeks has been spent in data base building, materials creation, planning, and driving my wheels off. Now, hopefully the time will be more efficiently spent in following up letters, e-mails, and previous contacts to set appointments. My closing ratio on appointments has been over 75%. The key is getting the appointment.

This might seem irrelevant to you, but I'm guessing there are many things in your life that have the same issues. This kind of analysis can help with school, career planning, parenting, etc.

In doing this evaluation, it occurs to me that I can actually get through June as long as I get paid by 22 accounts in June, so I have that whole month to get it done.
So the goal will be 1 new account per week in the last two weeks of April. Two new accounts per week in May. That will get me to 14 or 15 by June 1. Then maintaining 2 per week in June would get me to 23 or 24 by the end of June.

Some would set the goals higher. You can't hit the moon unless your aiming for it, or some such. I have commonly used that kind of strategy. I'm going with this conservative idea for this round. I'll report back later.

My New Career

2008-04-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

I am hoping that some time this summer I can take up blogging about politics again. However, for now I am headlong into starting up a new business offering marketing services to bicycle retailers. As anyone who has had the great fortune and misfortune to start a new enterprise knows, this old guy is putting in 70 hour weeks.

If you know anyone who needs to be more profitable in their bicycle retail business, have them contact me or at least go to http://bicycleretailer.blogspot.com which gives a general overview of what I do.

If you need a bicycle or a bicycle part, check out the stores of my first three clients. I have created web sites for them at http://pvbicyclingcenter@blogspot.com, http://pats605cyclery.blogspot.com, and http://palmscycle.blogspot.com.

I'm hoping to make a living off of this specific market. However, if you have a small business that needs marketing help, I may be able to help.

"RACE MATTERS!" - LA Times

2007-09-16T09:07:00.000-07:00

I admit to trumping up the headline a bit. However, if you read the Editorial pages of today's LA Times, and you don't think my headline is an appropriate summary, just say so in the comments. This blogger has been saying for years that we are burying our collective heads in the sand when we take the politically correct approach to education (and other aspects of life), and try to walk away from the real reasons blacks don't swim and whites can't jump.

There are real differences in the ways that different ethnic groups and races handle different aspects of life. If we are ever going to get true equality of opportunity (all we can really hope for), then it is going to require someone to start asking the hard questions. There is hope, of course. Bill Cosby has addressed the social issue. Now the Times has bravely thrown down the gauntlet. We reported here on a study that showed parental expectations to be uniquely correlated with student results. (Black parents expect "C's", Asian parents expect "A's".)

Thank you LA Times. And for those of you who don't know me or my family. We are mixed race and ethnicity.

Harry Potter - Buy It in Paperback

2007-09-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

Completely out of reading material, and still several weeks before football, I decided to read the Harry Potter Books. This was not entirely without a recommendation. Hugh Hewitt had interviewed John Mark Reynolds, classicist and apologetics professor at Biola regarding whether or not Harry Potter was ok for Christians. Reynolds couldn't see how it was any less appropriate than Lord of the Rings, and said while Harry Potter wasn't close to the literary level of LOTR, it was still a fun read.

After reading books 1 and 2, I agree. On my rating system, this is buy in paperback only if you can't borrow it from someone. I suspect my 11 year-old son likes it way more than me. He is about to polish off number 5 (700 plus pages), having just begun about 4 weeks ago. Maybe I'll have him do a review.

Mandatory Doctor Visits

2007-09-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

You knew it would come to this, but it is the most shocking statement I remember ever hearing out of the lips of a presidential candidate. Normally they do this stuff by stealth when you least expect it. John Edwards says that his health care plan would REQUIRE US Citizens to be covered by health care and REQUIRE US Citizens to go to the doctor.

Now you may or may not know this, but in Canada's health care system, Canadian Citizens are REQUIRED to use doctors within the system. It doesn't matter how much they are willing to pay a doctor outside the system, they must use PUBLIC health. And doctors who provide health care outside the system are committing a CRIME.

You can bet that any system cooked up by a Democrat will make all health care public, none private, thus forcing US CITIZENS to go out of country if they want better or faster health care, just like the Canadians do now.

John Edwards didn't have a chance of becoming President. Now he has no chance of achieving any public office. However, we need the reporters to start asking Hillary and others if they would agree with Edwards about MANDATORY preventitive doctor visits.

Global Warming Exposure as Fraud Should Not Stop New Energy Effort

2007-08-30T13:13:00.001-07:00

It will probably take another 10 years for the Europeans to get it, and 5 years before the Democrats in America give up on it, but human-caused global warming is just not provable, and the science is quickly proving that any warming is cyclical and natural.

Here is a Nasa revision of hotest years on record over the last 100 or so. You don't need to be a scientist to look at those numbers and do an analysis which even questions whether there is global warming of any consequence at all.

According to the new data published by NASA, 1998 is no longer the hottest year ever. 1934 is.

Four of the top 10 years of US CONUS high temperature deviations are now from the 1930s: 1934, 1931, 1938 and 1939, while only 3 of the top 10 are from the last 10 years (1998, 2006, 1999). Several years (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004) fell well down the leaderboard, behind even 1900. (World rankings of temperature are calculated separately.)

Top 10 GISS U.S. Temperature deviation (deg C) in New Order 8/7/2007
Year
1934
1998
1921
2006
1931
1999
1953
1990
1938
1939

Here’s the old order of top 10 yearly temperatures.
Year
1998
1934
2006
1921
1931
1999
1953
2001
1990
1938

Then here is a listing of scientists with super-impressive credentials who once believed in anthropomorphic global warming, who have changed their mind due to further research.

The most important point to be made of all this has nothing to do with global warming or cooling or whether man has anything to do with it. The other reasons for encouraging science and markets to dramatically increase efficiencies in energy use, and to find alternative energy sources are far more compelling, provable, and immediate.

1. Middle East and Northern Coast of South America use of oil as weapon.
2. Cost of chasing ever more difficult to reach carbon based resources
3. Pollution of air and other natural rescources by current methods of extraction, delivery, and use of carbon based fuel.
4. Just makes good sense to minimize all costs of energy, freeing up capital and income for other uses.

Futurethink - What Are Big Issues for the Future

2007-08-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

I ran into this website while researching future trends. The blogger did an excellent job of laying out some possible major issues of the future. Some of the comments were outstanding. I couldn't help myself, so I commented

Aging Population - Aging Labor force. It seems likely that we will see major increases in productivity that will result in needing less labor rather than the other way around. The seniors won't need to go back to work as some may think as, but they may want to to increase sense of being valuable. Many young adults will be bored out of their skulls like some of the wealthy young adults are today, since the average person will enjoy a lifestyle like a rockstar today. If that seems crazy, imagine what the average person has today vs what they had in the 30's or even 50's. There will be a major business opportunity and use of labor for entertaining these bored people.

Health Care costs will peak and decline- There will be no field where innovation will drive down costs more than this one. The incentive to invest in this area will drive huge amounts of capital into faster, less expensive cures, and lowered drug cost. Changes in the method of delivery of health care is already happening (see WalMart health clinics, for instance.)

China and Russia may be the major threats of the future, but they may just as likely integrate into the community of nations without any real confrontations of consequence. The Extremist Muslims will be marginalized by all "mature" nations. As Mideast oil becomes less important (due to oil from other places and new sources of energy), the rest of the world will no longer be held hostage, and will be able to use all necessary methods to root out the bad guys from the tinpot dictatorships.

Solar energy will be the future energy method that will win the day. New materials, new storaage approaches, and computer optimization will combine to find a way. Solar is the obvious ultimate victor, because it is ubiquitous, and can't be owned. This months Wired magazine shows a new material that may dramatically increase the ability to maximize available sources of sunlight in a small area.

The issue of rich vs poor will never go away, and many will still be arguing for redistribution of wealth. It won't work. Take all the money from the rich and give it to the poor. Wait 10 years and the distribution will work its way back to the way it was +/-.

Global cooling will be the big political issue 10 years from now as the Sun enters a period like the 50's - 70's. The foolish among us will once again claim the sky is falling and that the next ice age is just around the corner.

Pollution will become a non issue as the cost of controlling it becomes substantially less (orders of magnitude.)

As history will prove, the real issues of politics will be unintended consequences, ruthless desire for power by sociopathic leaders, and folks with IQ's of 100 and 180 who fall for the garbage offered by such leaders.

Religion will be alive and thriving as the rest of life becomes less and less meaningful. We tend to find meaning in our occupations, our children, our possessions, and our creative output. All of these things will have less meaning. (e.g. See LA Times article on luxury goods losing their cachet.

I agree with the idea that runaway science in any of a number of places is the greatest threat to our futures: Nano anything, genetic engineering, robots, etc.

Energy Independence From MidEast AND Reduce CO2

2007-08-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

Gregg Easterbrook, Brooking Institute Fellow, and not someone I would normally quote, says the following (link to entire article):

This chart shows that in 1975, when the fuel crunch hit, new cars in the United States averaged 136 horsepower. The average declined to a low of 99 horsepower in 1982, as manufacturers scurried to raise fuel economy. (Higher horsepower means more gasoline burned.) Really, 99 horsepower isn't enough for anything larger than a minicar; you need enough horses to be able to accelerate, especially at freeway merge lanes. But in the last two decades, average horsepower has been climbing steadily. In 2004, the typical new car had 184 horsepower, and the typical new SUV or pickup truck used as a car--SUVs and pickups used as cars now account for about half of new vehicle sales--had 235 horsepower. That rolls together for an average of about 210 horsepower in new passenger vehicles sold in the United States. In other words 2004 cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks offer more than 50 percent better horsepower than passenger vehicles in 1975. (At that time there were no SUVs, and using a pickup truck as a car, rather than for commercial work, was rare.)

Ever-higher horsepower is the reason the overall fuel economy of new U.S. vehicles is now at its lowest since 1988. Engineers have steadily made automotive power trains more efficient--but nearly all the efficiency has gone into power, not MPG. Other things being equal, a one-third reduction in the horsepower of new vehicles would lead to roughly a one-third increase in their miles-per-gallon numbers. And a one-third increase in the MPG of new cars and SUVs is all that is required to eliminate petroleum imports from Persian Gulf states!

Now, I recognize I am past the age of caring very much about muscle cars (that is unless someone wants to indulge me in my fantasy of taking a HemiCuda out for a day on the Salt Flats.) But if Easterbrook is right, and we could be energy independent by merely chopping HP by and average of 33%, which would also mean 33% less Carbon in the atmosphere. What is Congress waiting for.

In fact, the House passed an energy bill today that did not include any increase in MPG standards. The Senate version calls for an increase to 35 MPG average by 2020.

I Love My XM Radio

2007-08-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should wait to talk about how cool XM Radio is. I think if I sign you up I can get some money. First I would have to be an affiliate. Hmmm.

In any case, here is the story. LA used to have three Christian radio stations. One is now Spanish music, another is political talk, and a new one has Christian music all the time. I used to listen to Chuck Swindol, Family Life Today, John McArthur and others when I was driving around town. But with so little selection I had moved my habits to clean comedy on XM 151, business news on CNBC, and Fox radio.

But it had to happen. There is now XM 170. My all time favorite, Focus on the Family, is on at 5:00, perfect drive time. I haven't checked out all the 170 offerings yet, though some of the shows are infomercials for weight loss and "natural health" stuff. Surely my spiritual life can only improve with Dobson on the radio instead of politics and business news.

You can check out my Dr. Dobson fan blog here. I need to post more over there, but you might find some of it interesting.

Maybe I should start an XM fan page.

No Hurricanes - Must Be Global Cooling

2007-08-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

I would never choose the career of a weather forecaster. With all the data, all the scientific advances, all the weather satellites, and all the ice core drilling, you'd think we could predict what the high and low will be tomorrow. But we are lousy at it. See my scientific report on same last year here.

So Al Gore, the inventor of global warming, hung his hat in a major way on Atlantic and Gulf hurricanes being related to global warming. Then the headlines declared global warming proven beyond doubt after the 2005 season. Of course, Al and his disciples called the 2006 season (one of the least productive in a century) a fluke. 2005 wasn't a fluke, it was scientific evidence. As July segues into August, we have another fluke on our hands. All the forecasters who are called upon by the media to predict hurricane numbers are lowering their estimates for 2007 to another unusually mild year.

So the scientific question for all you Global Warming advocates: "How many flukes does it take to change a mind?"

Calvinism 2

2007-07-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

Likely this will be my last post on this subject, but it is the hot topic in my house right now. Part of the Calvinistic thinking is that God only loves those he foreordained to be saved. In other words, he doesn't love sinners who will not be saved. This is explained by pointing to scriptures where the Bible says God loves all as really meaning only His own.

However, we as Christians are instructed to love our enemies, our neighbors as ourselves, and even those who persecute us. The question then is: "Why would God call His creation to a higher standard than He Himself is going to follow?"

Doctrinal Debate - Calvinism vs Arminianism

2007-07-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

I think that most folks who come to this blog are Christians. I'm sure some aren't, but given that a high percentage of the postings and linkages deal with Christianity explicitly or have a religious right flavor, those who are not so disposed probably run for blogs that think like they do.

Within the evangelical church, there are many factions, and some of those factions have factions, which sometimes breed other factions. In fact, there are now so many factions, that I wouldn't be surprised if independent churches are becoming the norm.

In my world (and welcome to it) I have had an ongoing debate with my brother and my partner regarding the Charismatic side of things. What about tongues? Slain in the spirit? Word of knowledge? I don't agree that these things are necessary in the Biblical age, but I'm OK that they do.

My prayer partner tends toward the Calvinist side and is a bedrock member of Calvary's mother church. We love to debate one another and have lively differences on some of the issues that divide Southern Baptists and Calvary thinking.

That debate now rages close to home. I'm just guessing, but for 99% of Christians I doubt that the Arminian/Calvin issue ever comes up, and for almost that many I doubt they even know there is a debate.

There are several points of disagreement, but foundational to all is the sovereignty of God. All fundamentalists believe that God is 100% sovereign, otherwise how can he be omnipotent (all powerful, and omniscient (all knowing.) The narrower question is the application of this to our lives, even to our salvation.

Calvinists believe famously in predestination. You may be more aware of this concept from the Presbyterian church where the debate sometimes is compacted into: "there is a bullet with your name on it. Nothing you can do." That trivializes the actual issue which is better stated thus: God does not love all people, only those he predestined to be saved. We are born completely depraved and with no good in us. But at some point in your life, if God has chosen you, He will regenerate you, and you will recognize your need for Jesus. It will not be up to you to choose Jesus. That would be a "work" on your part, therefore you could boast that you had a hand in your own salvation.

The Calvinists acknowledge that this seems to strike a death blow to the idea of Free Will in general, and specifically the issue of man's responsibility for his actions that can only arise out of his having free will. The Arminian (Southern Baptists and most other Baptists, Methodists, etc.) argues that if we don't have a free choice over the most important decision in our life, having free will on the rest is pretty meaningless. Thus, the Arminian says that God knows the beginning and the end, and therefore knows who will be saved, but that we must choose to accept the gift of salvation. (Modern Methodists commonly would think this choice can just be part of a running lifelong participation as opposed to a clear-eyed, come-to-Jesus moment.)
Thus, our Free Will is intact for this decision.

Most of my friends on both sides of this issue say that this distinction should never be a family divider, but it has been and will undoubtedly continue to be a congregation divider. I'd sure be interested to hear comments from the blogosphere.

Goal Setting for Old Folks

2007-07-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Truth is, the following ideas for setting goals are not only for old folks, but will work for anyone. However, in this post the examples and such will be aim at those over 50 or thereabouts. We established a few days ago some of the reasons why goal setting should not be only the province of the young. Now on to the practical methods of doing so.

To do the following exercise right, you would do well to set aside as much time as possible in a quiet place with no chance of interruption. The good new for most in this age category is that such time availability and quiet spaces are way more likely than for those 20-50. Get rid of the cell phone. Relax and contemplate.

The first exercise will deal with the things of this world. What do you wish to acquire? Where would you like to travel? What will you spend your money on? So, imagine that you as you are sitting there, a fairy princess appears. (insert any other magical creature you wish if you aren't in to fairy princesses.) She has appeared before you for the express purpose of fulfilling ten wishes. There are the usual disclaimers: None of the wishes can be for more wishes; you can't wish for things that are impossible; you can't wish for health, happiness, true love, long life etc. You can wish for money. But that is a bit boring.

So sit back and contemplate what you would wish for. A huge home in Newport Harbor, a Hummer, full time travel on back to back cruises, diamonds (blood free, of course), a lifetime supply of Italian Ices? Make a list. When you get to 10, you can add 10 more if you like. In fact, go crazy and list all kinds of things.

If you like travel, list the places you'd like to go. If you have a very special home in mind, give the details that matter to you. If you want some bling, what kind.

Take your time. Think about it. I'll be back in a few days to offer the next step.

2007-07-21T22:33:00.001-07:00

Poppy bragged about his Granddaughter. Equal time for the Grandson. How much cuter can one small human be. Watch out girls. In about 20 years he will be the most eligible bachelor on the planet.

More on Cost of Driving

2007-07-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

Did some more research on cost of driving cars today. The overall inflation rate from 1950 to today is almost exactly 10 times. A dime in 1950 buys what a dollar will buy today. Gas cost about 20¢ in 1950 in the Midwest. It now averages around $2.50. But in 1950 cars averaged about 11 miles per gallon vs over 20 today. So the real cost of gas per mile is $1.25 by comparison. We spend the same dollar amount per person on gas today as we did in 1950, but that's because we drive almost double the miles per person. With dramatic increases since 1950 in disposable income, the actual percent of disposable income used to buy gas has gone down, not up, even though we drive twice the miles.

The cost of the automobile itself is slightly up as a percent of disposable income, but this is largely due to the fact that we are buying more expensive cars with far more features. My loaded 1960 Fury did not have seat belts, airbags, a.m/f.m. stereo with cd player and 6 speakers, fuel injection, computerized engine analysis, or electric seats, door locks, and alarm system. It required far more maintenance (although you could do it yourself if you were so inclined.) Expected life 125,000 miles, maybe.

In telling this to one friend the other day, he said: "Why does it still hurt so much when the gas pump reads $50." Good question. I was only 2 in 1950, so I'm not sure whether a full tank at $5 gave my Dad a headache or not. I'm guessing it did. I do remember buying used cars for $250 in the late 60's and that was a lot of money to me.

Overall, I think we should quit our grousing. We have it so, so, so good.

Throwing Good Money and Lives After Bad

2007-07-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to get it. Those on the left and more than a few on the right are convinced that we cannot attain the results we want in Iraq. No amount of money, guns, or boots on the ground is going to convince these dumb Iraqis to stop killing each other over centuries' old grievances, and tribal annoyances. The issue isn't so much one of ideology, but just plain practicality. Why waste more effort, spend more money, and risk more American blood to chase an illusory dream.

The battle from the right isn't much more ideological either. Americans have made this huge investment. We should finish the job. The risks in money and blood is worth it. The potential risks of walking away are substantial.

I don't know if the average reader of this blog understands that the Iraqis are looked at by others in the region as the lowlifes of the Middle East. Iranians (Persians), Turks, Syrians, Lebanese, Egyptians, and Saudis all look down their noses at the scrabble in Iraq. The triumphant era of Babylon is far too distant in comparison to the more recent successes of their neighbors. Unconsciously, I think all Westerners do see this population as the Pollocks of the region (pardon my un PC description, but it is the comparative stereotyping that appealed to me, not any real sense of mine that Polish folks are not as smart as say, Frenchmen.)

So the practical among us, may really be wondering why we are spending so much to save so unseemly a bunch of ragtag thugs. Maybe this is really the issue with our lack of substantial effort in Darfur. Maybe it really isn't racism, as much as it is just cutism. (I am copyrighting that term as of this posting.) Cutism (I will now define my new term) is the very human inclination to be more interested in saving cute things than ugly things.

Please raise your hand if you have ever read an article in the paper about a tragic death, checked the picture, and thought: "not much of a loss." How many campaigns are well funded to save some endangered snake, moth, or rodent? How come the year-long saga's of missing individuals or unsolved murders are almost always cute blond women?

If Iraq's population were cuter and fuzzier, were contributing more to Western Culture by way of art, films, literature, great food or wine, or were passionately fierce fighters for justice, spending another couple of years there would probably be a no brainer.

So Bush and friends, I've maintained for a long time that the failure of your administration in the public opinion polls (not in the results of your governance) is due to horrible communication. If you want to finish the job in Iraq, we need some PR for them as a people. Pictures with flies on open sores have been overdone and are better at getting folks to let go of $26 a month. No, we need some very attractive men and women that are still in Iraq, to become spokesfolks for their fellow countrymen. Otherwise, General Petraeus, you better have some great stats in September. Americans like great stats, too. But I'd start working the PR angle as a back up.

Don't Count Out Mr. Misunderestimated

2007-07-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write this column last week, but I couldn't take the heat. Bill Kristol said it better and wiser than I ever could, and he has a spine. "Why Bush Will Be A Winner."

Economy
Tax Cuts
Beating the goals on lowered deficit
Judges
Prescription Health Care
No Child Left Behind
No attacks on American soil since 9/11
Korea dismantling nuclear plant
Lybia joins the civilized world
US friendly governments in Germany and France
We will win in Iraq ... by Spring
Next President a Republican WITH coattails.

That's my list, which has a few more items than Bills.

Planning the Senior Years

2007-07-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

"Aim at nothing, and you are very likely to hit it," or words very nearly like that set the stage for a class in leadership training I offered at my church years ago. Part of this course laid out a method for setting goals, including deciding about certain things you would desire to happen in the next ten years. "But if you aim for the stars and only hit the Moon, you will have likely been more fulfilled and successful during those ten years," would have been the follow-on line.

One of the older gentlemen in the group (I think he was around my current age at the time), came up to me afterward and asked: "Why should I be setting 10 years goals? I probably won't even be around in 10 years." Twelve years later I reminded him of that conversation.

I have always been a goal setter and a long ranger thinker. Nothing to be proud of, since it seems to have been born in. However, a few changes in my life gave me a jolt. I have neglected this discipline for a long time, and have been coasting a bit ... Ok, a lot. And while it is true that very few people actually sit down and consider their goals, I'm going to surmise (no survey results on this subject) that folks 50 and older are the least likely among adults to do so.

How crazy is that? A twenty-something has 60 years to screw things up and still have the time and opportunity to take several other bights at the apple. Second careers are almost normal today. Back to school in your forties is almost a cliche. But a fifty something is potentially down to 15 or 20 years of active living where most choices are still available (major league ballplayer is probably out.) Every day wasted would be like a week wasted for a young person.

It really hit home with me when I was contemplating the financial side of my future. Because of some unusual ways that my life has unfolded, our family has very little savings compared to our income. To make things more interesting, at age 59 I have one child starting college this year, and one who will start the year I turn 65. Our pretty decent income is well spent every month, so any increase in savings now without a serious increase in income, would mean a decrease in lifestyle.

So the choice might become a decrease in lifestyle during my 60's and my wife's 50's, so we can enjoy a better lifestyle 10 or more years from now. Hmmmm. Not an easy choice, but is it make a choice or to just wing it?!

Multiply that choice by decisions about: where to live, where to travel, how to contribute back into the community, how much time with kids and grandkids, should my spouse or I work, what legacy will we have, and what do we do with the body?

It might seem like my situation is unique. But suppose you have $1,000,000 bucks in your 401k, the house is paid for, retirement is already at hand, and the kids are all married and on their own. Does that change the need to set goals? You could still end up looking back 10 years from now and wonder at the wasted time watching TV, sleeping, or even golfing. You could easily ask yourself at age 70, why didn't I get to know my grandson when he was a kid. Now he's 15 and grandpa is not a major concern in his life.

Next time: How to prepare for setting goals.

Humility

2007-06-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

You've probably already seen this, since 28,000,000 million have so done. However, just in case you're feeling like you're all that, check it out.

Confused About the Word "Lie"

2007-06-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

Do words mean anything in a relativistic culture? If there are no absolutes, do we then allow everyone to make up their own definitions to suit their position? I'm not talking about well-worn issues like pro life or pro choice. This is spin. O'Reilly is spinning when he calls his show the "no spin zone."

Let's take a walk back in history to the Clinton/Bush-the-elder political campaign. Pundits list a host of reasons for the Bush defeat: third party effort by Perot, small recession, lack of vision by Bush, and so on. But not to be quickly forgotten should be the cry that Bush lied about no new taxes.

It wouldn't take a complicated conspiracy theory to suggest that Democrats understood the power of that line and were looking for any possible way to tar Bush-the-younger with the same brush. No line has been more frequently repeated in the last 5 years than "Bush lied, they died."

Now comes Al Gore with his movie "An Inconvenient Truth." Al, inventor of the internet, will provide us with the truth. This is fine. I call this blog "The Truth About Everything," with a bit of tongue in cheek going. But even if I was arrogant enough to think I had some special hold on truth that the great unwashed are missing, this doesn't mean that errors or differences of opinion or changes in thinking are lies.

But then what of Gores assertion in 1992 that: "Only an insignificant fraction of scientists deny the global warming crisis. The time for debate is over. The science is settled."

You see, Bush 1 made an assertion which he later had to walk away from. He told us one thing, and then he did another. You can call that a lie, but it is hugely mitigated by the fact that he believe that it was critical to our nation that he change his mind about a belief he held dear.

Then Bush 2 took the opinion of most of the world's intelligence community, asserted that he believed what they said, and acted on this belief. He had other intelligence that did not agree, but he certainly did not "lie us into war" by an reasonable definition.

Now we are back to Gore who walks away from the truth with not much concern, it seems.

A Gallup poll at the time reported that 53% of scientists actively involved in global climate research did not believe global warming had occurred; 30% weren't sure; and only 17% believed global warming had begun. Even a Greenpeace poll showed 47% of climatologists didn't think a runaway greenhouse effect was imminent; only 36% thought it possible and a mere 13% thought it probable.

I suspect that most of you could fill in a few more examples, but this one just continues to get my goat. Go here for more on the story.

What Cost Beauty?

2007-06-02T12:04:00.001-07:00

My broom in hand, delicate petals recently fallen from my favorite jacaranda tree move from the driveway onto the lawn. During May and June this duty is required daily, and even then some of the sticky, squished versions of the petals are likely to get tracked into the house. I think back to a different handle to a different tool raking up massive piles of sycamore leaves when I was growing up in St. Louis. Those sycamores may not be as colorful as the jacaranda, but they are beautiful none-the-less.

We pay bucks, time, energy, and deep emotional costs in order to have beauty in our lives. Atheists are hard pressed to explain why, if there is not God, beauty matters. How does one's appreciation for Bach, Gauguin, or the Psalms, enter into survival of the fittest? It amazes us that a person would give up a "pearl of great price" to follow Jesus, but why would someone pay such a great price for a piece of sand wrapped in luminescent oyster secretions?

It isn't all about beauty, of course. Some beautiful things we seek to acquire for the purpose of impressing others with our wealth, taste, or our own personal beauty. But, for this to work, there must be an agreed-upon understanding of what is beautiful. Why diamonds and not quartz? Why piano and not acordion?

Even our hope of heaven contains layer on layer of expectations regarding beauty. The pearly gates, streets of gold, heavenly mansion, choirs of angels, and so much more. Back here on earth we drive hours for a spectacular view (6 hours each way for the 7 pools of Hana in Maui),
give special points to meals which the chef has displayed with aplomb, and pay manifold billions to appoint ourselves with clothes, jewelry, designer noses, and straight teeth.

The jacaranda petals appear as bright jewels against the green lawn. It was worth it to move them from the driveway. Now I can go rest in my sun room with its view of red, pink, orange, and purple bougainvillea.

What Do You FEAR!?!

2007-05-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

I would appreciate as many comments on this one as possible. You might even want to post the question on your blogs and get me some additional thoughts on the subject.

The list of possible fears is long and varied, everything from public speaking to spiders and such. However, for the purpose of this survey, I'm looking for the big picture. I will list 10 that I can think of that should set the tone. If these are big for you, let me know. If there are other similar things that are bigger for you, add them.

The US devolving into a dictatorship
The rapture and God's judgment on earth
Hell
Global Warming
Islamic extremism creating global conflict
Nuclear holocaust
Depletion of critical natural resources
The US devolving into a socialist government
Overpopulation
Underpopulation
Too few culturally "Western Civilization" in the population
Pollution
Nuclear power plant catastrophe - or nuclear waste catastrophe
Aliens (from outer space)
Avian flu or similar disease
Scientific advance out of control (e.g. genetic engineering, nanobots, robots with AI)

Can You Define Hyperbole? Try This!

2007-05-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

If you have kids, take them to the beach. They should enjoy it while it lasts, because there is a chance that within their lifetimes California's beaches will vanish under the waves.

Believe it or not, this is the opening paragraph on the lead (actually the only) editorial in today's LA Times. It comes shortly after this subhead:

A carbon tax is the best, cheapest and most efficient way to combat cataclysmic climate change.

Cataclysmic! Here is a word that might be overused by journalists, but generally we think of cataclysmic for such things as tsunamis or 50,000 killed in an earthquake. Just like any good liberal organization, the LA Times is putting up a boogie man that can only be defeated by government intervention, and especially the use of a new tax.

Nowhere in the article does it suggest that government is the largest single user of all resources, and that if the government merely started using more efficient light bulbs, driving more efficient vehicles, and made more efficient use of every facility it owns or rents, we would go a long way toward solving problems related to energy use and pollution.

You are only seeing the beginning of the baloney that will be coming your way on this climate change issue. Read the editorial for yourself. You will only see the potential negative effects of increases in temperature. Don't be fooled by the fearmongering in this kind of propaganda. Do your own research. Many of the links to other points of view are contained in this blog. Look on the home page, look back in the archives. The Iraq war will not be the issue in 2008. Global warming will be the dominant issue in the 2008 political campaigns.

DECEPTION by Randy Alcorn - Book Review

2007-05-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

Christian Fiction may be one of the fastest growning categories in book publishing today, but that doesn't necessarily mean there are limitless excellent authors. In fact, subject to taste, there are really only a couple of handfuls of same who would be successful in the wider publishing field. Then, these ten or so writers can only produce so many books. In fact, almost all of them write as an adjunct to their ministry or other careers, limiting their potential production. As a result, those of us who prefer to read Christian writers wait breathlessly for our favorites to produce their next great effort. My favorite, Randy Alcorn, has just delivered a review copy of DECEPTION to my doorstep, and I'm happy to report 75 hours later that it is a total triumph.

The complete story is here.

You see, I am really over-the-top when it comes to promoting the works of 4 of my favorite authors. I haven't yet done fan pages on all of them, but for Randy Alcorn, Dr. Dobson, Ted Dekker, and Tim LaHaye, I am in the process of attempting to review all of their works and begin to pull in biographical and other information on them all. I have some of their favorite reading lists, and am hoping to do interviews. So visit one or all as you like by clicking on their names above.

Summer Movies - A Prediction

2007-05-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

Just saw my 2nd Summer blockbuster, "Shrek The Third." Easily as good as the original, it is not surprising that records fell. 11 year-old son, Robert, saw Pirates on Thursday night. At 2 hours and 40 minutes, he said he noticed it was long. On the other hand, he couldn't stop talking about it. I just checked box office Mojo, and first estimates are that Pirates will not beat the record for a Friday, but that might have a lot to do with not being able to show it as often as you can a 2 hour movie. At an estimate $43 million domestic, no one will be complaining over at Disney.

I am going to go way out on a limb and make a prediction. This Summer season of movies will completely demolish all the records here-to-fore. The biggest problem for the movie makers will not be audience, it will be screens. Pity the B and C movies. They will be moving to airplanes and DVD's faster than ever as the huge hits monopolize the venues. Some also-rans might even be wise to pull out of this Summer's release plan, and take their chances with the Fall.

This proves, as was mentioned here on previous occasions, the movie business isn't dead. If they put out product that it fun, uplifting, exciting, or edgy, folks will flock to see it. The pundits who predicted two years ago that the end of "going to the movies" was at hand, must have been some of the same prognosticators who are now predicting catastrophic horrors due to global warming - just a failure to consider all of the facts.

What Science Doesn't Know

2007-05-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Wired Magazine just changed its format. New fonts and colors are supposed to make the mag so much better. Maybe these things matter to some readers. I just want great content. Wired delivered in a major way (again) in the February '07 issue. There are numerous excellent articles, but one is a major standout: "What We Don't Know: 42 of the Biggest Questions in Science."

One might correctly surmise that I liked this article because it admits to the limitations of science. Not only does it do so in the general sense of the title, but in very useful details in reviewing the 42 questions. In addition, the contributors to this article raised some fascinating issues which give support to some of my favorite opinions about various scientific issues. I encourage you, dear reader, to click over to the entire article and read it for yourself. I will be highlighting a few of my favorite passages over the next few days.

Best of all was this on GLOBAL WARMING:

Will forests slow global warming - or speed it up?

.......
We don’t know which way it will go, because we know so little about forests themselves. Scientists estimate that up to 50 percent of all species live in forest canopies - three-dimensional labyrinths largely invisible from the ground - but virtually no one can tell you what lives in any given cubic meter of canopy, at any height, anywhere in the world. We don’t even have names for the most common species of trees in the Amazon.

We know that trees suck up CO2. We know that decaying trees give off CO2. We also know that trees tend to absorb light energy, rather than reflect it. Termites, which eat trees, are a major source of methane gas, another greenhouse gas.

However, the take away line from this story is "we know so little about forests..."
Add to this line a few of the other things we don't know that have been discussed in this blog alone:

We also know very little about clouds and how they will effect future global warming.
We also know very little about the self-healing aspect of our three atmospheres.
We also know almost nothing about how the earths millions of species of plants and animals will react to warmer climates. Ocean surface algae alone could so increase in population that CO2 would be dramatically reduced by this algae consuming it

Spidey III - Forgiveness

2007-05-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

Make sure that your children and your unsaved friends see Spider-man 3. I took three very solid Christian young men to see it yesterday, and the critical messages of the film were subtle enough that they didn't get it until I pointed it out. But it was indeed a sermon.

The basic storyline from the beginning has been that we humans, with or without super powers, are a complex bag of good and evil. We are faced with choices all the time where we are forced to choose the expedient or the right thing to do. We commonly choose the expedient.

At another level the writers clearly want us to know that there is a kind of evil which exists outside of nature and our own human nature which can influence our decisions in a major way. As with most movies in this genre, one of the ways the evil is used to create inappropriate behavior is to incite us to revenge. And not just any revenge, but taking God's judgment into our own hands.

As this part of the storyline plays out, we see character after character asking for or giving forgiveness, and we see that in so giving or granting, there is a blessing to both the giver and the receiver. At one point, Peter (Spider-man) is even encouraged to forgive himself.

Even the love story has a serious Christian message with regard to the relationship with husband and wife. Peter's Grandmother tells him that he should only marry when he is confident that he can put his wife's needs ahead of his own. This subtheme is not some hidden subplot, but a repeated admonition that would be impossible to miss.

Oh! How was the movie? The action? The story? Best of the three in my opinion. Two of the three of my young charges agreed. Personally, I "liked" the bad guys better.

On Being Overwhelmed, Passion or the Lack of It, and Their Connection

2007-05-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

Warning: If the following seems ill-conceived or rambling, take it for what it is worth. Blogs are allowed to be journals with unintelligible musings thrown in from time-to-time.

As this blog is called to tell the Truth, and truth generally must be fired by passion, I have not been blogging much this past month or so. What has been different in these past few weeks is the amount and type of work I have been doing. Our company has been struggling at a number of different levels, and this has dramatically increased the amount of work I do while at work. The intensity is much higher. And, for the first time in my career, I tend to bring the "work" home. No, I don't bring my briefcase or my computer home with me. In fact, I rarely even look at my office e-mail from home, make phone calls, or even do research after hours. It's worse. I think and ponder and contemplate and mmmm worry and plot and plan and ............

This kind of intensity seems to block out everything else. I have read 4 novels in the past 4 weeks, still hold a Bible study on Tuesday night, have attended countless little league games and other such for the kids during this time, but in order to write about the stuff I do, you have to have passion about the things you are writing about. And at least it would appear that passion is hard to sustain when you are worn out, worried, anxious, plotting, etc. I just wondered if a lot of what Paul was saying in the New Testament had to do with this very thing. How can we be passionate about following Christ and doing His will if we are burned out by the everyday things of life?

"Chick Book" Report

2007-04-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

I have never been too concerned about having my manhood questioned. Instrumentally I may play the flute, but I also play the Sousaphone. So, with that defensive statement in place, I offer the following review of the recent works of Nicholas Sparks. If the name is familiar, but you can't quite place it, some of his books have made it into movies: The Wedding, Message in a Bottle, and The Notebook. Last Summer I read these three books. In the past 60 days I have consumed another 4. Here is my report.

If you don't like the Lifetime Channel you won't care much for Nicholas Sparks. Pretty much every book is built around a romantic couple and death. If, however, you are a husband who has tired of self-help books and marriage seminars as teaching tools for being a more romantic partner, these books could infuse you with a mental stimulation that non-fiction sometimes fails to create.

Personally, I am both embarrassed and annoyed when a movie or book brings me to the point or past the point of tears. (I know, I know. I shouldn't be embarrassed.) Be forewarned that if you are possessed of any heart at all, you will not get through any of these books without tearing up.

The folks who buy movie rights were correct in taking The Wedding to the screen. I still think this was his best work to date. However, The Notebook is a two Kleenex Box book. It should come as no surprise that I find his writing very compelling, the characters real and endearing.
Many of the books have a Christian message that suggests Sparks is not only a believer, but wants the message of Christ to be spread. Contrast that with a recurring plot line of sex on the first date. The good news is that he doesn't linger on the sexual aspect or give details.

Under this blogs book review rating system, the works of Nicholas Sparks are Buy In Paperback.

A Thought-provoking Poem

2007-04-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

Thoughts for Harry Reid
By Tarzana Joe

Would Rockne be remembered
If the towel he had tossed?
Forget about the Gipper, boys
This game’s already lost.

Would Lincoln be a hero
And on pennies be embossed
If he announced that, after Shiloh
This Union, friends, is lost.

Would Caesar have surrendered
Before the Rubicon was crossed?
Did Ulysses pull the plug
When his barque was tempest-tossed?

Would Perry’s flag be flying
Would hist’ry gip a rip
If, on it, he embroidered
“Do give up the ship!”

If we’d been bowed by setbacks
Or our opponents’ fury
Nothing would have happened
On the deck of the Missouri

So in the battle of our lifetime
If I can be the chooser
I’d rather keep on fighting
Than declare myself the loser.

HT: Hugh Hewitt

Happiness? Joy? Bah! Humbug!

2007-04-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I posted on Happiness vs Joy. It didn't result in much discussion (Ok. No one commented.) This was a bit surprising in a blog, Godvsnogod.blogspot.com, where 20 comments is the average. At some level the issues of happiness, joy, contentment, anxiety, angst, fear are at the very heart of the human condition. Wired magazine has a brief essay this month which adds a bit of flavor to the issue from the pharm side of things. I recommend this 3 minute read. But here's an excerpt:

From a distance, pleasure without fear or desire sounds pretty good. But in your grasp, it starts to feel less like paradise and more like soma. A species that shuts out adversity does not survive very long in a Darwinian universe. In the short term, humans with happy-making neural implants would cease to be interesting. Quenching feelings of hardship also means never feeling desire or want. Unpleasant as those emotions can be, they're also the basis for ambition and creativity. "Happy people are not ambitious," Greenfield says. "They do not build civilizations."

One could argue that there is no inherent goodness in building civilization, and I have had some commenters on this and other blogs who feel all this need to grow and build is not the best for human kind. The Jesus People certainly would contend that the constant grasping for material improvement is not of God. Many environmentalists clearly would like to see a return to simpler times.

Now enters the age of Pharma. The article points out that we may be on our way to being able to use various drugs or other tools to completely control our moods. We certainly have taken a number of very large steps down that path with various anti-depressants, anti-anxiety products, ADD and ADHD solutions, and "muscle relaxents." On the surface and case-by-case one has a hard time saying to the chronically depressed person, "You'll get over it," when a couple of tiny pills will give them so much peace. But as a species, is this approach wise?

Taking it directly into the God realm, there is a small and shrinking percentage of the Christian community who proclaim the sufficiency of Christ. This is similar to the Christian Scientist Claim of no medical intervention. However, do we begin to see their point as we move down the slippery slope. (Or should we say slippery slopes...eg. designer babies, gene alteration, or enhancement drugs.) Should we draw a line? Where?

The article concludes with this interesting thought:

Maybe it's no coincidence that some of the happy-making stuff is manufactured in those countries. It's reminiscent of the scenario laid out by another prescient thinker, H. G. Wells. In his book The Time Machine, Wells wrote about a world where the happy, indolent elite — the Eloi — are served by industrious outsiders called Morlocks. The Eloi are also the hardworking Morlocks' food. Grim stuff. And also the exact opposite of what Jefferson was trying to tee up for Americans. Maybe he knew that if you have too much happiness, you don't get life and liberty.

Laser TV's and Projection Cell Phones

2007-04-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

Several new approaches to TV are on the way, but leading the pack in the over 40" category is Laser TV. Claims are that these TV's will be half as thick, half the weight, half the cost, and use 25% of the energy of existing large screen LCD and Plasma TV's. Did I mention that these will also have a much better picture? Other sources say that LCD TV's in this size range will be coming down by half by Christmas at the same time the Laser TV's are supposed to be hitting stores, worldwide.

In some ways more interesting is that the same technology is being tested on cell phones to allow users to project images onto any surface. This could create a serious portable TV. We can be sure that if it works, it will cause some kind of cancer.

Some more detail here and here.

Dream House - Major League Style

2007-04-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

I used to day dream when I was a kid. Just ask my teachers. Among other things I dreamed of owning a mansion, and while much of the details escape me today, I clearly recall that my dream home was to have a bowling lane in the basement. Today I know that my immagination was far too limited.

One of our church members is related to the All Star shortstop of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jack Wilson. This morning about 40 men and boys from church traveled out to spend a couple of hours with Jack. The goal of the trip was to hear a bit about the life of a big leaguer. You know. How does a Christian avoid all the pitfalls of that life. Jack did a fine job of delivering that message and regaled us with short snippets from his career. But I think the thing we will all remember is his back yard.

About 1/3 of the yard is devoted to a full on major league infield with the latest Astro Turf to make it realistic. To the right of the field is a facility for perfect aerobics, a swimming pool. The rock waterfalls and slides probably don't have much to do with his work outs, but his kids have to love it. Off to the left is the 500 square foot training room with 40" LCD tv, and every kind of machine you could ever ask for. Just in front of this the tennis court, professional full basketball court, putting green. Oh! Did I mention the batting cage. I didn't ask, but since the batting cage was about 50 foot deep, I suspect it works well for hitting golf balls, also.

My son, Robert, was kind of hoping to be adopted, but he had to settle for the above picture and a signed baseball card.

What a Week!

2007-04-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure that there has been another time in the history of this minor league blog when I've gone a week without a post. But this hasn't been any normal week. Like you, I have watched the news and contemplated its meaning, unsure that there really is any significant lesson outside of the fact that we will always have our crazies.

There is reason to think that we have gone to far in "mainstreaming" folks who might be a danger to themselves or others. I have been in the system with an employee who had hyperthyroid problems which were leading to LSD-like behavior, including threats to her life and that of her baby. She had to admit herself.

And yet, while the headlines are impressive, how do we measure the loss of those lives against the freedom of these individuals who are borderline. I tend to find myself more concerned about their personal welfare on the streets more than the occasional incident when an innocent civilian gets harmed.

We probably need changes in the way we deal with mental health issues. What do you think?

Whose House Is This Anyway?

2007-04-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading
national university, this house incorporates every
"green" feature current home construction can provide.
The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms)
and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American
southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal
heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300
feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.)
heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The
system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas,
and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a
conventional heating/cooling system.

Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into
a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from
showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground
purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected
water then irrigates the land surrounding the house.
Flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property
into the surrounding rural landscape.

For the answer, click on "comment" below.

HT: Collecting My Thoughts

The Reagan Economy Just Keeps On Buzzing Along

2007-04-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

Do you know who Larry Kudlow is? He's that wild and crazy talk show host of Kudlow and Company. Here and elsewhere Larry provides insights into everything having to do with the economy and stocks. A couple of months ago he wrote this essay, and surprise, surprise, it has not been widely reported upon. The title: "It's the Reagan Economy, Stupid," wherein he clearly points to the things done in the Reagan years as revolutionary and producing the longest period of economic prosperity in the 20th Century.

More evidence of the Reagan-induced boom comes from Michael Cox, an economist at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank and co-author of the brilliant new book The Myth of Rich and Poor. Cox recently calculated that since the dawning of Reaganomics 18 years ago, the U.S. economy has slumped into recession for just 6 of the last 200 months, or a mere 3 percent of the time. That is an almost unprecedented stretch of growth considering that historically the U.S. economy has been in decline one-third of the time.

What did Reagan do that resulted in such change?

It was Reagan's supply side economic ideas -- the policy of marginal rate tax cuts, a strong dollar, trade globalization (the Gipper started NAFTA with a U.S.-Canadian free trade agreement), deregulation of key industries like energy, financial services and transportation, and a re-armed military -- all of which unleashed a great wave of entrepreneurial-technological innovation that transformed and restructured the economy, resulting in a long boom prosperity that continues to throw off economic benefits to this day.
So, what next? I predict we are already in a slower period (truckers are complaining, a leading indicator), and we will start to see increasing unemployment (we are basically at full employment now.) However, unless there is a major catastrophe, the Reagan Boom should continue on and on.

Air Show at Point Mugu

2007-04-02T22:23:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I decided I really wanted to go to an air show. I had experienced the fly-overs at Dodger games, seen some maneuvers while driving by March AFB, and watched the SST land up in Seattle. Now I wanted the all day experience.

However, I was nervous about the traffic, where to sit, which one to attend, and all that. Then I met Bernardo. If you are a regular here, you have seen him comment from time to time. If you go over to The God vs No God Debate, you'll notice he has probably written more words on that blog than I have. But Bernardo's big passion is air shows. In fact, he has even established a web site that tells you everything you could possibly need to know about California air shows and some others around the country.

Since Bernardo is now a friend, he suggested that we (the fam) join him at the Pt. Mugu show this past weekend. It was a very, very fine day. (My wife says that it wasn't exactly her cup of tea.) In addition to watching all the great aerobatics, including Stealth and Thunderbirds, the boys got a chance to do a bit of photography using expensive cameras and huge lenses.

The results of that photo effort includes the picture at the top of the page by number one son, Brian. He is understandably proud of that effort. In the interest of equal time, however, please see Bernardo's best of the day just above.

55.6% of the Supremes Say Global Warming Is True

2007-04-02T18:13:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure there has ever been a more political decision that this one. The EPA is given jurisdiction to determine what pollutants to monitor and control, and which ones are inconsequential, although there are guidelines in the law. 5 of the 9 members of The Court have determined that the EPA either should or at least can include "greenhouse" gasses in the list of what they regulate. Of course, these gasses are naturally present, even critical. The legislature could have added Carbon Dioxide and Methane to the list of regulated items, but they haven't. So the Supremes have voted to go on the record regarding GW (Global warming and George W.)

The Next POTUS, Fred Thompson

2007-03-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited. Up until the last few days any effort I would have put forth for the GOP standard bearer in '08 would have been half-hearted at best. As stated in a post just a couple below here, the best of the lot seemed to be the ex NY Mayor, but there is plenty not to like.

Slowly, but surely, Fred Thompson is being drafted. He doesn't seem to be doing much overtly to get the nomination, but plenty is being done for him. He is a true conservative, has gravitas, no personal issues that we know of, and great name recognition.

If he decides to enter the race, this blogger believes he would be unstoppable. See the first poll on his chances.

Change the Divorce System NOW!

2007-03-24T08:31:00.001-07:00

Spent half an hour on the phone yesterday with a business friend who is in the 4th year of a nasty divorce. He has spent over $100,000 in attorney's fees, and he isn't done yet. More important than the money is the emotional toll on he and his daughter, now 15.

I probably had the easiest divorce in history. It cost me $100 in attorneys fees. My ex-wife was the travel agent who booked the honeymoon of my current marriage some 20 years ago, and is still our travel agent today.

What do these two divorces have in common. My friend agreed with me that divorce is the worst thing that he has gone through in his entire life. It creates anger, resentment, bitterness, disruption in our lives at every level. In almost every case, careers are disrupted, often times businesses are hurt or even destroyed, KIDS are badly damaged, friendships are ended, and financial consequences to both husband and wife are commonly devastating.

There has to be a better way. I don't have a really cool new idea here. However, I believe that with all of its shortcomings, the fault method of divorce was better than this no-fault approach. It sent a message to the community that you don't just dissolve a marriage because you're "unhappy" or "not in love" anymore. You don't even quit because of one or two "mistakes" on the part of one or the other spouse. You don't give up because one spouse hasn't met all the "needs" of the other. Our current system says: Unhappy? End it. Everybody knows the consequences of such an approach, but nobody's doing anything about it.

One Blogger's Opinion on Global Warming

2007-03-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

A friend and frequent visitor to this blog, Kathy, has asked me to succinctly state my position on the global warming debate.

1. Almost all evidence points to 1 degree of warming at ground level over the past 100 years. More than half of this warming occurred during 1900-1940, followed by cooling from 1940-1980. Another warming trend started in the '80's. While there have been substantial changes in the way we monitor these ground level temperatures, and today's technology and number of monitoring stations is substantially greater than those of 100 years ago, my personal belief is that we are in a warm period.

2. Almost all evidence points to a very minor increase in atmospheric warming. Again, we are better at doing this now. However, models based on CO2-as-culprit theory would suggest that atmospheric warming should be greater than ground warming. My personal belief is that we are in a warm period, but not caused by CO2.

3. Ice core studies strongly show that we have been warmer than this in the past without significant negative and some positive impact on ecosystems. My personal belief is that we can get 2-3 degrees warmer without too many problems and potentially some great benefits.

4. There are very credible models based on cyclical sun patterns that would suggest that our current warming is caused by solar activity, and that CO2 concentrations increase a few years after this kind of solar activity. I personally believe that this model has the most credibility. These models show a coming global cooling starting around 2010.

5. The amount of CO2 created by humans is dwarfed by such things as volcanoes, cow-produced and termite produced gases, and the release of CO2 from natural sinks. While humans do produce CO2, it seems unlikely that the amount comes close to having the impact suggested by the CO2 model theorists. I personally think we should modify our CO2 footprint for a lot of reasons.

6. I believe that there are mountains of evidence that the earth is self-healing, which is also an extremely strong argument for the existence of God. This self-healing effect has been working for either 10,000 years (young earth) or millions of years. It might stop working during this generation or next, but such an argument seems over-the-top crazy to me. One example is the very carbon sinks mentioned above. Organisms on the ocean surface grow like crazy when there is more CO2, they ingest and hold on to the CO2, thereby reducing atmospheric CO2. When the CO2 gets to a low level, these organisms begin to die off, thus releasing stored CO2 into the atmosphere and there is less being ingested and stored by these creatures.

7. Bottom line. Humans should work hard to reduce pollution of all kinds for many and varied reasons which are obvious. Humans should be seeking to develop energy resources that are not dependent upon potentially limited resources. I have covered this in detail here. We should not be risking our economies or the developing economies of the poorest countries based on the questionable science of Al Gore or the UN.

Biased Reporting or Confusion - Either Way It Says A Lot

2007-03-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

Source:	University of Copenhagen
Date:	March 10, 2007

Climate Change: Could It Be Random?

Science Daily — Severe climate changes during the last ice-age could have been caused by random chaotic variations on Earth and not governed by external periodic influences from the Sun. This has been shown in new calculations by a researcher at the Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen University.

The temperature curve through the Greenland inland ice sheet shows 26 dramatic and abrupt climate shifts during the last ice age that lasted more than 100.000 years. This curve shows the climate shifts during 40,000 years. The climate shifts appear to be periodic, but mathematical computer simulations shows that they are probably chaotic and random. (Credit: Peter Ditlevsen)

Several large international projects have succeeded in drilling ice-cores from the top of the Greenland inland ice through the more than 3 km thick ice sheet. The ice is a frozen archive of the climate of the past, which has been dated back all the way to the previous interglacial Eem-period more than 120.000 years ago.

The ice archive shows that the climate has experienced very severe changes during the glacial period. During the glacial period there were 26 abrupt temperature increases of about 7-10 degrees. These glacial warm periods are named Dansgaard-Oeschger events after the two scientists first observing them.

The global warming we experience presently will cause a temperature increase of perhaps 2-5 degrees in the next century if greenhouse gas emissions continue, researchers claim. This will lead to increased sea levels and more severe weather with terrible consequences. The temperature rise during the glacial period were much larger and happened much faster.

.....

This is very important for understanding the cause of the climate changes and especially for predicting climate shifts. If they are random and chaotic they are fundamentally unpredictable.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of Copenhagen.

So, which is it? The entire article is about the possibility of randomness, yet the writer has to insert his own bias about the current climate change.

HT: Norma

The Last Days by Joel Rosenberg - Book Review

2007-03-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

If you like TV programs like "24" or books by Ludlum, and I didn't convince you last time with my review of "The Last Jihad," then I will be trying 3 more times. The second book in the series is "The Last Days." Like any good series, it takes up where "Jihad" left off. John and Erin continue their heroic exploits as the constantly find themselves in harms way. Like "24," the action is taking place in the current political climate and offers a glimpse of a possible future ourcome of the global power struggle.

The characters are almost as well written as Stephen King's. The background research is definitely on par with Ludlum. The intensity keeps you up until the wee hours on a regular basis.
This is a buy-and-keep. It is a bit hard to find in major bookstores. Usually available in the better Christian bookstores (The second book is overtly Christian, but should still be very, very interesting to those who don't like "Christian" fiction.

Lightbulbs Create Political Confusion

2007-03-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

The left-leaning Los Angeles Times editorial page has today asked the California State legislature to NOT outlaw incandescent bulbs. I am totally shocked!! Liberals are perfectly happy to ban all kinds of things they don't like or think might hurt a moth in some swamp. Why wouldn't they be willing to reduce energy consumption through lighting by some 80% by taking a 19th century technology off the market? The answer to that question is even more astounding.

The LA Times is worried that such a ban would stifle innovation and limit consumer choice. Is there a chance that the West Coast newspaper of record has been infiltrated by editorial writers from National Review?

But alas, they just want a different limitation. They want to set target energy use levels that all light bulbs must meet by date certain (say 2012.) General electric says they are already working on various bulbs that would do everything that the legislation proposed by the Times is asking. Let the free market work, for heaven's sake.

But, once again, I am forced to keep on saying it. The government is not free market. I am 100% in favor of requiring all government purchases of bulbs to be fluorescent starting tomorrow. There is a law I can support, but which will never see the light of day.

The Tide IS Turning RE: Global Warming Debate

2007-03-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

I could just feel it in my bones. If you overhype something, eventually there will be a backlash. I think the backlash is beginning, and those who are absolutely convinced that man-caused GW will result in horrible consequences in the next 50 years are about to be sent back to undergraduate school for a remedial course.
No less a source than the NY Times writes an almost balanced article on the subject. If you are intrigued by GW or by MSM media bias, you must read this article. It actually quotes some of the GW skeptics and clearly shows where Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" is full of hyperbole and distortion (don't call it lies). Then it ends with this, a quote from a Princeton Prof: "...But in terms of the big picture, he got it right.”

If you mess with the science, totally distort almost every fact, leave out important aspects that fly in the face of your agenda, and you're President Bush, you lied. If you're Al Gore, you got it right.

Now, if you'd like to see a completely biased, but very well done documentary from the other side, the skeptical side, go here. It 75 minutes long, but it is fantastic in the way that it completely devestates the GW agenda, and shows it to be a monumental rip off. That's why it is called: The Great Global Warming Swindle

Those of you who have bought this junk science, watch the documentary and tell me why its wrong. The credentials of the scientist they interview are at the very zenith of their various disciplines.

Don't Send Presents

2007-03-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

I read one of those viral emails the other day having to do with birthdays. You've probably seen it. When your under 10, half birthdays really matter. Up until 25 you can't wait until you get older. After 70, you're proud of how old you are again. After 100, you start counting the 1/2 years again.

Wellll, I know I'm weird, but I have always looked forward to getting to the next stage in my life. I also can't help but be fascinated by aspects of aging that most of my other friends and associates of the same age don't find that fascinating.

When I turned 50, I realized that I was starting to count in reverse. In other words, looking at family history and such, I figured I had 30 really good years left. I realized that a person could have an entire career in that much time. I began to ponder that possibility. One thing was certain. Those years were not going to go to waste.

As the calendar turns, I'm hitting 59 this Friday. The last 9 years have not been a waste, but I won't boor you with the details (2 daughters married, 4 1/2 grandkids . . . whoops.) On the other hand, my dad is turning 87 this year and my mom 81. So I've decided that I still have 30 good years left. And I bet my forecast is closer than the UN forecast on global warming.

The Problem of Evil

2007-03-09T19:49:00.000-08:00

In over 20 years of debating atheists, the most common complaint they have against the Christian God usually revolves around how a omnipotent God could allow so much evil in the world. Even more problematic for most is that God was the author of what they see as evil, especially in the Old Testament. The Great Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the utter destruction of some cities or people groups, including the take over of Jerusalem.

I have done my best to offer answers to these issues over the years, but I found a great essay that really pulled things together in a very different way. The article pointed out that in every case God:

1. Had clearly declared years in advance that certain things were going to happen, therefore putting people on notice with regard to his intent.
2. Had given many opportunities for either changing their ways or moving out of the way.
3. Had provided evidence of his mercy.
4. Had even given last chances near the time of the destruction
5. Made it clear that these actions were judgments in response to horrific behavior. Usually this behavior was sexual and violent.
6. Meted out the same exact consequences to the Jews when they were judged to be behaving badly.

Interestingly to me, it seems as if this is exactly how God works in our individual lives, and how He has promised to work at His future coming.

Reversal "...Global Warming...Over-hyped and an Environmental Concern of Second Rank" -Claude Allegre

2007-03-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

I just keep feeling like the whole GW thing stinks to high heaven. It's one thing when you think other folks are just wrong, but are doing what they're doing with good hearts. In this case, however, I think there is power, money, prestige, and political motives that are driving this entire debacle. Call it my gut. Here's the latest.

Claude Allegre, one of France's leading socialists and among her most celebrated scientists, was among the first to sound the alarm about the dangers of global warming.

His break with what he now sees as environmental cant on climate change came in September, in an article entitled "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" in l' Express, the French weekly. His article cited evidence that Antarctica is gaining ice and that Kilimanjaro's retreating snow caps, among other global-warming concerns, come from natural causes. "The cause of this climate change is unknown," he states matter of factly. There is no basis for saying, as most do, that the "science is settled."

HT: Drudgereport.com The whole story

Science Is NOT God

2007-03-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

The most important issue civilization will answer during the next 100 years will be whether there is a God who is personally involved in daily affairs of man, or if we will rely on scientists to determine how we live and behave. While it is unlikely that all of us will agree on one or the other, one will dominate.

I have argued here and in many atheist and naturalist blogs and forums that while I love science and the fruits of scientific endeavor, we can't turn it into our God. The main reason is that no matter how much we may think we know about the way things work, we will never know the "rest of the story." A very small amount of new information can make major changes. A HT to Norma for this fantastic original reporting:

I invite you to read the first 5-10 pages of any issue of Nature. Here's what I noticed today:
The fat metabolism of Drosophila (fruit fly) is a mystery. . .
They still haven't figured out the influence of genes vs. environment in disease, and some studies are "controversial."
Astronomers' galaxy theories are in need of a new model because of new observational techniques.
"despite intense investigation. . ."
"it is a mystery. . ."
"new techniques reveal. . ."
"will test the hypotheses that . . ."
"previously unknown changes. . . "
"reveal an unexpected connection in. . ."
"more widespread consequences than previously predicted. . . "
"may play a role in climate change (this was not human related). . ."
"long running debate in how . . . "
"the nature of how this works is unclear. . ."
"the reason for this variation has been something of a mystery. . . "
"there is only one fossil of this 150 million year old species available for analysis. . . "
"Even some of the most accomplished scientists are in the dark about the most basic information underpinning their work. . . "
"The plant with the largest flower (a metre across) has no roots, leaves or stems and has no DNA clues on how it is related to other plants. . . "
the question of whether this property plays an active role in tumors has remained under debate. . . "

Presidential Straw Vote

2007-03-03T06:40:00.000-08:00

If the election for POTUS were held today, and instead of just two candidates, you could choose among all the folks who are currently being considered, who would you vote for?

That question was put to me yesterday by a friend of mine who enjoys politics as much as I do. I thought about it for a few seconds and startled myself with Giuliani. Then as I created this post I realized I couldn't spell his name, not even close enough for Google to correct me. Do you think there is time for a complete dark horse to come and save us from this sad list of potential leaders of our country?

The reason I chose Giuliani is because he clearly is a leader. He has vision, style, and folks want to follow him. But he has so many negatives. Unfortunately, however, after him we just don't have much to look at. Romney would be my second choice, but why do I feel like he's Bill (take a poll - change my opinion) Clinton in Republican clothing. McCain has aged out, and I never liked him for the job when he was younger. Too self-righteous.

Brownback? Acts like an extremist. Condi? Needs to get married and run for a lower office first. Otherwise I like her among all considered candidates. Newt? Would probably be good at it. I would vote for him ahead of Giuliani, but I think he's unelectable because of too much exposure.

Then there's the folks on the other side of the aisle. If Obama has the credentials to be president, then so do I. I've written more books than he has. He is so far to the left that Ted Kennedy couldn't vote for him. Hillary? Uhhhh, NO! And if it were between Hillary and Edwards, I'd actually vote for Hillary.

My friend then suggested that all of this made him think Gore should run. After he wrestled the gun away from my head, I suggested that all of this made Powell look perfect for the job. Do you think his wife would let him do it?

Stock Market Bust - What Isn't and Won't Be Reported

2007-02-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

Immigration is down. You know, the illegal kind. Whether it is because our Homeland Security improvements are working, or because the Mexican economy is on a roll, or because of our construction slump, fact is, there are fewer apprehensions. That is how the HSD determines how many are trying to get in.

But this reduction could end up being one of those unintended consequences that most economists will never actually figure into the historical pattern. Let me see. Less new adults added to the population, fewer families looking for a place to live, less people buying goods and services. This is very likely to lead to an economic slowdown, starting with housing. Checked out the value of your home recently.

In checking around with my friends in the business world, construction work is very slow, truckers are looking for loads, and almost everyone seems to be complaining about new business in the last three weeks of February. So Alan Greenspan says: We might have a recession later this year. China hears that (he said it at a meeting in China.) They aren't stupid, and they can feel the cough in America long before it becomes a cold in Asia. So their market dumps 9% in one session.

Does this mean we should encourage illegal immigrants to start crossing over again? Does it even mean we should dramatically increase the number of work visas and such. Not necessarily. We just need to know that there will be pain in the process.

PS. This is not to say that this is the only thing impacting the economy or housing prices. And I am not predicting a recession later this year. As a card carrying member of the Optimist Party, I expect a major increase in business tomorrow or the next day.

Al Gore, Liberal Elitist Extrodinaire, Just Doesn't Get It

2007-02-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

Wow! Al Gore responded today to the issue of whether his energy use of 20 times the national average was an indication of hypocrisy in his war against global warming. He pointed out that he has switched many of his light fixtures to low energy compact fluorescent bulbs. He is in the process of installing a solar panels, and he tries to buy energy from companies producing such energy from greener sources. Thus he is reducing his carbon footprint from what it was.

It turns out, however, that the "pool house" uses 10 times more energy than the average American home. Al, if you want to be the lead spokesman and win the Nobel Peace Prize for that leadership, maybe you could lower yourself to live in a 2500 square foot home with a pool. Just maybe you could travel commercial instead of private jets. I know you have worked hard, as did your father before you, and you deserve your luxuries. You and Babs with her air conditioned barn that stores her personal memorabilia. But if you want to be believed that you think we are in a global emergency, and that life as we know it is threatened, then I would think the only ethical thing to do would be t0 actually sacrifice. Don't hold your breath.

Al Gore Get's Another Award

2007-02-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

This is almost too good to be true, but other than the Drudge Report where I found it, you're just not going to see this information hitting the Main-Stream-Media any time soon.

Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”

Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national average

Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.

In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

So let's dispense with the nominating, the voting, and all that. I say we give him Hypocrite of the Decade with no further ado.

Given Enough Time, Science Might Get Things RIght

2007-02-24T16:24:00.001-08:00

I've been spending more than few hours debating scientist over at my new blog http://godvsnogod.blogspot.com. And in order to do the research, I have also traveled to places like thenogodblog, The Panda's Thumb, and the bronze blog. Most folks in the science world agree that much they propose to know to be true today will be improved on in future days, months, or years. Science is always self-correcting. We can hope it self-corrects for the better. If global ice age vs. global warming is any indication, there is still much work to be done.

Well, if there is one science that is usually the most ridiculed, it is the one I have my degree in, psychology. Freud has been completely discredited, and those who followed fit the claim often made of economists: If you have 10 psychologists in the room, you probably have 11 opinions on any given subject.

I have to say, though, the past few months have seen some remarkable progress in the field. Psychologists first determined that teaching self esteem wasn't working. This was almost my first post on this blog. Then last year a survey revealed that therapists believed that 75% of emotional illness is related to failure to forgive. Both of these are most amazing in that they confirm Biblical teaching.

Now this from findings of The American Psychological Association:

...the portrayal of girls and young women as sex objects harms girls' mental and physical health - should be addressed at the root cause: the media.

If this were the only finding, it would be amazing enough. But the article goes on:

The saturation of sexualised images of females is leading to body hatred, eating disorders, low self-esteem, depression, high rates of teen pregnancy and unhealthy sexual development in our girl children. It also leads to impaired cognitive performance. In short, if we tell girls that looking "hot" is the only way to be validated, rather than encouraging them to be active players in the world, they underperform at everything else.And all along the "progressives" in this society have believed that it is ok to dress our 12 year- old girls like sluts, allow our 14 year-olds to date adults, and put no restrictions on the tv, movie, or internet habits of our preteens of either sex.

I spent two weeks over at blogcritics.org a couple of years ago arguing about the negative effects of porn, an inclination of men to require their dates to do what they have seen on porn. This and the opposite. Women feeling compelled to do what they believe their date likes in porn in order to hold onto them. Most of the folks in the forum thought I was an old fashioned nanny.

Well, the Bible tells us to esteem not ourselves, that our worth comes from God. The Bible says that forgiveness is the key to spiritual cleansing which will lead to a balanced life. The Bible says that we should reserve the sexual aspects of our lives to our mate. Science follows Bible. I like it.

More on Light Bulbs

2007-02-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

I know that the name of this blog seems a bit less than humble, and it was intended as a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing, but every once in a while, this little blog that could gets it right. We got it right on dark chocolate. Now we were the leading edge on light bulb. The first article was here

Now the great state of California may join Australia in some kind of ban on bulbs. This morning it was above the fold in the LA Times. Go figure. You can also read all about the details on a "green" website here. (Bet you never thought you'd see the day when I pointed you to a green website.)

And by the way, in case you don't read the entire LA Times article or go to the green website, one other interesting point is that the major bulb makers are working overtime to come up with a more efficient incandescent bulb. Will wonders never cease.

This is not the only way to become more efficient on energy while reducing carbon in the atmosphere without killing the worlds economies. See my list from a few days ago. Hopefully in a future column there will be more evidence that some of us lay people get it right from time-to-time.

Australia To Outlaw Traditional Light Bulbs

2007-02-20T21:25:00.000-08:00

This makes total sense. See my post below. If we agree, and I think almost everybody does, that we should cut petrol use and become more efficient in energy use, and pollute less - than this is the kind of regulation we need.

(AP) The Australian government on Tuesday announced plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs and replace them with more energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs across the country. Legislation to gradually restrict the sale of the old-style bulbs could reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tons by 2012 and cut household power bills by up to 66 percent, said Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

More like this! The rest of the article is here

Will This Make Front Page In LA Times Tomorrow? - American Want to Win In Iraq - Poll

2007-02-20T14:07:00.000-08:00

HT to the Drudge report.

Public Opinion Strategies took a poll. Who are they? Well, they "scored the best win-loss record among the major polling and media firms in the 2004 election." The were also named Pollster of the Year in 2002.

The survey shows Americans want to win in Iraq, and that they understand Iraq is the central point in the war against terrorism and they can support a U.S. strategy aimed at achieving victory, said Neil Newhouse, a partner in POS. The idea of pulling back from Iraq is not where the majority of Americans are.
By a 53 percent - 46 percent margin, respondents surveyed said that Democrats are going too far, too fast in pressing the President to withdraw troops from Iraq.

You can read all the results by going here

Serious Methods For Reducing Energy Use and Greenhouse Gasses

2007-02-15T20:15:00.000-08:00

My blogging buddy, Norma, has posted her personal list of ways to Green the planet. OK. Some of hers are tongue-in-cheek. My list will be far to serious, but I suggest it is more realistic than the methods being proposed by those flying to international meetings in their private jets.

1. Nuclear power plants.
2. Increase number of years of patent protection on patents related to energy efficiency or reduction of any pollutant. Get an international treaty that makes certain that the patent protection gets enforced worldwide.
3. Experiment with tax or even cash incentives until we find a successful set of methods to move people into more efficient products. (In California, Southern California Edison offers incentives from time-to-time for the installation of more efficient lighting in businesses. These programs are always oversubscribed. If we believe that this is necessary to save the earth, provide the necessary incentives so that every business that wants to can get the incentive.)
4. Give all government bodies at all levels 10 years to move to more efficient products. If all government cars had to 100 MPG by 2017, there would be dozens of start-up companies trying to fill that demand, not to mention the companies that already exist. Same thing for lighting, AC, heating, window treatments, etc.
5. Don't penalize energy producers for their old technology, provide tax incentives to whatever degree necessary to get them to move to new technologies.
6. Stop scaring people about the future. It doesn't work, and it can even be counter-productive. Instead, point to the benefits. Everyone knows for a fact that we would be better off to find cleaner-more renewable sources of energy. Everyone knows that we would be better off if our cars and light bulbs and appliances were more efficient. No one knows if the planet will be warmer or cooler in 100 years or what the effects will be. Move people with a positive message and excellent incentives.

Enough from me. Am I wrong? What else?

The Last Jihad by Joel Rosenberg

2007-02-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

Some of you will know that I'm a total Johny-come-lately on this one. The Last Jihad hit the book shelves in 2003 and was a New York Times best seller. Joel Rosenberg ended up doing all kinds of talk show work because he "predicted 9/11." How could I have missed all this. Did Drudge report this? Was Rosenberg ever on The Factor?

In case you too were living in a cave during the last 4 years and completely missed the writings of Joel Rosenberg, take my advice and just go buy everything he has written. The first three, The Last Jihad, The Last Days, and Ezekiel Option make up a Trilogy of action packed, spy thrillers. The subject is World Politics, and Rosenberg has his pulse on real politic. He also has an amazing depth of knowledge about end-times theory.

Here are the reasons to read this trilogy. It is like Reading "24 Hours." Excellent storytelling, fantastic insights into political strategy, and the inside scoop on weapons, and the technology of war.

The books are better written and more intellectually satisfying fictional versions of end times than Left Behind. Rosenberg is a huge fan of Left Behind, and one can assume that LaHaye would return the compliment.

Even if you are not pre-trib, not even a fundamentalist, or not even a believer, you will be mesmerized by how these book parallel the front page of your daily paper. I'd give a couple of examples, but it would give away far too much.

Don't do another thing until you click on the book cover on this post and buy his entire output. (Yes, I will make about $.50. I promise to put it all in the offering plate.)