What Google Chrome OS Means for Computing

What Google Chrome OS Means for Computing

Google is moving everything online, and I really believe this is the future of computing. The desktop model of computing — the Microsoft era — is coming to an end. It’ll take a few years, but it will happen.

Taking the Time to Be Polite

Taking the Time to Be Polite

If you choose to see the world as some mean place where no one cares about you, then that will be your experience. Choose to see the world as a place of abundance and wonderful people and that will be your experience. You get what you focus on, it is that simple.

I will work on being more polite myself, and noticing more of the good and beauty in the world around me.

545 People

545 People by Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred Senators, 435 Congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices — 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red ..

If the Army & Marines are in  IRAQ  , it’s because they want them in  IRAQ  .

If they do not receive Social Security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power..

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

You Are Here

I believe it was the movie The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension where I first heard “no matter where you go, there you are”.  Back then, during my early teen years,  my friends and I often repeated that line in jest. Though I had already begun my martial arts journey by that time, I was still quite new to Zen, Buddhism, and other non-occidental ways of thinking. As I matured both physically and mentally, I became aware that the saying actually held an honest and true meaning, and is so much more than a joking attempt at some deep epiphany.

Yes, you are.

How often have you heard people say they are out to ‘find themselves’? Perhaps you’ve said it yourself? Maybe it is due to my early recitations of “no matter where you go, there you are”, however humorously, that makes me wonder just what people really mean when they say they have to ‘find themselves’ before embarking on some grand action or decision. In my mind, there is no need to find yourself; you’re right there!

However, I think it comes down to believing in a terribly misplaced ideal, namely, that ‘they’ can be ‘found’. I think that’s a very dangerous notion, because it holds at its core the belief that other people, places, or things, can and should tell you who you are. Nonsense. When you believe that other things are telling you what you are, then you give them command of your Life. That in turn makes you a slave.

Besides, you don’t go finding yourself, anyway. You simply be yourself. If you don’t know who or what you are, then take it upon yourself to learn. Learning yourself comes best by looking inward, first noticing, and then scrutinizing, your every thought and emotion. In balance, also staying conscious of your every word and action, those outward manifestations of yourself, is another credible way to know who you are. Constant vigilance of yourself will show you who and what you are, for joy or sorrow. If the latter, knowing what you don’t like about yourself is the first step to correcting. Soon enough, you’ll come to realize you can’t ‘find’ yourself, but you can ‘make’ yourself.

In his book As A Man Thinketh, James Allen wrote,

“Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the divine perfection. By the abuse and wrong application of thought he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.”

Open your eyes, your heart, and your mind, to yourself. I have heard much during my life about doing the same to other people, but it is strikingly out of balance to hearing the opposite counsel. Perhaps some feel it’s too selfish to think of yourself first. Who else is going to be you? Who else is going to become the greatest you you can be for you? Who else will achieve your goals and your dreams if not you? Therefore, it is absolutely fine to take care of yourself first, in order to help insure that you will be here to then help others. As long as everything is kept in balance, there is no fault.

Look at exactly where you are, right now, at this and every moment. Be mindful of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual self, and know that you are not anywhere else. You are here.

Love Life, Not Stuff

Love Life, Not Stuff

This obsession with stuff leads to owning a lot, having a lot of clutter … and yet this stuff doesn’t fill our lives with meaning.

The Power of Breathing Without Breathing

The Power of Breathing Without Breathing

The title of this post might sound a bit like a Zen koan, but it’s something one of my teachers asked me if I could do. In typically traditional and mystical fashion, he left me to figure out what it meant.

Mission Statement Builder / FranklinCovey

Mission Statement Builder

You have a purpose in life. You know in your heart what’s most important to you. In fact, your mission and values are expressed every day, by how you live—you just may not realize it. We’re here to help you find the right words to put that mission down on paper.

The Winning Formula for a Thriving Life – Do You Know It?

The Winning Formula for a Thriving Life – Do You Know It?

The equation is O+P+P:  Optimism plus Passion plus Persistence.

Optimism – the belief that we can do well

Passion – loving what we’re doing

Persistence - the ongoing hard work to achieve our dreams.

When these three components interact that you get the optimal condition for a thriving life.

Breathe

Breathe

So breathe. And enjoy each moment of this life. They’re too fleeting and few to waste.

Freedom – personal freedom

Freedom – personal freedom

By oppression, I mean that one or the other party is not living to their fullest potential, either by active or covert behavior on the part of the other. Sometimes, the oppression has been so ingrained, neither notices it.