The Economy - Socialism

Socialism doesn't work in the long run. Why, because the private economy does not produce enough to fund it. You can take all the money the "rich" make, and it will not be enough to fund the cost. This is a fact in every country. In the U.S. the total income for the top 10% of taxpayers is about $3.8 trillion. Federal government spending is $3.6 trillion. So you could just take all the money the rich make and pay the bills (and have a bit left over for a rainy day fund). The problem is that you can only do that once because you have just bankrupted the to 10% of income earners and killed the U.S. economy! Plus, who is going to want to make any money if the government takes it all. Socialism will always collapse because it never has enough money to pay for it. What is the solution? A free market, law abiding, and a small and limited government economy!

What do you think?

Chromebooks - Great For Schools

I ran across an article that discusses why Chromebooks are better for schools than iPads. Here are the points the author makes:

* iPad as great for consuming media. Chromebooks are great for writing and doing school work.
* iPads are app based and thus tied to them, which is a closed system. Chromebooks are web based and thus tied to the internet, which is an open system.
* iPads are Apple based. Chromebooks are Google based. (Duh!). Once students enter the workforce, Apple is not such a big player, but Google is (clearly Microsoft is the big fish in the pond, but it is losing market share - not to Apple, but to Google).

I own both devices. I use my iPad for games and media consumption. I use my Chromebook for school, work, and creating text based products. In the end, I think Chromebooks are great for schools.

What do you think?

For more:
https://www.edsurge.com/n/2014-06-30-3-reasons-why-chromebook-beats-ipad-in-1-1-programs

Writing - Blocked

I have never really been at a loss of what to write about except for the last few days. I keep looking for things to write about and I can't seem to find things I want to comment on or think about. Maybe there are too many things to write about and I just can't seem to pick something? Or maybe I have written too much on everything already and I feel like I am starting to repeat myself. I am also on my summer break from teaching. Maybe the change in schedule has an affect on why I am not able to find things to write about? In the mean time I will keep looking, but I might not be posting very much.

What do you think?

World News - Venezuela

Socialism does not work. Case in point: Venezuela. Most of the country of venezuela went dark recently because of a power blackout. An outage at a power station in the center of the country led to electricity service going out in most of the country. This left commuters stranded and traffic snarled across Venezuela. So what caused the outage? No one is sure. The last outage was conveniently blamed on saboteurs by the government. The truth is that the power grid has not been maintained and grown sufficiently. In other words, it has been mismanaged. Since the power grid is owned and operated by the government, there is no one to blame but the government. When government gets involved things die. Enterprises die, utilities die, energy production dies, even people die. Socialism does not work.

What do you think?

For more:
http://news.yahoo.com/blackout-hits-venezuela-interrupts-presidential-broadcast-204030360.html

Creativity - Using Constraints

There is a way to boost creativity that is counter intuitive. Here it is: you can increase creativity by increasing constraints. A famous example of this is Dr. Seuss and "Green Eggs and Ham". Dr. Seuss wrote "Green Eggs" on a bet that he could not write an entertaining children's book using 50 words or less. Not only did Dr. Seuss win the bet, but he went on to sell millions and millions of books based on using constraints. So how do you create constraints? Here are some suggestions:

* Limit the size in some way
* Limit the time in some way
* Limit the budget in some way
* Limit those involved in some way
* Limit the materials you can use
* Limit… well, you get the idea

I am using this very technique to see what I can come up with in blogging. I limited myself to only using a Chromebook and free applications. So far I have done well. Are you involved in some creative endeavor? Maybe you can impose some limits in order to help you come up with some very creative solutions or ideas? It worked for Dr. Seuss!

What do you think?

Chromebook - Android Apps

News is out that Chromebooks are going to be able to run Android Apps. This is great news because the biggest drawback in using a Chromebook is offline capability. Having Android Apps available will greatly reduce this drawback (if not eliminate it completely). I have a few concerns though. Will you need a touch screen to make the apps work? Will the apps work within the Chrome browser or on their own? What does this mean for security? Will the apps be free or will you need to purchase them? I guess I have a lot of questions and I wonder how well the apps will work. Hopefully soon I will find out.

What do you think?

Observations - Disneyland

My family and I spent the day at Disneyland yesterday. Both parks (Disneyland and California Adventure) were quite busy, and boy was it expensive. A one day pass that allows you access to both parks was $150! So for a family of four it costs $600 just to get in the door. Then you need to factor in parking, food, snacks, and trinkets. I would say that a one day visit for a family of four costs about $800-1000. Fortunately for me, my son now works in the park and we were able to get in at a discount. So is it worth going? The Disneyland experience is amazing and the parks are as good as I have ever experienced (and we have been to Disneyland many times over the last 30 years), but for $800-1000 I would not go. I would especially not go if the Parks are busy like they were yesterday for us. We spent most of the day in lines. Do you want to spend that kind of money to stand in line? If you have never been to Disneyland, then it might be worth the expense and experience. Try to see if you can go on a day when most of the annual passes are blocked so that there are fewer people in the parks. Also, spend one day in Disneyland and another in California Adventure if you can afford to do that. There is just too much to do.

What do you think?

Observations - Interviews

Are interviews an effective way to find a good employee? I think that one of the biggest problems with "interviews" is that you can't get a good idea if someone can do the work or not. For example, take teaching. There is no way you can know how well a person will teach from an interview. all you can get is how well the person answers questions. I think it would be better to take prospective employees and make them do the job for a while and see how they do. Maybe a short internship or something like it? That would be a much better way to see if someone can do the job or not.

What do you think?

Self Improvement - Procrastination

One issue most people deal with is procrastinating. What is procrastinating? It is putting things off till the last minute, or putting things off until as long as possible. I am a procrastinator. I like to wait till the last minute or wait as long as possible on many things. Sometimes this works out for me in that I might end up not having to do something. Many times though, I end up having to work long hours or give up some personal time to get something done. So why do we procrastinate? Some reasons include:

* Avoiding a difficult task - if we perceive that a task is difficult is so way, we will put it off as long as possible to avoid the difficulty.
* Low self-esteem/confidence - if we feel we aren't able to do something, we will put it off or avoid doing it.
* Perfectionism - if we think we have to do something perfectly, then we might avoid doing it because we feel we will never make it perfect.
* Poor habits - maybe we have developed habits that keep us from doing what we need to do.
* Fear - most of everything that keeps us from acting is a form of fear.
* Not knowing where or how to start - this is especially true if the task is big.

How do you deal with these issues? You first identify why you procrastinate, and then you deal with each issue by getting started on the task you are procrastinating in. Stop avoiding and get started. Stop feeling that you can't do it, and get started. It's never going to be perfect, so get started. Turn off the TV or get off that social media site and get started. Feel the fear and get started. Finally, it does not matter where or how you start, pick a spot and get started. The key to beating procrastination is to get started.

What do you think?

For more:
http://www.motivationalmemo.com/the-6-reasons-why-you-procrastinate/

Observations - The Middle East

There is a good article in Politico discussing the success of the Obama administration in the Middle East. What was the Middle East like when President Obama took office? In 2009 the Middle East "was largely at peace, for the surge in Iraq had beaten down the al Qaeda-linked groups. U.S. relations with traditional allies in the Gulf, Jordan, Israel and Egypt were very good. Iran was contained, its Revolutionary Guard forces at home." I would also add that relations with Saudi Arabia and the other gulf states were good, the price of oil had fallen to about $40 a barrel (it hasn't been below $70 since), and there was little unrest across the Middle East and North Africa. Now the U.S. economy was in disarray and domestically things were not well, but in regards to foreign relations, things were as well as they probably would ever be.

What are things like today? Today "terrorism has metastasized in Syria and Iraq, Jordan is at risk, the humanitarian toll is staggering, terrorist groups are growing fast and relations with U.S. allies are strained." I would add that relations with our allies are strained at best. Iraq ia in a fight for it's life. North Africa is in ruins and chaos reigns. The Middle East is a mess. Ukraine is in a full civil war. And Russia and China are flexing their military muscles. In a short 5 years the world went from peace to mayhem.

Does foreign policy matter? Does having a strong military matter? Does the price of oil matter? Yes, yes, and yes. How many people have lost their lives? Hundreds of thousands. How many lives have been disrupted? Millions. How many jobs have been lost worldwide as a result? To many to count. If things do not improve soon, the presidency of Obama will be marked by one of the largest foreign relations debacle ever. I was not a fan of President Bush, but at least we had some semblance of peace in the world.

What do you think?

For more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-man-who-broke-the-middle-east-108140.html#ixzz35X9YhKGv