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James Stabile Monthly Blog |
October 2006 |
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Owner,
Webmaster: James Stabile |
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In this blog you will find monthly discussions concerning the issues of importance and interest to the site's creator, owner and webmaster, James Stabile. These issues include - Discussion of the Month; Entertainment; Health, Fitness & Lifestyle; Politics and the World; Religion & Spiritualism; Technology & Business; and Too Strange, Weird or Just Funny. Peruse the articles in this blog. Remember to read the Disclaimer above for the legal "stuff". Also, please email the webmaster concerning any programming errors that you may discover on this site. Thank you for reading my blog and for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you. |
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Topics of Discussion Discussion of The Month It's October 2006 and welcome to it. October is filled with many important dates for this webmaster. A special day is October 28, Make A Difference Day. USA Weekend Magazine sponsors this event. It's mission: "Put your cares on hold for one day to care for someone else." It is reported that annually on the fourth Saturday of October, 3 million people will help 20 million other people. Go to http://makeadifferenceday.com/ for more information. On October 28 try to go out of your way to help someone else. This is something that we should be doing every day of our lives. We should be attentive to other people's needs on a daily basis. Specific days dedicated to a particular social issue is a good idea, but the sentiment is only temporary. People may get the idea that their behavior or attention should be focus on the particular social issue for that day only. Wrong, each and everyday should be lived in the service of other people and social justice. Our lives are short, to be successful we must use every day to become a better person. One becomes a better person by redirecting attention off themselves and refocusing attention to the needs of other people. Life is too short to be preoccupied by selfish interests. Get the most from life, be a selfless person and be more concerned about helping other people. Don't forget about Halloween. All Hallows Eve has a religious and a pagan connection, but I prefer to celebrate the traditional day of spooks, goblins and ghosts. Just enjoy the costumes, candy and tradition. A good family day. Happy Halloween! http://www.jds2.com/halloween/hallo2001.html . Thanksgiving and Christmas can't be too far off. Entertainment Pulse Well, I felt like I saw it before. Last year or the year before I saw a movie about a computer game that killed the person after he or she played the game, or something to that affect. Anyway, this time it was wireless technology killing people when they used their cells or logged on to their email. The movie wasn't great, it wasn't terrible, just a movie to escape the world for a few hours. I saw it on Labor Day. It was the first time that I went to the movie since early July. It was great to be able to go to the movies or to go anywhere. Big Brother 7 All Stars The seventh summer filler at CBS. A waste. I have enjoyed watching the previous 6 summer seasons of Big Brother, but this one - forget it. By the way this is the only "Reality Show" that I have ever watched. I really do not like reality shows, but Big Brother was different. Maybe it was the All Stars gimmick. The best of the past 6 season's house guest played the game. The All Star house guests were chosen by the American audience with CBS oversight. The All Stars were ruthless, deceitful and outright mean in their competition to become the winner of the $500,000 grand prize. To me it was nothing more than an exercise in the worse kind of behavior among otherwise rational adults. I kept thinking throughout the summer airing of the show, "Is this the kind of behavior that we adults want our children to emulate". Certainly not. Reality, I hope not. I think I will pass on Big Brother 8, next summer. Who am I kidding, when Big Brother 8 airs in July 2007, I will probably catch a glimpse of the opening show and probably view most of the shenanigans, as I did this past summer. The 2006 - 2007 television season is under way. For a complete listing of network shows go to http://www.pazsaz.com/fallgrd.html . I don't see too much to get excited about. Most of network TV is boring and predictable. The CBS Monday night line up seems to be the most entertaining to me. The new series at 8:00, The Class is cute, but doesn't seem to have much staying power. How I Met Your Mother, is a very funny show. It remains a favorite of mine. ABC's Thursday's Grey's Anatomy is looking good. And my overall favorite CBS's Friday's Ghost Whisperers is my number one pick because of the subject matter of the show. However, I would never stay up, stay home or stay dedicated to any of these TV series. As far as Reality Shows - I despise them. Summer replacement Big Brother is tolerable. News, CNN and MSNBC remain mainstays with me. Health, Fitness and Lifestyle The state of Florida is eliminating the subject "Health" from it's list of graduation requirements effective with the class of 2011. Childhood obesity is at an all time high. It is at epidemic proportions. Teenage pregnancy is another problem. Drugs and Alcohol abuse is prevalent among teens and even preteens. What is the state of Florida thinking? A better question, "What are the members of the state legislature thinking?" The answer is money and testing. The world revolves around money. Decisions are based on money, almost exclusively. Money does make the world go wrong. Testing and accountability are major concerns of the Federal Government and of the State Government. Children and ultimately society is losing because of the overemphasize of testing and accountability and the role of money in today's society. Let's take a closer look at this situation. Namely, where do the children or grandchildren of the members of the Florida state legislature attend school? Do they attend public school? Many do not. Many attend private schools. There is nothing wrong with private schools. I think that private schools should be an alternative to public schools. I think the decision to attend private schools should come from the parents of the children. I think this decision should be made by the parents like any other decision, the question should be asked - can we afford to send our children to private school? The decision should be a parental decision based on financial assets of the parents. Therefore, state legislature members have every right to send their children to private schools, but they have another obligation to perform. This obligation stems from their roles as elected state officials - protect the integrity of the public schools and their students. The elimination of the Health requirement is a breach in that obligation. Money must be considered in any decision and so does accountability and testing, but the welfare and future of our children must be the prime consideration in this decision. Andre Agassi bows out of professional tennis in glory. Although, Agassi lost his final professional tennis match, he left the court as a king. He tearfully thanked his fans and his fans gave him a royal farewell. Andre Agassi is one of the good sportsmen. Over the years he has conducted himself honorably on and off the tennis court. He is the model for good sportsmanship. On or off the court, he has been and he will continue to be a positive role model for children and adults. Agassi leaves a rich tennis legacy for mankind. Thank you Andre. How much time do you spend with your work colleagues? Probably a lot. In most cases, more than the amount of time you spend with your spouse or significant other. Office mates are people who work together and who have developed close personal ties. They are not involved romantically, but are involved in nearly all other areas. They know all about each other, their likes and dislikes, their thoughts and reactions, in short, everything about each other. I don't know if I agree with the concept of office mates. I think work should be work. At work one should be involved in work related activities and not personally involved with other workers. The people I work with are the people that I work with. They are not my best friends. Most of the time I do not socialize with the office crowd. I consider my job as the way I earn my money, nothing more and nothing less. I don't consider it my life, just what I do so I am able to enjoy my life. This works for me, it may not work for you. I've seen too many complications when work colleagues become too friendly and personal with each other. To me the biggest obstacle is related to job performance and customer service. Both tend to deteriorate when workers are too friendly. The objective at the workplace should be to get the job done and provide impeccable service to the customers (no matter who the customers may be). One can not serve two masters at one time. Too much socializing in the workplace may involve the invasion of someone's privacy. Everyone does not care to get to know, intimately, every other person that they come in contact. Work colleagues are not entitled to be privy to certain personal information. All workers do not want to share such information. I just think that the work place is not the place for such personalization. One's private life is the place for that kind of interaction. Most of the time we do not select our work colleagues. Why should these strangers suddenly become part of our most intimate, personal life. I choose my friends carefully. My friends may be work colleagues, but my work colleagues are not usually my personal friends. I go to work to perform a job, not to make friends. After all, work is work. Why do you think they call it work? Politics and the World Bravo to the four gutsy Republican Senators, John Warner of Virginia, John McCain of Arizona, Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine, for defying the President concerning treatment of terror prisoners. Namely, following the Geneva Conventions concerning the human treatment of prisoners. President Bush says we do not treat terror prisoners inhumanly, then why is he so opposed to the bill passed by the United States Senate. This Republican Administration is acting true to form in their governing style by saying one thing and doing another. This has been the manner in which the Bush Administrations views leadership and governing, say that you are doing the right thing, let the people think you are doing the right thing, then do whatever it takes to get what you want for your and your cronies - economically, politically and socially. These four senators as well as Colin Powell are true heroes and patriots. They are a few good men, no matter the party. Chances are a compromise with the President will be agreed upon and the President will basically get his way. I say, senators, hold your ground and maintain the integrity of the Geneva Conventions. The campaign for Florida Governor is well under way. The Republican and Democratic candidates for governor are pretty predictable. They are attacking each other and promising everything to everyone. As far as they go, it's business as usual. The unique thing about the 2006 Florida gubernatorial race is that the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor is an African-America. The Democratic Party could win the governorship making history - the first African-American Lieutenant Governor in the state's history. Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Jim Davis selected former Miami state Senator Daryl Jones to be his running mate in the November election. This is a good move. If you have been enjoying this blog for a period of time, you will remember that this webmaster spoke very highly about Daryl Jones for governor in the 2002 primary. Of course he didn't win, but this webmaster saw his potential. Now for the other side of the story, and there is always the other side of any story. Why do we make a big deal over the fact that a candidate is African-American? Don't get me wrong, I think all people of all races should be given the same opportunity to be a candidate in any political election regardless of race. It is this webmaster's view that true integration and respect of all races, etc, will not be achieved until we become a "color blind" society. Minorities will "stay" minorities and be "seen" as minorities as long as we concentrate on the differences among people. Until we see people as belonging to the "human race", we will have racial unrest and inequality. America should be a melting pot, just as our history portrays, but today we are not a melting pot. Today we are more of a "buffet". Difference is not bad, but if we truly are one people, we must become oblivious to race, religion, etc. In the ideal world, this would be true and a lofty goal. In our imperfect world, it will never be totally achieved. For that reason, we must be cognizant of our differences in order to uphold the dignity and rights of all people. In this realistic world, a world of corruption, dispute, ignorance and intolerance, the rights of all people must be guaranteed and monitored by laws. No person is above the law and all people must operated according to the law. Florida Republicans, the people who did not want the class size amendment to become law, are trying to make it harder for Floridians to change the state constitution. They are proposing a bill that would make it more difficult to change the state constitution. The bill would require any proposed change to the constitution to pass the Florida electorate with at least 60% of the vote. This is a little extreme to me. Whose state is it anyway - the politicians or the citizens of Florida? I think the citizens of any state, municipality or country should be entitled to their fair and equitable representation and determination of any laws governing that entity. The Republican politicians are upset with the people of Florida because the Floridians passed the class size amendment, limiting class size in public schools. So, they are trying to make it harder to pass any further changes to "their" State Constitution. Personally, I voted against the amendment. No, not because I favor large class size, but because I believed that the amendment was wrong. The amendment says that only academic subjects would apply to the lower class size requirement. This is a blatant discriminatory action, electives including vocational, performing arts, fine arts, foreign language, etc., are being discriminated against by this amendment. All classes, academic and non-academic, should be restricted by this amendment. The education of our children should be equitable in all aspects of that education. More importantly, I had the feeling from previous experience that the school districts would find a way to "get around" the intent of the amendment. And they have. So far, they have by reporting enrollment as district or school averages, not classroom averages. However, this will change in the 2010 school year when individual academic classes must met the requirement. Another reason I opposed the amendment is the fact that there is too much waste in our public school systems. Waste, not just at the school level, but disproportionably at the district level. Superintends, Area Superintends, Assistants to each of the previous, Directors, Assistant Directors, I could go on and on. Follow the money, it should go to the students and teachers in the classrooms, not to the waste of personnel at the top. Anyway, getting back to the subject, former Senator Bob Graham among others, prominent Democrats by the way, are opposing this 60% electoral requirement. They are trying to give the control of the state of Florida back to the people, where it belongs. They are working to oppose and defeat this latest ploy by Republican politicians to usurp the rights of Floridians to maintain a voice in state government. Too soon to think about Medicare? Maybe, but a watchful person should be concerned about Medicare and Social Security. The state of both may affect your lifestyle. As far as Medicare, the premiums for Part B Medicare coverage is going up again. The monthly rate is still under $100 for most senior citizens, but a change will be coming for the wealthiest of senior citizens. People on Medicare who have a yearly income of more than $80,000 will begin paying more for their benefits. The percent will increase as yearly incomes increase. I think this is a fair move. A yearly income of $80,000 is a lot of income. People making that amount of money a year and more should be obligated to pay more in premiums. Medicare is in trouble financially. This seems to me to be a good first step in solving the problem. Briefly, I can't understand why poorer people must pay Social Security on all of their earnings. Whereas people making near $200,000 a year pay the Social Security tax on a portion of their earnings. I think the cut off is $180,000, I may be wrong, but around $180,000 is the limit for paying Social Security tax. In other words, taxpayers making more than that amount only have to pay Social Security up to the cut off amount. A person making millions of dollars a year still only pays Social Security tax on the first $180,000 that they earned in a year (again, I'm not positive about the exact figure for the cut off). I think this is dreadfully and disproportionately wrong. The poor must pay Social Security tax on their entire yearly income. Every person should pay Social Security on every last dollar and cent that they earn in a year. Fair is fair. That one minor change in the law, if proposed, passed and enacted, would make the Social Security fund solvent forever. Broward Schools enrollment dropped by more than 8,000 students in the 2006-2007 school year. The County Administrators, the Superintendent of Schools of the School Board are asking questions. "Where did those students go?" and "Why?". They are concerned that this may be signaling a critical trend in enrollment losses, which equates to funding losses from the state. Schools have been overcrowded for decades. New construction and renovations have not kept up with the increases in school enrollment over the last two decades, so, why are Broward County School leaders so concerned? The answer has already been given - fewer students means fewer dollars from the state of Florida to Broward County Schools. It's always about money. I would think that the School System would be rejoicing. With the class size amendment in place, complete compliance must be reached by the 2010 school year, this downward trend in enrollment should be welcomed. But it's all about money. Just like businesses and corporations downsize in an effort to increase profits, so to should "non-profit" entities, i.e. public school systems. Former Texas Governor Anne Richards died in September. Governor Richards was an outspoken and flamboyant Democrat. She went into politics later in life. Her purpose was to give women and minorities a voice in the political system. She accomplished her purpose. At the 1988 Democratic Convention she uttered those now famous words about then Vice President George H. W. Bush, "Poor George. He can't help it - he was born with a silver foot in his mouth". Go to http://gos.sbc.edu/r/richards.html for the complete text of her speech. Anne Richards lost her bid for re-election to the Governor's Mansion in 1994 by Republican George W. Bush. Anne Richards, thank you for your service and we are going to miss you. Former President Clinton says that his administration tried to capture (dead or alive) bin Laden. According to a newspaper article, during a Fox News Sunday interview Former President Clinton became combative after the host Chris Wallace asked him why he did not pursue bin Laden during his administration. Clinton shot back saying that he tried to pursue bin Laden, but the conservative right Republicans ridiculed him for trying and would not cooperate. Clinton said that the "neoconservatives" did nothing about bin Laden until after the attacks on September 11, 2001. It was after the September 11 attack on America did the Bush Administration direct their efforts to bin Laden. A year later they abandoned those efforts and attacked Iraq. Go figure. The Bush Administration is concerned about one thing and one thing only, doing what it wants to do, regardless of the cost or the facts. Inept and illegal are the words that this administration will be remembered. The Reverend Jerry Falwell does it again. In an article from the Associated Press, Reverend Falwell was quoted at a breakfast session Friday in Washington, "I certainly hope that Hillary is the candidate. I hope she's the candidate, because nothing will energize my (constituency) like Hillary Clinton. If Lucifer ran, he wouldn't." What a bigot and a blasphemer. The same article said, "Clinton press secretary Philippe Reines said Sunday, "Working for someone who believes in the Golden Rule, we're not going to engage in such vitriolic discourse - but it seems that a new low has been reached in demonizing political opponents." Falwell later responded, "That was totally tongue-in-cheek and everyone in the building knew that and everyone laughed." I had to quote this article exactly. I couldn't make up such trash. Reverend Falwell is setting the stage for the 2008 presidential campaign. Once again, Reverend Falwell a right wing conservative Republican has demoralized the political process. These holier than thou types are despicable. In the end, Reverend Falwell and his kind will meet the Lord God and will be judged accordingly. Do they not get it? Religion and Spiritualism Who would think that Pope Benedict XVI would cause such a furor in the Moslem community by reading a quote by a 14th century Byzantine Emperor? My question, "Why quote a 14th century Byzantine Emperor? And "Why a quote that would be taken so badly by Moslems?" I just don't understand this Pope. Pope John Paul II would never make such a statement. Benedict says that he didn't share the sentiment of the quote, then why did he say it? Most of the time we say exactly what we feel. Often times jokes are really our attempt to convey true, real feelings. This was not a joke, but I think you understand my point, people usually say what they mean in one way or another. This obvious mistake of the Pope's may be just that, a mistake. In any case, the Pope should have immediately apologized to the Moslem community and pleaded for it's forgiveness. While we are on the subject, Islam is a legitimate religion. Moslems have the right to practice Islam just as Catholics, Protestants and Jews have the right to practice their religions. Each religion has extreme and fanatic members and practices. This fact is not peculiar to Islam. Remember the Crusades? The Crusades were bloody wars with the express purpose of converting the world to the Christianity of the Middle Ages. The Crusades were sanctioned by the Pope. Remember the 9.11 attack on America. Jerry Falwell declared that the attack on America was caused by the actions of, "Gays, Liberals and Feminists". I could go on and on with fanatics and extreme factions of all religions, but I think you see my point. My point being, religion is religion, each person has a right to practice his or her religion, but extreme, fanatic aspects of any religion is absurd. Let us remember that if there is an afterlife, by the way as you should know from reading this blog this webmaster does believe in an afterlife, that afterlife will be in the singular. There will be one afterlife and one communion of saints. We had better start compromising on matters of religion. Our goals would be better met if each of us would embrace the similarities of our religions and de-emphasize the differences. If religion is man's and woman's attempt to know God by forming social groups, then we better make darn sure that the message of God's love is paramount in those social groups. In this regard, all manmade religions are definitely deficient and need to be restructured. Technology and Business Remember the Do Not Call List? If you add your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry, business solicitations via your home phone should cease. Political, Charity and some other such categories are still permitted to call your phone number. By the way, I think that no unwanted phone calls should be allowed, none. Privacy is privacy. As you probably remember, to add your phone number to the registry, go to www.donotcall.gov or call toll-free, 888-382-1222. There is a time expiration to this listing. I don't remember the number of years, maybe 5 or 7, but you must resubmit your phone number for continued placement in the registry. To remember my expiration date, I entered the reminder with the expiration date on my list of transaction on my financial accounting program of choice, Quicken. To remove your mailing address from the solicitations list of more than 3,000 companies and marketers, go to www.the-dma.org and complete the paperwork. This service, the Mail Preference Services is sponsored by the DMA, The Direct Marketing Association. By the way, there is a $1.00 fee for this service. Another way to cut the number of mail solicitations is to contact your credit cards, banks or any financial institutions or businesses where you have an account and "opt out" of any further solicitations, mail, email, etc. It does take some time, but the results will be worth it. Remember the solicitations for new credit cards accounts, etc. may be good reading and may present a better option for you, but they may be lost in the mail, so to speak, or otherwise end up in the wrong hands. Remember Identity Theft? Online banking is becoming more popular in today's high tech world. Many times banking online is cheaper, more convenient and easier than going to the neighborhood bank. There are some precautions one must take when dealing with any type of online financial banking. Always deal with banks or other financial sites that have secure Web sites. The little padlock symbol in the bottom right corner of your Web browser or the https: (the "s" is the secure symbol) in the browser's address box signals a secure site. I would also suggest that you deal with reputable financial organizations. Security is of the utmost importance. A secure computer is also part of that security. Make sure your computer is secure. Have a reputable Internet Security System installed on your computer. One that includes anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware software. Utilize password protection capability on your computer. Set up a different user account for each person who uses your computer. Protect the logon for each user account with a password. Never, never use the "store and remember your username and password" feature of your computer or the sites that you are visiting. Set up passwords and remember them. Remember, if someone accesses your computer with or without your knowledge, your security may be at risk if you have not secured your computer, passwords included. Change your password often. Do not access your financial accounts on a public computer. That includes the computer at your place of employment. Big Brother may be watching. All businesses and organizations have security software installed on their networks. Many times your boss is aware of every entry that your type on your work computer. Also, work is a place to perform work related duties. It is not the place to do personal computing. Many firms and businesses have rules that forbid personal work at the "company" expense. Practice email security. Protect your email program and your computer from unscrupulous Internet users. Don't open any emails from unfamiliar senders, never use the preview set up option and follow good email etiquette. Never send sensitive information by email. Never email your account numbers, etc. Further, never email any personal information, telephone numbers, addresses, children's names, ages, to any unfamiliar email senders. Yes, this is scary and it's meant to be. Computer and Internet usage is becoming a scary venture, proceed at your own risk. Need a new computer? Well don't upgrade just yet. Wait until 2007 and Microsoft's new operating system, Vista will be available. In early 2007 Microsoft will finally unveil Vista. Explore the new Vista at: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.aspx . I just hope all of the kinks are out of the released version. Just because Microsoft releases a new operating system doesn't mean that Microsoft has perfected it. Remember Windows ME? ME was released way before it was thoroughly tested and perfected. I know, I was one of those people who upgraded to ME by buying a 2000 computer. I had problem after problem with the then new ME. The operating system was so unstable, it froze at the drop of a hat. Microsoft immediately began developing and issuing fixes for ME, but many users were so frustrated with it that they changed to other operating systems. I went back to Windows 98 for awhile. Then I upgraded to the magnificent Windows 2000, the Professional Edition. What a lifesaver. Now I run Windows XP Professional. I would rank XP Professional at the top of Microsoft operating systems. After this discussion, maybe we should wait before we upgrade to Vista. Wait and see how it performs for other computer users. That might not be a bad idea. Unbelievable, Strange or Weird The State of Florida rewards schools monetarily, who show marked improvement in their annual FCAT related school grade issued by the Florida Department of Education. This year a particular high school in Broward County Florida increased it's school grade by two letters, going from a "D" to a "B" for the 2006 school year. Yes, everyone was very pleased, rejoiced and celebrated when the grade was announced in June 2006. However, in October 2006 the school's faculty and staff are at odds with each other concerning how the nearly $200,000 "prize" money is distributed to faculty and/or staff members. The ridiculous Florida Department of education or whoever at the state level distributes this "prize" money, leaves this decision of who gets the money to the faculty, staff and parents of each school involved. Stupid. Should the money be given equally to all school personnel regardless of position at the school? Or should only those teachers involved with the grade levels (9 and 10) who determine the school grade, receive the money? Or should... etc, etc. What a mess. More importantly, what a devised situation for each of the schools - elementary, middle or high, affected in the state of Florida. In my opinion, if money is so scarce, why give nearly $200,000 to anyone other than the students. That's Florida and Floridian state government. My suggestion - give the money to the students by way of lower class size and increased classroom resources. The people who work at the school, whoever they are, should not get the money. The students are the people who earned the school grade, hence they should reap the monetary rewards. Two Broward County priest have been charged with embezzling $8 million dollars from their parishioners. This is sinful and disgusting. We have sunk to a new low. Florida United States Congressman Mark Foley has resigned from the US House of Representative due to allegations of sending sexual explicit emails to a 16 year old male congressional page. And now we learn that top level Republicans have known about these emails for over a year. What is going on in our Congress. The really terrible point to be realized from these types of revelations is the fact that these types of disgusting, illegal, inappropriate and unethical occurrences are becoming commonplace in our contemporary world. And anyone, I repeat, anyone is capable of being involved in these despicable situations. God protect our children and ourselves. |
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