"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860
Thoughts on Voting
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
The Importance of Experience in Iowa: Hillary, Obama and Abe Lincoln
The main focus of Ms. Clinton's attacks has been Barack Obama. The Illinois senator is in this race as the ONLY candidate who has not been stained by his Washington insider connections and use of lobbyists and his mantra for Change has elevated his status among the voters. Thus, Ms. Clinton is forced to resort to unseemly attacks in order to push John Edwards above Obama in Iowa and slow his march toward the Presidency.
Mrs. Clinton's main focus on Obama has been his so-called lack of experience. First, let's examine Ms. Clinton's experience. As a young girl, she was very conservative, supporting right-wing candidate, Barry Goldwater, as one of the Goldwater Girls. During her husband's eight-year reign as President, Ms. Clinton really did not take a very active part in his administration. We know about her failure to bring about healthcare reform. But what about her participation in foreign affairs? She held no security clearance, was not provided a copy of the President's daily intelligence briefings, and did not attend National Security Council meetings. In fact, she had very little involvement in her husbands' policy making decisions. It is pure speculation as to how much she was actually communicating with her husband during the Monica Lewinsky fiasco.
As the US Senator from New York, she has done very little to distinguish herself legislatively. On Iraq, Ms. Clinton says she will pull the troops out, but then says she will keep a force there to conduct counter-terrorism operations. This ability to stand on both sides of the fence on issues as she has clearly demonstrated in the "debates" we have seen, shows a true politician, and, in my opinion, not a person anyone can rely upon to stand firmly on an issue. Can you say "flip-flop"? Her vote to declare the Iranian Republican Guard a terrorist organization (the only Democratic candidate to side with George Bush on this issue) is a RED LIGHT. She was fooled once on Iraq, is she being fooled again on Iran?
Experience.
So, let's give Hillary credit for her experience as a US Senator. Her First Lady "experience" is questionable.
Now, let's take a look at Senator Obama and compare his experience with the man many consider the greatest President of all, Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln's experience was as follows:
1832 — Ran for the Illinois legislature; LOST.
1834 — Ran for the Illinois legislature and was elected Representative for Sangamon County.
1836 — Re-elected Representative to the Illinois legislature.
1838 — Re-elected Representative to the Illinois legislature.
1840 — Re-elected Representative to the Illinois legislature.
1846 — Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
1854 — Elected to the Illinois legislature; resigned to run for U.S. Senate; LOST.
1858 — Ran for U.S. Senate; LOST.
1860 — Ran for President of the United States and was elected.
1864 — Re-elected President of the United States.
Mr. Lincoln served as a state legislator for 8 years, and for 8 years in Congress. He then lost his race for the US Senate TWICE, and finally was elected President.
Mr. Obama lgraduated from Columbia University, where he majored in political science and specialized in international relations. He then attended Harvard Law School, graduated magna cum laude, and served as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. After law school, he worked as a community organizer and a civil rights lawyer in Chicago. He also taught at the University of Chicago Law School as a senior lecturer specializing in constitutional law.
Obama represented the South Side of Chicago in the Illinois State Senate for 8 years from 1996–2004 as a Democrat. In 2004, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, winning with 70% of the vote against conservative black Republican, Alan Keyes. Obama became the only African-American serving in the U.S. Senate (and the fifth in U.S. history).
Obama's idealism, commitment to civil rights, extensive knowledge of and respect for the Constitution, and experience and knowledge of other cultures and international affairs, make his candidacy one that can transcend the normal political hijinks we are experiencing from the Clintons.
TO ALL IOWA VOTERS: Don't be fooled by the so-called Experience factor. Vote for Barack Obama.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
The Candid Blogger will speak out on a variety of issues of importance to the little guy -- the majority of Americans who work and pay their taxes, only to see the great majority of their tax dollars used to fund war and war-related industries. Education, healthcare, good-paying jobs, are all denied thanks to "compassionate Conservatives".
Expect a post soon addressing the importance of experience in a Presidential election. We will compare Abraham Lincoln, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. Our findings may surprise you.
The Little Yellow Tag That Could...
New free tool lets you participate in creating world peace
What you're looking at might just be the most powerful little yellow tag ever created. It's connected to a massive infrastructure for peace that's endorsed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Gandhi's grandson (Arun Gandhi), Deepak Chopra, and many others.
The concept is simple.
If you've got an Internet connection, you can move hundreds and even thousands of people towards greater happiness, success, health, and peace, with a few simple actions that you can take right from your computer.
See your positive actions spread around the world
For the first time ever, you can see the effects of your positive actions as the people you affect positively go on to affect others, and then those people affect even more.
If you've ever felt that your vote doesn't count, or that your positive actions don't really make any real difference in the world at large, you'll find this new tool fascinating. Not only can you watch your goodness spread from person to person, on a visual connection tree showing who positively affected whom, you can measure 9 different effects as it happens.
For example, you can measure the amount of money raised to shelter and feed war refugees and peace education, the number of refugees sheltered and fed, the number of people who became participants in the peace process, how many people were referred to the project from all the people in your connection tree, and so on.
This free tool doesn't require any financial participation, just put the tag on your blog, website, social networking page, or as a signature in your emails, and watch how your positive uplifting actions create a better world as the tag taps into the worldwide demand for peace.
The connection tree is part of patent-pending technology developed by 10 Million Clicks For Peace™ called a Personal Peace Impact Meter.
Grab the little yellow tag & get your Personal Peace Impact Meter , or join the world's largest peace project.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
During his seven years in the Illinois state Senate, Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans to help working families get ahead by creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which in three years provided over $100 million in tax cuts to families across the state. Obama also pushed through an expansion of early childhood education, and after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Senator Obama enlisted the support of law enforcement officials to draft legislation requiring the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.
Obama is especially proud of being a husband and father of two daughters, Malia, 8 and Sasha, 4. Obama and his wife, Michelle, married in 1992 and live on Chicago ’s South Side where they attend Trinity United Church of Christ.
Barack Obama was born on August 4th, 1961, in Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham. Obama graduated from Columbia University in 1983, and moved to Chicago in 1985 to work for a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment. In 1991, Obama graduated from Harvard Law School where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.
Now, we ask you to consider this man as a serious candidate for President in 2008, unencumbered by the shackles of being labeled an old-school politician. It's TIME FOR CHANGE.
Experience? Mr. Obama has the identical experience of one former president: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
(GPS) Global Positioning Systems - The World Grows Smaller
Author: Gary Mialocq, Ph.D.
As a young child in the first grade not long after the end of WW2, I remember looking at a globe in the classroom and seeing "Unexplored Territory" in several places. Well, times have certainly changed. Now, with the new technology, GPS, it is becoming very difficult to get lost.
GPS, or global positioning system, is a tool that is used to measure distance and to help pinpoint location any place in the world. The fact is that it is an excellent tool that can do so much more than just tell you where you are. And, it is being used in everything from heart rate monitors to automobiles. This is amazing technology.
There are 24 satellites orbiting the earth at various locations at an altitude of 12,000 feet. They are always transmitting information through digital radio signals that tell the transmitters where they are and the exact time. They are so precise that they transmit time to the billionth of a second in accuracy.
Although first developed by the Department of Defense for military purposes, the GPS has found its way into society with many non-governmental functions. Let's examine a few:
Automobiles. You can use this system to drive from one location to another without getting lost. It can help to track a car that has been stolen. It works by transmitting data to the satellite receivers that are then sent to the authorities. Within seconds, you can know your car's location.
Emergency Situations. It can also be of great help in emergency situations. The transmitted information can be sent to the authorities to alert them that you are in trouble. GPS jumps in and helps to find your location. Many vehicles are now being outfitted with this as standard equipment.
Recreation. GPS devices are now use for recreational uses for the outdoor sportsman such as camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, or boating and can be an excellent way to make sure that you don't get lost.
Big Brother! Companies are putting GPS to use as well. It virtually eliminates moonlighting with company vehicles. It reduces accidents and lowers insurance premiums by promoting safe employee driving habits and even creates reports of miles driven by each vehicle.
Domestic. Think your spouse if being unfaithful? Don't hire a high priced private investigator. These devices work so well because they are covert. Some are small enough to hide in a purse or in the car. They now have cell phones equipped with GPS devices. Not only can you locate someone right now, but you can also pull up a history of where the unit has been.
In summary, you won't be finding any more maps as I did as a child marked "Unexplored territory".
Got Traffic? Now What?
Most internet marketers actually give lip service to real customer service. This is the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of running a successful business and most business owners really have no clue as to how to follow up with their customers. They spend countless hours on SEO Optimization, Google Keyword analysis, etc., in an effort to drive traffic to their website. Now. let's say the effort was successful. It's one thing to drive traffic to your site and even to make a sale, but now what do you do? How do you keep your customers coming back again and again? How do you obtain their LOYALTY?
The very best way is NOT through follow-up emails and autoresponders. There is NOTHING like personal contact and we use a Contact Manager that reminds us when to follow up with our customers. Here is an example:
SendOutCards offers a simple and professional way for businesses to follow-up with their customers, vendors and associates. A customer that feels appreciated will continue to do business with you. They will also refer others to you. At SendOutCards, you can create campaigns that will automatically send out Thank You Cards, Birthday Cards, Holiday Cards, and Promotional Postcards via US Mail. No spam, no email filters, and PERSONAL CONTACT.
• Customized Greeting Cards and Postcards •
You can customize your business cards with your own logos, photos, or designs. For a nominal fee, SendOutCards will create and set-up your own custom card. With this, a business can choose between their own custom cards, or have the flexibility of using any of the cards already available in SendOutCards main card catalog.
• Personalization •
With the assistance of your SendOutCards representative, you can have a campaign set-up for your business in just minutes. You can even personalize each piece within a day of its scheduled time to go out. You can have custom greeting cards and postcards made for your business; this lets your customer recognize you.
Example: Let's say you sell insurance. You decide that when someone buys a policy from you, you will send a pre-scheduled campaign of cards to your new customer. You will first send a Thank You Card, then a Birthday Card will be scheduled, A Holiday card will be scheduled and an Anniversary of Policy postcard will be scheduled that promotes new products that you offer. The system will automatically do this for you.
In addition, you can look up a customer's name at any time, click on a card that is scheduled to go out, click on that card and customize your message to that customer at any time.
The Contact Manager alone is worth its weight in gold. We use this program and believe in it strongly. There is a cost of $395 for the full Distributor package, and, best of all, this is a network marketing program that, in itself, can provide income for you. This program can elevate your business to one that provides World Class Customer Service. Click Here to see a Sample Real Estate Campaign.