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Would you think of opening a store or factory without a telephone? Without a sign on your building or store front? Not if you had any idea of succeeding.
Today, to come into a county without real high-speed Internet service is just about as intelligent. Having your website online is just as important as being in a phone book. The Internet is the phone book of today, as well as tomorrow.
Our Stone Age telecom nightmare.
An experiment in New Zealand with the country's largest broadband company found carrier pigeons were several times faster than their broadband.
Can you imagine how slow we are in comparison?
Hickman County lacks a technology center where young people and adults are provided training in computer technology. All the counties surrounding us have such facilities. We are the hole in the donut.
Our landline telephone and DSL access, provided almost exclusively by A T & T, isn't much better than Iraq or Afghanistan. Cell phone reception is non-existent in perhaps 2/3 of our county.
I'm not running for the school board, yet I am aware that programs like No Child Left Behind and Common Core are forced upon state and local school systems without enough planning. These are then tossed aside for something new before they've even given the previous programs a chance. We get halfway across the river, get discouraged and turn around and swim back when we could have kept going forward, achieved our goals and not had to swim any farther than we did in defeat.
Our school superintendent is the highest paid official in the county and I've not seen near enough progress in the education of our children. Much of it is not his fault, but is the result of an impractical "one size fits all" federal/state policy. Still, it's widely known that the school system is riddled with nepotism (relatives filling cushy jobs) and with a reign of terror that sends our best teachers fleeing to other counties because they are punished for the slightest disagreement or even suggestion that does not match that of our superintendent 100%.
Education and broadband go hand in hand. Our kids (and adults) pack the libraries here to get broadband that doesn't even meet federal standards. They can't get it at home and there isn't enough bandwidth in the schools to meet their needs. People even flock to the libraries on weekends and days they are closed, gathering in the parking lot to tap into library wireless.
Several candidates say they support broadband – but then, who doesn't? What they don't say is what they would do about it – because they don't understand it. In a nutshell, the big telecoms are totally de-regulated now. They do what they want and charge what they want. They can lie with a straight face to get their sticky fingers into your wallet or purse.
We depend on them for the facts about broadband access. What we don't realize is that if one person in a census block can get broadband internet, then they paint the whole block as having access. This is blatantly false!
Much of our internet and phone access is over poorly maintained copper wires that are rusting and shot up by careless hunters, making internet access speed a typical 25 Bytes to 2.5 kilobytes, about what it was 50 years ago when the first commercial modems came on the market.
We feel "privileged" to offer a typical 200 to 300 kilobytes "broadband" speed at libraries and through DSL – when the federal standard is more like 786 kilobytes.
Many communities now offer 500 million kilobytes or even 1 billion kilobytes or 1 gigabyts speeds or even faster. The business we need to grow, (5 to 25 employees) depend heavily on high-speed internet we can't even offer – much like the land we offer but don't have. of companies with 5 to 25 employees, 24 to 20% also use the internet at home for work, making county-wide broadband vital.
What kind of difference does these comparisons make to my hourly labor costs for a data entry employee communicating across the country or the world to my customers, vendors, etc.?
We are like a snail crawling along at 1 inch an hour.
We see the turtle go by us at what seems an amazing speed of 1/10th miles per hour.
But we don't even see the blur of the antelope racing past the turtle at 60 miles per hour!
A Look at the future of broadband.
Recently, the CEO of A T & T announced a $14 billion plan to abandon copper land lines serving regular telephone users and DSL users in favor of a totally wireless 3G/4G network. This plan, called Project VIP, (Virtual Internet Provider) is touted to serve 75% of the population, yet it abandons that 25% of the population that lives in 75% of the geographic U.S., (see map).
This is why A T & T will no longer service those overhead telephone lines that are being destroyed by hunters shooting birds on the line and by the years of neglect that lead to cracked and broken phone wires in Hickman County and elsewhere across rural America.
Legally, this requires a vote of Congress and FCC approval to abandon the 1934 Communications Act. This is accomplished by massive lobbying and donations to members of Congress and the Senate. This move is made solely to increase A T & T's profits, regardless of the cost to rural America.
Your phone bill has increased in recent years in part because of a higher charge for a Universal Service fee, which was intended to improve rural broadband service just as TVA brought electricity to the Southeast. Sadly, it applied only to cities of more than 25,000 population – for which Hickman County does not qualify. Only recently have attempts been made to broaden this category.
The Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA), which supposedly regulates utilities within the state, has been stripped of its power over the big tele-coms such as A T & T, Verizon, Sprint and a few more. Many of the smaller tele-com providers chose to remain under T R A authority.
This means the big guys can charge whatever they want, lie about what they provide – including your internet access speeds (which are 20 to 80% less than advertised), and do what they want. There's not one darned thing you can do about it. Just ask the TRA itself.
If you enjoyed the Great Recession we are still in (despite claims of recovery for the rich) which was triggered by the de-regulation of banks, you are going to really love the impact tele-com de-regulation will have on our telecommunications infrastructure.
What this means to you!.
Thanks to secret agreements between the big tele-coms and government agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA, smilingly referred to as No Such Agency by its insiders), these corporations can bend – or break – the laws as they wish in exchange for giving Big Brother what he wants.
FIRST, the abandonment of copper landline telephone and DSL access means that in the future all of your private communications will be wireless. That means the contents of your phone conversations and internet activity is floating through the air, not traveling along a wire. This makes it public information and means the NSA (and others) no longer need a court order to spy on us. They just pluck everything out of the air, (microwave, radio wave and satellite pipelines) without a warrant.
The story of the NSAs gathering of everything about you, from financial to medical records as well as all your phone calls and internet activity, is another story far too big to tell here. But while the NSA says it does not listen to everything, this is deceptive. They gather everything and store it in multi-billion dollar information warehouses so they can listen or read all of it any time they want, for whatever reason they choose, even if it has nothing to do with terrorism or national security. It has been used to spy on and destroy Gen. Petraus and Rep. Anthony Weiner (the New York Congressman who couldn't seem to keep his weiner in his pants).
These huge data centers measure the amount of storage in "yodabytes." A yodabyte (the highest data measurement known) is equal to 1 million terabytes or 1,000 million gigabytes. The hard drive on your home computer, in comparison, is probably around 160 to 3,000 gigabytes (in the newest computers). The first such data center is in Montana and more are planned for Texas and other states, including possibly even in Tennessee.
SECOND, it means a return to the days of the pay telephone but in digital, wireless form. Instead of paying by the minutes as at a pay telephone, you now pay by the megabyte of data. If you "go over your limit" your internet access can be either slowed down to dial-up speed or cut off altogether until the start of your next billing cycle or you can be charged outrageous "over-usage" penalties.
THIRD, it means your home security systems will no longer work unless you agree to "an upgrade" which means cameras installed throughout your house, including your bedrooms. Hickman County residents have told me they have been told they have no choice but to submit to this invasion of privacy or lose their home security.
What can we do about it?.
Because the nation's telecommunications system is no longer subject to state regulation, and most federal regulation by the FCC has been removed, there is nothing that any county commissioner or state legislator can do about it.
The only possible solution is to put pressure on your Congressman/woman and Senator to re-regulate the big tele-coms to protect the interests of the American people and avoid a telecommunications breakdown caused by the greed of huge corporations.
We can also write or call our state senators and representatives and urge them to put pressure on our federal officials and elected representatives to represent and protect the people, not the faceless corporate giants.
What can we do locally?.
In the meantime, we face the local challenge of bringing Hickman County into the 21st Century so we can compete with the larger, richer more urban counties that are sucking business and jobs out of counties like ours.
While I applaud the School Board's decision to purchase 1,500 computers for our (shrinking) student population, there's not much point to it if there's not the "bandwidth" to get fast access speeds. I've heard from too many teachers that, even with the computers we have, the connections are so slow that it takes far longer than it should for students, and teachers, to use them online efficiently.
To understand what "bandwidth" means, think of the internet as the "information super highway" it's hyped up to be. Think of it as an interstate – the more lanes it has, the more traffic it can handle. Our "super information highway" is more like an overgrown cow path!


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Hackerbay's story begins with foosball. But it's not the typical story about foosball tables and startup culture.
It starts with Twitter hiring the four founders to digitize a foosball table in their Berlin office: Every time someone scores a goal, a tweet should go out automatically.
With the help of sensors, the founders made it happen in 24 hours.
Programming is nothing new for the team of four. Before starting Hackerbay, Christian and Michael Strobl, Marc Seitz and Tobias Jost were organizing hacking games and managing a Hackevents website. But it wasn't until they worked with Twitter that things really started moving.
"We noticed how much fun this is, through our contract with Twitter," said CMO Tobias Jost.
This inspired the team to launch 'Build me this App,' in January 2016. The contracts they received further propelled the four programmers into the hackathon network. "In the beginning it was a simple, disgusting agency business," Jost said.
During this same time period, the founders were keeping a close eye on their competitor Gigster, a startup backed by Y-Combinator, that set out to change how apps are developed by leveraging a network of programmers and fixed rates.
As Hackerbay's founders searched for investors in Germany, they also started looking at NFX, a US-based accelerator backed by Greylock.
"We hacked into the program, reset the password – and then told one of the NFX partners," Jost said. The partner, it turns out, was impressed with the "four crazy German guys," and offered them a spot in the program.
Hackerbay withdrew from other opportunities with German investors and in May 2016 they went to the US for several months. The accelerator provided 250,000 USD for seven percent of the company's shares.
A first draft in 24 minutes
The US was a wake-up call. "Our mentors dismantled everything," Jost said. In three months, the founders adapted their business model over and over again. But finally, Hackerbay launched with a new approach: Deliver an app draft, or mockup, to clients as quickly as possible.
"We manage to deliver the first designs within 24 minutes using a high level of automation," said Michael Strobl.
A recent example of this is when Mobile.de asked for a mockup chatbot, Strobl said.
Hackerbay drags designs from the autoportal website and uses different templates to build the app's design, providing an idea of what the chatbot could look like.
"People are still needed for the text and other intermediate steps," Jost explained.
If the customer decides to move forward with the app, Hackerbay searches for a team capable of developing the project. They select from a network of 1,600 programmers.
"We want to set ourselves apart from suppliers, like Gigster, with our quick prototyping," Jost said.
Hackerbay has completed a total of 36 projects this year. Their customers included big names like Twitter, Facebook and Lyft. Hackerbay developed a live-ticker for the UEFA's Champion League final. Startups in Germany are also turning to Hackerbay.
Focusing on the US market
The average price for a fully-developed app is 15,000 euros, Strobl said. Far lower than normal market prices, he explained. The startup takes 20 per cent of the total amount and the rest of the money goes to the freelance programmers. Fair payment is important to them, Strobl continued. "The programmers are all super intelligent. If we rip them off, they'll be gone," he said.
Since completing the accelerator program, all four of Hackerbay's founders chose to stay in Palo Alto, to focus on the US market. "Companies are just simply more open to such new models," Jost said. The company has seven employees based in Berlin.
In 2017, Hackerbay hopes to collect around 2.5 million USD. They are currently talking with investors in Silicon Valley.
"Social Capital said we need to have 3,000 USD of net sales per day for us to be interesting to them," Jost said grinning. "We're working on that – and we're close."
A black sign with this number is hanging in their office.
And the founders have already played a trick on Gigster: They secured the startups Twitter name. They plan to string along Gigster employees with funny news articles, Jost said. Humour fitting for a hacking startup.
This article was originally published on Gründerszene.
Photo via christiaan_008 via VisualHunt / CC BY-SA
Written by Caspar Tobias Schlenk on 28. November 2016This startup hires hackers to build apps
Hackerbay's story begins with foosball. But it's not the typical story about foosball tables and startup culture.

subset: commoncrawl


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Somewhere between shooting hoops on the playground in junior high and walking down the aisle as a grown man, you must find a way to balance your need to be a guy with your need to settle down with the right woman. You might be lucky enough to already have sorted out what to do and what not to do when dating women. However, a few hints here and there never hurt anyone, and your relationships with women can only benefit from putting some extra thought into your dating approach.
Physical Appearance
You can't judge a book by its cover, but your date probably will if you don't put some effort into your physical appearance. If you show up on your first date in flip-flops and a hoodie and she's wearing a nice dress and heels, she'll instantly think you didn't believe she was important enough to at least put on some nice jeans and a decent shirt and pair of shoes. Remember the details, too. Think showered, shaved and ready to make a stellar first impression.
You can't rely on your looks alone if you hope to move beyond that first date. You'll need to keep the conversation rolling smoothly. Current affairs, family, travel, occupation, recreational interests and hobbies are all ideal topics when you are first getting to know someone. Stay away from rants about your ex-wife, your religious and political views, the fact that you're a mama's boy, discussions about your drinking escapades, and your desire to quit your job and live in a yurt. Avoid talking about previous dates and exes altogether. Your current date doesn't want to hear about them, because it draws attention away from you two getting to know each other. Keep your conversation focused on your date by asking questions that aren't too personal.
Above all, be a gentleman. Arrive on time for your date. This shows you understand her time is important. Open doors for her, help her with her coat and pull out her chair. Compliment her appearance without going overboard. She wants to know that you like her for more than her looks. Offer to pay, but don't insist on it if she wants to pay her way. Be polite to the people around you, too, such as waitresses and doormen. When you're kind not only to her but to others as well, you show your date that your chivalry is not just an act. As for a goodnight kiss, don't expect it, but listen to her body language to know whether a kiss is appropriate. If she turns away from you and reaches for the handle on her car door, it's not going to happen. If she looks at you with anticipation, go ahead and kiss her.
After the Date
If the date went well and you want to see her again, tell her before parting ways that you enjoyed your date and that you will call her --- but only if you plan to do so. If you didn't click, say goodnight politely and walk away. Follow up in a timely manner--within a few days--with dates who interest you. If you wait too long to set up the next date, she might think you aren't interested and will make other plans -- and you might find yourself bumped off the calendar.


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Lobster Jib Board Snowboard Wide
Just because you have size 12 boots doesn't mean you don't like to press, bonk, and butter your way through the park. The Lobster Jib Board Wide Snowboard offers a super soft flex and forgiving profile to riders with bigger feet. Triple Base Technolo...
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Lobster Lobster x Deathlabel Snowboard
Lobster teamed up with their favorite Japanese board brand, Death Label, to bring you an unrelenting jib freak in the form of the Lobster x Deathlabel Snowboard that destroys parks and urban setups all across the globe. Its true twin shape makes stom...
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Lobster Halldor Pro Model Snowboard
Tailored to the high flying needs of Icelandic slopestyle destroyer Halldor Helgason, the Lobster Halldor Pro Model Snowboard caters to the needs of park junkies and rail riders with its true twin shape, buttery flex pattern, and Asymmetric Triple Ba...
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Lobster Jib Board Snowboard
When Eiki Helgason is ready to throw down mind bending tricks on insane spots in the streets, he reaches for the Lobster Jib Board Snowboard. This super soft, yet surprisingly strong board is built for locking into presses, tweaking boardslides, and ...
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Lobster SA Snowboard
Ideal for park laps, powder days, and seeking out every natural feature at the resort, the limited edition Lobster SA Snowboard is a true twin that's equally adept at floating in powder as it is sliding rails and spinning jumps. Constructed with Trip...
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Lobster Parkboard Snowboard
From high speed jump lines to mellow rail sessions, you'll feel right at home when you're on the Lobster Parkboard Snowboard. It has the right amount of playfulness you want when playing on jibs and cruising side hits, along with enough stiffness and...
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Lobster Park Snowboard 2017
You'll be seeing more airtime than a sky marshal on the Lobster Park Snowboard. Sure, you could remain covert and keep it mellow, but a widened 3BT Park shaping and poppy as ever camber profile will have you charging towards every side hit, roller, o...
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Lobster Eiki Pro Model Snowboard
When creating the Lobster Eiki Pro Model Snowboard, the elder Helgason focused on creating a playful, flexy jib board, but not at the cost of sacrificing pop and stability while booking it at high speeds. The finished product is a soft, jibby, park b...
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Lobster Parkboard SA Snowboard
Much like Halldor Helgason himself, the Lobster Parkboard SA Snowboard can handle everything from bonks and boxes to massive booters. It offers a medium soft flex and catch free feel that's just as capable of tweaking nosepresses as it is of stomping...
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Lobster The Sender Snowboard
Seek out every side hit and natural feature at the resort with the beastly all mountain freestyle performance of the Lobster The Sender Snowboard. Designed to point it with confidence, this all mountain favorite features the ideal combination of camb...
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is a highly specialized online ordering solution providing boutique service to both regional and national restaurant chains.
No heavy lifting is required to get started and nuOrder Tech provides highly competitive pricing to brands looking to take digital ordering to the next level.
Online ordering for any sized device. 100% Customizable Menu Layout & Design to match your brand. Group Ordering & Easy Catering. Guest Checkout without logging in. Customer Login Profiles with Order History. Schedule Future & Catering Orders.
Analyze Real Time Customer Spending Habits. Create Specific Promotions Based on Individual Customer Preference. Reward Your Loyal Customers with VIP Benefits. Reach Out to One Time Visitors and Invite Them Back. All on One, Easy to Use Merchant Dashboard.
Take advantage of an open platform designed to allow adding, upgrading, and swapping of digital components at the snap of a finger. An ordering solution that connects your POS, Mobile App, Loyalty, Gift Card, Delivery, Deals, Merchant Processing, and Stored Value Cards into one, streamlined digital solution.
Track Orders the Moment they are Placed; All in One, Intuitive User Dashboard. Manage Refunds, Store Hours, Prep Time, Order History & More. Easy to Use Menu Management.
Orders Sent Directly to your Kitchen POS. Restaurant Menu Synced Daily with Kitchen POS. Proactive / Automatic Order Error Management. Payment Processed Locally in Your Store, Right Away.
Start accepting orders directly from your Facebook page. Grow your social media presence via your customers. Give your customers multiple ways to order your food
Each day, we receive hundreds of online and mobile orders processed through nuOrder into our Micros POS, greatly helping to reduce wait time for customers who place orders over the phone. The ability for customers to modify their food increases our check average and makes customers happy. Most importantly, NuOrder gives us the capability to add and disable menu items ourselves, giving us much control over our online ordering.
We immediately noticed our average ticket is way up for take out orders placed online compared to those we get on regular phone orders. All the orders are sent to a Tablet device nuOrder provides, so we get orders in real time and can track order history right at the register. We wouldn't use anyone else.
Online Ordering has long been on our radar, and we found the perfect partner in nuOrder. Not only did they help our guests customize orders online, but they used their experience and expertise to help us dramatically improve our in store POS database. It's efficient, smooth and everything we hoped for.
nuOrder Tech connects marketing, loyalty, payment, delivery, and point of sale. We continue to build partnerships with the best companies in the industry to provide our clients with the resources to most effectively strengthen their brand and their technological presence


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A Struggle Of A Weekend In Campra
After the Continental Cup races in St Ullrich I came back to Davos and hit up the training pretty hard for a few days before heading off to a small town called Campra near the Italian border for two Swiss Champs races. Mark Pollock flew over and joined us, ready to race only two days out from the 1st race. Ben Sim arrived a day later to wax for us along with Fabian Mauz from Germany.
The first day of racing was a 1.4km skate sprint which I was pretty to do well in, with my goal of qualifying in the top 16 for finals. The course is one of the hardest sprint courses I've skied because it has so much climbing in it. In the warm up I didn't feel great but off the line I felt quite good and my speed was O.K. but soon after the first hill I became aware that I didn't have my usual spark and not long afterwards my legs were in an acid fest of lactic acid. I managed to keep it together somewhat but was sure my time would be a few extra seconds slower than I would like it to be, and it was, 16seconds back. I was lucky enough to make finals qualifying in 14th place and keen to go better in my heat. Callum and I ended up being put in the same heat which is becoming quite a common occurrence after New Zealand this year. I started well and was still in contact with the group until just before the last hill although they then put quite a gap into me and extended the lead throughout the finish straight.
The second day was a 15km classic and I was keen to have a better day than that of the previous day but this was also not going to be the way. I knew that on the hilling 5km loop I would have to be cautious on the first lap to avoid blowing and went out easy with what I thought would leave me with a fair bit left in the tank. After the first lap I was working harder than what I wanted to be but still picked it up a bit going into the second lap, this is where I started skiing along Struggle Street. My energy levels were low and I was starting to enter the hurt box real bad. Third lap I was really struggling and going backwards real fast. I ended up in the back half of the field quite a few minutes back which was a little devastating but hopefully thing will pick up in the races to come.
From here we have a few more days in Campra training before we go to a pace in Austria called Seefeld for a training block where we will meet up with the rest of the AUS team which have been training in America over the past month. We may possibly race next weekend in some German Cup races otherwise my next race will be in the Millan World Cup city sprints with Callum and Esbot.


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Facebook has quickly risen to one of the top spots in platforms among businesses trying to build their brand, audience, and customer base, so creating a Facebook Page is more important now than ever.
In the past few years, we've seen entire job positions created for "social media analysts" and "social media managers." Managing a business's social media reputation can actually be (and frequently is) a full time job position.
This alone shows the magnitude that social media has had on businesses. Social media presence is so important that businesses are paying experts a lot of money to either do manage their social media reputation and content for them, or to teach them how to do it.
Facebook may be the most important social media platform to be on, at least as of right now. In order to take advantage of this traffic, you either need to create an incredible Facebook page that entices engagement and properly represents your brand, your business, and your product. We want to help you create that page and see that increase in business. Here's how…
Why You Want a Facebook Page
It's not just that having a Facebook Page for your business can help you (which it can to a ridiculous degree), it can actually hurt you not to have one. Internet users are increasingly using Facebook's search engine in favor of Google (though Google still wins out), and users actively search for businesses on Facebook. By not having a Facebook page, you're one big step behind your competition.
Having a Facebok page allows you to connect with your audience in a more personal setting. Social media is all about transparency, which can help build loyal followings out of your customers.
You can use your Facebook to share information about your business, special events in your store, or show that you're giving back to the community. Anything you can think of, you can do on Facebook.
By Facebook Page, we do not mean that you create a profile for your business as if it were a person. That's not quite the best way to go about it. Casual or first time visitors will not be inclined to friend you, and that can be to your great detriment.
You want to create an actual business page—one that people "like" instead of having to "friend." Liking is something they can do quickly without thinking, without wondering if their friend request will be accepted.
How To Create a Facebook Page
In order to create a page, you start here.
You have the option of choosing several different classifications for your business's page.
You can choose to classify your business as a local business or place; a company, organization, or institution; a brand or product; an artist, brand, or public figure; entertainment; or a cause or community.
As an example, I'm going to create a Page for a fake business—my childhood (and maybe kind of adult) dream of owning an antique bookstore. For this example, I would choose "local business or place," and under the drop down menu, bookstore is an option.
You are asked to fill in the name of the business, as well as its address (the address of my high school) and a phone number.
After you enter in all of this information, you're brought to a page prompting you to set up your business's page.
You are asked to fill in a description and categories to improve the ranking of your Page in Facebook's search engine. This is important, as again, a lot of people use Facebook's search engine to find businesses they want to connect with or learn more about.
You have 155 characters to tell people what your Page—and business—is about, and under that you can post the link to your website.
You can create a specific web address to make it easier for people to find your page, and you are asked if your business is real. I answered no (for now…).
You are then prompted to upload a profile picture. Remember, this should represent your brand and your business.
You are prompted to add your new Page to your Favorites Toolbar on Facebook so that you can access it easily.
You are prompted to use Facebook's Ad system to find new likes for your page. I recommend holding off on this until your page is set up just how you want it.
On your actual page, Facebook quickly points out the navigation bar to the side, showing your likes for the week, and any unread notifications or messages you may have (and where you'll see them when you do have them). These are, I agree, among the most important things, so make sure to take note of them.
When you first see your page, it will look daunting at how empty it is, especially if you yourself use Facebook and have for a while. It will have no posts, perhaps no pictures, and definitely no likes except for yourself. But you can change that!
If you haven't uploaded a profile picture, do so now. While you're at it, upload a cover photo too.
Yes, my cover photo is of carrots, and no, it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with books, but it was one of the only pictures I had on my computer, and it was bright and colorful. Maybe I'll serve carrot soup in my antique bookstore. Choosing two photos that accurately portray your brand and product and business are key, as those pictures will be the first thing new comers will notice about your Page and your business.
Add some posts. Make sure your descriptions and "about" sections are filled in.
Invite all of your friends to like your page. This can help you get new likes quickly and gain some traction, as well as an increase in social engagement as your friends wish you well on your ventures.
If you have a mailing list of some sort, or customer's contact information, now (or after your page has gained some traction) would be the time to create a custom audience targeting your current clients that you aren't yet connected with on Facebook. You can read how to do that here.
When looking for new likes and new clients, you can utilize Facebook's Ad system to find them. Discover how here.
How to Create the Ultimate Facebook Page
It's not enough to slap a couple of pictures and a few words into some posts in order to see your business to take off and start booming. It takes more than that to make a successful Page.
To help you create not just a regular ole' Facebook Page, but a great one that will lead to new business, we've assembled some of our favorite tips.
- Post good content frequently. You'll never get users' time of day if you post generic, bland content. Find your voice and your brand and stick to it. Be clever with what you post, and post things that are relevant to your target audience. Consistancy in timing and quality is important—give fans something to check on.
- Post content designed to maximize engagement. Ask questions. Request suggestions from users. You can read more about how to increase engagement in this fantastic article here. The now bottom line is that with organic reach declining, engagement means that your content will continue to show up in your users' newsfeeds. It also gives your Page the buzz of activity, which is always a good thing.
- Make the most of your "about" section. You only have 155 characters in the shorter section, but make the most out of it. Bring the key points home. Use clever phrasing to demonstrate the tone and voice of your brand and business, and state clearly what your business is about.
- Have great visuals. If you own a restaurant, now is the time to showcase some of that delicious food. If you own a clothing line, showcase your clothes. You get the idea. You've got two set pictures—your profile picture and your cover photo—so you can get your logo on one and perhaps your product, if applicable, on the other. Pictures that are bright and attention grabbing work the best.
- Promote your page. Facebook Ads gives you several choices to find and bring new traffic to your site. Once your page is just how you want it, take advantage of it to connect with new people and increase your likes and engagement further.
- Give people a reason to be there. Make offers or contests only for Facebook fans, giving them a reason to continue to follow you and check your updates frequently.
To see more about advertising on Facebook and learn more about using Facebook Ads, you can find more information in our Facebook Ads Formula.


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Carrots, parsnips and radishes – in chip form!
When you are making a recipe with vegetables, especially root vegetables or fiberous vegetables with low water content, try this fabulous and frugal slick trick to make a beautiful garnish effortlessly while your dish is cooking.
Here is the entire recipe: slice your veggies into very thin slices -using a mandoline helps (1/8 inch or less) Spread in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet, spray with a little oil on top, sprinkle with a little S & P, and roast in the oven. If you have lots of time, roast them slowly (I did 275 degrees with the convection feature of my oven for about 45 minutes) or you can roast them faster in a hotter oven- but watch them closely so as not to burn. That's it. Really.
These chips will keep for several weeks in a zip top bag with a paper towel inside. They are so handy to throw onto the tops of soups, salads, whatever you're making. I used them to top a cream soup. Delish.
Easy. Delicious. Beautiful. And you will be an instant culinary rock star!
For a great video demo, take a look at In Your Kitchen.
Other Fab Veggie Chips:
Root Vegetable Chips, Feed the People
Zucchini and Beet Chips, The Daily Raw Cafe
Zucchini Chips, Cook Local
Chili Spiked Sweet Potato Fries, The Kitchn
Kale Chips, Kalyn's Kitchen
— posted by Donna


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Room 9 - King size double room with en-suite facilities (including breakfast).
From£82.00(2 adults)
This generously proportioned room is situated on the second floor and has a King-size bed, newly refurbisheden-suite shower room with soft fluffy bath sheets, flat-screen TV and quality hospitality tray.
Tea and Coffee Maker Yes
Toiletries Yes
En-Suite Shower Yes
Hair Dryer Yes
Free Wi-Fi Yes
Iron and Ironing Board Yes
Television Yes
Booking Terms
General Policy
Check in from 2:30pm on day of arrival
Check out by 10:00 on day of departure
Our access statement is available on request.<...[More]


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In a country where only one in 15 people has a bank account but nearly all have a cell phone, a handful of Cambodian banks are expanding mobile banking services in hopes of reaching new customers.
"In Cambodia, reports from various phone companies show there are more cell phones than people," says Sok Sophea, senior vice president of marketing at ACLEDA Bank, which first introduced mobile banking to the Kingdom in April 2010.
Its mobile service is growing by 10 per cent a month and is used by 54,000 of the bank's some 794,000 customers, Sok Sophea said.
Kim Vada, deputy general director of the National Bank of Cambodia, said at a banking and microfinance conference yesterday that mobile bankers in Cambodia number around 400,000 but growth in mobile banking has been slower than hoped because of a "limited understanding" of the technology.
The service is just one of several innovations banks are using to attract new customers and cater to the fast-changing market.
Internet banking, fingerprint verification at ATMs and dual currency dispensing ATMs were some of recent innovations mentioned at the conference yesterday by Senior Manager at Foreign Trade Bank of Cambodia Ros Sokha.
Banks are also working to establish ATMs where US dollars, riel, and Thai baht could be exchanged for one another, Rajan Narayan, managing director of BPC Banking Technologies Group, said at the banking conference yesterday.


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Happy New Year!
A very happy new year to all our clients! Many of our canine friends spent a lovely Christmas with their host families, and celebrated New Year in a warm and happy home. We are now taking bookings for the February half term and the Summer holidays, just drop us an email or call us on 01392 458379


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That it is possible to be very intelligent, and very witty, and have no apparent internal life at all
I remember Antoni Słonimski. During my formative days he was an icon in my country. No longer to be read anywhere in the official media – having displeased the communists he had been banned from publishing – he was widely and eagerly read in samizdat. Read and admired.
As I read his works now I realize my admiration for him is entirely Voltairean: the man deserved to be loved for his infallible political and moral compass – an unshakeable belief in human rights and absolute need for liberal principles in government (liberal in the European sense, meaning that the state must be lenient); and his courageous public stand on these issues, damn the cost to his professional career and personal danger. But I admire him as a writer as I admire Voltaire: not at all.
The similarity between both writers goes deeper than political stand. They were both brilliant polemicists, aggressive, biting, and witty. They excelled – and thrived – in the heat of the moment, of the tit-for-tat, in public displays of the flashy quickness of their minds. They excelled in it, and they lived for it. The most revealing moment in Słonimski's life, to my mind, is his trip to Brazil, during which he was bored, was not at all interested to learn anything about the country, and missed badly Warsaw cafe life – exactly as Voltaire missed Parisian salons when banned to the countryside. They lived to shine in society.
If you think about it in this light, the political principles of the two appear not a little self-serving: confident that they will shine in public and prevail in debate, of course they preferred free speech in the same way in which a heavy-weight boxer might prefer a no-holds-barred free-for-all.
But as brilliant as their style is – fluid, flashy, entertaining – it is also a bit like the Great Sahel Barbecue: all smoke and fire and very little flesh – only a few charred bits of desert locust. If, like me, you read in search of deep reflection, of new insight into the nature of the universe and the individual's place in it, of profound introspection, you will find neither. It is almost as if the men lacked internal life. Significantly, neither has ever kept a journal intime: it is as if left alone by themselves, they ceased to exist. They were like those people with walk-on parts in your life, who, at the end of their scene, say "bye-bye" and go out the door and just outside freeze in temporary suspension until called on stage again. As he departed Paris, Voltaire felt himself dying: the further he was, the more dead he was. Cirey was a surprising discovery for Voltaire: that life outside of Paris salons was possible; that one could spend a day all by himself, without showing off or impressing a single person, and be contented. I am not sure that Słonimski ever made that discovery.
In my previous incarnation as a blogger I came upon countless Słonimski-Voltaires: people who ran their blogs for the traffic; and who engaged in comments only on busy blogs, in order to shine. If, attracted by an interesting comment, I ever tried to follow up in personal correspondence, I got next to nothing: the target, it turned out, was not interested in the topic, or in discussing the topic (which is not quite the same thing), but – in public shining. Private correspondence, being private, did not interest them.
And thus my reading of Słonimski, and reflection on him, has led me to formulate a thesis: that it is possible to be very intelligent, and very witty, and have no apparent internal life at all. For such people it comes naturally to believe that all mind or all consciousness are a function of language; and that all reality is somehow linguistic. (Die Grenze meiner Schprache sind die Grenze meiner Welt).


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The Importance Of Rehabilitation Over Brutal Punishments
Enforcing laws for those who are breaking rules is a necessity. That is the only way to send a message to the people and to create a corruption-free society. But sometimes some of the legal consequences and penalties can be a bit harsh. Case in point; drug usage and alcohol addiction can lead to imprisonment or a huge fine. This might create a strain in the person's family life or it might affect their mentality. Instead of imposing harsh punishments, it is more suitable to establish better forms which can help these victims to see the correct path. Here are some advantages of having rehabilitation programs instead of imposing brutal punishments.
Better outcomes
There might be certain drug addicted victims in need of help. For such people, it is better to have drug and alcohol rehab Melbourne instead of imposing penalties such as imprisonment. That way he/she will be saved from any further danger. Since the persons treating them are professionals they will have a clear understanding of how to save them. After much care and treatment the patients will be able to return hime with a better life and a fresh start. This will have a great influence in their life as they will be able to lead a healthier and happier life from there onwards.
Greater impact on the loved ones
Whenever a certain person is in trouble those who are going through more suffering is his/her family and friends. It is not fair for them to be punished for the crimes of one person. Of course, if it is drug addict or an alcoholic their lives might've been already bad but making it even worse isn't the solution. Through special rehabilitation programs like ice rehab the person will be able to return home free from the addiction. This will benefit the family and friends even more. They will be given a reward for all the hardships they have already faced. Thus, this is one of the best ways to help such innocent people.
Makes it better rather than worse
If the person who is charged is addicted to such substances due to stress, trauma or any kind of mental illness, punishing them might take a wrong turn. The mental pain they are already suffering from will worsen leading for some dangerous result like suicide. Rehabilitation programs avoid such things. As the patient is treated carefully, with affection and proper medication, he/she will be able to get rid of the addiction as well as the certain issue or mental illness. Their mental health will be restored in turn giving them hope for a bright future.
The importance of rehabilitation is immense. Eve if the person needs to be charged by law, it is better to have certain rehabilitation programs within the prison. Since the personnels conducting such events are professionals with great experience, they will be able to help the victims individually. Therefore, rehabilitation will always be the better solution than brutal punishment.


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One kiss and young Disney actress Selena Gomez must now fear for her life. That's because that kiss was with pop sensation Justin Bieber.
Bieber's legion of teenage girl fans are out for blood. Gomez has received a multitude of death threats on her Twitter account since pictures of her and Bieber smooching on their Carribean vacation have been released.
Those threats include:
@selenagomez I'll kill you I swear on God!!!!
Roses are red, violets are blue @selenagomez if you'll break @justinbieber's heart I'm gonna kill you.
@selenagomez If you're the Girlfriend of Justin I will kill you I HATE YOU :@!!!
@selenagomez whore cancer whore…like imm kill myself cuz i saw you and Justin kissing wel thankyou Selena thankyou now i'm killing myself
Another death threat called Gomez a "pedophile, retard." Bieber is 16. Gomez is 18.
Tags: Bieber, Justin, Selena Gomez


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At The Oasis we see students who house with us as more than renters. We want the students who live at The Oasis to be part of an intentional Christian community of students who are committed to their spiritual growth through the opportunities offered through the ministry.
Although every student who participates in the activities of The Oasis can take advantage of the learning and mission opportunities, the residents, through an application process, covenant with one another and with the Campus Pastor to provide leadership and be intentionally immersed in this ministry. We can house up to 4 students per school semester and summer housing is available since some residents may move out till the Fall/Spring Semester. We have two private rooms with a shared bathroom and a larger room on the other side of the house with a private bathroom. We have furnishings like twin beds, dressers, desks, and bookshelves available in each room already. The community space in the house includes a kitchen, several refrigerators, enough freezer space, a sitting
area to eat, fireplace, a hang out room, fenced in backyard, grill, some dishes and kitchen supplies, cable TV, local phone service, Internet access (& Wi-Fi), student computer, printer, and more.
The community space is available not just to residents, but for any student involved in our ministry, their friends, and visitors who may need a place to hang out, get some studying done, or participate in a study group. We want our community space at to be a hospitable place for all.


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Rockin' Jump Group Events for Sports Team Parties & Scout Troops!
Looking for a great venue for your Team or Troop that combines physical activity with great food?
In need of a private space for a meeting or trophy presentation?
Have a group of high-energy kids?
Call Rockin' Jump!
We have very special pricing for our Sports Teams & Scout Troops:
- 25% off a standard Birthday Party
- $15 per Additional Jumper
- Starts at $243 for 10 kids
- 2 Hour Event with a Private Room (2nd Hour)
- Includes Pizza, Drinks & Private Dodgeball
Access to All Attractions! Vertical Ops Climbing Wall, Ninja Warrior Course, Slam Dunk Zone & Dodgeball!
Call To Reserve: 636-373-2067
Or fill out the form below and we will contact you shortly!


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Rumor: EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM Lens For Canon EOS M May Be Around The Corner!
Digicame-info (translated) broke the news just a few minutes ago: It appears that a new lens for the Canon EOS M system is around the corner. It should be an image stabilized 11-22mm f/4-5.6 lens, the EF 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM. Unfortunately there are no more specs leaked for this lens, just that the filter diameter will be 55mm. I guess the lens will be very compact.
Such a wide-angle zoom was murmured in the past, so I think the rumor is quite plausible. Moreover, Canon's Masaya Maeda clearly stated that Canon is working on more lenses for the EOS M system.
If you live in Germany, top rated eBay seller medialand4you (99.5% positive ratings) has a hot deal: Canon EOS M with EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens for ridicolous Eur 339.99 (click here).
The price of the EOS M tumbled down in the past months, check it in the following shops: Amazon USA, Amazon CA, B&H Photo, Adorama, Digitalrev, KEH Camera, eBay US, Canon USA, Canon CA, BestBuy


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I was recently asked to visit our local bartaco in 12 South to partake in something fun and delicious. If you don't already know, bartaco offers exclusive off-the-menu items that patrons can order in the restaurant, which is known as the #bartacosecret. I was invited to join the campaign and try their latest and greatest bartaco secret menu item and ohhhhhhh boy, it's a good one.
Here are the deets of the taco:
Ancho Ahi Tuna Taco (tuna tatako w/ asian slaw) with seared, sesame crusted tuna, a kick of spice, and it's their first ever taco to be served on Bibb lettuce.
I , of course, also ordered some of their refreshing white sangria to complement my dinner. We also ordered several additional tacos to go with our bartaco secret tacos. The pork belly, falafel, and sesame ribeye tacos are some of my favorites.
If you haven't visited bartaco yet, I highly recommend doing so! Ever since they opened a location in Nashville this past year, Steve and I have become regular visitors. We've had amazing service every visit, too, which makes the experience 100x better.
Check them out at 2526 12th Ave. South in Nashville or one of their other locations across the country.


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Listen To "One Dance" By Drake Featuring Wizkid & Kyla
Well look at what we have here, Drake's first single from Views From The 6, "One Dance" featuring Wizkid and Kyla. The song release comes just after a snippet of the song leaked. Looks like Drizzy knows his way around he internet. Views From The 6 coming soon. Available on iTunes.


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March 21 Scientia lecture by Rice e-voting expert Dan Wallach
How can democracies ensure voter privacy in the face of ubiquitous smartphones and increasingly sophisticated online hacking? Rice University voting security expert Dan Wallach will address that and related questions in a March 21 Scientia lecture titled "STAR-Vote: A Secure, Transparent, Auditable and Reliable Voting System." The lecture will begin at 4 p.m. in Duncan Hall's McMurtry Auditorium.
Wallach, professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering and a faculty scholar at Rice's Baker Institute for Public Policy, discussed the topic in a recent Rice News interview.
Q: How do we protect the privacy of a vote while also protecting the integrity of the election totals from tampering?
Any voting system, whether on paper or electronic, must protect voters' privacy. Otherwise we would have to worry about bribery and coercion of voters. Even if a voter wants to compromise their privacy, we need to prevent that from happening, which is why it's commonly illegal to photograph or videotape your interactions with a voting machine. On the flip side, we want to give voters solid evidence that the election totals weren't tampered with. We want solid evidence that the ballot box wasn't stuffed, that no ballots were lost and so forth. These tamper-resistance properties are seemingly in conflict with the privacy properties that we must have.
Q: What is STAR-Vote?
STAR-Vote is a collaborative effort to design a brand new voting system — one that is safe, secure and auditable — from scratch. It's a collaboration between myself and several other academics and the office Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir in Austin.
Q: Why do we need another electronic voting machine? Aren't computers hackable?
STAR-Vote uses sophisticated cryptography that can both protect the privacy of ballots from prying eyes and also protect the integrity of those ballots from malicious software. In STAR-Vote, if a hacked voting machine tried to quietly change votes, it could be caught with the electronic equivalent of a signed confession. Furthermore, STAR-Vote includes paper ballots, printed by the voting machine, which are deposited into a ballot box. No matter what happens with the electronic records, STAR-Vote produces paper records that are suitable for recounting, auditing, etc.
Q: Why not just vote with hand-marked paper? Why not count the paper by hand, while we're at it?
Texas and many other states have a standard called "intent of the voter," which is to say, voters can do a lot of things besides just filling in the bubbles, which a computer won't necessarily understand correctly. In a close race, the interpretation of these ambiguous ballots end up being critically important. As a result, there's a lot to be said for using a computer to help the voter fill out a ballot correctly. Also, Texas elections can have a huge number of questions on them, especially in years when we're electing judges. Hand-tallying of such huge, multipage ballots would be a slow and error-prone process.
Q: Surely we can just vote on the Internet? We do banking on the Internet!
With the Internet, we now bring other nation-state actors (Russia, China, etc.) into the picture. Personal computers and smartphones have security problems already. Imagine how much fun we'll have when malware waits for you to log in to a voting website and then changes your vote. Furthermore, the web servers are likely to be targets of attack, which could make an election inaccessible to the voters. And, last but not least, it's very difficult to have a meaningful recount activity when the only records we have from an election are suspicious files on a computer that may have been compromised.
It's also important to note that your bank records are not secret. If and when you discover that your credit card number has been stolen, you can dispute the fraudulent charges, and the bank will have enough evidence to clean up the mess. Elections require secret ballots, and absent those, it's impossible for a voter to recognize when fraud has occurred.
Scientia is a Rice institute founded in 1980 to promote scholarship and research in the general area of history of science and culture. For more information on Scientia and upcoming lectures, visit http://scientia.rice.edu.


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Lead Studio Adelaide
19 Vardon Ave
Adelaide SA 5000
Unit 28 / 204 Jersey Road
Woollahra NSW 2025
Ph 1300 700 413
© Copyright designwell 2017
Website by nathanjgrant
Gawler Community
Centre Kitchen Garden
Gawler, SA
Client: Gawler Community House
This project is currently under construction.
designwell were commissioned to design out an existing carpark and turn it into a vibrant and interactive kitchen garden and community meeting space.
The kitchen garden comes to life through the inclusion of raised garden beds to grow vegetable and herbs, dwarf fruit trees and arbours to grow passionfruit and grape vines.
Outdoor activity spaces, shaded seating and a pizza oven provide a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere where the community can meet.
A timber deck allows staff and volunteers a refreshing lunch area which doubles as a teaching space on the weekends.
Other Projects in Community & Open Space


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Crowell has decided to go after sex offenders with eleven plus years clean. Seems that the 1995 Missouri law that requires offenders to stay registered only applies to offenders that were convicted after that time. Whatever; this blog entry isn't about sex offenders. It's how he proposes to do this.
Crowell decided that the best way to close this perceived loophole is to change the Missouri constitution to make it legal to go after ALL acts that later become crimes. So, if I want to, say, own a copy of the Koran and it later becomes illegal to purchase the book I could be convicted for breaking a law that didn't exist at the time. (Think this is a silly scenario? Try checking out a copy of this religious text at your local library and tell me that you don't once think that the FBI is filing that little bit of information away somewhere.) Actually, this is a pretty smart move on Crowell's part. As a politician he's got to worry about political opponents in the future. If he's having a particularly tough race he could simply create a law against something that his opponent has done and Voila! no opponent.
Let's hope that Missourians have enough sense to block this stupid amendment. If Crowell wants to go after aging sex offenders, he needs to find a better way to do it.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Jason Crowell and Future Crimes
Crowell has decided to go after sex offenders with eleven plus years clean. Seems that the 1995 Missouri law that requires offenders to stay registered only applies to offenders that were convicted after that time. Whatever; this blog entry isn't about sex offenders. It's how he proposes to do this.
Is Kit Bond Quitting?
The rumor mill has Kit Bond quitting and Matt Blunt replacing him in the Senate. This could be interesting. I really don't know where Bond stands on stem cell research but I'd guess that he's against it. If this happens that'd be one more Republican stem cell vote.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Claire McCaskill Interview
Check out McCaskill's views on a few topics in this breif but interesting interview.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Even a Bridge to Nowhere Goes Somewhere
I agree with the central idea of this report from the Center for Public Integrity that any instance of political consultants playing a dual role of lobbyists should be carefully examined. As more and more power winds up in the hands of fewer and fewer people, certain hats shouldn't hang on the same players' hat-stand.
But in this particular article I think that writer Sandy Bergo missed the mark when she tried to pin this practice on Christopher Bond, at least in the example she chose. I wouldn't be surprised if Bond was found to be a part of such practice; I tend to be suspicious of anyone that's been in politics as long as Kit. I'm just saying that the case Bergo uses to illustrate her point seems to fail. You can read the article for yourself but briefly, here's what happened: Tony Feather, who had acted as one of Bond's reelection consultants had switched hats and was now lobbying for a bridge from St. Louis, MO to Illinois. He had one meeting with Bond where they discussed this and Bond later became a key senator in getting the thing pushed through. Fine, Feather probably should have stayed away from the meeting but Bond would have pushed for this bridge anyway. He's a Missouri Senator and that's what Senators and congressmen do - get money for their districts. Whether Feather had been involved or not, Bond would have latched onto this project and held on with both hands. Besides pork for his state, it was also pork for one of the two liberal strongholds in his state. He'd be a fool to turn down any good will that he could garner from voters that typically reject his positions.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Claire and the Big Fence
Claire McCaskill is promoting the border fence, according to the San Antonio Express-News. I'm amazed that this insane solution is still carries weight.
Of course, immigration creates problems - mostly only in the minds of the citizens. It always has and the country has always wound up accepting the immigrants and, in the end, benefitting from their contributions.
But building a fence or a wall will never work. Throughout history nations have tried and failed to build fences on their artificial borders. Fences work for cattle and other animals. They do not work for people. The immigrants are intelligent, ambitious people that want to come to the US to make better lives for themselves and their families. A fence won't stop them.
If you want to address illegal aliens, penalize their employers. It's just that simple. Enforce the existing laws and the jobs that beckon the immigrants and illegal immigration will dry up. Without this incentive of immediate cash, the immigrants will soon learn that the only way to come to this country will be via legal channels. Save the money on the building of this insane fence and use it on a more efficient immigration process. And, I'm betting that the jobs currently filled with illegal labor will be taken by the same population once they've passed through immigration putting an end to that jingo-redneck argument, "Them illegals is stealing my job!"
Fences only build anger and resentment. Whether you're trying to split a population as Isreal is currently doing or you're trying to enforce political boundaries as the communist countries of eastern Europe did, you're bound to fail. The anger builds pressure behind the wall until it pops like a champagne cork. It's impossible to predict how this will happen but it will. A border fence will only prove to be an expensive failure - expensive in the building, yes, but even more costly in the ramifications later.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Obsessing on Stem Cells
The stated purpose of this blog these days is to keep an eye on my legislators. But given how the last election put Missouri in the spot light regarding the stem cell issue and its generally assumed importance in the election of McCaskill, I hope that you'll forgive a bit of a digression in that direction.
The Right hasn't gone nuts just yet over reports of possible baby-harvesting in the Ukraine. Nothing's really certain yet but there's a chance that live babies are being used as sources of stem cells. I'm not sure what they're waiting for but I'm sure this story will soon enough be seized upon by the right as evidence of where this whole issue can go.
I certainly hope that it turns out that this truly horrible possibility isn't proven. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised. While we debate about the ethics - a debate forced on us by the anti-abortion crowd - of stem cell research, nefarious elements are going to exploit our self paralysis. We must move forward with this. Let the scientist research embryonic stem-cells from fertility clinics that would be destroyed anyway when the owners conceive or give up.
The idea that this is going to get out of control and lead to whole human cloning is just silly. This argument could be applied to anything. If we allow the legal ownership of handguns won't this lead to a population at war with itself? We have our share of gun related homicides in the US but there's nothing that could suggest it's out of control. Government regulated stem-cell research would be the same.
And as far as baby harvesting, this also would never happen. If scientist were allowed access to the embryonic stems cells that are currently available, the black market for stem-cells harvested from live babies wouldn't exist.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Squeezing MOHELA
I'm really not sure what to think of this issue. I've been watching it since it was a glint in Gov. Blunt's eye. There seems to be some sense to it. Cash in some of the assets in MOHELA and use the money on state colleges. "Assets," as I understand them, are the loans held by MOHELA. They would be, and have been at this point, sold to other loan companies for less than their yield over time for a quick payoff now. Though the assurances haven't been made in this particular article, I've read in the past that the politicians have promised that the purchasing companies wouldn't raise the rates once they own the loans. And if a politician promises it...
So, Blunt took his idea, established a board and they put it into motion. Now it has generated $17 million and colleges around Missouri are eagerly awaiting their piece. But Clint Zweifel, D-Florissant, says this isn't right. MOHELA's money should be used for MOHELA stuff, specifically lowering rates or forgiving loans. Blunt and our own Nathan Cooper, whose constituency is very interested in seeing the promised improvements on Southeast Missouri State University, say nonsense.
Here's what I keep wondering. What was that money supposed to do in the original plan? So MOHELA sold some "assets" and has more money than usual right now but what about later when these assets were supposed to be paying off? Will MOHELA have the cash to cover students' loan needs in 10 or 20 years?
Saturday, December 09, 2006
B'bye Jim Talent
Here's the KC Star's report on Talent's farewell speach to the Senate. I agree with his position on health insurance for small businesses. But he can stick it on his attempts to blame any military shortfalls on Clinton, the obvious implication of his claim that changes "decisions over the last 15 years" have left the Army and Navy too small and outdated. We were doing fine until he backed Bush in an illegal invasion of Iraq.
But I won't spend too much time dwelling on Talent. He's out.
Here's an amusing look at this and other farewells.
Kit and the Founding Fathers
I'm sure you've heard that a federal appeals court recently declared the phrase "under god" in the pledge to be unconstitutional. This has seemed so obvious to me for so long, I had just numbed myself to the issue because I thought that fighting it was a pointless and unwinnable endeavour. Anyway, now it's been successfully challenged and that's a good thing.
So, what does Senator Bond have to say about this? He's turned to that tired Republican claim that they know the hearts of the founding fathers:
Our Founding Fathers must be spinning in their graves. This is the worst kind of political correctness run amok. What's next? Will the courts now strip 'so help me God' from the pledge taken by new presidents?
We can only hope, Kit. I get really impatient with this kind of talk. Which founding father exactly are you referring to? Where's your proof that he wanted America to be a theocracy?
Here's a brief history of the pledge and some great opining from Callimachus at Donklephant.
Is the Army Denying Treatment For Soldiers with PTSD?
Christopher Bond has joined with Barbara Boxer and Barack Obama, both Democrats, to try to put some pressure on the Army to explain why soldiers stationed at Fort Carson, CO are apparently being denied treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. Good for you, Kit!
Why Do the Republicans Think That the Liberterian Vote Belongs To Them?
After a race so close in 2000 that the Supreme Court had to hand the victory, inexplicably, to Bush many Democrats began to look askance at Ralph Nader. His shaving off of the ultra-left fringes of the party, they assumed, accounted for enough lost votes on the Democrat's side to have caused this loss. This might be true and it's very likely that these voters, if forced to choose between Gore and Bush would have chosen Gore. But everyone forgets that 1) all left votes don't belong to anybody and 2) it's equally likely that these ultra-left voters would have stayed home as come out and vote for Gore. They knew that they were throwing their votes away with these symbolic votes for a candidate with no chance. Today third party voters in a presidential election know that.
Now, in looking for anyone to blame but themselves, Republican's are trying to similarly lay the blame at the feet of the Libertarians. I dismissed the first report of this that I saw assuming that it was just some lonely loon shouting in the wind but this claim seems to be gathering some momentum. One stat that they like to point to is that Claire McCaskill (D) beat Jim Talent (R) in Missouri by 41,000 votes and the Libertarians in this state cast 47,000 votes for their candidate. This is even sillier than the Dems blaming Nader for losing the election for Gore. Libertarians are a different breed than the ultra-left that Ralphie attracted. They are more likely to vote and are much more engaged in the whole political process. They are also, more importantly, much more centrist in their thinking. They are often described as economically conservative and socially liberal, a position shared by many voters that call themselves independent. Since neither party is economically conservative these days if a Libertarian is going to vote for one of the two parties it seems that they are going to have to choose a democrat. But, unlike the presidential election, third parties actually do have a bit of a chance in Senate and House races. It's slim but it's there. So these all of votes might not have been symbolic throw-aways. Some of them might have been sincere attempts on the voters' parts to put their guy in office.
I'm hoping that the absurdity of these claims is self evident within the reports themselves. For example, in the article that I sited, the writers imply early on that the Libertarians stole the Missourian election from Talent. But they contradict themselves only a few paragraphs down by admitting the stupidity in Iraq has been draining the Libertarian voters away from the Republican party and to the Democrats. In fact, they say, Kerry got 38% of the Libertarian vote in 2004. Plus, if you add to that the fact that because the Republicans have framed the debate over stem-cell research, an issue of major importance in the Missouri race, as an abortion issue they've made it a social question. And how do Libertarians lean socially?
The Republicans lost. They did it all on their own. They should stop looking for someone else to blame. All the Democrats had to do, thankfully, to win this one was show up and not be Republicans.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Christopher "Kit" Bond Hates Planet Earth
Kit, predictably, is aligned with the global-warming-is-a-bunch-of-hooey crowd. No surprise, really. Besides, he argues, it would cost a lot to do anything about it. Well, the thirty foot dike on our coastlines that we'll have to build when Greenland melts might make a bit of a dent in the national budget, too.
We've managed to squeeze out more than a few pennies for Bush's Iraqi excursion. I haven't heard Bond complaining about that outrageous expense.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Setting the Stage
It's no surprise to hear that Kit Bond and his fellow Republicans are already preparing to block most of the Iraq study group's report. Of course they're not saying "Thanks but no thanks;" it wouldn't poll very well. But they're already rolling out their politician-speak to say just as much. Yesterday Kit said that any recommendations should be "subject to what happens on the ground. Iraq is a key element to the war on terror and we cannot afford to walk away." That's his get out of jail free card. Now in three months when he's blocking most parts of the proposal he can say, "Hey, I said from the beginning..."
Here's my prediction. Early next year the house and senate will tell us that they're going to do their part to take on the reports recommendations. They will go into committee and there will be a lot of bright and shiny talk about how things will get better. What will emerge from the committees will be unrecognizable when compared to the original report but there will still be lots of talk about it. At this point there won't be much speculation about the great changes it will bring but its name will be repeated over and over. What's its name going to be? Well your guess is as good as mine but it will be something superlative like "The Great and Beautiful Way Out of All International Messes Forever Bill." So, the name will get pounded into our heads over and over until we start to believe that it actually will get us out of this and all other internation problems forever and ever, amen. By now compromise after compromise with the fascist administration will have it such a toothless thing that all it will really accomplish will be to add a wing to a dairy museum in Nebraska. The president will be glad to sign it. Then we'll wait for the nightmare in Iraq to end. By the time we realize that it won't another year will have passed and we'll be in the 2008 election so who'll have time for Iraq?
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
The National Gaurd Empowerment Act
This seems like a pretty good idea. Here's the gist:
The proposal would expand the role of the Guard chief and give him or her a fourth star; give the Guard more influence in the Pentagon's budget and create a separate budget for Guard training and equipment; elevate the role of the Guard when responding to domestic crises; and make the deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command a Guard officer.
Kit Bond is proposing this along with Sen. Pat Leahy, D. Vt. With the Gaurd's increasing importance to the overall military, especially in light of the mess in Iraq, a little autonomy might be a good thing.
I don't know how much this will help the individual soldiers that are on their third or fourth tour since joining the guard. Don't get me wrong, it irritates the hell out of me when somebody in the guard tries to resist actually serving a tour of duty for whatever reason. That's what they signed up for! But, these guys shouldn't have to fill a full time soldier's role because it's politically inconvenient to establish a draft. One long tour, maybe two but that should be it. After that, the president should have to look elsewhere and if the war that he started requires a draft, then so be it.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Healthcare, Health Insurance for Small Business, and Social Security Tax Are Part of Crowell's Game Plan
From a Southeast Missourian article here's what Jason Crowel is planning to tackle next year:
Tops on Crowell's agenda is the I-Care Missouri health-care plan. The plan seeks to create individualized access to health care and allow people to be treated by a primary-care physician rather than emergency room doctors.
"Far too many of our population have a better relationship with their auto mechanic than they do with their physician," Crowell said.
The plan would allow small businesses to band together and form alliances for the sole purpose of buying health care. It would also, Crowell said, create a system that travels with the individual instead of depending on the employer.
"Every Missourian gets a primary-care physician. If you ask doctors if they could wave a magic wand what one thing could result in the biggest benefit to the state's health, it would be that," Crowell said. "It's the difference, for example, between treating diabetes with a nutrition diet as opposed to a hypoglycemic diet later on."
Crowell would also like to stop taxing Social Security benefits.
"Missouri is one of only 15 states in the U.S. that puts in place a state income tax on Social Security benefits," he said.
"Depending on the numbers, if we were to eliminate state income on Social Security benefits it would mean 80 to 100 million more dollars in the hands of retired seniors."
It's hard to comment on this without more information. I certainly like the idea of letting small businesses band together for health insurance. And doing away with a social security tax seems fair, too. I've always thought it curious that anyone receiving money from the government, whether it be through employment or benefits, should pay taxes. If the govt needs that money they could simply pay less and cut out a lot of bureaucracy.
I wonder, though, about the "individualized access to health-care." As with so many health care issues, the devil's in the details. How does he plan to implement this? How much annoying oversight will this subject the Doctors to? Are health care costs going to rise as compliance forces the doctors offices to hire more staff to keep up? This will be something to watch.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Kit MIGHT Be Listening
In November 2006 Missourians voted for stem cell research. Most of us realize it's time to stick a pin in the abortion debate which is completely irrelevant to the stem cell debate to anyone with brain wave activity, and move forward with research that hardly any of us understands but the scientists say they need to do. And Christopher Bond might actually be listening, at least according to the AP. Here's what reporter Laurie Kellman has to say:
Bond spokesman Rob Ostrander left open the prospect of the senator changing his vote from a no last year to a yes this year. Bond, Ostrander said Tuesday in a statement, "is reluctant to support an expansion of the president's stem cell policy that allows federal taxpayer dollars to be used for research in which human embryos are destroyed."
Now, to me that quote is too ambiguous to even indicate firm ambiguity but if Kellman's interpretation is correct then Kit might be switching positions so that he'll be more in line with the rest of Missouri. Or he might not.
This Again?
Not wanting to beat a dead horse but let's talk abortion. People should have the right to choose. It's very simple. There is obviously a division in the nation over this, one often exploited by political operatives. As long as such a large percentage of the population feels that this is right that should be protected it should be. Democracy, remember? Jason Crowell disagrees, apparently in all cases except those where health is an issue. Rape victims, though, should have to carry their little bundles of joy to term.
So, JC is trying to introduce legislation specifically designed to wind up in front of the Federal Supreme Court. I thought that the Republicans were opposed to legislating through the courts. I guess that only applies when their positions are being threatened.
Never Assume
I always thought that our journalists had the right to protect their sources. Well, apparently not so in Missouri. Jason Crowell, of Cape Girardeau, and Chuck Graham, of Columbia recently tried and failed to put such protections in place. That's a shame. Reporters should be able to talk to whomever they need without their informants fearing exposure and reprisal.
Some critics of this protection say that it will lead to employees and insiders with grudges being given carte blanche to say what they want and it would. But it doesn't require the reporter to print their lies. The responsible reporter will investigate and, if the claims are supported, then print it. And what about the irresponsible reporter? Well, if their editors print the story based on shoddy investigations, which I would hope they wouldn't, the lies will be exposed and the publication discredited. It's not a perfect system but it's better than the alternative - zero access for reporters and therefore no public oversight of government and big corporations. But the reporters that really bother me are those that simply do nothing. They read the headlines, regurgitate them, and call it news. Or worse, parrot the talking points in the memo from upstairs. That's the irresponsible reporting that's really hurting the citizenry's' right to be informed these days.
But I digress. Kudos to Crowell for supporting this important protection. Better luck next time!
Friday, December 01, 2006
Send in the bean counters!
It's going to take the annoying tenacity stereotypically assigned to accountant types to untangle all of the misdeads in Washington of the last six years. I'm glad to read that Claire McCaskill, former Missouri auditor, will be leading the charge.
She says she's making wasteful spending and governemt corruption personal crusades and she'll have the power to back up her investigations. Not only will she hit the ground running with a request for 20 audits performed over the last two years by the GAO, but she has also landed some pretty sweet committe assignments - Senate Armed Services, Commerce and Homeland Security and Government Affairs.
I hope that when we look back six years from now we see that she was the junior Senator that could.
Piping hot cup of giddy optimism anyone?
Attempting To Give This Blog a Point
I'm going to try something different from the aimless meandering that has defined this blog until now. It's hard to know whether I will stick to it or not but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. I'm going to focus on my legislators. I'm going to watch the news and comment on any of their goings on that strike me worth mentioning.
Here is who a majority of my fellow southeast Missourians have chosen to represent me:
- US House of Representatives
- Jo Ann Emerson (R)
- Missouri Senate
- Jason G. Crowell (R)
- Missouri House of Representatives
- Nathan D. Cooper (R)
Monday, August 21, 2006
Anyone that's been regularly checking this blog knows that I have been virtually non-existent on it this summer. I have a really good excuse. In June I was made the About guide for beer. This, along with my other ventures, has been dominating my time. But I'm starting to gain control of my time once again and hope to begin posting regularly now.
In the meantime, though, please check out my About page. The address is http://beer.about.com
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Jo Ann Emerson Called Me a What!??!
According to a recent AP article my congressional representative called one of my fellow constituents an asshole in a letter. Or as the writer puts it in revealingly discreet prose, "a profane, seven-letter insult beginning with the letter A – 'i think you're an ...'"
I used to get these horribly condescending emails from my boss. He tended to simultaneously shove all of his duties onto those of us that worked for him and make us look like drooling idiots at the same time. For instance, let's say that his boss told him to fetch a cup of coffee and he decided to pass the job on to me. (Never happened but frankly I wouldn't have been all that surprised if it had.) Here's how he would have handled that. In an email addressed to me and CC'd to his boss, the district manager, the sales manager, our three most important customers, and our busybody receptionist he would have written: "Bryce, My boss asked me to ask you [lie] to fetch him a cup of coffee. Now, I know that you've been in our break room 1,385 times since you started working here but I'm going to treat you like the vegetable with legs that we all know that you are. First, the cups are kept in the cabinet about the coffee dispenser. Take a cup. Just one because my boss only wants one. Next, you get coffee out of the dispenser by pressing… Once you have the cup of coffee, stop by my office so that I can inspect it and make sure that you've done it right. Then, once I've confirmed that it is OK, I'll let you carry it into my boss's office while I sit on my fat ass and find more ways to humiliate and frustrate you."
And what could I do but get the coffee? But first, after cursing to myself, I would write a nasty reply telling him exactly what I thought of him. I wouldn't censure myself at all. I'd just let the vile juices flow. Then I'd promptly delete the reply, tuck my tail and fetch. (I'm SO glad that I quit that job!)
Now, we've all done that, right? And I'm sure that a few of these messages accidentally get sent. It's an easy mistake to make with email. But this letter from Rep. Emerson was something special.
Here's the scenario that I see in my mind. One of Rep Emerson's underpaid but full of zeal lackeys was given the assignment of replying to all of the mail that they had backed up. After reading letter after letter complaining about this and that that his infallible leader had done, he finally had his fill. To unload some of the frustration that had been building he added to the bottom of one of the letters, "You're an asshole." Maybe he did it more than once. But one of the letters slipped by him before he could delete that last sentence and it got printed. OK, that's understandable. As easy to do as sending that email.
But the real delight in this story is that in a note at the bottom of the letter there's a post script apologizing for the delay. It's in Emerson's handwriting. So, she actually looked at the letter before it went out.
Here's why I find this story so pleasing. It's not because I take pleasure in seeing elected officials screw up. I'd take pleasure in seeing a lot less of that, actually. No, I love this story because, though we all know that our elected officials and their hangers on have no respect for their constituency, we rarely get such concrete evidence of their disrespect. It's apparent in the laws they pass and what they do with our tax money. It's obvious in the campaigns that they run – begging us not to think about the issues but to simply vote based on fear or anger with those that disagree with us. But there's a small satisfaction in have this disdain for us so clearly demonstrated. It's nice to have my suspicions validated.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
General Disarray
In a reprint from the Wall Street Journal, my local newspaper published an op-ed today entitled "General Consensus." It is in response the six generals that have recently come out in favor of showing the Rumsfeld the door written by four other generals.
Basically it's the usual arguments that one would expect including that frustrating recurring argument that one should not question the president or his administration in time of war. I personally think that this is the silliest argument ever. I think that there is no better time to question a president. If the country has been led into a war the commander in chief had better have some good reasons for taking us there and if not should be brought to task over it. But both sides of this argument are as old as war itself so I won't belabor it any more here.
What really makes me crawl the wall in this op-ed piece is this statement: "It unfortunately appears that two of [of the six] the retired generals (Messrs. Zinni and Newbold) do not understand the true nature of this radical ideology, Islamic extremism, and why we fight in Iraq. We suggest they listen to the tapes of United 93."
First, I hate when pundits go opining and make vague and indefensible references like this. Why exactly do you feel that these generals don't understand the true nature of the conflict or not? Whether you have a good reason for saying that, you come across as mean little men taking a cheap shot if you don't back up these kinds of statements.
Then "Messrs.?" Oh, c'mon. Really?
But what really gets me is the 9/11 callback. Heretofore, this piece tried to present itself as thoughtful and reasoned in its approach to rebuffing the presidents *gasp* critics. OK, for anyone that's been in a coma for the last five years or is just too stupid to have gotten the message by now, let me say again. IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH, 2001. Print that out and clip that previous sentence. Paste it to your bathroom mirror until you finally get it.
I have no idea why Bush dragged us to war. Some say oil. Some say to perpetuate the war machine. I just don't know. I know that he's a liar and obviously has some sort of agenda. But at no time do I think that he believed nor did anyone, that has any realistic understanding of the situation, believe that Iraq or Hussein had anything to do with 9/11. That's not to say that he didn't exploit that fiction as much as he possibly could. He won an election by deceiving his coalition of the willing voters – willing or lazy enough to believe this spoon fed fiction.
But he's won the election. We're in Iraq and nobody can defensibly say that we should immediately pull out so can we just cut the crap already? Please stop trying to convince everyone that Saddam was involved in 9/11. He wasn't. Accept it.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
My new blog about web traffic web marketing and affiliate marketing programs blog
I've started another blog - Not Another Guru. It's not just because Bryce On Bryce has absolutely no clear focus – which I realize it doesn't – but because I quit my job. Not that anybody would really care that I quit my job but the "why" should prove informative to those interested in affiliate marketing programs or any sort of web internet marketing.
For a while now I've been developing my little empire on the web. Internet marketing finally made enough for me to turn in my two weeks notice back in November and now I know that I'll never have to go back.
Though I read a lot of information on affiliate marketing programs and studied all of their promises I never found the perfect web marketing tool. Even the top affiliate programs failed in one area: web traffic. Web marketing is about two things – something to sell (affiliate marketing programs take care of that) and driving traffic to your site.
And that's really the biggest problem: web traffic. Web marketing successfully requires that you have some way to drive traffic. There are really two ways to do that – pay for it or optimize your site. Site optimization isn't really free. You either have to take the time to learn how to do it yourself and then do it, or you have to pay someone else. Paid traffic is almost instant but it creates a potentially crippling overhead that most web site marketing companies can't handle.
But I've managed some success on the web. Internet marketing has finally paid off and I want to share my success with anyone that wants to hear about it. Naturally I'm selling a web marketing tool or two and I've posted some Adsense ads on the blog but then that's what I do now!
So, enjoy Not Another Guru. I hope that you learn something about web affiliate program management and web online marketing in general. Please post comments and questions and I'll address them as quickly as possible.
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Film Review The God Who Wasn't There -Brian Flemming
In the interest of full disclosure I should tell you that I am an atheist. For those that know me, this is no shock. Those that don't know me probably don't care. I only point it out so that you can know my perspective of this DVD.
The movie has a fascinating beginning. In an amusing montage of old movie clips and under Brian Flemming's near sarcastic narration we are presented with the story of Jesus. The kitchiness of the old films and Flemming's barely contained chuckle through it all do a very good job of showing how Christ's allegedly miraculous time on Earth appears to those of us on the outside - as whole lot of hooey.
After this quick recap of Christianity, Brian makes the surprising ascertain that Jesus never actually existed. This was a new one for me. I've always assumed that he did exist but was just one of the best documented cases of a messiah complex in history.
This is the kind of stuff that I can really get into. I've truly enjoyed the ride of The Da Vinci Code with all of the reactions and reactions to the reactions. I love to sink my teeth into conspiracy theories and history. And what better historical conspiracy could there be than the invention of the Christ?
But, despite the title of the film, very little time was spent on this angle In fact with my first viewing, I wasn't really sure what the point of this DVD was except for Mr. Fleming to declare as loudly as he can that he doesn't believe.
For after making the claim that Christ never existed and backing it up with a few facts presented with the same chuckling sneer, Flemming moves right on to begin ridiculing Christians and poking at them from every perspective that he can.
He explores the separation between the God of the bible, vengeful and absolute in law, and the God of today's Christianity, more Care Bear than maker and overlord of all things. He examines the more likely folk tale roots of the "facts" of the bible. He discusses moral atheism, a concept that seems to be an oxymoron to many people today, with a handful of interesting scholars and thinkers.
In fact, it was these experts that I found myself enjoying the most. As the film moved on and went deeper into Flemming's personal journey from a devout christian to an even more devoted atheist, I found myself liking him less and less. In the end Flemming, at the height of narcissism, revisits his old school – a Christian institution. The point of his visit and interview with its principal is really unclear though Flemming seems to think that he taking a stand. Really, he appears to whine about a time in his life that he'd rather have gone another way. While the principal does a fine job of remaining calm under his accusatory and erratic form of questioning, Flemming believes that he's building the situation to a dramatic victory. When the principal mentions some sort of trouble that Flemming got himself into while at the school and ends the interview by walking away, Flemming gets his final victory by going to the school's chapel where he thrice accepted Christ and declares that he now denies the existence of the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps the only reason that I would watch this DVD all the way to the end is that I agree with every conclusion that Fleming has reached in life. In fact what he does tell about his life closely parallels mine.
I share with him the mixture of disgust, amusement and fear at the fundamentalist protestant christian movement that has become so powerful in almost every way in the United States today. My inclination is to praise this DVD but I try to look at works like this from the perspective of the other guy as much as I can and from that angle he failed miserably.
At the risk of abusing a metaphor, Flemming is preaching to the choir.
Any Christian that could sit through the first ten minutes of this film and not either walk out of the room or throw their DVD player through the window deserves high praise. Nevertheless, Flemming's disparagement is so complete I can't imagine that this Christian, patient as he or she might be, would be able to entertain any of the ideas presented. And that's a shame because many of them are quite compelling.
With an attitude that both sides of the widening cultural divide in the United States is guilty of, Flemming does more than say that he disagrees with most of his countrymen. He loudly and proudly says that they are hateful, despicable, clownish oafs. He presents the extremes of their points of views as mainstream and damns them all for it.
Once again, I'm tempted to go along with him in this but I'm embarrassed at his maltreatment. Most Christians, like most people, think of themselves as good people and believe that they are doing the best that they can for themselves and the world. At one point Flemming does admit this but it is so deep in the film and a Christian would have to wade through so much muck that it hardly rights the wrong.
I watched the film again, trying to find where I might have misinterpreted something or taken Flemming's approach too literally. I couldn't find it. I also watched every minute of the extras, half because I found the experts very interesting and half to try to find the film's message.
I finally found it. The last extra is a captioned slide show that purports to go deeper into the subject. Really it is little more than a recap with clearer references to the source materials. Then at the very end of the slide show, though, I finally got it.
For lack of a better word, this video is evangelical propaganda for an aggressive atheistic movement.
I couldn't believe it. What good word is there to spread? I've been an atheist for years and I've never found it to be particularly fulfilling and I've never felt the need to convert anyone else. It's not about fulfillment; it's just a rational choice that one makes. Nor is it a lifestyle or life philosophy. I don't ask myself at the end of each day whether or not I was a good atheist today.
But Flemming seems to be targeting people just like me and in that light the whole video, save that bit at his old school, makes a lot of sense and frankly is quite well done. Most of the experts in the film share a belief that christians are not only wrong but they're dangerous. It's hard to look into history and disagree. And today it seems even worse with so many of the political and cultural battles being waged on protestant fundamentalist lines. Once the film has gotten to the targeted viewer – because most christians would have already shut it off or walked out of the room – Flemming offers some atheistic, naturalistic, antireligious or whatever you want to call them organizations at the end of that slide show. I can't deny that I'm intrigued so it appears that his propaganda has worked at least in this case.
I just hate feeling manipulated.