In their latest Poll “New Research Explores How Different Generations View and Use the Bible” Barna explores the generation differences impacting ones view of the bible. Our home group used this article for a discussion a few days ago and I thought I would post some notes I took during the discussion.

First a brief overview of the article

For the purposes of this research, the Mosaic generation refers to adults who are currently ages 18 to 25; Busters are those ages 26 to 44; Boomers are 45 to 63; and Elders are 64-plus.

[...]

However, despite these similarities, the Barna studies show that the youngest generations are charting a new, unique course related to the Bible. Here are the types of changes being forged by young adults:

• Less Sacred – While most Americans of all ages identify the Bible as sacred, the drop-off among the youngest adults is striking: 9 out of 10 Boomers and Elders described the Bible as sacred, which compares to 8 out of 10 Busters (81%) and just 2 out of 3 Mosaics (67%).

• Less Accurate – Young adults are significantly less likely than older adults to strongly agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches. Just 30% of Mosaics and 39% of Busters firmly embraced this view, compared with 46% of Boomers and 58% of Elders.
• More Universalism – Among Mosaics, a majority (56%) believes the Bible teaches the same spiritual truths as other sacred texts, which compares with 4 out of 10 Busters and Boomers, and one-third of Elders.

• Skepticism of Origins – Another generational difference is that young adults are more likely to express skepticism about the original manuscripts of the Bible than is true of older adults.

• Less Engagement – While many young adults are active users of the Bible, the pattern shows a clear generational drop-off – the younger the person, the less likely then are to read the Bible. In particular, Busters and Mosaics are less likely than average to have spent time alone in the last week praying and reading the Bible for at least 15 minutes. Interestingly, none of the four generations were particularly likely to say they aspired to read the Bible more as a means of improving their spiritual lives.

• Bible Appetite – Despite the generational decline in many Bible metrics, one departure from the typical pattern is the fact that younger adults, especially Mosaics (19%), express a slightly above-average interest in gaining additional Bible knowledge. This compares with 12% of Boomers and 9% of Elders.

[...]

The president of the Barna Group pointed out that since many young people want to learn about the Bible it should be an opportunity for Christian leaders.Perhaps young people want to participate more in the process of learning, not simply attend Bible lectures or be trained in

Here are the disjointed notes from our discussion, notice the rabbit trails. Also note that our home group is made up of the buster generation 25-35

Why do these trends exist?

Different learning styles by generation

Internet and discussion versus lecturing and memorization

The church generally teaches in the older style

Independence and the questioning of authority are more prevalent in younger generations.

With increased globalization the younger generations have a wider experience and are more likely to experience being wrong which could decrease the assurance of being correct.

With more learning we realize what we knew was wrong which leads you to question everything else and it’s easier to be not sure than to take a stand.

But with all the globalization and diversity comes a desire to know more.

Well what is sacred? Is it just a different meaning of sacred from generation to generation? Does the younger generation hold most things as less “sacred” than the older generations.

Because of diversity we are taught to respect and learn about our neighbors which can lend itself to a more universalist view.

Because of the rate/speed of change the elder generation has more in common with their great grandparents than they do with their grandchildren. i.e. facebook and the telephone versus the telegraph and the telephone.

****************************

One thing that I find encouraging looking forward is that the younger generation has a greater desire to learn more about the bible but in order to meet that desire I think the church needs to change it’s teaching style to match the younger generations learning style.

Join the discussion, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Here’s an example of new ways of instruction happening at Purdue University.

YouTube Link

I was in Game Stop the other day and lo and behold I discovered that Rock Band is a popular game among local Amish youth. They still need to learn some manners because big Samuel wasn’t sharing with his younger siblings and they were left to play with the Wii and PS3.

Amish Rock Band

He was pretty good with that axe, I think those years of wood splitting payed off.

And yes I am totally stealing the idea for this post from Bryan Allain.

Reaching the Homeschool Community

The homeschool community is a fast growing, diverse and well networked group of parents who have taken it upon themselves to teach their children at home.

Currently there are an estimated 2 million homeschoolers in the United States. The growth of homeschooling has created a niche market that many businesses and groups now see a value in communicating with.

To really understand the homeschool community you need to have a basic understanding of it’s history.

A Brief History of Homeschooling

In the early 1960’s and 1970’s three streams emerged that catapulted homeschooling into the national sphere.

In the 1960’s John Holt wrote “How Children Fail”, 1964; “How Children Learn”, 1967; “What Do I Do Monday?”, 1970 these books coupled with his appearance on the Phil Donehue show pushed the ideas of homeschooling into the national dialogue. Holt also started the magazine “Growing without schooling” and in my mind represents the secular homeschooling world.
Wikipedia | Amazon | Website

In the 1970‘s Raymond and Dorothy Moore authored several books, “Better Late Than Early: A New Approach to Your Child’s Education”, 1975 and “School Can Wait” in 1980’s they were interviewed on James Dobson’s focus on the family radio program which helped spread the message of homeschooling into the conservative Christian community.
Moore Foundation | Amazon

Rushdoony wrote the book (The Messianic Character of American Education) in 1963 and was frequently called as an expert witness by HSLDA in court cases. Much of the leadership of HSLDA has been influence by Rushooney’s theology of Christian Reconstructionism. He advocated the complete submission of government to the biblical laws.
Wikipedia | Amazon | Chalcedon Foundation

In the early 80’s these streams flowed together bound by the necessity of numbers and the need to lobby for the legalization of homeschooling. Homeschooling as a legal and accepted form of education has enjoyed a very short history.

Growth

As the homeschooling movement grew in the late 80’s and 90’s the growth of the christian homeschool community outpaced the growth among secular homeschoolers. With this shift in power homeschool organizations began to disassociate with people they didn’t agree with and created “christian homeschool organizations”. These state organizations ran the state homeschool conventions, published newsletters and became the defacto legal defense of home education. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). Also began to grow and unite the state organizations into a very powerful political unit.
Wikipedia | Website

Changes

In the 2000’s two changes impacted the homeschooling community.
In the early days there was more of a individualistic pioneer spirit, these are the people I refer to as the first generation or the pioneers. They had shown that parents could successfully educate their children at home, they had fought for legislation to make it legal, they had begged, borrowed, cobbled together and even written their own curricula. In essence they made homeschooling culturally acceptable. The pioneers opened the doors to the second generation of followers. While the pioneers were more ideological the followers were more concerned with, cost, test scores, quality of public schools, schedule, etc.

The second big change was the growth of the internet.
It was now easy to find information and purchase products online. You could also read and write personal reviews to help you decide what to buy and from whom. In the early days you had to make a phone call or attend a seminar to find out the homeschooling legislation and requirements, now it’s only a mouse click away. Before you had to go to the state convention to buy your curriculum for the year. Now there is more than enough information online and it’s usually cheaper.

Reaching the Homeschool Community

With this brief history in mind here are some practical ways to reach the very diverse homeschool community. Marketers, organizations and politicians all can use these tools to reach out to the homeschool community with either their message or their product. Traditional marketing means spending money to borrow someone else’s audience. The internet and non traditional marketing lets you spend time and money to build your own audience. I recommend using both methods.

Traditional Methods

Magazines

Some of these magazines have overlap and some hit different segments of the homeschool community contact them to find out who they reach. Along with selling advertising space most of these magazines also maintain an email list which you can rent.

• The Old Schoolhouse
• Practical Homeschooling
• HSLDA Court Report
• Homeschool Enrichment
• Homeschooling Today
• Home Education Magazine
• Home Educating Family
• Homeschool Digest
• Creation Illustrated
• The Link

Direct Mail

You can advertise in card packs, essentially you are buying a postcard slot in a large stack of post cards, these generally have a large reach and are mailed several times a year. You can also rent their mailing lists to send your own mailing. They usually maintain a rentable email list as well.

• National Response Marketing
• Tri Media Online

State Conventions

There are conventions in every state and sometimes several in a state. The old schoolhouse magazine maintains a good list. You can also google your state to find one near you. Some conventions only allow christian curriculum vendors, others only homeschool vendors while others have an open door policy.
Old Schoolhouse 2009 Conventions

Support Groups & Co-ops

I have yet to find a central database of local support groups and co-ops. Buy a google search for support groups in your state will point you in the right direction. Here is one example of support groups in Pennsylvania.
PA Homeschoolers

You can reach support groups and co-ops by calling or emailing the leaders and asking for an opportunity to speak to the group. Free perks for the organizers can be helpful.

Online Outreach

The homeschool community has always been very connected and self organizes in a way that would make most political parties jealous. A hot button issue can quickly spread among homeschoolers and shut down switchboards in Washington D.C. Homeschoolers are also extremely well networked online as well. “Homeschool Mommy Bloggers” talk about child rearing, teaching, curriculum choices, politics, faith, recipes, hobbies etc. on a regular basis. They also quickly adapt to new technologies and can be found wherever social media will take you.

Blogger Outreach

Blogger outreach is a very nebulus term that basically means reaching out to bloggers. You can reach out in a variety of ways. You can email the author and pitch a story (doesn’t work to well), purchase advertising on the blog (hard to manage more than a few), become a member of a group blog, link to the blog, write comments on the blog, offer free stuff in exchange for a blog post (i.e. review materials, exclusive interview, etc.). The best thing to do is appeal to the blogger’s self interest. What do bloggers want?

1. Attention
2. Exclusive Information
3. Money

The best method I’ve found is to slowly build relationships with bloggers, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Read their blogs, comment on them and offer them information and/or materials that they would find useful.

Some examples of good homeschool blogs

• Spunky Homeschool
• Homeschool Blog Watch
• Corn and Oil
• The Homeschool Cafe
• Trivium Pursuit
• About Homeschooling
• Home Where they Belong

To find more homeschooling blogs check through the past winners of the homeschool blog awards. Also check blogrolls to find out who bloggers like to read.

Twitter

Yes homeschoolers use twitter, if you want to reach out on twitter start an account and start following people. Use the search function to find people talking about your issues/products and join their conversation.

Facebook

While there are a lot of homeschoolers on twitter there are even more on facebook. Start a fan page and joint the conversation on facebook. Also faebook advertising is very effective at targeting your audience. Tip for facebook advertising don’t send them to your website with your ad, keep them in facebook, either on your page or one of your events.  Build your community of fans and talk with them regularly.

More Websites

• The Homeschool Lounge
• A-Z Home’s Cool
• Homeschool.com
• HSLDA
• Homeschool Legal Advantage
• National Home Education Legal Defense (NHELD)

Information and statistics

• National Home Education Research Institute
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Wikipedia article on Homeschooling
• Cato Article on Homeschooling
• Barna research – Diversity among homeschoolers
• Article on homeschooling from the Economist

Recommended Reading

• Homeschooling: An American History by Milton Gaither
• Kingdom of Children: Culture and Controversy in the Homeschooling Movement by Mitchell Stevens
• Write These Laws on Your Children by Robert Kunzman

Thanks for reading and please leave a comment or a question if you have anything to add or ask,

I’ve been on a do it yourself kick lately, I started brewing my own beer and I also am trying my hand at baking.

Here is a great recipe that I tried last night.

Apple Pandowdy

Dowdy: a person with a shabby appearance
This PA Dutch dessert is like an apple pie but missing the bottom crust and with the top crust broken with a “dowdy” look to it.

Pandowdy

Crust

1.5 cups flour
.5 tsp. salt
.5 cup shortening
3-4 tbsp. cold water

Filling

1 tsp. cinnamon
.25 tsp. nutmeg
.25 tsp. cloves
.25 tsp. salt
9 Medium apples, peeled and cut into slim slices (I used Jonagolds)
1/2 cup light molasses (I substituted maple syrup)

Instructions

Make the crust, roll into a ball and chill while you make the filling. Mix spices with the apples, put into a buttered pan, pour the molasses over top and dot the apples with butter. Roll out the crust, place on top and bake for 10 min at 400 degrees then turn it down to 350 for another 30 minutes. Server warm (and with vanilla ice cream).

Here is a little debate that took place on twitter between Inkling Media, Ben Craddock, Steve O’Donnell and myself. For those of you who don’t use twitter the @ sign followed by the persons name is a reply to them. I’ve attempted to show this in reverse reverse chronological order so it makes sense.

It all began with this tweet…

Inkling Media

RT @andreacecil: Just blogged: “Is e-mail dead?” – http://ping.fm/v0QBY

ethanD_local

@Inkling_Media No email is not dead and still has many years of vibrant life. It’s still the largest social network.

Inkling Media

@ethand_local certainly not dead. not sure i would call it a social network, per se, though.

ethanD_local

@Inkling_Media a social networking tool allows people to network socially, which is what many people do with email.

Inkling Media

@ethand_local but social network usually implies more of a group/community vibe, email is generally more one to one

ethanD_local

@Inkling_Media To: CC, BCC, “Reply All” are not one to one, they are one to many and many to one. Dare I mention email forwards

@Inkling_Media So are more than 2 people required to make up a “Social Network?”

Ben Craddock

@ethand_local @Inkling_Media Email doesn’t have the community “feel” of SoMe…I’m still getting one email from one person at a time.

ethanD_local

@bencraddock You’re still only getting one tweet from one person at a time, or one wall post on fb per person per time.

@bencraddock I’ve been hashing this one out with @inkling_media you should join the fray

Inkling Media

@ethand_local in the current sense of the word, i think it implies more, yes. it’s the jump from one-to-one to something larger

Ben Craddock

@ethand_local True…you can accomplish the same things using email or faxes or snail mail or in person. So what was the question again?

ethanD_local

@Inkling_Media my point is it doesn’t have to be large to be “Social Networking” 30 people with email using “reply all” is a social network

@bencraddock the question is whether email is a social networking tool, I think I’ll have to blog this

Inkling Media

@ethand_local i don’t think that’s entirely true. there is a much larger level of communication going on

@ethand_local i agree with the reply all. but i think in general, the one on one nature of email is more akin to a phone call

Ben Craddock

@ethand_local Sure email is a social networking tool. So are phones, paper, telegraphs, smoke signals…

Steve O’Donnell

@ethand_local @Inkling_Media isn’t all networking “social networking?”

ethanD_local

@odonnellsteve I would say so

(final tweet) Where two or more are gathered there will social networking be. @odonnellsteve @inkling_media @bencraddock

***********************************

Some more thoughts on why I believe email is the largest social networking tool on the internet.

Email is the building block of most other social networks

Yahoo groups, google groups, email notifications from twitter, facebook, youtube, forums etc. I’ve seen people “check facebook” by reading their email notifications. Were they engaging in social networking?

Defining the Terms

To really discuss the issue you need to sort of agree on a working definition. Since it’s 2009 I’ll use definitions from wikipedia.

Social Networking -A social network is a social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called “nodes,” which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.

Social Networking Service – A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

An Example for my side

My church has a “pub night” once a month where the guys get together at a local pub and hang out together. The primary form of communication and coordination is via email and since it’s not a huge group everyone can be emailed at once. So the leader sends out a mass email and banter summarily ensues as many more people hit the “reply all” button and suggest locations, make fun of each other. After tallying the votes and non votes a location is decided on.

In this case study “Pub Night” is the social network of guys connected by church and our enjoyment of public houses. Email in this case study is the social networking service which allows us to interact with each other online.

It’s pretty much online social networking in it’s purest form.

Thoughts?

New Updates Below:

Well Derek Webb is at it again with his new marketing campaign for his latest album “Stockholme Syndrome”.

He is releasing bits of information all over the internet, using codes, twitter and coffee shops around the country.

I will be updating this page with what I’ve figured out or found the answers too. This post will contain spoilers so if you want to figure this all out for yourself then go to DerekWebb.com and start there.

Update 6/23:

Two new videos can be found at SSyndrome.info

http://www.ssyndrome.info/ok.mov

http://www.ssyndrome.info/giveup.mov

The “OK” movie has more Morse code in it which says 36.1566501 -86.77181 which are GPS coordinates to Nashville.

Update 6/16:

In each stem you download from Paradise is a Parking Lot you will find a picture. The picture from the Lexington Stem is of the ball on top of the building where the Dallas stem was found. In the Dallas stem there is a picture of the Grand Rapids Speedrome which doesn’t exist anymore. Here is a link to where it used to be.

Instructions should be coming today, we’ll see if the theory is correct. Stay Tuned

P.S. people on twitter are saying the next stem will be at Vertigo Records in Grand Rapids MI. Which doesn’t open till noon on the 17th.

Update:

Three new tweets with clues

You have 12 hours starting now, until Waco time (PM)

thi_s is s_tupid. who car_es. i’_m leaving.  i’m only going to say this _2 times.

am i _r_eally trouble_d? are y_ou?  _what does that mea_n? te_ll me y_our truth _an_d i’ll tell you mine.

Code reads “Re download Stem 2″

Go to Paradiseisaparkinglot.com and download stem 2, inside the zip file is another song called “Freddie Please”

The song is about Fred Phelps

freddie, please
how could you do this to me?
how could you tell me you love me
when you hate me?
freddie, please

you know i love you, honey
i’ll bleed you dry with money
i’ll talk where i know you can hear
cause freddie, can’t you see?
brother, you’re the one
who’s queer

freddie, please
how could you do this to me?
how could you tell me you love me
when you hate me?
freddie, please

the stone’s been rolled away
but your picketing my grave
for lovin’ the things you hate
but why do you seek
the living among the dead?

freddie, please
how could you do this to me?
how can you tell them you love me
when you hate me?
freddie, please

when you hate me
freddie, please

when you hate me
freddie, please

Websites

DerekWebb.com email #1 links to SSyndrome.info which has two links to two movies embedded at coordinates
419,75,433,221 and 106,75,122,221
Movie 1 “The End”
Movie 2 “Simple”
There is Morse code in the videos “Simple” says “6 PM, GPS TO FOLLOW” “The End” says “BNA 07/03/09″

Theories: I’m assuming GPS coordinates will come at 6 PM in “The End” BNA could be the airport code for the Nashville International Airport and the date 07/03/09 could be a plane arriving or departing. Perhaps the beginning of a music tour.

Less probable theory, the coordinates in the HTML could be converted to GPS coordinates +10.675122 +41.975433

The main website for clues to find artifacts is ParadiseIsAParkingLot.com, you can download any artifacts that have been found and you can click on the RSS button and get access to several other videos and pdf’s

Wikipedia Article Stockholme Syndrome

The names of the .wav files from ParadiseIsAParkingLot.com are all taken from the wikipedia article on Patty Hearst someone put them into a spreadsheet over here.

http://www.derekwebb.com/ssyndrome.php (or click the ellipses at the bottom of the page) and enter them in order followed by “Kickdrum” you see a picture of derek webb with a black eye and written on the picture is the link to…

www.Black-Eye.me

Asks what time is it? Enter the answer “youneverknow” and you get another video with a snippet of a song “Black eye, *garbled something* through a keyhole at my lover”

DerekWebb.net has a few posts about this as well and pictures of a found artifact.

Free Songs

Paste Magazine is having a “Save Paste” campaign and if you donate money you can download a bunch of free songs, one of which is called “Heaven Pre-Mix” and is from the new Stockholm Syndrom Album by Derek Webb.

Lyrics to Heaven

I was killed in a shopping cart.

Turned upside down and left for dead

I saw a clown try to speak to me

As I floated over him.

I found my way to a familiar place

I swear I’ve been some time before

I would have thought it was the marketplace

But I could not find the door

Oh I have been to heaven

And I have walked the streets

Cause I couldn’t find the hand to hold

To keep me on my feet

So paradise is a parking lot

A spot up front is your reward

All the rest walk down streets of gold

To the house they could afford

I got lost in swelling crowd

And I could not afford to eat

You only have what you came in with

So I’m living on the street

Oh I have been to heaven

And I found no relief

Cause I couldn’t find the hand to hold

To keep me on my feet

I heard Jesus Christ was there

He had a car that’s bulletproof

That way everyone is safe

From the man who tells the truth

Oh I have been to heaven

And I have walked the streets

But I couldn’t find a hand to hold

To keep me on my feet

I couldn’t find a hand to hold

To keep me on my feet

Relevant Magazine posted an article saying

Sure, color us jaded, but the whole “controversy” Derek Webb is “having” with his “label” seemed a little fishy to us. And, it turns out the masses are being duped.

If you take the three words in quotes “Controversy” “having” and label” then go to http://www.derekwebb.com/r_eal.php and enter them in order you can download the mp3 for the song “Spirit Pre-Mix”

Lyrics to Spirit

I don’t want the spirit; I want the kickdrum
I don’t want the spirit; I want the kickdrum
I know how it works, so I’m not dumb
I don’t want the spirit; I want the kickdrum

Like sex without love
Like peace without the dove
Like a crime scene without the blood
I don’t want the spirit; you know I want a kickdrum

I don’t want the son; I want a jury of peers
I don’t want the son; I want a jury of peers
Stares go low when you see my tears
I don’t want the son; I want a jury of peers

Like lies without the truth
Like wine without the food
Like a skydive without the chute
I don’t want the son; you know I want a jury of peers
I don’t want the spirit; you know I want a kickdrum

I don’t want the father; want a vending machine
I don’t want the father; want a vending machine
I know, what’s your point if you know what I mean
I don’t want the father; want a vending machine

Like heaven without gates
Like hell without flames
Like life without pain
I don’t want the father; you know I want a vending machine
I don’t want the son; you know I want a jury of peers
I don’t want the spirit; you know I want a kickdrum

Controversy Ideas

Derek Webb apparently owns the domain www.GiveAShit.org and according to this blog is planning a campaign to dig latrines in Africa

Article in SoJo Magazine

“The twin towers fall every day in Africa for lack of clean drinking water—7,500 or 8,000 people dying every day and the church does not appear to give a shit,” said Webb, echoing evangelist Tony Campolo’s provocative challenge to churches.

Patrol Magazine has this to say (

Apparently most of the controversy surrounds one song, the most important on his most important record, he says. Given the name of his new charity/activism website (not active yet), it’s reasonable to guess that it might be the first Christian song ever to feature the s-word. (Update, May 14: We have confirmed, via someone who has heard the song, that it deals with Christian treatment of gay people, and, sure enough, includes the word “shit.”)

This patrol Mag article has a huge comment thread with info in it.

Personally I think it’s Derek Webb doing some crazy cool experimental marketing and perhaps there is a little controversy as well, who knows. All I know is I’ll keep following this story and I can’t wait for the complete album.

That’s all I have for now, if you find anything else out post a comment

Other Folks Blogging about this:

http://gentrified.wordpress.com/

Bryan Allain

Being Ryan Byrd

Long Way Home

Modern Worship

I recently purchased and read “The Fragrance of God” after listening to an interview with the author Vigen Guroian on NPR.

“The Fragrance of God” is an excellent little book that highlights the importance of returning to the garden. One point that Guroian raises is the sense of smell as a better descriptor of our relationship with God. Of all the senses, smell is the most elusive and the most real.

The book reads like a garden, earthy, real, beautiful and worth taking a walk in.

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life And who isadequate for these things? ( 2 Cor 2:15-16)

Every time I dip into a book by G.K. Chesterton I wonder why I didn’t return sooner. Here is a quote that caught my attention while I was reading “The Everlasting Man”.

“If there is one fact we really can prove, from the history that we really do know, it is that despotism can be a development, often a late development and very often indeed the end of societies that have been highly democratic. A despotism may almost be defined as a tired democracy. As fatigue falls on a community, the citizens are less inclined for that eternal vigilance which has truly been called the price of liberty; and they prefer to arm only a single sentinel to watch the city while they sleep.”

(emphasis mine)

True words, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, may we never relinquish the duty of the watch.

The 10th Amendment of the US constitution states…

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Who would have thought that such an issue would now be brought to the fore thanks to the President’s massive “stimulus” package.

Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, New Hampshire, Washington, Oklahoma, Arizona, Montana, Missouri, Pennsylvania and a few more have introduced legislation claiming sovereignty under the 10th Amendment.

Read my latest post on the Pennsylvania resolution at Keystone Conservative.

Why are they doing this?

To grossly oversimplify they believe the Federal government has overstepped it’s bounds and will continue to in the next few years. They also believe that money always comes with strings attached. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana told the Washington Post,

“I strongly suggest that other states also look closely at this provision in the bill so they can also avoid ultimately passing on a significant tax to businesses that will be left paying for this expansion of benefits when the federal money dries up,”

Sure a major influx of cash into a state economy would help but what happens when the Federal coffers go dry? Would it not be better to let the states deal with the problems themselves now, instead of later?

In any recession people will have to make sacrifices, the question we have to ask ourselves is who should make that sacrifice, should we or should we push that sacrifice on to our children and children’s children.

I’m still figuring out all the pros and cons of these state sovereignty resolutions and looking back at history has been helpful. I’ve been brushing up on my constitutional knowledge by listening to Ned Ryun’s podcast series on the history of the constitutional convention. An excellent series which I highly recommend. Visit NedRyun.com to listen to the series.

Have any thoughts? Please share them in the comments.

In continuance of my new yearly tradition here are two favorite websites for 2008 as well as predictions for 2009.

There are so many I will give my two favorites followed by some runners up.

1. Twitter.com

Hands down my favorite website in 2008 and still going strong. Here are a list of my twitter accounts…

• @ethanD – main twitter account (politics etc.)
• @ethanD_local – follows local people in Lancaster, PA
• @MathUSee – Business account
• @KeystoneNews – account for my new website KeystoneConservative.com

I have connected with and met tons of great people via twitter. Not sure what will happen in ‘09 when it gets even bigger, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

2. Hulu.com

Want to watch your favorite TV show whenever you want? Before Hulu I rarely watched TV shows and then only if I rented or bought the DVD. Now I hook my laptop up to my TV and watch whenever I want. Favorite shows on Hulu…

• Heroes
• Chuck
• The Office
• Firefly
• Any Given Latitude
• The Simpsons

Honorable Mention

facebook.com was my pick for last year and is still going strong, they keep adding new cool stuff, most recently facebook connect and HD video. This is part of a push to integrate your facebook with the rest of what you do online. Videos are now embedable on external sites, how cool/scary is that.

Predictions

Two things are going to crazy this year.

1. Mobile phones: mobile browsing, text messaging campaigns, video on your phone, mobile blogging. In fact for the younger generation a mobile phone number will replace email and you will see more sites letting you log in with your mobile number or your email.

2. Online HD video: There will be more and more video, with facebook, youtube and plenty of other sites adding HD, the HD flip video camera it will be easy to post HD video of your dog, cute kids and stupid things you do. Combine this a high tech mobile phone and you will also see streaming video go mainstream. YouTube will most likely add streaming and facebook won’t be far behind.

Sure these things have been around for a while but in 2009 I predict they will go mainstream. We’ll see.

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