The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.
Theodore Roosevelt
Got that from my dad via email today, and I’d say it’s pretty spot on. Unfortunately, it also seems to describe our current culture in America.
I copied that quote from a website with lots of quotes. Including, more from Teddy Roosevelt.
I’m really not much of an activist. I’m really not an activist at all. I love the freedom that we have in the United States (or, at least, should have) to be diverse. To be different. I don’t need to convince you to see and do it “my way” in any area of life. We can discuss our opinions and beliefs, even passionately. But in the end, we all get to choose.
Today I was referred to a site representing a group that is trying to defend our rights in this country to parent our children best we know how. ParentalRights.org lays out the threats to that freedom, namely the UNCRC (The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) which the Obama administration is attempting to ratify. In short, ratification of this treaty would allow the government to decide what is “best” for a child, without any proof of wrong doing by the parents. It also would allow international law and UN policies to supersede the rights granted by the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Really? Really??
It’s getting ridiculous. We won’t be able to recover from the decades and decades of out of control spending by so many politicians in Washington. I can’t imagine how we won’t eventually succumb to our insane national debt. (And maybe sooner than later?) But, can’t we at least hold on to what makes us Americans?
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
The quote above is from the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Independence declared from an oppressive government that had trampled on people’s liberty for too long. Theoretically, we still have a representative government that listens to the people. But perhaps it is time to once again do as Jefferson penned in that paragraph a few sentences later:
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
It’s pretty crazy times we are in, folks.
Click through to the website for more, but if you are so inclined, call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111 and leave a message there, voicing your opinion. There are a few other things mentioned at this recent news post.
Be heard.
NOTE: The White House comment line is apparently not a place you can leave a message. Their outgoing message says you can call anytime 9:00am ET till 5:00pm ET Monday through Friday.
I was working with Google Analytics today for a couple of my web clients and I remembered that I had my own account with Google, so I logged in to check that out. (It’s been a good long while!)
Now, I think traffic overall is down to GregsHead.net since I don’t post nearly as much content here as I used to. But even if it’s less traffic, I’d have to say it’s smarter traffic!
Check out this report of the browsers used to access the site this month:
Yes, folks… (you who frequent this website) Firefox has the slight edge over Internet Explorer! And look at Safari’s admirable contribution. Combined, those two browsers are over 56% of the total! IE is at a mere 33%! Nice!!
I love you guys. 🙂
Keep it up! Spread the word! There are much better browsers out there!
NO ONE SHOULD BE USING INTERNET EXPLORER!
If you are one of those 33% and just don’t know there are other options… there are! Most of these are available for Windows and Mac OS. (Chrome is … coming soon? Hopefully?) Click a link and improve your web experience today! Follow the trend setters at GregsHead.net! 🙂
Safari (Mac/Windows)
Firefox (Mac/Windows)
Google Chrome (Windows)
Hey folks! Just wanted to give you a quick heads up. I was reminded today that I used to be an Authorized Apple Business Agent, for which Apple paid me a commission on any sales I generated for them. That was neat. Then I was an Apple Business Store Affiliate, similar deal, just not working directly for Apple. THEN, I actually worked for Apple as a trainer at the local Apple Retail Store… which was awesome! But… I didn’t have enough time to give them. Too bad.
So now… I decided to use my Amazon Associates account to make a new little “GregsApples” store (though I have let that domain expire…)
If you are into that sort of thing (Apple, iPod, iPhone, Mac, etc) and you’d like to support GregsHead.net and the Campbell family (well, at least, a little…) I’d invite you to check it out! It’s pretty cool actually. Like my own little mini-Amazon … and only Apple stuff!
Click the banner above to visit, or it will be in the sidebar even after this particular post gets pushed off the front page of my blog … or, here’s the direct link:
http://astore.amazon.com/bwdapple-20
Check it out and let me know what you think. If you have any Apple/Mac questions, I’m pretty good at answering those, too 🙂
Jen & I both recently had a bit of success listing and selling stuff on CraigsList, and following that, a friend asked how I chose CraigsList over ebay. “Well,” began my reply, “I suppose there are a number of reasons to use either,” I explained.
And so there are. I figured it might even be fun to post those here! This might not be interesting to some of you, and it’s not typically the sort of content I post here, but figured it might be useful to some. So, here goes!
CraigsList.org
| PROS | CONS |
| You get the full payment, no fees. | People like to “haggle” on CraigsList, no one thinks the asking price is the actual price. |
| Usually no shipping involved as CraigsList is a localized service. | Smaller marketplace as CraigsList is mainly a local listing. |
| Instant gratification! Almost always a CraigsList sale is made (or not made!) within hours of listing. | |
| Generally, fewer fraudulent transactions here. It’s “policed” by the CraigsList “community”, and the transactions seem to be a bit more “personal”. | |
| Nicer for larger items that you don’t want to figure out how to ship! |
ebay.com
| PROS | CONS |
| DEFINITELY the marketplace. You reach the world with your listing. | There are fees, fees everywhere! |
| More reliable transactions… when you sell something, you can usually expect prompt payment. | Shipping is involved. Figuring out costs, and then, actually shipping. |
| More anonymous transactions in a way… some people prefer this. | Mentioned above, ebay is replete with Phishing scams, and other monkey business. (Of course, they have an entire fraud dept. to handle this, but it’s still much more prevalent.) |
| ebay has been around, so kinda back to marketplace, the buyers and sellers know first to look there, and second that the transaction can mostly be trusted. | |
| PayPal integration is nice. | |
| Even with associated fees, can often make more money on “sellable” items here, as there is the larger marketplace. |
So, as you can see… it mostly comes down to: ebay = marketplace, and craigslist = faster/simpler transaction. At least, that’s how it’s been for us.
In fact… it’s just about time to list some more stuff right now…
Came across this site today while browsing the web… perhaps you’ve already heard of it. Didn’t get to explore it much, but appears to be a news site devoted entirely to good news stories. Interesting idea…
$100M sure sounds like a lot of money. And as you can see in the title, it sure is a lot of zeros. However, this blog post by radio talkshow guy Glenn Beck, points out how ridiculously small it is both in comparison to the already large budget as well as the outlandish amount of “money” being spent in all of these “stimulus” packages. Interesting look at the numbers. How do these crazy politicians think we won’t realize this, and just go along with them saying, “Wow! They cut $100M from the budget!!”
I mentioned Twitter here a few posts ago. I think I also mentioned that it’s not a technology I’ve found much of a use for. There is definitely a place for it. It’s a pretty good way for a business to handle things like press releases. By creating a Twitter account, and then advertising that on your website, email, and other avenues, people can subscribe to any updates you send out over the service (updates which are often viewed by the receiver on their mobile phone, so you can catch them anywhere) and if there is a related link, you can even include that.
The concept is decent, but the implementation has been … well, almost to the point of annoying.
It started in 2006, and I, being a fan of tech podcasts have followed it from its infancy. The tech show hosts were (almost) all infatuated with it at first. All they talked about was Twitter! It was crazy! But then it died down, and they referenced it on a more normal scale… probably using it for what it is best used for – short, to the point, news bulletins. (Some even use it as a resource. For example, they are traveling, in a city they don’t know, and they ask a question on Twitter, and then anyone “following” them who has an answer replies back. The downside is, people who check their Twitter feed less frequently reply many days later.) 🙂
I signed up for an account sometime in 2007, just to see what all the tech buzz was about. I had also created a Facebook account that year, as that was another thing the tech shows could not stop talking about! I took a look around both and found that, basically, Twitter was a one-function service that was nearly identical to one of many that Facebook provided. Facebook allows you to “broadcast” a status message – much like Twitter’s “tweets” – that anyone who is on your list of friends can see and interact with. But as I mentioned, Facebook has much more to offer. Much easier to share information, photos, videos… you can even play virtual games with friends. (I like to play Scrabble…) 🙂
So, with much more “real” interaction with people on Facebook, and no need to duplicate that using Twitter, I chose to use Facebook. (I need to also say that I do not have a cell phone. Twitter might have more draw to someone sharing info over a mobile device.)
Now, sometime last year, Twitter “hit the mainstream”. Not only are more people using it, but it’s becoming popular, and even a “credible” source of information. (See more about Twitter here.) It’s even gotten so popular late last year that Hollywood celebrities are now “Tweeting” their every move.
Fascinating.
I’ve definitely never caught on, as you have probably guessed. But, a client of mine joined the Twitter community last year and has really had some interesting adventures using their service. (You can find his Twitter info and “follow” him at his website: acemarketingagency.com.) I added his Twitter feed to my RSS folder and follow along. There are some extraneous comments directed to other people, but his general posts are often links to articles or other web content worth viewing. Today he posted a link to the following video that I thought did a pretty good job of summarizing the Twitter experience. 🙂
Enjoy…
Got an e-mail from my Dad today, one of them there e-mail forwards. (He enjoys those…) I try to read most of them (sorry, Dad, can’t read them all…) and several I comment back to him on, but only a very few do I share. (Almost none do I forward. If I share, I share via the web. A more passive “share”.) 🙂
This particular one, a website visually presenting what a TRILLION dollars looks like is both impressive and staggering, while really easy to comprehend visually.
These days, the word trillion is thrown around like the word million perhaps. We know it’s a big number, but ignore the true immensity of it.
And just think, before this so-called “stimulus” plan that is near a trillion dollars itself, aren’t we already in debt as a country near the sum of ten trillion dollars? Yikes.
So, check it out, if you have the stomach for that sort of thing.
I mentioned in a previous post today that I have not been using my Newsvine column (blog) much, and indeed that has been true, but I think I am going to start using that for posting links to interesting articles I come across in a day. They might be about anything from Apple and technology, to politics, to sports, to life with God, to… well, like the stuff you might see here, but written by other people. 🙂
It’s pretty easy to post there, and I’ll figure out a good way to import the content here via RSS. But… later. Stay tuned, and for now, bookmark gregshead.newsvine.com.
