Easton's Squat Spot

Software Developer Technical Definition of Abilities

2013-10-08T10:36:00.001-06:00

I was recently asked to compile a list of the qualities of the different level of programmers. Using multiple sources around the inter-web, this is what I came up with.

Junior developer

These developers are brand new to the game and most will have less than two years’ experience in total. All things can be solved with code and they will bang straight into the problem without first looking at what is actually needed. They need a lot of supervision and in some cases a breaking in period where you need to knock the "I know it all already" out of them. In many cases the phrase "I don’t know how to do that" is very hard for them to say. Many are not used to working in teams or using source control. The great thing is that we all have been there and we know it’s a growing phase and they will grow out of it. They will need near-constant help. Not only will they not know the business domain, but they may also struggle with the fundamentals of the language or the toolset. They don't know what they don't know, so without guidance, they will make frequent mistakes which, if not kept on top of, will derail the wider team. They are assigned the least complex tasks and should be supervised fairly closely. Generally they know about 10% of what they think they know. Usually they have not been through the whole development cycle and so often make some very naive choices if given the opportunity to choose. Sadly many of them don't actually care what the requirement is, they want to build things their way. They often have poor debugging skills.

Intermediate Developer

Intermediate level is where many programmers fall. Usually developers in this role will have between 2 and 7 year and possibly up to 10 years, although some can stay at this level their whole careers. They will develop code with less supervision and will likely be able to solve most of the routine problems they face but may struggle through some. They will be independently productive and will be able to tackle most tasks on their own, or understand when they need to reach out for help. Many times they will be assigned a task by the dev-lead and they will do it without worrying about the bigger picture. After a while they begin to see issues reoccurring and will begin to learn how to avoid them. They may unfortunately become attached to their code believing only they can really understand it. They are not generally tasked with high level design or highly complicated tasks that require an in-depth level of knowledge. They may be tasked with the design of a piece of the application though, especially as they are in the zone to become a senior developer. They are good at maintenance tasks or tasks where they can focus on just their piece of the puzzle, but are not usually expected to consider the application as a whole unless working with senior developers or being prepped for promotion to senior. They can usually do a decent job of troubleshooting and debugging, but they have to really slog through to get the hard ones. They do not yet have enough experience to see the patterns in the problems that point them to the probable place they are occurring. But they are gaining those skills and rarely need to ask for debugging help. They have probably been through the whole development cycle at least once and seen the results of design problems and are learning how to avoid them in the future. Usually they tend to be more likely to take a requirement at face value and not push it back when it has obvious problems or gaps. They have learned enough to know what they don't know and are starting to gain that knowledge. They are the workhorses of the programming world, they deliver probably 80-90% of the routine code and maybe 10% of the very difficult stuff. When they do start worrying about the bigger picture start them on the course to be a senior developer.

A Senior Developer

Generally have at least ten years of experience and have almost always at this level know they are doing. Usually experts in their chosen technology stack and will know the supporting stacks quite well. They will be honest about gaps in their knowledge because they know it’s better for them to get a person who does know what they are doing in to help. They are the ones that get the hard unsolvable tasks and they manage to fix them with what can be described as magic. They will be gifted at troubleshooting often having a strange sixth sense for fixing issues because they have done much of it before. Often used as a mentor. They will be looking at the big picture and more importantly listening to what the customer needs rather than what the customer wants. Is able to challenge the customer for correct requirements in regular language and in turn tell the development team what they should be doing. When going into a client, they will begin to understand their workflows better than the clients themselves even after a couple of weeks. They will tend to be more switched on to the issues outside of the programming domain such as data privacy and regulatory concerns. They have been on at least one death march and know exactly why some things are to be avoided. Senior developers will generally be choosier about what they work with because they will have being through the mill and also due to scarcity can decide not to work with a particular technology. They will be able to mentor more junior members of the team. They are given the hard tasks (the ones nobody knows how to solve) and often get design responsibilities, however, they may need their proposed designs vetted because they sometimes lack an overall architectural vision. They often work independently because they have a proven track record of delivering the goods. Often they are amazing troubleshooters. They know how to deliver a working product and meet a deadline. They know what corners can be cut and what corners should never be cut. They know at least one and often several languages at the expert level. They have seen a lot of "hot new technologies" hit the workplace and disappear, so they tend to be a bit more conservative about jumping on the bandwagon for the next exciting new development tool (but not completely resistant to change - those would be the older Intermediate developers who never make the leap to Senior). They understand their job is to deliver working software that does what the users want, not to play with fun tools. They are often pickier about where they will work because they can be and because they have seen firsthand how bad some places can be. They seek out the places that have the most interesting tasks to do. Often they know more about their company's products than anyone else even if they have been there only a few months. They know they need more than programming knowledge and are good at getting knowledge about the business domain they support as well. They are often aware of issues that juniors never consider and intermediates often don't think about such as regulatory and legal issues in the business domain they support. They can and will push back a requirement because they know what the problems with it will be and can explain the same to the laymen.

Senior Lead Developer

Possesses the same attributes as a Senior Developer however in addition they are responsible for the underlying architecture for the software program, as well as for overseeing the work being done by any other software engineers working on the project. A lead programmer will typically also act as a mentor for new or lower-level software developers or programmers, as well as for all the members on the development team. Although the responsibilities are primarily technical, lead programmers also generally serve as an interface between the programmers and management and have supervisorial responsibilities in delegating work and ensuring that software projects come in on time and under budget. Lead programmers also serve as technical advisers to management and provide programming perspective on requirements. Typically a lead programmer will oversee a development team of between two and ten programmers, with three to five often considered the ideal size. Teams larger than ten programmers tend to become unmanageable without additional structure. A lead programmer normally reports to a manager with overall project or section responsibility.

Maven: As a lead developer at Microsoft, I spend far less time in the source code than I have in the past. Let me clarify - I am in the source code quite a bit, just not contributing new code. Instead, I have chosen to focus more on design issues and code reviews when I find the time. However, if I had far fewer than 10 reports that would allow me to be closer to the code and even be a contributing developer, although not at the expense of the people I need to help grow. Different people have differing opinions on exactly what the role of a lead developer is, and truthfully, it really depends on the specific situation. However, most "leads" are also managers, and caring about your people and removing distractions from their everyday work is a high priority. Let me know if you want to discuss leading and managing more, in the context of developers of course.

Additional Descriptive Matrix

Note that the knowledge for each level is cumulative; being at level n implies that you also know everything from the levels lower than n.

Software Engineering
	2ⁿ (Level 0)	n² (Level 1)	n (Level 2)	log(n) (Level 3)	Comments
source code version control	Folder backups by date	VSS and beginning CVS/SVN user	Proficient in using CVS and SVN features. Knows how to branch and merge, use patches setup repository properties etc.	Knowledge of distributed VCS systems. Has tried out Bzr/Mercurial/Darcs/Git
build automation	Only knows how to build from IDE	Knows how to build the system from the command line	Can setup a script to build the basic system	Can setup a script to build the system and also documentation, installers, generate release notes and tag the code in source control
automated testing	Thinks that all testing is the job of the tester	Has written automated unit tests and comes up with good unit test cases for the code that is being written	Has written code in TDD manner	Understands and is able to setup automated functional, load/performance and UI tests
Programming
	2ⁿ (Level 0)	n² (Level 1)	n (Level 2)	log(n) (Level 3)	Comments
problem decomposition	Only straight line code with copy paste for reuse	Able to break up problem into multiple functions	Able to come up with reusable functions/objects that solve the overall problem	Use of appropriate data structures and algorithms and comes up with generic/object-oriented code that encapsulate aspects of the problem that are subject to change.
systems decomposition	Not able to think above the level of a single file/class	Able to break up problem space and design solution as long as it is within the same platform/technology	Able to design systems that span multiple technologies/platforms.	Able to visualize and design complex systems with multiple product lines and integrations with external systems. Also should be able to design operations support systems like monitoring, reporting, fail overs etc.
communication	Cannot express thoughts/ideas to peers. Poor spelling and grammar.	Peers can understand what is being said. Good spelling and grammar.	Is able to effectively communicate with peers	Able to understand and communicate thoughts/design/ideas/specs in a unambiguous manner and adjusts communication as per the context	This is an often under rated but very critical criteria for judging a programmer. With the increase in outsourcing of programming tasks to places where English is not the native tongue this issue has become more prominent. I know of several projects that failed because the programmers could not understand what the intent of the communication was.
code organization within a file	no evidence of organization within a file	Methods are grouped logically or by accessibility	Code is grouped into regions and well commented with references to other source files	File has license header, summary, well commented, consistent white space usage. The file should look beautiful.
	2ⁿ (Level 0)	n² (Level 1)	n (Level 2)	log(n) (Level 3)	Comments
code organization across files	No thought given to organizing code across files	Related files are grouped into a folder	Each physical file has a unique purpose, for e.g. one class definition, one feature implementation etc.	Code organization at a physical level closely matches design and looking at file names and folder distribution provides insights into design
source tree organization	Everything in one folder	Basic separation of code into logical folders.	No circular dependencies, binaries, libs, docs, builds, third-party code all organized into appropriate folders	Physical layout of source tree matches logical hierarchy and organization. The directory names and organization provide insights into the design of the system.	The difference between this and the previous item is in the scale of organization, source tree organization relates to the entire set of artifacts that define the system.
code readability	Mono-syllable names	Good names for files, variables classes, methods etc.	No long functions, comments explaining unusual code, bug fixes, code assumptions	Code assumptions are verified using asserts, code flows naturally – no deep nesting of conditionals or methods
defensive coding	Doesn’t understand the concept	Checks all arguments and asserts critical assumptions in code	Makes sure to check return values and check for exceptions around code that can fail.	Has his own library to help with defensive coding, writes unit tests that simulate faults
	2ⁿ (Level 0)	n² (Level 1)	n (Level 2)	log(n) (Level 3)	Comments
error handling	Only codes the happy case	Basic error handling around code that can throw exceptions/generate errors	Ensures that error/exceptions leave program in good state, resources, connections and memory is all cleaned up properly	Codes to detect possible exception before, maintain consistent exception handling strategy in all layers of code, come up with guidelines on exception handling for entire system.
IDE	Mostly uses IDE for text editing	Knows their way around the interface, able to effectively use the IDE using menus.	Knows keyboard shortcuts for most used operations.	Has written custom macros
API	Needs to look up the documentation frequently	Has the most frequently used APIs in memory	Vast and In-depth knowledge of the API	Has written libraries that sit on top of the API to simplify frequently used tasks and to fill in gaps in the API	E.g. of API can be Java library, .net framework or the custom API for the application
frameworks	Has not used any framework outside of the core platform	Has heard about but not used the popular frameworks available for the platform.	Has used more than one framework in a professional capacity and is well-versed with the idioms of the frameworks.	Author of framework
	2ⁿ (Level 0)	n² (Level 1)	n (Level 2)	log(n) (Level 3)	Comments
requirements	Takes the given requirements and codes to spec	Come up with questions regarding missed cases in the spec	Understand complete picture and come up with entire areas that need to be speced	Able to suggest better alternatives and flows to given requirements based on experience
scripting	No knowledge of scripting tools	Batch files/shell scripts	Perl/Python/Ruby/VBScript/Powershell	Has written and published reusable code
database	Thinks that Excel is a database	Knows basic database concepts, normalization, ACID, transactions and can write simple selects	Able to design good and normalized database schemas keeping in mind the queries that’ll have to be run, proficient in use of views, stored procedures, triggers and user defined types. Knows difference between clustered and non-clustered indexes. Proficient in use of ORM tools.	Can do basic database administration, performance optimization, index optimization, write advanced select queries, able to replace cursor usage with relational sql, understands how data is stored internally, understands how indexes are stored internally, understands how databases can be mirrored, replicated etc. Understands how the two phase commit works.
Experience
	2ⁿ (Level 0)	n² (Level 1)	n (Level 2)	log(n) (Level 3)	Comments
languages with professional experience	Imperative or Object Oriented	Imperative, Object-Oriented and declarative (SQL), added bonus if they understand static vs dynamic typing, weak vs strong typing and static inferred types	Functional, added bonus if they understand lazy evaluation, currying, continuations	Concurrent (Erlang, Oz) and Logic (Prolog)
platforms with professional experience	1	2-3	4-5	6+
years of professional experience	1	2-5	6-9	10+
domain knowledge	No knowledge of the domain	Has worked on at least one product in the domain.	Has worked on multiple products in the same domain.	Domain expert. Has designed and implemented several products/solutions in the domain. Well versed with standard terms, protocols used in the domain.
Knowledge
	2ⁿ (Level 0)	n² (Level 1)	n (Level 2)	log(n) (Level 3)	Comments
tool knowledge	Limited to primary IDE (VS.Net, Eclipse etc.)	Knows about some alternatives to popular and standard tools.	Good knowledge of editors, debuggers, IDEs, open source alternatives etc. etc. For e.g. someone who knows most of the tools from Scott Hanselman’s power tools list. Has used ORM tools.	Has actually written tools and scripts, added bonus if they’ve been published.
languages exposed to	Imperative or Object Oriented	Imperative, Object-Oriented and declarative (SQL), added bonus if they understand static vs dynamic typing, weak vs strong typing and static inferred types	Functional, added bonus if they understand lazy evaluation, currying, continuations	Concurrent (Erlang, Oz) and Logic (Prolog)
codebase knowledge	Has never looked at the codebase	Basic knowledge of the code layout and how to build the system	Good working knowledge of code base, has implemented several bug fixes and maybe some small features.	Has implemented multiple big features in the codebase and can easily visualize the changes required for most features or bug fixes.
knowledge of upcoming technologies	Has not heard of the upcoming technologies	Has heard of upcoming technologies in the field	Has downloaded the alpha preview/CTP/beta and read some articles/manuals	Has played with the previews and has actually built something with it and as a bonus shared that with everyone else
	2ⁿ (Level 0)	n² (Level 1)	n (Level 2)	log(n) (Level 3)	Comments
platform internals	Zero knowledge of platform internals	Has basic knowledge of how the platform works internally	Deep knowledge of platform internals and can visualize how the platform takes the program and converts it into executable code.	Has written tools to enhance or provide information on platform internals. For e.g. disassemblers, decompilers, debuggers etc.
books	Unleashed series, 21 days series, 24 hour series, dummies series…	Code Complete, Don’t Make me Think, Mastering Regular Expressions	Design Patterns, Peopleware, Programming Pearls, Algorithm Design Manual, Pragmatic Programmer, Mythical Man month	Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, Concepts Techniques, Models of Computer Programming, Art of Computer Programming, Database systems , by C. J Date, Thinking Forth, Little Schemer
blogs	Has heard of them but never got the time.	Reads tech/programming/software engineering blogs and listens to podcasts regularly.	Maintains a link blog with some collection of useful articles and tools that he/she has collected	Maintains a blog in which personal insights and thoughts on programming are shared

http://sijinjoseph.com/programmer-competency-matrix/

Obamacare vs. Government Shutdown

2013-10-02T09:00:00.001-06:00

It scared me to hear Obama actually vocally complain on broadcasted television that the “Our Founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than I would like sometimes.” Does he even get it? For him on Monday to sit back and disregard the house as a single entity, a single session, and a hurdle that needs to go away is dumbfounding and further proves that's he's as stupid and I've always assumed him to be. THAT'S THEIR DAMN JOB! Providing the check and balance to represent what their constituents want. As the silver-tongued salesman that he's always been, he went on to state that he won't be 'black-mailed' into making concessions on this monstrosity that he jammed through the house and senate years ago that ASTONISHINGLY the public STILL doesn't really fully understand. He goes on to try to draw empathy by stating if a rebup president was in office and a democrat lead house tried to do the same sort of blackmail for gun reform such as background checks he would also be held hostage under this precedent he's currently faced with. Nothing but SMOOTH-TALKING bullshit comparing apples and oranges. Gun reform has NOTHING to do with the budget concerns the GOP in the house are addressing... this healthcare reform has EVERYTHING to do with budgetary concerns, the debt ceiling and the economy in general. I challenge everyone to not drink their own kool-aid, turn-off the stupid news for a moment and think about it. Do you really understand the big picture and ramifications of obamacare are? What safe-guards are put in place to 'try' to prevent it from becoming a disaster and so many other countries have been burdened with and still haven't been above to recover ie., Australia. How is this entitlement not going to morph into something it was never intended after the door is cracked open, the sheer force of government stupidity and spending always blows it wide open for more votes in their pocket. This is Obama's own damn fault for not doing his part to educate the public of this law he rammed through the house and senate at the beginning of his term. What happened Monday is just a symptom of Obama's failures as an ineffective leader, NOT THE CAUSE.

On a positive note perhaps this will encourage the largest US employer's (the government) employee's to seek jobs in the private sector and 'trim the fat' a bit. We have fallen into a pit of such a sad state where we just expect the government to take care of everyone. I also encourage everyone to take this opportunity to actively look around around and find opportunities to serve those who are less fortunate, especially those who have children enrolled for WIC (Woman, Infants, Children) federal assistance. Take back your right to serve those in your community. I extend a similar challenge those less fortunate to seek after assistance in their communities in private entities and/or churches. There is a time to serve and a time to be served.

“The transformation of charity into legal entitlement has produced donors without love and recipients without gratitude. It’s not my place or my purpose to criticize these developments, only to observe that they do not suggest the expanding role of government is good for Christianity.” –U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia

ARE YOU WITH THE RIGHT PARTNER?

2013-04-10T14:07:00.000-06:00

During a seminar, a woman asked," How do I know if I am with the right person?"

The author then noticed that there was a large man sitting next to her so he said, "It depends. Is that your partner?" In all seriousness, she answered "How do you know?" Let me answer this question because the chances are good that it's weighing on your mind
replied the author.

Here's the answer.

Every relationship has a cycle… In the beginning; you
fall in love with your partner. You anticipate their calls,
want their touch, and like their idiosyncrasies. Falling in love wasn't hard. In fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn't have to DO anything. That's why it's called "falling" in love.

People in love sometimes say, "I was swept of my feet."Picture the expression. It implies that you were just standing there; doing nothing, and then something happened TO YOU.

Falling in love is a passive and spontaneous experience. But after a few months or years of being together, the euphoria of love fades. It's a natural cycle of EVERY relationship.

Slowly but surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not always welcome (when it happens), and your spouse's idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts. The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship; you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage.

At this point, you and/or your partner might start asking, "Am I with the right person?" And as you reflect on the euphoria of the love you once had, you
may begin to desire that experience with someone
else. This is when relationships breakdown.

The key to succeeding in a relationship is not finding the right person; it's learning to love the person you found.

People blame their partners for their unhappiness and look outside for fulfillment. Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes.

Infidelity is the most common. But sometimes people turn to work, a hobby, friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances. But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your relationship. It lies within it.

I'm not saying that you couldn't fall in love with someone else. You could. And TEMPORARILY you'd feel better. But you'd be in the same situation a few years later.

Because (listen carefully to this):

The key to succeeding in a Relationship is not finding the right person; it's learning to love the Person you found.

SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. You have to work on it day in and day out. It takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it demands WISDOM. You have to know
WHAT TO DO to make it work. Make no mistake about it.

Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with or without your partner), Just as there are physical laws Of the universe (such as gravity), there are also laws for relationships. If you know how to apply these laws, the results are predictable.

Love is therefore a "decision". Not just a feeling.

Remember this always: God determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let GO! ♥

22 Things Happy People Do Differently

2013-04-04T08:59:00.003-06:00

There are two types of people in the world: those who choose to be happy, and those who choose to be unhappy. Contrary to popular belief, happiness doesn't come from fame, fortune, other people, or material possessions. Rather, it comes from within. The richest person in the world could be miserable while a homeless person could be right outside, smiling and content with their life. Happy people are happy because they make themselves happy. They maintain a positive outlook on life and remain at peace with themselves.

The question is: how do they do that?

It’s quite simple. Happy people have good habits that enhance their lives. They do things differently. Ask any happy person, and they will tell you that they …

1. Don’t hold grudges.

Happy people understand that it’s better to forgive and forget than to let their negative feelings crowd out their positive feelings. Holding a grudge has a lot of detrimental effects on your wellbeing, including increased depression, anxiety, and stress. Why let anyone who has wronged you have power over you? If you let go of all your grudges, you’ll gain a clear conscience and enough energy to enjoy the good things in life.

2. Treat everyone with kindness.

Did you know that it has been scientifically proven that being kind makes you happier? Every time you perform a selfless act, your brain produces serotonin, a hormone that eases tension and lifts your spirits. Not only that, but treating people with love, dignity, and respect also allows you to build stronger relationships.

3. See problems as challenges.

The word “problem” is never part of a happy person’s vocabulary. A problem is viewed as a drawback, a struggle, or an unstable situation while a challenge is viewed as something positive like an opportunity, a task, or a dare. Whenever you face an obstacle, try looking at it as a challenge.

4. Express gratitude for what they already have.

There’s a popular saying that goes something like this: “The happiest people don’t have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.” You will have a deeper sense of contentment if you count your blessings instead of yearning for what you don’t have.

5. Dream big.

People who get into the habit of dreaming big are more likely to accomplish their goals than those who don’t. If you dare to dream big, your mind will put itself in a focused and positive state.

6. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Happy people ask themselves, “Will this problem matter a year from now?” They understand that life’s too short to get worked up over trivial situations. Letting things roll off your back will definitely put you at ease to enjoy the more important things in life.

7. Speak well of others.

Being nice feels better than being mean. As fun as gossiping is, it usually leaves you feeling guilty and resentful. Saying nice things about other people encourages you to think positive, non-judgmental thoughts.

8. Never make excuses.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Happy people don’t make excuses or blame others for their own failures in life. Instead, they own up to their mistakes and, by doing so, they proactively try to change for the better.

9. Get absorbed into the present.

Happy people don’t dwell on the past or worry about the future. They savor the present. They let themselves get immersed in whatever they’re doing at the moment. Stop and smell the roses.

10. Wake up at the same time every morning.

Have you noticed that a lot of successful people tend to be early risers? Waking up at the same time every morning stabilizes your circadian rhythm, increases productivity, and puts you in a calm and centered state.

11. Avoid social comparison.

Everyone works at his own pace, so why compare yourself to others? If you think you’re better than someone else, you gain an unhealthy sense of superiority. If you think someone else is better than you, you end up feeling bad about yourself. You’ll be happier if you focus on your own progress and praise others on theirs.

12. Choose friends wisely.

Misery loves company. That’s why it’s important to surround yourself with optimistic people who will encourage you to achieve your goals. The more positive energy you have around you, the better you will feel about yourself.

13. Never seek approval from others.

Happy people don’t care what others think of them. They follow their own hearts without letting naysayers discourage them. They understand that it’s impossible to please everyone. Listen to what people have to say, but never seek anyone’s approval but your own.

14. Take the time to listen.

Talk less; listen more. Listening keeps your mind open to others’ wisdoms and outlooks on the world. The more intensely you listen, the quieter your mind gets, and the more content you feel.

15. Nurture social relationships.

A lonely person is a miserable person. Happy people understand how important it is to have strong, healthy relationships. Always take the time to see and talk to your family, friends, or significant other.

16. Meditate.

Meditating silences your mind and helps you find inner peace. You don’t have to be a zen master to pull it off. Happy people know how to silence their minds anywhere and anytime they need to calm their nerves.

17. Eat well.

Junk food makes you sluggish, and it’s difficult to be happy when you’re in that kind of state. Everything you eat directly affects your body’s ability to produce hormones, which will dictate your moods, energy, and mental focus. Be sure to eat foods that will keep your mind and body in good shape.

18. Exercise.

Studies have shown that exercise raises happiness levels just as much as Zoloft does. Exercising also boosts your self-esteem and gives you a higher sense of self-accomplishment.

19. Live minimally.

Happy people rarely keep clutter around the house because they know that extra belongings weigh them down and make them feel overwhelmed and stressed out. Some studies have concluded that Europeans are a lot happier than Americans are, which is interesting because they live in smaller homes, drive simpler cars, and own fewer items.

20. Tell the truth.

Lying stresses you out, corrodes your self-esteem, and makes you unlikeable. The truth will set you free. Being honest improves your mental health and builds others’ trust in you. Always be truthful, and never apologize for it.

21. Establish personal control.

Happy people have the ability to choose their own destinies. They don’t let others tell them how they should live their lives. Being in complete control of one’s own life brings positive feelings and a great sense of self-worth.

22. Accept what cannot be changed.

Once you accept the fact that life is not fair, you’ll be more at peace with yourself. Instead of obsessing over how unfair life is, just focus on what you can control and change it for the better.

This article is from Chiara Fucarino.

Nice work South Carolina…

2012-01-24T09:01:00.001-07:00

I always knew you were the hidden brain-trust of the United States.

Get the money out of politics! OWS, please laser your focus on this ONE TOPIC!

2011-12-13T16:11:00.001-07:00

I respect people going out and standing up for what they believe. However, it is unfortunate when you get a bunch of privileged white kids (discovered by a random sampling of OWS participants) complaining about not having jobs, when there are plenty of jobs below their expectations. A concept I could have really rallied behind was would be to get the money out of politics.

MONEY IN POLICTICS IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL and is the cause of what OWS occupiers complain about.

Government is the cause, not the cure, of the nation's troubles.

2011-12-12T09:02:00.001-07:00

I find it hard to disagree with Ron Paul. His no B.S. attitude is factual and cuts to the meat. He has stuck to his ideals all these years and it’s interesting to see the things conservatives now want are now more and more congruent with him.

Fix the Problem not the Symptoms. Sorry Congress, this means you…

2011-10-26T12:03:00.001-06:00

Although Obama has put through an unprecedented number of Executive Orders the past couple years exploiting that loophole of power (http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/2011.html, http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/2010.html ) he is not the only one in the hot seat. Washington DC needs to be cleaned out from top to bottom.

Warren Buffett:
"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.
In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

*Congressional Reform Act of 2011*

No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen
made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term's), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!! If you agree with the above, pass it on.

Written by: Gene Vallee

FmunkMOC takes the words out of my mouth. Again, please DO NOT watch if you are offended by swearing. Although I do believe his language is justified in trying to get attention to his message that it deserves:

Occupy Wall Street; Ummmm… shouldn’t it be Occupy D.C. ??

2011-10-20T00:29:00.001-06:00

I posted the following image on my Facebook wall earlier this week which touched a nerve with some friends of mine in the northwest:

A respected friend and scholar posted the following comment underneath this image on my wall:

That's nice, kid. Get back to me in 20 years' time when you no longer have access to cheap student accommodation, your savings have been wiped out by an illness or other catastrophic event, and you're still working in those three minimum wage jobs because all the good jobs have been outsourced to India by that same 1% whose culpability you doggedly refuse to acknowledge.

As for making it through college on two scholarships that paid for 90% of your tuition, that is about about as rare as unicorn sightings. You are correct about one thing, you are not the 99%. Everyone else is up to their eyes in debt paying for college. I am going to assume you are part of some organization that is footing their bills because I can't imagine someone getting a 3.8 is getting a free ride.... with your "decent" grades in High School.

See how much you will enjoy being laid off while in your mid forties or fifties, and how your various meds cost more than you make. Oh.. don't get sick or hurt.

You obviously didn't take Economics, or you'd realize Wall Street's bad decisions and frauds are costing us all and there's more cost to come. Grow up and look around at what's happening. You are being screwed and you don't seem to even know it. Oh... and another thing, kid. You're not debt free. The clowns in both parties who run this country spent $2 Trillion on wars of choice. Your share of that is about $5K. Today's Wall Street Journal will tell you that wages are down in this country and won't rise for at least 10 years.

There are 5 unemployed for every job opening. Median household income fell 23% between 2007 and 2009, and half of American workers now make $500 a week or less. The US has the 2nd lowest economic mobility in the developed world. So... considering your war debt and stagnant wages and the unemployment picture and the fact that you won't be buying a house anytime soon.... I have one question: Why aren't you in the streets?

Although I agree with many points, I didn’t really appreciate the delivery and disagree with the hipster whining. Instead of occupying the symptom go occupy the root. Why attack the arm if you really want to chop off the head? If you really want to call attention to the problem, GO OCCUPY THE WHITE HOUSE. I hereby call all those who currently camping out to grab their Starbucks and catch a train a bit further south. Tell them to balance our budget, not tomorrow, TODAY! Tell them to lead by example!

My reply to the above comments was the following:

By your the tone of your post, and degrading use of the word "kid", i can tell you are quite impassioned on this topic. Just to clarify, I was too white and too middle-class to qualify for any scholarships or grants (besides $500 book scholarship from a Seattle Times paper route I qualified for because of an early morning route I had for 5 years as a kid). I had to work hard in college, didn't drink/party, balanced my job and education every day for 4 years until I graduated and have continued to work hard every single day since. I lived with in my means and didn't take out a single loan.

Getting into my thirties and pushing to establish my career has been very depressing as most my savings/investments have been flushed down the toilet. I've had jobs I didn't necessarily enjoy, but humbly did them to the best of my ability until a better opportunities came along. I agree the Uber-rich are getting richer and the banks committed the largest instance of insurance fraud and should be held responsible. I have no idea what we are still doing in the middle east and I thought that was part of the "Change" that was promised with the incumbent president. I simply feel that the work ethic of America's young adults and the expectation to live the life style their parents had to build up over a lifetime has caused a tide of entitled-laziness. Instead of getting out there and making it happen, it has become i deserve this because I live and breath.

The general welfare mentality that able-bodied individuals feel justified from taking socialized monies instead of setting their pride aside and taking a less-than-desirable job is beyond me.
America messed up, we will need to suffer for a bit just like anyone else who has mismanaged their personal finances. The only rights anyone should expect is the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I understand 'Pursuit' to be an action-word requiring hard work. I understand that you are implying big business is thwarting that pursuit. However a bunch of college students, assuming (as you did above of me) they squandered these loans that they freely borrowed to pay for a tuition outside of their means, living in apartments outside of their means and using those borrowed fund to purchase hoards of alcohol just doesn't ring true to me.

I did take economics. Twice in fact (i got a C the first time and wanted a better grade). I believe in Adam Smith's theory of the invisible-hand. Outside of regulating monopolies and ensuring free trade, I do not believe in government infringement. I do not believe in the bailouts. Bad businesses should fail in a free market economy. I do believe the banks and wall street should be held responsible for their role for purposely artificially-inflating the market for their own gain. I believe the answer is everyone learning again what it means to live within their means, beginning with the federal government leading the way by example. This will require deep cuts to programs that don't fit into the 'rights' mentioned above and the lack of political posturing. I also believe that we are going to have to feel the pain for NOT living within our means for so long, which means putting hour heads down like the buffalo caught in a winter storm and work hard to push forward. It's good to feel the pain. It's hard to appreciate the good without knowing the bad.

In conclusion, this is the time for the CHANGE that was promised. It's near impossible to make hard decisions when things are 'good'. The role of government should be checked against every new piece of legislature that hits the floor. I believe the role of government is to simply protect an individuals rights from being infringed on by someone else, to invest in the proper education of it's citizens and a social program to assist those who can't do for themselves and that's it. Everything beyond that is fluff and in my opinion does not belong in a Capitalistic society. Every publically run program WILL become bloated, mismanaged and does not belong in a free market economy. Once a dollar is committed to fund a government run program it takes times like these to trim it back.

Obama is still right, holding to his promise he made when he took office. It IS time for change. Time to step aside and give up the credit cards and step aside. The following summarizes my feelings (albeit using more swears than I would vocally express…). CAUTION: Do not watch if you are offended by profanity.

Why is he so angry you may ask? Well let’s see the grim summary at the general picture my fellow Americans are looking at:

On a lighter note, I came across this related poster and found it pretty funny:

Greatest Ponzi Scam Ever Committed On American Soil

2011-08-09T11:45:00.001-06:00

You may have thought Bernie Madoff was pretty incredible… however, America, it’s time to wake up and swallow a big dry spoonful of “I told you so”. (Please refer to my posts over the past few years). Obama, the team he establish and their lack if fiscal responsibility has exacerbated and compounded this recession to now what will be called the “Greater Recession”. Anyone with two brain cells and a synaptic bridge connecting the two has seen this coming since Obama took office. Inexperience is NOT an excuse for the financial burden placed on our shoulders and the shoulders of our posterity.

If you were to define a Ponzi Scam as “Stealing from Peter to pay Paul” our posterity has been bamboozled in the amount of Trillions and Trillions of dollars (as of this post $14.3 Trillion) to pay for current entitlement programs instead of realizing that it’s not possible and as a country living within our means. And of course this isn’t the worst of it, like any other consumer debt the calculated interest (if we make our payments on time) is more than 5 times the original amount (currently $75.7 Trillion).

I feel like I’ve been shouting this from the rooftops for years now. You think I’m exaggerating? The numbers really are so astronomical that most people cannot wrap their heads around it. I really do believe the American people should take a stance, file suit against Obama and his team of cohorts, lock these guys up and let future politicians that this is NOT OKAY.

The following came through my inbox recently regarding the debt ceiling increase and debt negotiations to stop our disastrous spiral which lead to our nation’s economy ration to be downgraded. This simply drops a several zeros so that the trouble we are in is easier to comprehend:

"If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, & are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget & debt, reduced to a level that we can understand." – Source not cited

Glenn Becks “The Inconvenient Debt” doesn’t look too crazy anymore does it?

Ladies and gentleman, now is NOT the time to have a liberal in office. We have greater things to worry about then all the fluff that over-developed societies begin to deem important, namely keeping roofs over our head and food on the table. The bottom line is we just can’t afford them right now. If we want a CHANCE to get things turned around, I strongly implore you to vote Mitt Romney into office. Don’t be distracted by the immature political games of people knocking his beliefs. We are financially broken and need to get fixed. Get a business man in office so that he can take care of business.

Random thoughts from 25-35 year olds

2011-02-02T12:20:00.001-07:00

Recently my friend Krista sent me this email. We are not sure who wrote it, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it and I hope you do too! :)

I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?
Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
That's enough, Nickelback.
I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know"
feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?
Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
There is a great need for sarcasm font.
Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I
had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.
How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....
You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my life everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

Painful Introspection

2010-12-17T13:19:00.001-07:00

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."

- Insightful Patron

Why I’m Depressed

2010-11-09T11:56:00.001-07:00

My friend Emily sent me this because she thought I’d get a kick out of it. She was right. :) I hope it brings a smile to your face too!

-------------------------------

Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land."

Nearly 75 years ago (when welfare was introduced), Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the Promised Land."

Today, Obama has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of Camels and mortgaged the Promised Land!

I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Care Plans, the economy, the wars, lost jobs, savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc...I called a suicide hotline.

I had to press 1 for English. I was then connected to a call center in Pakistan. I told them I was suicidal. They got excited and asked if I could drive a truck...

Computing, right back where we began.

2010-10-26T22:22:00.001-06:00

Isn’t it interesting how trends tend to repeat themselves.

An interesting thought occurred to me today as we move into this new era of Cloud computing. Although the concept has been around for a while and Google has done an amazing job fully integrating offerings with these online solutions, the mystery of cloud computing still continues to baffle the general population. In an attempt to uncover part of the mystery, I will draw an interesting connection to the beginning of computing itself and show how we are right back where we started.

Mainframes : Connectivity

These large-scale behemoths first started appearing in the 1960s. They were primarily used in large corporations where they had a centralized mainframe system and wired terminals all over the building. The terminals did nothing but take user input, send it to the mainframe for processing then display the output from the mainframe. All data and files were centrally hosted on the mainframe which allowed that data to be easily accessed from any terminal in the building.

The Personal Computer : Isolation

In the 1980s the advent of the PC (Personal Computer) sprung to life and brought the ability to compute to the home desktop and eventually our laps. The gaming market opened up a whole new world and computers have been progressing to keeping up with the requirements of games ever since. These isolated machines primarily kept data files to themselves. Difficult to establish intra-networks and interim solutions for external data storage and transfer came about with disc drives, however these were often fragile, to small and often unreliable.

The PC and the Internet : Isolated-Connectivity

Beginning in the mid 1990s web servers began appearing and the world of connectivity began opening up again. The commercialization of what was then an international network, resulted in its popularization and incorporation into virtually every aspect of modern human life. Since the opening of this floodgate, there has been endless possibilities of what is what was possible with our computing power. Many companies like Microsoft have done a wonderful job at standardizing and normalizing those possibilities so that we can obtain a certain level of productivity. The standard of storing data files to these isolated work stations were unwittingly maintained. Whether it be lack of foresight or not understanding how to incorporate it into their business model, Microsoft, the kings of computing failed to recognize the next logical step back to where we began.

Data Centers / Cloud Computing : Full Connectivity

No longer bound by wires, the internet infrastructure has connected every machine together. Since the mid 2000s the introduction of the dumbed-down netbook defines this next logical step well. These little machines don’t boast their computing power, lack of memory and hard drive space. Hence their name, they are built for the bare minimum requirements of simply being able to boot up and connect to the internet and take advantage of centralized systems such as Google’s application set. Google had accomplished an initiative to provide Cloud computing gives anyone with a Google account access to their ‘office productivity suite’ which contains word processing, spreadsheets and even presentation tools. These data files are not stored on the end-users machine, they are stored in the cloud (Google’s mainframe). Not only are these tools free, they need not be installed, but they also have inherent collaboration tools for sharing and real-time, multi-person editing. These documents are also saved on the Google servers which means that you are no longer bound to a single computer. Full circle back to the beginning.netbooks are simply terminals. Your files are accessible by any computer connected to the internet anywhere in the world! Obviously the ability to utilize these services are not limited to netbooks, but they are easier illustrate the full evolution back to the beginning.

In Conclusion

With all that said, Microsoft is now trying to play catch up and evolve their tools to the changing market demands that Google has created. I’ve been saying for years that Microsoft needed to move away from the off-the-shelf software to an online distribution model which has a reasonable subscription annual fee and has regular updates. In my opinion, unless Microsoft can pull their heads out and listen to gate keepers like myself, the end is in sight.

The general public still finds the transition from data storage on a single machine to ‘the cloud’ network to be a bit daunting. Hopefully this article illustrates that it’s not all that crazy and IS the direction we are going. Also, by now we have ALL had a personal experience with a hard drive crashing and data loss. Anything with moving parts WILL eventually see the end of it’s life cycle and die. It is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Cloud computing is an effective solution to avoid those types of catastrophes because your documents are inherently ‘backed up’ on the Google servers.

For all of your other backup needs, may i suggest a solution that takes advantage of the internet and takes into account the two most important things I have defined for data backups. 1) Needs to be regular and frequent 2) Needs to be offsite (external hard drive solutions are going to be gone just as quick as the computer in cases of theft or natural disaster). I pointed out before that anything with moving parts will fail eventually. With that being understood it is important to account for that failure. For these reasons I am a huge promoter and affiliate of Mozy.com. For only $4.95/month (even cheaper if you pay for a year or two up front) for UNLIMITED and I mean TOTALLY UNLIMITED storage, Mozy is a little program that gets installed to your machine and after the initial backup of all your personal files including documents, family photos and everything else that would be devastating to lose. You set it and forget it (until you need to restore lost files that is). Mozy’s program will run in the wee hours of the morning so-as not to interrupt your computing experience (although it runs so lightly that most modern computers won’t even be affected by it’s background process) and only backs up the files that have changed. In the need of a data restore, you have many options, download the Mozy program to your new system and tell it where to put your backed up files or even request your files via the mail on data discs for a small handling and processing fee. Mozy will even send you and email if it notices that you haven’t been backing up for a couple days just to make sure that everything is running smoothly!

At $4.95/mo, Mozy is the cheapest insurance you will ever have. As individuals we are gathering, literally creating data at an incredible rate. What a shame it would be to lose digital family photos when they could have been backed up and secure. What a peace of mind it would bring to know that you are bulletproof and you data is secure. At this moment, I could tell you three tear-jerking stories of personal friends and family who I suggested get signed up with Mozy and within the matter of a few months, their hard drives crashed and the data was unrecoverable. There was no need for this type of tragedy. Please feel free to use my Mozy.com affiliate link (so that i get credit for your registration) and I will be more than happy to assist you with any questions and even setup if you would like!

My Mozy Affiliate Link: https://mozy.com/?ref=3f9a896b&m=5&kbid=41077&mcr=1

Love you all!

Obama’s Punchline… his spending finally catches up. Get ready to pay for it.

2010-08-02T12:30:00.001-06:00

If you want to have an idea of the coming tax changes in 2011, read the following off of Mitt Romney's FB page. If you're unhappy with the upcoming increases, fwd it on to everyone you know.

In just six months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America http://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=3646 will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011:

First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.

These will all expire on January 1, 2011:

Personal income tax rates will rise. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:

- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
- The 25% bracket rises to 28%
- The 28% bracket rises to 31%
- The 33% bracket rises to 36%
- The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

Higher taxes on marriage and family. The "marriage penalty" (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income.

The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.

The return of the Death Tax. This year, there is no death tax. For those dying on or after January 1 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.

Higher tax rates on savers and investors. The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011. The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011. These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.

Second Wave: Obamacare

There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare
http://www.atr.org/obamacare-taxes-final-tab-a4744. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:

The "Medicine Cabinet Tax" Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).
The "Special Needs Kids Tax" This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children.

There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center http://ncrcpreschool.org/page.php?pid=11http%3A%2F%2Fncrcpreschool.org%2Fpage.php?pid=11 http://ncrcpreschool.org/page.php?pid=11) can easily exceed
$14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education.

The HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike. This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.

Third Wave: The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes

When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they'll be in for a nasty surprise-the AMT won't be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired. The major items include:
The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year.

According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?DocID=2702,
Congress' failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families-rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.

Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear. Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or "depreciate") equipment purchases up to $250,000. This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011, all of it will have to be "depreciated."

Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores
of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of
the "research and experimentation tax credit," but there are many, many others http://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=3646.

Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost
jobs.

Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced. The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available. Tax credits for education will be limited.

Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed. The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.

Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual "required minimum distribution." This ability will no longer be there.

PDF Version http://www.atr.org/files/files/070110pr-jan2011taxes.pdf

Now your insurance is INCOME on your W2's......

One of the surprises we'll find come next year, is what follows - - a little
"surprise" that 99% of us had no idea was included in the "new and improved" healthcare legislation . . . the dupes, er, dopes, who backed this administration will be astonished!

Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of some sort. If you're retired? So what; your gross will go up by the amount of insurance you get. You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen. Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year.

For many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse. This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the15% that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases.

Not believing this??? Here is a research of the summaries.....

On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET

PROVISIONS-(sec. 9001, as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002 "requires
employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income."

Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters. Go to Kiplingers and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what is above.

Why am I sending you this? The same reason I hope you forward this to every single person in your address book.

People have the right to know the truth because an election is coming in November.

Illegal Obama – Aiding and Abetting

2010-07-22T09:45:00.001-06:00

Okay, let me get this right? We have been facing an INCREDIBLE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION problem for years and years now. Arizona finally has the foresight and plan to do something about this problem of ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION and instead of getting behind and supporting the Governor of AZ, the President of the United States is having the US District Attorney file suit again the state of Arizona.

Why isn’t Obama being brought up on charges of Aiding and Abetting??

The only thing that I could think of is that he NEEDS the Latino-liberal vote come November 2011 and this naughty state (AZ) is foiling his plans to pull the ol’ political trickery that Regan did and give all current ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS amnesty so that he’ll have more voters.

Let’s get back to basics:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Whatever happened to our sense of American Pride? Looking at the flag and helping us remember what it stands for. Am I so far off base to be extremely confused when I see Mexicans protesting this ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION act waiving the Mexican flag on US soil? Have we lost our minds to think that makes any kind of sense?

Is it too much to ask for the President of the United States to actually use some common sense on a issue he confronts? I am astonished at how blatant of a pawn he has proven himself to be.

Shame on you President Obama. Start worrying less about pushing bad agendas, political posturing, grow some gumption and do what is right.

Like it or not… here we come!

2010-06-29T16:10:00.001-06:00

You’re a Hypocrite…

2010-06-29T09:47:00.001-06:00

If you drive a car but don't believe in off-shore drilling- you're a hypocrite.

If you've complained about the price of gas, but don't support off-shore drilling- you're a hypocrite.

If you vote democrat but look for tax shelters- you're a hypocrite.

If you believe in the redistribution of wealth- but do not give a substantial amount of your income to others- you're a hypocrite.

If you believe in alternative energy- but not if it decreases your home value- you're a hypocrite.

If you think something needs to be done about global warming and you eat meat- you're a hypocrite.

If you criticized Bush for his response to Katrina but made excuses for Obama's lack of response to the Gulf spill- you're a hypocrite.

- Pulled from My Soapbox

is it to soon to say, “i told you so”?

2010-05-20T15:37:00.001-06:00

Read back to my past blogs about propagating entitlement and the welfare mentality in a time when we need to be cutting out the slack and promoting self-sustaining American pride in our countrymen.

Of all the incredible issues that our president could have been focusing on the only thing he’s really been able to accomplish in the 1.5 years he’s been in office is slipping a healthcare bill that was a senate-draft, never been fully read or understand by any one man and never intended to actually be signed into law. A type of bill that has proven itself in history time and time again to be a incredibly huge mistake and one he chooses to hang his hat on to define his presidency. The only people who really want this bill are those who are NOT working and feel entitled to the welfare system’s tax payer’s dollars. The welfare system was NEVER intended to be consumed by able-bodied individuals, how did this concept ever escape us?

Obama is worse than any teenager on a reckless spending spree spending your and my monies with no regard to future consequences. A president with no common sense, exactly what our country needs right now.

I nominate Tom Green to be our next president. I have a feeling he’d be doing a better job.

LET ME SEE IF I GOT THIS RIGHT – Arizona Immigration Law SB1070

2010-05-06T00:06:00.001-06:00

OK, LET ME SEE IF I GOT THIS RIGHT.

IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR, OR SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET
1 - A JOB,
2 - A DRIVERS LICENSE,
3 - SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,
4 - WELFARE,
5 - FOOD STAMPS,
6 - CREDIT CARDS
7 - SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
8 - FREE EDUCATION,
9 - FREE HEALTH CARE,
10 - A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON
11 - BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE
12 - AND THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT

I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE I HAD A FIRM GRASP ON THE SITUATION...HAD ENOUGH? PASS IT ON.

America getting stripped

2010-03-24T12:57:00.001-06:00

How can it be more obvious that piece by piece America continues to be stripped from her rights and beaten into submission? Why can’t our elected officials represent the will of their constituents and do what is right instead of worrying more about their own careers and backroom deals?

Where are all the jobs that we’ve spent BILLIONS and BILLIONS of our children’s taxes on? Failed, Flushed and Gone.

It’s all been a power play by manipulative powers and silver tongued politicians. Let’s see here, what does the Federal Government (who runs everything it touches into utter financial failure) take care of now?

Banking Institutions? Check.
Auto Industry? Check.
Health Care? Check.

I’m SUPER stoked, as I’m sure everyone else is, that the IRS is being beefed up to be the regulating body to carry out this obamanation that just got signed into law.

One more thing. GLOBAL WARMING IS GOING TO KILL US ALL! In marketing there are two universal truths about how to sell something, Sex and/or Fear. The easiest way to control someone is through Fear alone. I find what Lord Christopher Monckton has to say interesting. He points out, “governments would have their people believe humankind is the cause of global warming and thereby strip residents of their rights.” He is a representative of the Science and Public Policy Institute, a nonprofit conservative research and education institute "dedicated to sound public policy based on sound science." He continues, “If America succumbs to liberals' global warming theories and institutes drastic long-term measures into policy, he said, it would ruin the U.S. economy, result in a great loss of life, and make only the most negligible improvements in CO2 levels, sea levels, world temperatures, and other environmental conditions.”

His main point is that even if there has been actual global warming in the past 30 years, it wasn't caused by mankind but rather by a natural cycle of earth's weather patterns, solar activity, and other ebb and flow environmental factors that have been happening for centuries.

It’s important to look at both sides of the equation and recognize if you’re being succored by silver tongued soothsayers.

Haiti. Ron Paul hits it on the head again…

2010-02-15T18:14:00.001-07:00

Amen.

2010-01-21T12:08:00.001-07:00

I love this girl.

2009-07-13T16:50:00.001-06:00

You may recognize this castle from the ever popular monty-python film… it was one of my most favorite to visit. I would LOVE to live here.

Pretty amazing…

2009-06-28T14:41:00.001-06:00

… at making every other man on earth look like a dill-weed.