I was interviewed for an article on Dice.com

http://insights.dice.com/2015/12/15/getting-along-with-your-project-manager/?icid=HomePagetoArticle

A little passage I read recently…

“True patriots know that America was founded in freedom–freedom to speak, to worship, to choose whatever path to happiness suits us best–but that with freedom comes an equal responsibility to country, community and family

True patriots believe that freedom from responsibility is selfishness, freedom from sacrifice is cowardice, freedom from tolerance is prejudice, freedom from stewardship is exploitation, and freedom from compassion is cruelty. True patriots know that we should measure our nation’s progress by whether every citizen has a fair shot to advance on the basis of talent and merit, and by the degree to which we promote the common success of all our citizens. Freedom without an equal chance to enjoy it is no freedom at all. True patriots believe it is immoral when inequality of opportunity leads to and perpetuates inequality itself. On a truly level playing field, some will do much better than others because we are not all equally talented or motivated. But when the tilt of the field keeps even the talented from ever winning, that is unfair and un-American. True patriots believe that we should measure a citizen’s worth by contribution to country and community, not by wealth or power–that those whom America has benefited most should contribute in proportion to their good fortune–and that serving others should be esteemed more highly than serving self. These were the ideals of the founders of our country and the defenders of our union. They have made America unique and necessary from the beginning. And now it is time for them to inspire a new generation of Americans.

Eric Liu; Nick Hanauer (2008-01-15). The True Patriot (pp. 20-22). Sasquatch Books. Kindle Edition.

These guys make a lot of sense. It’s not about how much you make, rather it’s about how much you contribute to the overall community.

Ok, do you actually think that politicians weren’t being bought before the Supreme Court made current laws unconstitutional?

All the SC did was to make it easier to spend and buy politicians. There are no laws that have ever been able to stop people from buying influence. Only people with good morals and strong character can prevent corruption.

We, the Joe six packs of the world, have to use the one power we have available to ourselves…vote in huge numbers!

Remember, it’s the message that wins elections, not money. Money just helps to distribute the message easier. But no matter how much your message is distributed, if people don’t like what you’re saying, they won’t buy it!

Check out Seinfeld online Comedians in Cars getting coffee

Article in Sunday NYT’s noted that even with the law and Obama’s rules saying they can’t take a lobbying job, they continue to do so…The Capitol’s Spinning Door Accelerates and Law Doesn’t End Revolving Door. And they wonder why no one believes them at the end of the day.

Then there is Al Qaeda trying to claim they no longer support jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria. Uh Uh, yeah right, I believe ya.

I see that the Democrats are raising more money from fund raising than the Republicans, bu the far right is increasing it’s grip on the GOP by out fundraising the establishment arm of their party…Fund-Raising by G.O.P. Rebels Outpaces Party Establishment…Democrats Outraise Republicans Eyeing Congress in 2014 U.S. Race

Some States say they have a budget surplus. And they want to give it back in the form of tax cuts…it’s a safe bet you and I won’t see it. Perhaps they should give it to the people who will most likely produce jobs with it…yeah the middle class. You probably thought I was going to say the wealthy or the poor didn’t ya? Nope, the middle class will spend it on things they need like wash machines or cars, you know, things that produce demand which produces jobs and so on.

I see that California and the western part of the country is running out of water. Watch out Great Lakes…

And what a blow out by Seattle…now if only the other team had bothered to show up it may have been a close game.

There is more snow predicted for Tuesday/Wednesday. Just what we need. Looking at 3″-6″ of the white stuff. I guess that one good thing from all this snow is that it extends our winter freeze which kills all the bad bugs and viruses that affect our plants and vegetables we try to grow every year.

I bought a compost barrel last fall hoping to be able to provide some high quality compost for the raised garden. From what I read this thing was supposed to be able to cook all winter long. Apparently I did something wrong…it’s frozen solid right now. Oh well, I will wait till spring and learn how to do it correctly.

Happy Trails everyone.

I was watching Robert Reich’s Inequality for All with some friends the other day. One of my friends kept commenting on how Reich was doing a great job of describing the problem but he wasn’t providing a solution. As I thought about it I realized that Reich was providing the answer. We, meaning you and I, have to collectively decide that our labor is worth something. We have to make business understand that without us they will go out of business. We are their customers and if we cannot buy their products then they will go out of business. Raise wages or lower prices to make it affordable to live. Quit giving exorbitant pay increases to executives while claiming that high labor costs is keeping them from being competitive in a world market. Emulate the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s when all shared and prospered.

Notes from a presentation we gave on why a web presence is so important to small businesses. Pretty basic, but very important information on the basics for setting up your web properties

1. Goals of a web presence

• To create an on-line presence
• To differentiate your business
• To capture leads
• To grow your business

2. Basic Website Elements

• The homepage will generally be the initial point of contact with your consumers. Make it interesting and engaging as you have about 5-10 seconds to grab a visitors attention.
• An “About” page can further reinforce why the visitor should do business with you.
• Finally, create a “Contact” page that includes address, phone number and e-mail address. Make it easy for the visitor to contact you

3. The Blog

• So why is a blog important?

1. A blog is an on-line journal about your company.
2. It shows that you know what you’re talking about.
3. A blog can be easily updated.
4. A blog can be a part of your website or is commercially available from sites like Blogger, and WordPress

4. The Newsletter

• A newsletter provides interesting information to your customers about your company.
• Getting consumers to sign up for your email list means you no longer have to wait for them to come to you, you can go to them.
• It’s a low-cost method to advertise specials and/or sales to an already interested group.
• Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to generate sales ($43.52 ROI for $1.00 spent (DMA 2009)).

5. Social Media Accounts

• Great for capturing leads.
• Facebook and Twitter help you connect with and contact your core community.
• Facebook is more Business to Consumer.
• Twitter is more Business to Business and more group oriented.
• LinkedIn connects you with business clients.