In order to do well in life, (those of us who did not inherit wealth) need to have some sort of career education. Now that may mean 'on the job training', or traditional school, or a career college. The next couple of entries will be about how to evaluate a career college. Sometime what you see is what you get. Sometimes what you see is very much not what you get.

Without expertise in the field that you are entering it may be difficult to fully evaluate a program. Nevertheless there are things that can be investigated. One of the first items has to do with the modernity, or how new the curriculum and the equipment backing that curriculum is. Here are some examples of questions and what you might look for.

If the career education you are exploring is:

Sonography:
How new are the sonograph machines you will be working on?

How many students are there and how many machines, particularly
new machines?

What percent of the c... more

Is it OK that many businesses get their greatest profit from those least able to pay?

When job cuts come it is top executives that lose their jobs first?

From a business perspective it is simple, 'Get the most from each customer as possible and pay your employees as little as possible.'

It is the capitalist way.

This perspective also translates into some harsh realities.

Who pays the most as a percentage of income for fixed cost services? Clearly it is those that earn the least. Someone with $20,000 of income who pays $1000 per year for phone service pays 5% of their income to the phone company. A person making $80,000 a year with the same income only pays 1.25% for the same service.

Of the two, who is more likely to have the service cut off and have to pay large penalties?

Of the two, who has less ability to negotiate a decent cost arrangement on their phone?

This type of burden applies not just to phone ... more

Here is the thing. There are a couple of essentials to success that can not be avoided. First, you need a plan that will generate sufficient income to take care of your needs and those of your family. If you have less income than out go, success will always elude you. The part of this element is that creating that income in purely your responsibility. If it means school or an extra job, then that is what is means. This often requires brutal honesty about where you are and what need to happen.

Secondly, avoid the many financial pitfalls that await you as you live your life. These pitfalls might mean that you spend a lot on buying stupid stuff. That is stuff that you don't really have the money to afford or that will collect dust in a short time. If you do enough of this, or pay phone penalties or overdraft charges, then your ability to fix the income picture above will be greatly hampered.

It is time to move on from solving the riddle of how to succeed in Iraq, a set of issues for which I am truly not qualified to solve. Instead, I have a pet peeve that will, if heeded provide at least one area where the corporate greed beast will not fly over you and drop nasty on you.

The topic is 'Cell Phones'. Note the goal of the cell phone company is to get you to pay as much for the service as possible. The deals, talk time, anywhere minutes, free direct call, free mobile to mobile, phone upgrades, etc. are all designed to get you to pay more each month. For many people, the cell phone is the same as a car payment each month or more.

Not only does the cell phone create impersonal relationships at home, it is so addicting that it can destroy financial relationships as well. Take control of your families cell phone use. It should be a tool to enhance your relationships and lifestyle, not one that adds stress or helps families to not know each other.

One of the things that amazes me about our geopolitical environment is that we seem to have forgotten many of the lessons of the past. Lessons from Vietnam, from WW2 and the Nazis, and lessons from the cold war.

The president of Iran has vowed 'Death to America', 'Death to England' and 'Death to Israel' Mahmoud AhmadiNejad has said these things. Instead of inviting him to speak to the UN General Assembly and to the US Congress, why don't we take him at his word. He is clearly creating the means to build nuclear weapons. His desire is to use them on Israel and the West.

It may not be a popular, politically correct method of dealing with this situation, however, the concept of mutually assured destruction, or in the case of Iran, just complete destruction needs to be made clear. Any hint of the likely use of nuclear weapons against any enemy will result in the complete obliteration of life in Iran and it will not be liveable for 10,000 years.
... more

Are you often proud of the things you do, or are there times your really do not feel like crowing about who you have been. How often have you been faced with the choice to take a certain action or be faced with destruction, or percieved destruction.

A couple of questions may help you put this in perspective.
If you had to lie to keep your job, would you do so?
If you had to lie to preserve your own life would you do so?
If you had to lie to save the life of your family, would you?

Would you report someone else if you were their friend but
saw them stealing?

Does size matter? Is a big lie more worth reporting than a
little lie?

Is stealing a paper clip ok, but not a computer?

Which will God reward in the end, fuzzy - case by case moral decisions, or absolute moral decisions? Can you in today's world choose to live by an absolute m... more

Predator and prey, trapper and trapped. The bible says that the debtor is a slave unto the the lender. Even when slavery as such has been abolished, debt causes tremendous grief to many, many Americans. Harrassing phone calls, the threat of law suits, the embarrassment of not paying bills on time, create a world that is much like being a slave subject to the whims and wills of the master.

Many of us created this nightmare ourselves. We borrowed more than we could pay back. Bankruptcy used to be a way out, but now the government won't let people escape their own stupidity. In this area, the companies that send credit card invitations to unemloyed children are protected. These companies want to create a lifetime of income from you. It is big business, and in this area big business in running the show.

So what can you do. Get out of debt. There is no other way. If you own, you will have to pay. If you don't pay, you live in fear. God did not mea... more

Yes, that is correct, I said, 'Fooey'.

It was said that 'Most people live lives of quiet desparation.' I would even give credit to the speaker of that piece of wisdom, if I could remember the source of the quote. As a piece of information that often seems to be an accurate assessment. As a philosophy or excuse, it is a horrible way to be. In other words, I have been there, done that, and still visit that place on occassion.

It is a powerless place. Like the elephant above, pushing powerfully to go nowhere. For me, that place is an impetus for change. Change of job, change of perspective and change of focus toward pursueing old dreams.

Yes, I want to be the elephant, just not forever stuck in the same picture. I want to bring witness to the goodness of the lord as I live as a worthy example to those around me.

It is a tall order to take the elephant out of the box. When is the last time you took your elephant on a new ... more

Just a couple of quick questions.
creati
In order to enjoy creativity requires?

a.) A great smothering, sufficating amount of stress?
b.) The relief from tremendous stress?
c.) Just a little stress?
d.) No stress?

The answer is probably not the same for all. What do you think?

Today is the eve of a big step. I am leaving the confines of the academic world and that of managing a school for the realm of technology. More specifically I am going to work for a company that develops software used by insurance companies.

Each day I will have the chance to work with SQL Server and query language. There is no doubt that this is a cool step in my life.