According to Me

Occupying Managua, Nicaragua

2011-11-17T23:44:00.001-05:00

So the Occupy Wall Street protest has been going on for about two month right now and the protests are now getting shut down which is drawing new attention to the movement. Well in a couple of months from now our family will be moving to Managua, Nicaragua. For several years now there has been an "Occupy"-type protest going on in Managua. The protestors are former banana farmers who are protesting the use of pesticides that have led to the poisoning of thousands of Nicaraguans who have suffered from Migraines, Kidney Disease and Cancer.

I personally do not know much about the situation and will not give an opinion on the rights, responsibilities or ramifications of this occupying of Managua, but I did pass the tent city where these thousands of Nicaraguans have called home for the past four years. I hope to learn more and hope even see what sort of outreach is being done to the farmers and their families, hope to fill you in more once we get there.

No Television

2011-10-16T00:41:00.000-04:00

We have not had cable Television for the past four year, but that was okay because we had an antenna that could pick up the basic cable channels, until that broke about 2 years ago. Since then, we have managed fine without TV just fine: the kids have been able to watch DVDs and we have kept up on a few shows by watching shows and even movies online.

Here are a few things that we have noted from this experience:

1. Paying for internet is cheaper than cable, and we can do more things with internet than cable.
2. I don't know how to DVR, but I can watch most things online anytime I want.
3. The kids (and us) don't watch as much TV.
4. Sports really aren't an option to watch online, unless there is something I am not aware of.
5. My kids don't see the amount of commercials which saves us the "I WANT THAT..." every ten minutes.
6. We don't keep up on knowing what movies are out, so we don't say "I WANT TO SEE THAT..."
7. I forget that we have a TV, or maybe I think that the TV belongs to the kids.
8. We watch entire seasons in a row instead of watching one week at a time.
9. Primetime now begins around 10pm.
10. It does seem like multiple computers are needed more than ever.
11. I still watch mostly the four major networks, and there are an amazing amount of differences between what they offer.
12. I am watching a few new series on cable network. The programming seems more interesting then before.
13. We usually don't watch TV at hotels anymore.
14. The internet has and will continue to change what we watch and how we watch TV.

What are your thoughts? Have you given up cable? How much TV do you watch online?

Go to College or else! Or else what?

2011-10-02T23:23:00.000-04:00

I had a discussion with a friend last weekend about whether he would pursue further education, which he most certainly said "no". Beyond that, this week I have personally been thinking a lot about the costs of higher education and what that will mean for our children. Today I found this video, kind of accidentally, and thought that it was a little bit sensationalizing but also as little bit of realism. What do you think:

FREE: Cell Phone Calls from the US to Canada

2011-09-02T00:25:00.000-04:00

I continue to appreciate Google Voice the more I use it, this week I found another reason to love it for all the CANADIANS or AMERICANS with loved ones on the other side of the border. Here goes:

I have a phone plan through Straighttalk.com which is usually pretty nice for the price except it doesn't allow me to text to Canada. I found that if someone texts me from Canada to my Google voice number then it will send me the text but it assigns them an alternate (US) number but lists their original number in the text.

Well, I save the alternate numbers so I can text them directly from my phone in the future. However the other day I wondered what would happen it I called that number instead of texting... well it rang through directly to Canada!

For some this may not seem like a huge deal, but I can now call my family in Canada directly just like calling a US number. Yes, this is a perk of using Google Voice already, but the big benefit now is that I can now call Canada without putting in any PINs and I can save the number to a speed dial and without having to punch in numbers after calling Google Voice which had always been a bit of a hassle.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Think before you Tweet

2011-08-20T22:19:00.000-04:00

I do all of my best thinking while mowing the grass. This use to happen in the shower (before I had four children) but now since my showers are limited to 5 minutes and mowing takes me about an hour, that is when my thoughts seem to have time to develop.

Today I had the opportunity to listen to an MP3 player while mowing and for some of the time I listened to a message from John Piper about Men and Women, followed by some tracks from POD's The Fundamental Elements of Southtown and finally half of MXPX's Panic Album (I know, I need to update my music collection-I'm old). Near the end of my time mowing I thought that it would be really cool if I could mentally Tweet what I was thinking while it was fresh in my mind (after all, 5 hours later it's "duh, what was it I was thinking again?")

Then it dawned on me that that is a problem for most people, they ~~Speak~~ Tweet before they Think and that gets them into a lot of trouble. There seems to be a prominent example of this every week or two (politicians, celebrities, ministers, athletes etc.), but I personally have also said, done and even posted comments that I regret afterward. Today anyone that is outspoken, public or controversial can fall victim to social networking's version of negative imaging (at varying levels of course). I am doing a lot better compared with when I was younger and quick to speak, but it is still a problem (I believe) with my personality type.

No matter who you are, even if you believe its your image to be controversial or you think you are untouchable, comments can catch up to you and haunt you. More and more my strategy is to keep my thoughts to myself and to try to find common ground with everyone.

Fatherhood

2011-07-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I talked with a couple of friends of mine from college who are two men that I had a lot of respect for when I was a student and that respect has continued to this day. One friend is now the father of 7, the other friend is the father his first who is 7 months old. I really enjoyed talking to both of them and hearing about both their excitement about their kids and their concerns about being a godly parent, protecting their kids and providing for their families. In a day when fatherhood has been both diminished in some cases, and optional for others, it is nice to hear the hearts of these men who are seeking after the Lord, and desiring to demonstrate that love to the next generation.

For me I fall right in between my two friends with the number of kids I have, but whether a dad has one or one hundred kids, the way fatherhood impacts your life, your values, your decisions or your future feels the same. My concerns echo those of my friends, and it's hard not feel like my weaknesses are glaring; but despite the downside of our humanity, the plus side is that we love our kids and we are learning how to find the perfect balance of showing that love and showing how our kids how to be a responsible and respectable man.

Vancouver Riot June 2011

2011-06-16T21:40:00.000-04:00

Vancouver was under attack last night when hundreds of disrespectful young people caused several hundreds of thousands (probably millions) of dollars of damage and looted, following game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoff game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Stanley Cup Champions the Boston Bruins. Reports say that this was a staged riot that took advantage of frustrations about the hometown team losing; however there were a lot of people joining in on the action of burning cars, stealing valuables, fighting with police, cheering for the violence and not complying with the police. Where were the hockey fans that should have come together to stop this kind of thing from happening? Why do they care so little for the rule of law and their city? Why don't these young people not have something important to get home to? Who are these overconfident young people who think nothing of going into a department store and taking whatever they want while getting photographed?

This is a very sad commentary on youth today. Fortunately the riot was stopped after three hours, and many people the next day showed they concern with this issue. I hope that those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that the Vancouver Police will be congratulated and not vilified.

I have a feeling we will unfortunately see many more of these in the years ahead.

Back On Campus

2011-06-12T22:54:00.001-04:00

Well, I feel like no matter how I have tried to move beyond my college years my Alma Mater continues to suck me back in. I am currently staying for three weeks in Carmin Hall with my family for Missionary Training Institute. It is interesting to be back on campus, although I have spent other nights at Indiana Wesleyan University since we left in 2000, but this is the first time I have been back here with my family. It is interesting to think of a family staying here considering this was my home for 4 years as a young single man, but is neat to think how this might impact my two daughters who may someday go to school here. They are currently sleeping in the next room and I saw them go from giddy excitement about being in a new room, to being scared to be left in that room alone. I tried to imagine if I had their 'Room and Roommate Preference' forms if I would even considering placing them together as roommates (something I have done hundreds of time for my job as the Director of Residence Life). Would Micah and Eva go to the same school? Would they want to be roommates? (Would we want them to be roommates)?

Our younger two kids may never remember much about this visit to Marion Indiana, but it is nice to share this time as a family and to share the place "where Mommy and Daddy met" with our kids. It had already been a long week prior to our arrival, and these next three weeks will probably also be filled several long days (much like it was when we were in students here) so we will appreciate your prayers for the rest of June.

Canadian Election 2011

2011-05-03T23:33:00.002-04:00

Just a few thoughts on the Canadian Election from a (sort of) outsider; a Canadian currently living in the States:

1. This is a major turn of events for the Canadian political party system. This (new) Tory government has not had a majority and has been somewhat effective in governing the country. It will be interesting if they are able to move further towards reducing federal deficits and the national debt. If they cannot do this, if they don't effectively stick to their conservative principles, then it would open the door for an occurrence similar to what happened to the US Republicans in 2008.

2. The NDP has never had this much power on the federal level. This is interesting because this will allow them the stage where they will either rise or fall. I predict that they have probably met their ceiling with their platform of greater taxation and increased social programs. If they want growth, they will need to increase their appeal and the only way to do this is to move further to the center and attract left leaning liberals and undecided. To do this they will need to come up with solutions, not just attacks on the Harper Government.

3. There are a lot of people saying that the separatist movement is dead. Well did English Canada think it was alive in the 80s? Is Marxist-Leninism dead in Russia? There will continue to be separatist sympathizers in Quebec, after all the Bloc still had over 800,000 votes. The big question is how will the NDP represent these constituents?

4. What will happen to the Liberal government? Well it took a few years for the Progressive Conservatives to see the writing and merge with those whipper-snappers from out west; however the goal, interests and heart of the PC and the Reformer were quite similar. Figuring out the essence of the Liberal party is something I am not capable of doing, for their sake they need to figure this out before they have to capitulate or they will be able to regroup.

5. What might happen in four years? I think Canada is going to be stuck in the same type of 'Badminton Match' that the US is in. Because of the media, because of the shortsightedness of voters, because of economic ups-and-downs, and because of the money at stake in Big Politics, there will be shorter cycles of political control because we have realized that playing the blame game is the most effective way to be the opposition. We will see continued whining and complaining, there will be many fabrications from the print media and TV stations, and increased polarization of the politicians and the electorate. The immediate way to put out this fire is to throw money at it, but that money quickly burns up and you'll need more. This is something that has crippled the effectiveness of the US government and might happen north of the border as well.

Earlier Easters

2011-04-24T21:36:00.001-04:00

I thought a lot about Easters gone by this Holiday weekend. Here are just a few of the memories:

I remembered searching for eggs at a Mall in Toronto, Ontario. I believe I found a $10 gift certificate for a restaurant, since I wasn't from T.O. I never got to use it, but I was still pretty impressed.

I remembered coming across some rabbit food, and wondering why we had rabbit food since we didn't have rabbits. Well I figured out that the Easter Bunny was probably up to something that year.

When our family lived on a college campus we celebrated Abel's first Easter by using one of the college common rooms to have a huge Easter Egg Hunt. It was a great for a Hunt and it was so much fun seeing their excitement (well maybe not Abel - see below).

Another year, Sarah led a group of students to Belize over our Spring/Easter Break and I got horribly sick (read here). The Easter Bunny was considerate enough to postpone the Egg Hunt until I got better and Sarah came home.

We had a great Easter this year, we were all home, all healthy and enjoyed our time together as a family: Esme was not interested in looking for eggs, Abel was hoping that the 'Santa' Bunny was coming, Eva had a great time making (and eating) Resurrection Rolls, and Micah was still VERY impressed with what the Easter Bunny brought to our house.

Canadian Grocery List

2011-04-12T20:50:00.001-04:00

Here is a list of things to buy if you are making a trip north of the border:

- Shreddies (Cereal)

- Smarties (Chocolate Candy)

- Coffee Crisp (Chocolate Bar)

- Caramilk (Chocolate Bar)

- Skor (Chocolate Bar)

- Crunchie (Chocolate Bar)

- Crispy Crunch

- All Dressed Chips

- Sour Cream and Bacon Chips

- Maple Flavoured Cookies

- Fudgeos (Cookies)

- Laura Secord Butter Cream Eggs

Eight Restaurants that Need be in the US

2011-04-01T00:48:00.002-04:00

Since I wrote about American restaurants that should be in Canada, I thought that I should write the opposite thoughts about Canadian restaurants that should be in the US. I'll start with my mother-in-laws request from the previous post:

I finished with a Canadian Pizza restaurant, but essentially I am fairly certain I can say Canadian pizza is pretty awesome compared with pizza in the US. Ingredients should be under the cheese and there should be a whole lot more of them.

Eight Restaurants that Need be in Canada

2011-03-24T01:15:00.001-04:00

I am visiting Canada this week and have enjoyed trying some new restaurants and some old
favorites. As I have driven through Ontario I thought what restaurants are missing that might do great here, here are some of my suggestions.

One Short of a Full House

2011-03-12T15:17:00.001-05:00

This weekend Sarah is away at a Women's Retreat and I stayed at home with our four children. Anytime I have had the opportunity to stay at home, I have gained greater respect for my wife and all that she does for our family. We have had fun together, but it really is a lot of work to manage the moods of four children, the feeding of four children, the interests of four children, and the attention needs of four children. I typically try to stay pretty busy with the kids when we can, this typically takes care of three of those items above, and I will have to confess the kids do not eat as well (in both senses of the phrase) when I am in charge. There are also so many other things that Sarah does that I can't figure out where she would find the time for: cleaning, baking, laundry, schoolwork, canning, and hours and hours of reading to the kids. She is also the master of meal times and coordinating outfits; I one the other hand make sure the kids are clothed and fed, but I don't make any promises about what times we might eat and whether everyone is not going to clash when they are eating.

After 24 hours, I think that almost anyone can manage, but it is a lot more to grasp when it rolls into the next 24 hours etc. We all really miss, love and appreciate Sarah, we are glad when she get an opportunity to break the routine, but we are all so excited when she returns (me most of all).

Its Over Between Us

2011-03-03T23:19:00.000-05:00

Dear V,

It has been a long time since I communicated with you hasn't it? Yes, I have received your letters asking me to come back; trying to tell me you are worth it and that you will take care of me. You were always the charmer, I think you know that, but the truth is I need more than your flash.

We went through a lot together didn't we, long car trips, vacations, many late nights and the occasional sunrise. We have both grown a lot over these past six years, but I believe that we have grown apart. It is like our relationship existed in cycles of time that fit you but not me, and your time lines became very constricting for me. You were always very rigid with me, but when I came to you with my problems, you seemed impatient, cold and uncaring; like you were more concerned about making your next dollar than about our relationship.

I know that you are going to try to continue to win me back, saying that you are dependable, that you are better than all the others, that you want us to be able to accomplish so many new things together, that we could go so many more places together, and that you believe that you could make me a better communicator and help me become a more organized person.

But to tell you the truth, I have been thinking about leaving you for years, and this shows me that you were never listening to me each of those times I told you I was upset, or felt cheated. I told you several times that when the opportunity arose, I would leave and that I would never come back. This was my decision, yes, but I put a lot of the fault on you. That may sound immature, but I don't feel like I can trust you, one day you would tell me one thing and then another day it was something else. In the end it always came down to what was best for you, and never what was in my best interest.

I feel like I need to be honest with you, I am with someone else now. It may not be perfect, but I feel more free now than I ever did with you. I don't have the limits you put on me, like playing mind games by telling me you would buy something for me only if I agreed to stay with you. Or when you would tell me who I could call and when I would be able to call them. This new relationship is much more cooperative, I feel like we both need and respect each other, but at the same time, I really do feel like it is on my terms, I don't feel the obligations like when I was with you.

I know that you will go on to do a lot of things with many other people that are probably much more loyal that I am, maybe I am not even a blip on your radar anymore, but I still want to thank you for our time together. I don't want it to be awkward if we run into each other at the mall or when I get a haircut, it really doesn't need to be. You were my first, and I will always remember that, I hope that you remember the good times, I'll keep the picture below to remember my fond memories of you.

Ryan

15 Years Later

2011-03-01T22:31:00.000-05:00

I work at an institution of higher learning where I work among college students, so I am somewhat familiar with what college students do. Lately I have been thinking about the differences between going to school in the late 1990s compared with going to school today. The other day at lunch I mentioned that I actually complained my senior year in college to a university administrator about the noise ONE of the students made because she dared to bring her laptop to our class; boy was I off the mark on that one. There have been a lot of other changes since I've graduated, here are some of the ones I have seen:

About 95+% students have their own cell phone; I passed a stack of about 100 untaken campus phone directories today, not taken because 95+% students do not use their campus extensions anymore.
Most students have their own computer, many of them are laptops; schools are phasing out computer labs because they are not being used like they once were.
Students don’t use CD players anymore; mp3s started to arrive while I was in college, but now they are phasing out.
Professors are using the internet not just for research; but for students to dialog, publish and take quizzes and exams.
Students are playing video games, watching TV and movies over the internet; in 1996 we were excited to get our first email account.
So many students have their own GPS; when I was a student, we just hoped the students who had the car knew how to get home, but getting lost was half the fun.
In 1997 I was excited because I brought our family video camera to school that recorded on a full sized VHS tape; today you probably get a better quality from your cell phone and you can share it right away on the internet.
One of the best things about being on a campus was going to concerts; today students don’t really get into live music, but one of today’s favorite gifts is iTunes gift cards.

So there are a lot of differences between today’s students and those in the NOT SO DISTANT past. It would be interesting to look at comparisons between these times with regards to sense of community, quality of relationships, academic prowess, and emotional stability of students. Much has changed but at the same time much is still the same like students still spend a lot of time watching TV, movies and playing video games. Music is still important and students still swear they “study better” listening to it. Students still go shopping but now they can shop at the mall, online, or online when they are at the mall.

Abel Schmitz: Our Little Lion Man

2011-02-24T23:00:00.001-05:00

The other day Abel started dancing to the closing credits music of Despicable Me, I turned the laptop around to catch him with the camera and this is what happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHu8yDWdo40

He loved watching himself on the screen and when he goes close to the screen, he was kissing himself. The best part is that Abel has moves! He and I laughed our heads off watching it afterward.

Mark Iwachniuk

2011-02-15T14:09:00.001-05:00

I first met Mark Iwachniuk when we played baseball on the same team when we were either leaving or entering the sixth grade. Mark was never one of the better baseball players, but I remembered him because he was a friendly and positive person. Years later I changed towns and I moved to the same road where his dad lived and we became classmates. We had some moments of conflict in grade nine and ten, but I want to share a few things that I have learned from Mark Iwachniuk.

1. Early on I learned that Mark was a harder worker than most of the people our age. Mark had an after school job delivering papers. He worked in the summers and he also found other opportunities to work when possible. Mark showed the rest of us to have a good work ethic, at a time when a lot of the rest of the kids our age (myself included) would rather be playing video games, sports or watching TV.

2. Mark liked sports but when we first started to go to school together, Mark was not an "athlete". He would enjoy playing and would like to be with the guys, however, Mark was somewhat overweight which was something that kept him from reaching a higher caliber in sports. One day this changed, Mark fell in love with Basketball, and his passion for the game lead to an incredible metamorphosis in his life. Mark began to play harder, to play smarter and Mark began to become an athlete. He lost weight, he developed new friendships, school even started to become important to him. Mark showed me what it was like to be passionate about something, and that passion can change lives. I remember days when we would shovel off a basketball court in January to play, and I remember summer days when we would drive around for hours looking for playground games (a la "White Men Can't Jump").

3. Mark and I also played football for two years together, we would travel a half hour to practice there and back. A difference between the two of us was that Mark had never played organized football before and I had played for seven years. We played on a very good team and we both played different positions. Both Mark and I struggled to receive any playing time, but another difference between us was that Mark took it in stride and I was extremely put off by my minimal role and as Mark learned to love our team and the sport, my attitude was bringing me another direction. Mark taught me that the right attitude can make situations and relationships better.

4. Even though Mark had been getting more involved in athletics, he was still busy working. The summer after he had graduated he started to work on a road crew which meant many early morning trips to the work site. On one of those summer mornings, before my final year of high school, I found out that my friend Mark Iwachniuk was in a collision on his way to work and he did not survive the accident. Our high school was in shock and our community was very shook up. It took me a long time to come to grips with losing a friend, but his life and his friendship have had a huge impact in my life and the last thing that I have learned was to not take people or relationships for granted. Our time here is temporary and life is fragile, so make the most of your opportunity with those around you.

Limiting the Internet

2011-02-10T00:42:00.002-05:00

This week I read an article about the regulating of the internet in my home country of Canada. This was news to me so to be honest, all that I know about this issue is what I have read on the ARS Technica website. Apparently previously unlimited web browsing contracts that consumers could purchase are no longer permitted and instead Canadians have been limited to a standard of 25 GB of internet activity per month and any use above this would require additional charges to the consumer.

To me this sounds backwards and regressive (and maybe repressive). This is just another way for the government to regulate (or more appropriate: collect more taxes). I already have some issues with some internet related topics in Canada (i.e. the lack of Copy Right protection with regards to P2P sharing and the illegal downloading that is not being addressed by Canadian Courts; as well as limitations on the online shopping industry in Canada effectively placing it in stasis).

Here are a few things I feel bad for Canadians with regards to this new legislation and why Americans need to make sure this doesn't show up on the radar screen coming from the north:

1. This is going to standardize the market and in effect cripple it. Why shouldn't a company be allowed to promote a better rate for superusers, push unlimited data usage as a way to attract customers? This forces 34 million people into one way of doing things.

2. This will penalizes businesses wanting to provide WiFi for their clientele. They will now have to take into consideration whether it is worth it to provide WiFi to attract customers. Plus, if they do continue to offer it, some customers may take greater advantage, by choosing to download on someone else's dime.

3. This will continue to discourage people from shopping over the internet. Canada could use the boost of a web-based business industry boom. this cannot work within the current taxation requirement in addition to overhead and postage. The Canadian government should look to promote greater internet usage to stimulate the economy.

4. Canadians are crafty and some will find ways to beat this system (imagine internet smuggling), which will require greater controls and will result is more frustration for everyone involved.

5. This will make more money for the internet companies and the internet companies and the government, but is going to cost Canadians. Not only this, but the added expense to companies will trickle down to consumers.

6. We are depending more and more on the internet as part of our daily routines (news, tv, movies, video games, communication, education, video games, work etc.), and because of this, internet usage is only going to go up. Regulations will not encourage productivity, it hinders growth, and it creates more burden on the families who are less fortunate, since their internet usage will become a growing financial burden.

7. What about businesses that have built processes and efficiencies that rely on the internet? This is essentially a punishment on companies who have been wise and creative. What about schools and libraries who have been promoting the next generation of learning and will need to rethink the cost of this valuable resource and how they may need to limit it to limit their expenses.

These were just a few of my thoughts, but beyond this new way of paying for the internet in Canada, what will this look like in the future since data transfer rates will continue to increase as computers improve and information expands. Because of this doesn't it make sense to not have limits since because we will get to the point where 25 GB will not cut it any longer. For some this is already the case, but the government wants its piece of the cake, the cake that it would also have it their focus was on expansion of use rather than regulation and standardization of the industry, as well as the retardation and ignorance towards the economy.

Riding the Bus

2011-02-01T00:37:00.001-05:00

My past few posts have been on what my teachers have written about me while I was in school. What was conveniently missing from my report cards were any comments from my bus drivers. What they might have would have really gotten me in trouble.

- My trouble on the bus started when I was in Kindergarten, I remember sitting on the bus waiting for our bus driver to walk from the front door of the school and get into the bus (the bus was parked by the sidewalk pictured above). I happened to be sitting in the seat with the emergency exit and was curious what would really happen if someone pulled the red lever, so I did what every empirically minded five year old might do, I pulled the lever. Well I found out that the window opens, a really loud siren goes off, and it also makes your bus driver run really fast to get back on the bus.

- That wasn't the end of my bus riding trials. When I was in elementary school I sat on a seat when another student soaked with water when I retaliated against the student at fault, and I had to move to the of the bus.

- When I was in High School I threw an orange out of the window of the bus and a driver called the bus line, who called the driver, who asked a girl on the bus who ratted me out and I had to move to the of the bus.

- Some days I took a school bus to my dad's house but I wasn't officially on this bus route. The driver didn't like that I rode her bus, and I had to move to the of the bus.

There were other times when I was less than the best on a school bus, but thankfully I have matured or at least I just started driving myself places.

Report Cards High School

2011-01-26T23:31:00.000-05:00

I changed towns and schools again for high school. I started at Rothwell-Osnabruck School for grade nine until I completed (what was called at the time) OAC or my Ontario Academic Credits (sometimes known as grade 13) which are no longer in existence, something I plan to write about at a later date. To say I was either a good student or a motivated student in high school would be false. My basic plan for high school was to make it through by doing as little as possible which meant I needed to figure out the system. This strategy sometimes worked, sometimes failed, but all in all I am pretty disappointed with what little I accomplished during my high school years. Here are a few of the comments I could find from some of my high school teachers:

Grade Nine:

A satisfactory effort. More effort = a higher mark. (R. Thompson)

There has been a recent improvement in effort. (J. Lugg)

Ryan could have a much higher grade in this course. Unfortunately, he does not do his homework on a daily basis and he doesn't hand in every small assignment. A little bit more effort in this area would raise his grades considerably. He has shown improvement. (J. Lugg)

Ryan is a bright, conscientious student. He strives to understand the meaning of the work he is doing - which is a definite asset. Ryan must learn to do his work in class - he is consistently talking instead of working; consequently, his homework is rarely complete lowering his mark. (S. Corlyon)

Grade 10

You have talent. Continue to develop it. (G. McGillis)

Noticeable improvement lately. Keep it up. (R. Roffey)

Ryan needs to settle down in class. He needs to funnel his energy into his work. Ryan needs some help with organizing his notes and preparing for tests. Ryan could do much better with better organization and work habits. (J. Fee)

Ryan, when he chooses to do, can be very involved in history; Excellent all round knowledge of current and historical affairs - Good oral involvement - (C. Marin)

Grade 11

Better organization would lead to improvement. (R. Roffey)

HAS POTENTIAL FOR HIGHER MARKS. (P. Kapoor)

Grade 12/OAC

SATISFACTORY EFFORT. FINAL EXAM HAS IMPROVED YOUR MARK. (A. Merizzi)

YOUR ACHIEVEMENT HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY YOUR ABSENCES. BETTER STUDY HABITS COULD IMPROVE RESULTS. (G. McGillis)

BETTER ORGANIZATION WOULD LEAD TO IMPROVEMENT. NOT WORKING UP TO POTENTIAL! (L. Wells)

YOU PARTICIPATE WELL IN CLASS. KEEP IT UP. YOU HAVE A TALENT. CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IT. (B. Poulin)

TAKE MORE TIME AND CARE DOING HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS. YOU PARTICIPATE WELL IN CLASS. (C. Eadie)

Report Cards Grades 4-8

2011-01-17T23:46:00.000-05:00

In 4th grade I moved towns and changed schools. I started at Viscount Alexander Public School and immediately dealt with some transition issues. Over these years I learned a lot about what I was good at and what I was not good at. As I entered this school I told I wasn't up to par with where I should be, however I also realized during my time here that I really was capable and could strive to do something with my future. Here is what some of my teachers had to say in 4th-8th grades.

4th Grade (E. Brown)

As we discussed, Ryan wastes much time preparing to do his work. He is often out of his seat wanting attention. He has a tendency to want to manage other people, and when he is found at fault he will deny and want to argue. His handwriting has really improved.

Ryan has shown a great deal of improvement - Keep up the good work!

Well - Ryan has come a long way. Academically he has really improved but his social skills need to improve greatly, he wants to be the ruler and this does not make for friendly relationships.

5th Grade (E. O'Connell)

Ryan is an alert student who has applied good effort during this term. Lately he has tried to improve his handwriting.

I am pleased with the improvement Ryan has achieved during this term. His growth in self-control has improved as well.

Ryan has made many fine contributions to our class. I have enjoyed working with him this year.

6th Grade (E. O'Connell & J. Adams)

I'm generally pleased with Ryan's results, but they will improve if he learns to concentrate regularly on his own work.

Ryan is a capable student who needs to apply additional effort to daily Literature exercises. His willingness to participate during discussions is appreciated but he should try to curb a habit of speaking out of turn.

Good improvement in Science topics studied this term. Efforts in Reading assignments have brought disappointing results.

With more concentrated effort, I'm quite sure that Ryan's achievement in Reading exercises would improve. Good luck in the coming year!

7th Grade (B. Ray)

Ryan spend a lot of idle time in class. His academic results are not that bad, but they certainly could be better if he applied himself to a greater degree in class.

Ryan has a good deal of academic ability and we must work with him to channel this energy in the right direction.

Ryan has been given the opportunity this term to express his ideas on several subjects during oral discussions.

8th Grade (W. Lafave)

Ryan is a good student who experiences no difficulty in his work. He has a very good awareness of things in general. Ryan at times though could be better organized.

Ryan has not been very consistent this term in his work habits. At times he has shown a lack of responsibility towards assignments. He is really not a very organized person.

A better and more consistent effort towards the end of the term, Ryan. Get a good start next year.

Report Cards Grades 1-3

2011-01-16T00:05:00.000-05:00

I'm been on a bit of a nostalgia kick recently, I have been thinking back to growing up and in particular my education. Now that I have children in school, it makes me remember what I was like in school for my teachers. I dug out some old report cards and decided to publish some of the comments from my teachers for both fun and for the sake of my personal humility. This is from my time at Williamstown Public School (pictured above - Still looks the same too!):

1st Grade (C. Kinloch)

Ryan is doing very well. I am pleased with his class work. Outside of class he needs to control his behaviour.

Ryan is doing well. His printing needs to be firmer and not so shaky.

2nd Grade (C. Kinloch)

Ryan is doing well, but needs to complete assignments on time.

Ryan is doing very well academically. Sometimes Ryan disturbs those around him and thus disrupts class routines.

3rd Grade (J. MacDonald)

Good progress. Ryan has difficulty concentrating during written work and does not always complete seat work on time.

Good progress. Slight improvement in completing seat work.

Money, Money, Money

2011-01-07T23:58:00.000-05:00

I was thinking today that we have probably been a little to blah with personal finances and should maybe make some adjustments in our spending in order to improve our family's financial future, so here is the plan:

We currently have pretty decent credit rating so now is the time to borrow, so we need to take out an additional mortgage this week (after all the rates are good now and later that money might be really helpful). We could always take out another loan to pay the interest on this one if we need to. What to do with the money... I think that we should try to find some failing local businesses and give them large amounts of cash; oh we would let them mostly keep following their poor management principles with a few additional control mechanisms that remind them who's really in charge.

We drive used cars and do not have loans but I'm thinking about the future right? Purchasing vehicles would be smart, but not just for my wife and I, but also for our four kids (we care about their futures, too). Yes six cars, new of course after all our youngest won't need it until 2025. But don't worry about our carbon foot print, the cars would be energy efficient vehicles, all six of them.

Now saving for the future has not really been fashionable lately, so if we bust open those 401Ks we could use that money to help stimulate our local area by putting on a great concert for our neighborhood. Who would it feature? Who cares, we just need to stimulate the local economy. All the money that I would save from making payments in the future could just be put into lotto tickets or something, that would help local schools.

Instead of saving, why not take advantage of all those credit card benefits that I have been receiving in the mail and passing on up until now. "Really I can have all the things I want now and I can get it by only paying a portion of the amount each month? Sign me up!" And there are so many credit cards out there, but if that runs dry I can always look to some international banking options.

Who says we are in a recession? If everyone followed these four important steps, our economy would be an unstoppable machine. The US government now has a debt of 14 trillion dollars working out to over $40,000 per person. Using this as a measure, I figure our family of six can have a total of $260,000 of or more especially when you take the debt of state and local government in to consideration too.

Ted Williams Makes a Decision

2011-01-06T17:28:00.001-05:00

COLUMBUS, OH - Former homeless man Ted Williams who is fresh off the streets of Columbus Ohio has made a much anticipated decision. Sparked but the recent popularity of his instant stardom from his viral 'Youtube' video featuring Williams and his voice which has now been viewed millions of times since its posting on January 3, 2010.

Since the new found popularity, which Williams says is because of a God given gift, several job opportunities that have been presented to him. The job with the most notoriety has been the PA announcer for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Today Ted Williams has made a decision and much to the dismay his fans in the Buckeye state, Williams will be taking his talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat as their PA announcer.

When asked about his reason for turning Cleveland down, Williams said "I wanted to do what was best for Ted Williams ... At the end of the day, I feel awful. I feel even worse that I wasn't able to bring a God given voice to that city. I never wanted to leave Ohio. My heart will always be around that area. But I also felt like this is the greatest challenge for me, is to move on."

Brokenness for a Broken World

2011-01-02T22:54:00.006-05:00

Romanian Orphanage Image by James Nachtwey http://www.jamesnachtwey.com/

It really doesn't take much looking around to know that our world isn't falling apart, it has never been together to begin with. Just read through the news or blogs about dealing tragic issues within families, or visit the photographer's website above and even the toughest heart would ache or break.

2010 was a tough year for our community, but to be honest 2011 will not be any better, different disasters will happen somewhere else, we will lose people we love, the most innocent among us will still be hurt and discarded, I will make mistakes, and you probably will too.

I am typically the perennial optimist, however, I find it kind of hard to state whether or not any year has or hasn't been a good year. We live in a broken world, a world where doing the right thing is usually an afterthought or a rarity, a world where selfishness is praised and humility is scoffed at.

My hope for 2011 is to do less of the former and more of the latter; more importantly the hope for my legacy is to impart this idea to my children. I want them to recognize our brokenness early on and also challenge them to reach out to someone who is hurting or alone or sick or needy or different then they are.

Gasoline Taxes

2010-12-29T20:22:00.002-05:00

As you have seen gasoline prices have increased, what is worse is that government has no incentive to decrease the price of gas, if anything it is just the opposite. Gasoline tax is typically a percentage of the price of gas or a rate set by the state based on the price of fuel, either way as the price goes up governments usually take more money from drivers and even non-drivers when they are already paying more for fuel. This is an unfair abuse on consumers and it needs to be changed.

Governments need to be limited on their ability to tax consumers by doing one of these three options:

1. Repeal the gas tax completely. In October 2010 States get an average of 29 cents per gallon and the Federal government get an average of 18 cents per gallon. This adds up considering we use more than 100 billion gallons of gasoline each year. If these taxes go directly towards highways and roads, it would be understandable, however I personally would like to see those costs eliminated and move towards a private highway system in the US where it is pay as you go (i.e. EZPASS or IPASS).

2. Limit the gas tax with a flat tax. We have tried capping what we could charge for gasoline, not that it was a good idea, however why have we not considered limiting the share that government gets from this product. Should we really be paying between 15-30% tax on any product?

3. Why not more in the opposite direction. If fuel prices increase, the State, Local and Federal governments should actually see a decreased percentage or work on a graduated system, like the reverse of the federal tax code.

Something needs to happen, government should not get richer at the expense of taxpayers and businesses who are already struggling because of increased costs and a recessed economy.

This Post Might be Controversial

2010-12-24T23:57:00.009-05:00

Apparently there are only three rules to becoming the President of the United States:

a. You must be a natural born citizen of the US.
b. You must be at least 35 years of age.
c. You must have lived in the US for 14 years.

Recently there has been a lot of attention put on the first qualification with the questioning of Barack Obama's birth place as to whether he was actually born in the US, as well as the other Presidential contender John McCain's birth outside of the United States proper. I really don't need to address either of these (there are enough blogs doing that), what I wanted to briefly bring up is a new rule.

d. You must have children that are already 18 years of age or older or not have children.

I was thinking of this today when it when I heard about President Obama cutting a trip to Afghanistan short in order to make it to Christmas in Hawaii. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that he is spending Christmas with his family, this is what fathers should do when they can, however as President, as Commander In Chief, he responsibility is to the country and I'm not sure if this is being done with the utmost seriousness and respect. After all, there has been a lot of family vacations, nights out, golfing and "basketball".

I have recently began watching the TV show Undercover Boss and one of the reoccurring themes has been CEOs who have had no time for their families. These are people who have had to work ridiculously hard and ridiculous hours to get where they are at and even more to stay where they are at. Because of they they have had to sacrifice something and much of the time it has been their families.

Obama is trying to do it all, and it honestly cannot be done. This is why, even though it will never happen, I really think it would be a wise decision to amend the Constitution to make this law. It would be good for the country, it would be good for future Presidents and it would be great for their families. What a great example it would be for the rest of the country, and to be honest if I ever hear a President of a Presidential contender with young children say "I care about the family", I will cringe inside (no matter their party affiliation).

African Paradise Restaurant

2010-12-18T10:35:00.004-05:00

Last night I was excited to surprise our Residence Life staff by bringing them to a cultural experience in Columbus Ohio; we dined at a Somalian restaurant called African Paradise. This was my second visit so I was aware of what to expect, I simply said to my staff (1) this will be stretching for us, and (2) don't judge a book by its cover. Beyond that I said I had already ordered for us, which felt a bit weird, but since we were a larger group it was the appropriate thing to do.

The restaurant was set back off the road and was a little hard to find (even on my second visit), but when we arrived we pulled to the back of the restaurant and came in the back door. At that point, I told our staff that it was custom and expected that we come in the back door because we were a party of both men and women. Someone chuckled and then realized that I was serious, and in we went. Apart from overcoming the initial cultural expectation, everything seemed to go very well, the staff made us feel very at home and were very good to our good the rest of the night.

We ordered a double platter with both chicken and lamb. We started with a flavorful vegetable soup, they brought out a salad and a Somalian flat bread for us that I had not had before, followed by the main dish with two large plates of rice and wonderfully seasoned dishes of meat. During the meal they had a complementary fruit drink and after the meal they gave each of us an incredible spice tea. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and were very interested in the experience of trying something new and different. This was a great dinner for a great price; everyone left full and many are planning to go back again sometime.

Free Christmas MP3s

2010-12-16T20:22:00.004-05:00

I never used to be a fan of Christmas music, I've always struggled with two things (1) remembering the words, and (2) singing the sames songs every year. I'm starting to like it more now that I'm older but even more now that musicians and digital download sites get into the Christmas spirit with free Christmas MP3s, here are a few that I want to share with you:

"Snowflakes" by Jeremy Fisher on free on iTunes

"Merry Christmas Everyone" by Sean McCann (of Great Big See) at www.greatbigsean.com

ALBUM: The Incredible Singing Christmas Tree at http://amzn.to/fsJS5O (Thanks Stevan)

"Oh Come" Israel Houghton & New Breed at www.itickets.com (Need to create a login)

"A Christmas Prayer" by Jed Santa Maria www.itickets.com (Need to create a login)

"Christmas This Year" by TobyMac & Leigh Nash on iTunes

"Punk Rawk Christmas" by MXPX at Amazon

Plus 24 other Christmas MP3s from Amazon at Amazon

Please share any others that you have found in the comment section.

Airplane Bathroom Signs (Part 4)

2010-12-12T20:50:00.010-05:00

This is the final post for this series. For the most part the other signs were entertaining, and I may have taken a few of them a bit literally, however these two signs just misleading and maybe even a little cruel to smokers. The larger of these two signs points to fact that there is no smoking on in the bathroom of the airplane (obviously), however there is a smaller sign on an ashtray that would make someone think otherwise, especially because it was on an ASHTRAY! Perhaps Delta didn't want to spring for the non-ashtray model of plane. My main question is why no one caught this message confusion and had the ashtrays removed from the bathrooms.

I remember back in the mid 1980s when there was smoking on planes, and that a benefit to being a first class passenger was it was the planes non-smoking section. I remember this because there were two ladies who switch me and my bother seats so they could have the opportunity to smoke on the flight. It was great for us because we had the all the benefits of first class (I remember the chocolate cake in particular) and apparently we also were able to avoid all of the cigarette smoke that could be filtered out by the first class curtain.

I'm not sure how many people have tried to smoke on an airplane's bathroom recently, and how many of them might get caught; nonetheless, I think that they could have a good excuse for not understanding the rules due to the mixed messaging from the airline bathroom itself.

Airplane Bathroom Signs (Part 3)

2010-12-11T22:15:00.003-05:00

This sign is probably my favorite, I have been cracking myself up thinking about writing this post. Of course what we should understand is that we would press this button if you need a Flight Attendant for an emergency, however... should we also get the impression from this sign that the word "emergency" might be a little subjective? For instance here are a few ideas I came up with

"I am a little thirsty and would like my ginger-ale delivered on a silver platter (just think ginger-ale would taste better on a silver platter)"

"Excuse me sir, I would prefer to dine alone tonight"

"Yes I know I'm not seated in first class, but since our lavatories were occupied, could you be a dear and bring me one of those hot towels?"

"Sorry to pester you again, but do you have any Pepto Bismol?"

"This is taking a little longer than I anticipated, could you run and get me my Sky Miles catalog?"

"I prefer to wash with Avian water"

Airplane Bathroom Signs (Part 2)

2010-12-06T22:24:00.005-05:00

This is just a really funny looking sign for a variety of reasons, but mostly because this guys is dumping a bunch of random things in the toilet:

1. A bottle: has a bottle ever been successful flushed down any toilet let alone an airplane toilet. Of course the cup is a little more understandable, of course paper cups probably could flush, and what about the new FAA mid-flight urine screenings?

2. A paper sack: this looks pretty shady. It could be a simple sack lunch, but who knows what is in that sack. It looks kind of full, and my initial thought is he is getting rid of a sack full of narcotics before the DEA nabs him after the flight, but only the stick figure man really knows what's in the sack.

3. A diaper: okay so the proper diaper changing is done by a woman (see Part 1 of Airplane Bathroom Signs), but the moronic male was given the diaper and then proceeded to try to flush it down the airplane toilet (where it the justice?).

4. A feminine product: really? This guy is the world most dumbest or perhaps most inconsiderate passenger, and he happens to also have a feminine product to dispose of, really?

Just thought that this was another great sign in an airplane bathroom. Just kind of funny that this guy also seems to brought all his trash from home so he could dispose of it at 35,000 feet. Now that is something that the TSA should be keeping an eye out for.

Airplane Bathroom Signs (Part 1)

2010-12-05T20:55:00.003-05:00

I don't fly too often, but it was interesting to notice the interesting signs in a Delta airplane bathroom on my last trip. Of course these signs are pictograms to help persons who read different languages, but my thought was, what are these signs actually saying? Here is the first sign:

Now I am the father of four children so I have changed a few diapers, however I know that this was not the case for many fathers in days gone by, take my grandfather for example. When I was 10, I changed my first diaper, this was also his first diaper. At the age of 60 plus he had never changed a diaper, although it is not a fun activity, why is this something that had been reserved for moms for so many years? It is interesting that the picture in this photo happened to be a woman, I am not saying I am offended that it wasn't a man, I just think that it is an interesting commentary. It doesn't help mother's out by suggesting women diaper changing only, but what it worse is public restrooms that only have diaper changing tables in the womens' restrooms (a big pet peeve of mine).

Straight Talk to the Rescue

2010-12-04T00:23:00.009-05:00

I switched my cell phone carrier last week from Verizon to something called Straight Talk. Although I knew it wasn't going to be a perfect transfer, I have been looking forward to this change for awhile. Here are the Pros and Cons so far:

Pro: Straight talk has unlimited minutes, with the number of phone calls I have needed to make to churches and Canada have led to the need for more minutes

Pro: Straight Talk has some data usage and it is unlimited. I have not used any data on my Verizon form before, it is not a smart phone, but it could be useful.

Pro: I received a new (actually two new) phone. With my first month of payment I received a basic flip phone, which was okay, but not what I was used to so I looked into other options. Then I found that if I paid for another month I could get a free refurbished Sumsung r451c, which as actually is great condition when it arrived.

Pro: I am not on a contract, I can change my mind at any time and will not have to pay any additional fees to stop paying high cell phone bills.

Pro: It still has a large coverage area. Someone told me that they use Verizon towers. But this leads me to my first con...

Con: The coverage is not as good as Verizon. I have had a couple of dropped calls and the reception is a little weaker. I am going to keep looking into this with a programming update, but it is worth mentioning.

Con: I cannot text to Canada. I just realized this today when I received a text from my sister in Ontario, I could not text her back. This is one of the ways that Google Voice will save the day, I can receive a text from Canada via my Google Voice number.

Con: I had to type in all of my contacts again. I had to do this a couple of times already with Verizon, however it has only increased since then. I am currently starting the 'E' section and I have been eliminating people to get my number of contacts down to under 500:

Con: Limited number of contacts. The flip phone stored 200 and the Samsung r451c on stores 500. This will force me to have regular purges from the address book.

Con: I wasn't a big fan of the enV2 calendar, but I was use to it. This is a new calendar. It has some new features that I like, however it has some big changes that I will need to get use to. Apparently there might be a way to link it with my computer (which would be a huge Pro)

Con/Pro: I did call customer service with Straight Talk already. There was a wait to talk with someone, however I did speak with two people, both were very polite and I was able to solve my issue.

Google Voice: As I mentioned, I was able to solve my texting issue with the use of Google Voice, but I can also call Canada for free using my Google Voice number. Its easy and everything I learn about it makes it such a great tool for staying connected north of the border.

Let me know if you have any questions, hopefully I will continue to learn and continue to share about this change.

The Birthday Bumps

2010-12-03T10:45:00.004-05:00

In the office today we are celebrating student birthdays for the months of November and December. I asked if we were giving the students "the bumps" and no one knew what I was talking about... yet another cultural difference between me and my Ohio coworkers. The bumps was a tradition that we had in school where we would pick up the person whose birthday it was by their arms and legs (as pictured above) and dropped them on their backside as many times as their new age (plus one for good luck). Or to make it simpler, you could just knee a person in the backside the same amount of times (plus a pinch, to grow an inch)?

See what kind of fun people have been missing out on. Is this something that you experienced in the US, or maybe something similar? Please share your experience or thoughts.

Reparando Movie

2010-12-02T13:58:00.003-05:00

I had a meeting today with a friend from a furniture company that our campus works with. He let me know that he will be moving into an Executive Director position for a Not-For-Profit organization that works with impoverished children in poor countries throughout the world. He recommended the documentary, Reparando, which is set in Guatemala. I am hoping to have it shown on campus in the Spring, but here is the trailer for now:

Reparando - Trailer - 01 from Athentikos on Vimeo.

http://www.reparandomovie.com/trailer/

Bono on Fox?

2010-12-02T00:05:00.004-05:00

Tonight U2 Front man Bono went on the Fox News Channel. I watched the clip of his interview tonight, where he shared his thoughts on the US, politics and the war on Aids. I have been a fan of Bono's music but have always felt leery of his use of his celebrity for his various political and charitable causes. For those who have shared my thoughts, this is a good interview, for those who have their issues with American foreign policy, this is also a great video to watch. It is about 25 minutes long, but worth it.

LINK TO BONO ON FOXNEWS

A Black Friday Top Ten

2010-11-26T18:14:00.002-05:00

Here is a list of reasons that some people went shopping today beyond TVs and Laptops:

1. Shopping for Christmas presents for their families, which is especially important for larger families.
2. Shopping for discounted items for their business/ministries.
3. To buy something for someone else who couldn't go out.
4. To spend time with family & friends.
5. Because it is a tradition.
6. To save money to have your income go further.
7. To buy jeans, pajamas or socks at 1/2 off, and not have to buy them the rest of the year.
8. Buying toys for a charity in order to buy more and give more.
9. To buy hygiene products at a discount to donate to a woman's shelter.
10. Because its not a sin to spend money.

Mount Vernon Building Fire and Beyond

2010-11-23T22:35:00.003-05:00

I drove down Main Street in downtown Mount Vernon Ohio today for the first time since the building fire two weeks ago. Gambier street is still blocked off but Main Street opened yesterday. I had a couple of thoughts about our Downtown on my trip...

a. The downtown businesses are probably hurting, but they were hurting before the fire. Is it my/our responsibility to come to their rescue? I think that I could support them, however I was disappointed in the lack of ingenuity on the part of these small business owner over the past two weeks and again since Main Street has opened. I saw a couple of signs saying the businesses are open for business.

b. The blocking of Gambier Street made me wonder why we would want to open the street back up to traffic. They could either build a larger building in place of the building that burned down which could extend into the street, they could build a downtown park for kids, they could close the street off to cars and just make it a walking area, or they could just leave it for a parking lot or garage.

c. Mount Vernon really needs to build a bypass around the city to help keep traffic out of the downtown. I don't understand why the city spent money on building a new (unnecessary) parking lot and then (unnecessarily) repaved a parking lot at Hiawatha Park this summer, when Mount Vernon has so many brick roads that need to be repaved and we need a four lane outer-belt instead.

d. It can't be said enough, but the MVFD did an amazing job to prevent the Buchwald Center from burning down. They worked day and night and put all of their resources and sweat into saving just another building, but their effort paid off and we cannot thank them enough.

Research In Motion

2010-11-22T21:26:00.006-05:00

The top chart is a five year comparison rate between the US Dollar and the Canadian Dollar. The bottom chart is a five year look at the stock prices of Research In Motion (RIMM), the creator of the Blackberry and Canada largest (non-bank) corporation. Click the image for a closer view.
Now I know these charts are not identical, but there are similarities and there are probably several factors as to why there are similarities, including the strength of the Canadian economy impacting both RIMM and the dollar. One of my thoughts about the similarities, is that they challenge the idea that a strong Canadian Dollar is a bad thing for Canadian companies and therefore bad for Canadians.

RIMM seems to be a great example of a large Canadian company with a huge export market, which shows that fluctuations in currency towards a stronger Canadian dollar can exist at the same time the company can grow, showing that a strong Canadian dollar is not something to fear, instead a stronger Canadian economy is what Canadians need. I'm no economist so I won't speculate on economics, but if I were an investor, I might actually try to speculate on the direction the Canadian Dollar might be going, to determine whether I'd invest in RIMM.

A Family from a galaxy far, far away...

2010-11-12T23:22:00.004-05:00

My two oldest girls have very different personalities but it seems to work for them most of the time. Micah our seven year old is ultra responsible for her age, once in while she can be a stick in the mud, she recognizes responsibilities (both hers and everyone elses) and she is always our helper who can be trusted with so much. Our five year old Eva, on the other hand, is a spur of the moment, easy going, hide from responsibility little girl who is also everyone's buddy. I was thinking the other day that these two reminded me of another famous duo...

So what about our two younger kids, Abel and Esme? Well they remind me of a couple of other characters...

Flood: Jeremy Fisher's New CD

2010-11-01T14:34:00.004-04:00

Jeremy Fisher has a new CD out this week that I will be downloading tonight, here the link to his new CD and blow is one of the songs from this very talented/creative musicians. He shot this video himself for less than $20 plus the cost of the iPhone Apps.

http://amzn.to/9ds8Rc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_b8V3OiI90&ob=av2n

Halloween: Canada Vs US

2010-10-31T09:21:00.001-04:00

Halloween is a little different in the United States compared with Canada. First I cannot remember a time that I ever dressed up and trick or treated on a different night that October 31. I haven't heard of a community around here that is.

Second, the houses that participate are greatly lower in Ohio. Probably about 20% or fewer. I think it was probably just the opposite in Canada.

The other big difference was that the people handing out the candy were ALL outside waiting on the kids. This was a huge culture shock for me, because of the whole yelling TRICK OR TREAT thing was not really a necessity here. Oh well they still give out candy, right?

LeBron James new Nike Commercial

2010-10-25T20:18:00.003-04:00

I honestly don't take a side in the LeBron James trade to Miami, I liked being able to see him play a few times in Cleveland, but I guess I've become pretty apathetic when it comes to sports. After all I was an Oiler's fan when Wayne Gretzky moved to LA. I was an Expos fan when the league went on strike and when they moved to Washington. I stayed up late to watch Ben Johnson win and later lose his Olympic gold medal and (at the time) the world record for the 100 meter sprint (9.79 seconds). I was cheering loudly for the Fab Five fan until Chris Webber called that infamous timeout. And I was also a Colt's fan when the official's beat them in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers for the AFC Championship in 1995.

Sports is filled with disappointment, one person's triumph is another person's defeat. That being said, I actually like this commercial it was very creative. What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smDb8JSj2eg

Mohammad Yunus: Banker To The Poor

2010-10-14T14:43:00.002-04:00

I have been reading a book called Banker To The Poor, by Mohammad Yunus. He was a pioneer of the modern micro loan movement, which is the idea of lending small loans to impoverished people to provide capital to start or improve a business. He began a bank focus and micro loans in the 1970 in Bangladesh with he was a professor of Economics.

Although I don't agree with all of Grameen or Yunis' principles, it was interesting how often I was impressed by something that they attempted and the entirely of their accomplished. Yunus won a Noble Peace prize (back when that meant something), and he has been instrumental in helping thousands of families around the world improve their economical well being.

Before reading this book, I knew that micro loans and micro-enterprise can have a huge impact in helping the poor and those who suffer from misfortune, but it was interesting and educational to read about their beginnings, their process and how they have refined their process over time. This was such a great book, which I highly recommend, it also makes me want to visit Bangladesh to attend one of the Grameen training programs.I am looking forward to impacting people through this type outreach in Nicaragua.

Faith

2010-09-13T18:33:00.003-04:00

After several weeks of debate over the burning of the Qur'ans, I have to admit it has been hard to remain silent on this issue. I have had many thoughts and feelings that I have kept to myself, mostly to not belabor this media spectacle created to sensationalize the divide between Christianity and Islam.

At the same time I have to recognize what a classmate of mine did to help reduce the divide between Muslims and Christians. Cheryl graduated with me in 2000 from Indiana Wesleyan University and spent the last 6 years in Afghanistan helping some of the poorest people in the world. Many of these people have never known a time of peace because they have lived through two wars and have had to survive through many years of Islamic-Fascism.

Cheryl left Tennessee to teach gardening and parenting to women in a part of the world where women have very little value and very few options to make a living. Cheryl, one of the most passive, quiet, and unselfish people in our graduating class was murdered by the Taliban last month because she was a Christian. She is a testimony of how little sensationalism there should be in a Christian's faith, how important it is to care for those who have nothing, and she show us what it really means to give it all for the sake of something bigger than oneself.

Here is a short message from her father:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvv0O_u6Vew&feature=player_embedded

LOST's Stained Glass Window

2010-07-11T23:11:00.005-04:00

I finally watched the finale of LOST tonight. The sixth season had been quite a let down so my interest waned. The finale was also pretty rough and what I found most interesting was the stain glass window that was very obviously included in the last minutes of the show when Jack's father was explaining that they were dead. The window had symbols of the five largest religions as well as Judaism. I believe that the symbols were intentionally arranged because of their conflictual nature with Islam beside Judaism, Hinduism beside Christianity, and Taoism beside Buddhism.

I understand that LOST was not a 'Christian show', but it was interesting that they were in a Christian church at the end, and there is a stain glass window that is essentially promoting universalism: having a sun shining light (the major symbol for the last three episodes) towards each of these six symbols for these religions. On the left of Jack and Christian Shephard we also see several religious artifacts on the alter.

To be honest, I was a bit embarrassed for the entire LOST crew with this scene. They could have all met at a funeral home (where Dr. Shephard's body was in season four) and the window would have been fine. I know there are several churches/denominations/sects that would embrace the message in this picture, but mainstream Christianity would not. Again, LOST is a secular show without a Christian agenda, which is something that we need to accept but also point out to others; and it is still okay to let them know where they got it wrong.

8 Minutes

2010-06-23T12:46:00.002-04:00

I saw this picture at a children's museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan and found it quite disturbing. First of all its a children's museum and they bring up the sun exploding. Second, I'm not sure why the picture is so cheery. And finally, who is the freakshow who spent the time calculating how long we would live after this catastrophic event, and how does this help us prepare... quick we have 8 minutes, light a fire and hold on to something!

My Early Days in School

2010-05-05T09:31:00.005-04:00

I'm reading a book to my kids called "Understood Betsy" and it is about a girl moving from the city to the country and the changes she faces. It got me thinking about going to a county school from 1-3 grades. There were so many things that have changed over the years that I was in school and in some ways I think my experience in first grade was more like the "old days" than it would be for first graders today. Here are a few examples:

We read from the Bible: I remember my teachers had Bibles on their desks and every morning my first grade teacher would ask students to read a passage.

We said the Lord's Prayer: After we read from the Bible we would recite the Lord's Prayer.

There was the strap: I never got it, but was were all aware that it was entirely possible that we could get "the strap" if we were disobedient in class (I did get in trouble though, for talking too much. We were sent to the desk in the hallway and I even had a barrier put around me in French class).

We had more than one grade in the same room: For first and second grade, we were all in the same class room.

We brought our own lunch: We didn't have a cafeteria or a lunch room, everyone packed their own lunch (and we were even allowed to trade - I got in trouble for this in University when I helped at an after school program).

We learned to read until the First Grade: I don't know when the big push to read in Kindergarten started, but I sure didn't (and I'm okay).

We called our teachers "Sir" and "Ma'am": We didn't talk back and we definitely did talk like sailors (no offense to any sailors that might be reading this post)

There were no computers, projectors, cell phones, or Nintendo DSIs: Yes we were pretty Low Tech, but our teachers still got the job done. I was thinking the other day how hard it probably would be for any of us to go back to no internet, email or cell phones; however people were still able to be contacted and did know what was going on (believe it or not).

Snow Days?: Yes there were days when people couldn't make it to school (It was Canada before Al Gore invented Global Warming), but school still went on and teachers still showed up. Those were actually some of the best days because we had a lot of personal attention from teachers and the students that were there had a lot of fun.

Go Fly A Kite!

2010-04-11T01:44:00.001-04:00

We took Eva and Abel to the park on Tuesday to fly kites. We were excitedly apprehensive about this endeavor due to our personal
childhood memories: lots of ups and downs (pardon the pun).

Well we got the kites put together, lost one stick, which we eventually found. The kite that Abel used worked wonderfully, he looked like a pro. Eva's kite was not as much of a winner. She tried and it hit the ground, I tried and it hit the ground, Sarah tried and it hit the ground. Most of us would be discouraged, however Eva kept flying her suicidal kite until the stick fell out again actually she flew it even after the stick fell out - she just didn't notice the difference).

The most amazing feat of the night was when Sarah found the stick in the grass in an area where we didn't think it feel out. We salvaged Eva's kite, and it even flew better. We had a lot of fun, had some technical problems, but we pressed on and it was another great memory.

McCardboard

2010-04-06T16:17:00.002-04:00

The other day at lunch I was at getting some sandwiches for the kids at McDonald's and I saw these McCafe cups. At first I though they were filled with mulch (I glad I was wrong); however they had something almost as strang: Cardboard, Cotton and Yarn.

I know they were probably trying pretty hard with this great idea, but these decorations didn't make me want to buy their coffee. In fact it made me compare their coffee to... Cardboard.

Well I left McDonald's with 2 McChicken sandwiches and a large fry, and went right over to Tim Horton's to get a large mocha.

Pacifism exemplified in Canada during a visit from Ann Coulter

2010-03-23T21:20:00.008-04:00

My sister and brother are students at the University of Ottawa and my sister has been updating me recently about the events surrounding Ann Coulter's Canadian speech tour, which have now included: the threat of her arrest and charging her with a hate crime, and tonight the threat of violence in Canada's national capital.

Ann Coulter was supposed to speak tonight at the University of Ottawa, and it seems like a group of protesters, reminiscent of Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast, surrounded the building she was to speak in, and apparently there were the concern things may turn violent, so the event was cancelled.

Ironically they were chanting “No more hate speech on our campus”. Really, the people standing outside, yelling, being disruptive enough to require a police presence, and not wanting to allow an invited guest to speak at an EDUCATIONAL institution, are saying Ann Coulter is promoting hatred?

Mike Pence

2010-03-21T21:26:00.004-04:00

I just listened to Representative Mike Pence from Indiana and his response to the proposed Health Care Legislation. I was very impressed by both his comments and his eloquence. It is people like him and Representative John Boehner that can really turn things around after the 2010 midterm elections. Thank you Representative Pence!

Represent your district Mr. Space

2010-03-17T20:10:00.003-04:00

Representative Zack Space,

I tried to reach your office today however it went right to voicemail. I wanted to ask you to consider representing your district in the upcoming vote for health care legislation. As a resident of your district, Ohio District 18, I want to add my voice to the numerous pleas that you have heard asking that you vote against any of the upcoming heath care votes.

Our medical system is a great system, to say otherwise is somewhere between ignorance and an outright lie. Whether you call the direction congressional leaders want to head 'universal medicine' or not, what your party leaders are doing is socialism, instead of market based capitalism. Fixing the existing issue does not begin with more government mandates, it begins by reducing dependency on government social programs by helping small businesses that want to provide benefits to their employees, by protecting doctors with Tort Reform, and most of all stopping the crippling of the economy by getting rid of government legislative restraints, earmarks and waste. If you are going to support a bill, start from the beginning and do it right.

You know as well as I do that this is not a popular piece of legislation, in our district and beyond, so if you vote for it you have officially become a part of the bureaucratic greed machine that you say you are against. Will you be another politician whose vote can be bought, or will you listen to the people who you represent, and vote no?

Ryan Schmitz
Mount Vernon, Ohio

My New Favorite Commercial

2010-03-03T01:22:00.004-05:00

I watched this Old Spice commercial the other day for the first time. I laughed out loud and have watched it so many times since. I keep showing it to other people and thought it is definitely worth sharing here as well:

I'm Glad We Have a 'Code'

2010-02-21T16:34:00.004-05:00

The other day I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of a friendly flash of the headlights from an oncoming vehicle. This obviously meant one of three things:

1. I had my high beams on
2. there was a deer crossing ahead, or
3. a local police officer was looking to catch some unsuspecting speeder.

In this case it was a police officer and he didn't have to opportunity to introduce himself to me that day. Several times I have benefited from the 'code' and I try to pass along warnings of my own whenever possible. I also think that this 'code' is mostly a guy thing, because I do know that my wife gets a little embarrassed for me when she catches me, flicking my lights.

The beauty of this system is that it is pretty simple, but I'm curious creative drivers or car manufactures have not developed a more informative system. Perhaps cars could be fitted with various colored lights, red = deer, blue = police, and green = there is a Toyota Prius up ahead BE VERY CAREFUL. Or car companies can look at adding PA systems into more models types, so we can communicate better with other cars. But of course mounting speakers on cars might be a little out dated or perhaps have the potential to be misused a lot. We need some sort of electronic system where we can communicate with each other, and maybe there is an iPhone App for this already, but why not have some way to press a button connected to a GPS that lets other drivers know where potential patrol officers are trolling.

Following the Winter Olympics

2010-02-20T15:50:00.006-05:00

To be honest I have not watched much of the winter Olympics so far this year, but I have been impressed that so many of the students at the school I work at have been paying attention and have been excited about the winter events. Sarah and I don't have cable so that make things a bit harder, but like most Canadians watching the Olympics on NBC is never as good as watching it back home and cheering for Team USA is not really an option.

I am planning to watch Team Canada beat Team USA online tomorrow night (I'm going to try to get the girls to cheer for Canada with me). But getting into the habit of knowing what event is on when had been kind of tough.

Here is a post I wrote 4 years ago regarding my thoughts on why Basketball need to be in the Winter Olympics

I'm sorry Tiger

2010-02-20T00:12:00.008-05:00

Dear Tiger,

Today I watched your apology in front of the entire world. I can't imagine having to do what you had to do, having to go in front the people who now know everything about you, the people who think terrible things about you, the people who want you to have to pay significantly for your mistakes, and you had to stand up in front and apologize. Meanwhile your life is falling apart around you and people are just waiting around anticipating the worst for their own entertainment. Please be assured that not everyone wants things to get worse for you or your family, some people hope that you and your family can recover and that you can get back to working at the role you were born to do, be a devoted husband and father.

I am sorry that things have gotten this far. You mentioned today that your mother raised you to follow Buddhism, but that you had not devoted yourself enough to this practice and that you lost your way. Adhering to the strict tenants of either Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, or even Christianity, is not your answer and could not have save you from disaster, there have been zealous practitioners in each of these religions who have messed up as bad or worse.

I'm sorry that there has not been anyone try to impact in your life in a way where you could have come into a relationship with Jesus Christ. I wish you could know that He wants to accept you where you are right now; that He doesn't want you to go into a in patient treatment facility before He will allow you in His presence, that He doesn't need you to get your act together right away before a life change can take place, and that He doesn't expect you follow a certain Public Relations routine to get into His good books.

Christ died for you Tiger, and He died for me and all the terrible things that we have both done. He is amazing, giving and forgiving. I just want you to hear that and hope that someday you will know that in an even better than I could have written.

Ryan

Senior Survey Politics

2010-02-18T10:27:00.007-05:00

I proctored a test this morning and each student was required to fill out a booklet of questions. I skimmed through and became suspect of one section of the booklet that jumped into the political arena. Not that these questions were completely off base, I just was concerned how legitimate these questions were in light of the rest of the question, but more than that I was concerned that these questions were all coming for one side of the political spectrum, may I say... insinuating that these stances were the norm and daring the surveyed to take a contrary point of view. Here are some of the questions, judge for yourself:

Please indicate your agreement with each of the following statements. (Mark one: Agree Strongly, Agree Somewhat, Disagree Somewhat, Disagree Strongly)

Abortion should be legal

Marijuana should be legalized

Same-sex couples should have the right to legal marital status

The federal government should raise taxes to reduce the deficit

Lent: The Gall Bladder Diet

2010-02-17T13:10:00.008-05:00

Today is Ash Wednesday and, although it was rough and limiting, for Lent I have decided to go back on the diet I was on after my Gall Bladder attack in October. Essentially, no fried or fatty foods; for me this means no fast food, no dessert, and no mayonnaise. I think this will be a good transition for me to make both physically and spiritually. The hardest thing for me to remember during lent is the mentality that this is a fast to draw me closer to God and not game or competition where I need to be prideful about what I can do.

If you are giving up something for Lent this year, what is it and why did you decide to choose it?

Mitt and Ann Romney: Class Acts

2010-02-16T16:43:00.000-05:00

Mitt Romney is a class act, personally and politically. Romney was physically threatened by a goon on a plane. I'm glad that Romney chose to confront this problem, it shows he can take action, but he also kept his cool which is also very telling of his ablity to be a confident leader.

However the best part of this story is the fact that Romney and his wife were not flying in a private jet, they were not on a fancy charter, and they were not sitting in first class. The Romney "were sitting in Row 15 of the economy section of the Embrarer 190 airplane". Mitt Romney is not only a man of the people, but he has fiscal restraint. I started to like him the longer he was around in 2008, but I think that he could make a great contender for the GOP nomination in 2012.

Click here for the article: Romney threatened on flight out of Vancouver

Nancy Hiser

2010-02-11T16:17:00.005-05:00

Click Here to Watch Nancy's Interview

Above is a link to a video from last weekend's Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. My sister in law, Nancy Hiser (Findlay, OH), is featured in this video and she actually leaves a reporter speachless. She was one of 600 hundred delegates who met from various walks of life to share ideas and their support for ideas that might help to guide the country they love back towards responsible government the originally founders intended. Here are some more articles where she is quoted:

http://www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=11942452

http://www.worldmag.com/webextra/16395

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100206/NEWS09/2060403/0/BUSINESS03

http://www2.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/local/article/where_is_tea_party_heading_leaves_are_unclear/31359/

And in French:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gKIpmUHgeuHPIUT13DaCV7RLYz5g

My Issues with Avatar

2010-01-19T13:40:00.001-05:00

It’s been a few weeks since I went to see the movie Avatar with a friend. He immediately asked me after what I thought and my initial response was "Um, it was okay". I didn't really know what to say beyond "We we really suppose to be cheering against the army?"

Today I read this article about a City Councilman who has been taking on this same issue with the movie:

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Avatar.Balcer.negative.2.1412100.html

His concern is that the movie makes Marines look like lunatics. My thought is and has been for several years know is that almost every movie made in the past decade has portrayed soldiers as (yes) lunatics, but also mean, arrogant, inconsiderate, dumb and greedy for money and power; not to forget: above the law, murders, rapists, thieves, traitors and enemies to this country. Avatar just pointed this out through exaggerating these traits and inventing a fictitious society to make these soldiers look even worse.

Some of my other concerns with the movie are:

Its glorification of the noble savage and its portrayal that the inhabitants of Pandora have a perfect and uncorrupt existence.

Almost all of the ideas that made this another world were really silly (i.e. the floating mountains, everything being fluorescent at night, the ugly horses etc.).

The casting for the movie was pretty rough. Worse choice was Sam Worthington as the leading man. Terrible actor and made the character way unbelievable.
And then to the 'anti-war at all cost' crowd: was it just for the blue people of Pandora to fight back? Just wondering

I have talked to a few people since I wrote this post a week ago and one person made a wise comment: Avatar is not really a great movie; it is actually more on an experience. Thought that was a wise comment to end on.

Donate to Haiti

2010-01-14T00:41:00.004-05:00

Like a lot of you, I have been thinking a lot about Haiti for that past 24 hours. The devastation and agony being felt by the Haitian people right now is unimaginable. Even hundreds of deaths, based on original estimates, is horrific; but now that some are estimating hundreds of thousands of deaths, my heart is broken for a people that already had so little and at the same time so much pain and hardship.

A friend started a website for his church with a purpose of educating and also raising support for Haiti. They are asking people to donate funds for World Hope, which is an excellent organization that provides aid all over the world. I highly recommend this organization as both legitimate and reliable to get the funds where they need to go. If you are interested in donating I have inserted the Progress Bar below, click 'ChipIn' to donate or go directly to their site: http://worldhope.org/

The Comedy of the Senate

2009-12-19T14:44:00.004-05:00

Poor Joe Lieberman is now under attack in the previously his "safe place" the United States Senate. The Comedian, turned Election Thief, Al Franken utilized he turn in Joe Biden's seat to make it into a Bully Pulpit. It was nice that Senator Mc Cain came to Senator Lieberman's defense (again Mc Cain is really a nice guy-too nice to be President though).

The question is: how long will it take for Joe Lieberman to stop caucusing with the Democrates and join the Republicans? My hope is that he will also turn his back on both the Liberals and their Liberal policies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmQZ4gzqM78

Michael Moore

2009-12-16T13:34:00.005-05:00

If you haven't seen Michael Moore's latest appreciation for Democracy and State's rights here is his latest Tweet (from http://www.twitter.com/MMFLINT):

"People of Connecticut: What have u done 2 this country? We hold u responsible. Start recall of Lieberman 2day or we'll boycott your state." - Michael Moore (via Twitter on 12.16.09)

Too bad his PR team and/or his documentary editors weren't able to help Michael with his Twitter Account before he proved to us how much of a bully he actually is. Apparently having an political opinion or being an Independent is reason enough for Michael Moore to provoke a recall process or to promote an economic attack on fellow American workers. Michael Moore typically uses half truths and emotionalism to push his agenda, but thanks to his lack of candor on his Twitter account we see the person he really is and how he too has embraced the Chicago Style politics of our President. Thanks Mike for showing us your true colors (and none of them are red, white or blue)!

Mount Vernon Christmas Lights

2009-12-09T18:06:00.005-05:00

On Monday Sarah and I packed up the kids and we went for a drive around Mount Vernon to look at the Christmas light displays. As we explored, we sipped on hot chocolate and snacked on our recently obtained Canadian chocolate bars (that's candy bars, in American). Here were a few of our favorites for this year for those in the area that would like to look for themselves:

Santa & a Miniature Sleigh: 374 Fairgrounds Road

Season's Greetings: 107 Clinton Road

Santa Climbing the Chimney (back of house): 1 Buena Vista

Carnival Christmas: 316 Chester Road

North Pole Illuminated: 7 Washington

Disco Snow Globes: 30 West Pleasant Street

Winter Rainbow: 800 West High Street

Crimson Bow Bonanza: 901 West Gambier Street

Honorable Mention, Twin Rocking Santas: 303 & 305 Arch Avenue

Honorable Mention, Santa's Merry Kingdom: 2 Kester Drive

A OUR FAVORITE, They've Got it All!: 12 Cliff Street

This was a fun evening, we know that we missed some displays so feel free to add some addresses. The picture above is also one of the nicest displays in town located north of Kroger near the Mount Vernon Developmental Center, however we didn't list it since most people already are aware of it. Merry Christmas!

The Month of November

2009-12-02T16:23:00.008-05:00

What a different month November has been:

It started with surgery to have my Gall Bladder removed. To be honest I was pretty worried about going under and then going under the knife. The surgeon did a good job and it took about a week off of work for me to start feeling back to normal. I just have to watch what I lift for 6 weeks, nothing over 5lbs.

Sarah and I also traveled to Indiana for a week for training to be missionaries to Nicaragua. This was very educational and we are excited about letting everyone know what is in store and how others can have the opportunity to get involved. If you are interested in learning about about our family heading to Nicaragua connect with us here:

tinyurl.com/SchmitzFaith (Team Building Page)
tinyurl.com/SchmitzBio (Our Bio Page with Global Partners)
facebook.com/SchmitzFamily (Join our Facebook Page)
Or email us at SchmitzGP(at symbol)gmail.com

Finally we had some of my family from Canada visit this past week for their first American Thanksgiving. We had a great Turkey dinner and did a bit of shopping. All this to say this was a strange month of November, I was barely at work, but November is usually a pretty slow month compared with the rest of the year. I am looking forward to being able to lift things again in two weeks (I feel like the biggest weakling for now).

33 Hours Later

2009-10-19T13:31:00.005-04:00

Last Monday night I woke up in pain around midnight and by 3am I realized that nothing I could do was going to take it away and it was still too long to wait until morning to visit our physician, which is why we decided to go to the hospital in case this was something pretty serious.

This started my 33 hour relationship with our local hospital staff. I’ll spare you most of the details, but one thing is for sure is that this was a difficult experience, one that I am not eager to repeat. I will need to have my Gall Bladder taken out in the next weeks, but I did take some other things away from my stay at the hospital. Here are a few of them that I wanted to share:

1. I have a new respect for my wife and how tough it is to be in the hospital, I just hope I was as considerate as I should have been during her stays.

2. Before I went into the hospital I knew that I need to start eating better, now that I am being asked to reduce my Fat intake, I am realizing how bad I was eating.

3. I was the youngest –old person on my floor. As I would walk the floor, in almost every room I would see people that were at least twice my age. It made me think a lot about aging and it made me sad for them and how tough it must be on them to deal with their pain, their dependency on others, and their loneliness.

4. I need to spend more quality time with my family. I like to be with my family, but I realized that I need to do a better job of making memories and being the kind of husband and dad that leaves a lasting impact in each of their lives.

5. I am not a good patient (what an appropriate name). On Tuesday I got to the point where I was so antsy, so claustrophobic, and so exhausted that I was telling everyone that I wanted to leave and when my family came to visit I asked if I could go home. I missed them, I missed my bed, and I missed my schedule. Being in the hospital definitely did a number on me mentally; in some ways I hope that I can grow from this experience and minimally become a better eater, but hopefully I can be a better person after having a Gall Bladder attack

Obama’s Nobel Prize Check List

2009-10-09T13:42:00.006-04:00

Red Cleveland

2009-09-28T09:27:00.004-04:00

I'm up in Cleveland for a Office Retreat and decided to pick up a USA Today to read a bit this morning; unfortunately when I asked the lady at the front desk, she said they were out and all they had were copies of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. So I told her "When in Cleveland..." and I grabbed a copy.

Glad I did since I was able to read about Rick Nagin, who is running for Cleveland City Counsel. Rick is a registered Democrat as well as a member of the Communist party for the last thirty-nine years. Nagin has yet to serve on City Counsel but not for a lack of trying, however the fear is he has a viable chance this year since he has emerged from the Primary.

I guess we have moved enough away from the Soviet Union, from the Eastern Bloc, from the Gulags, from the Purges and as a City, Cleveland must think "since Cleveland has already been destroyed by the Socialism of the Democratic Party, what we need now is a Communist to come in and make sure nothing good ever happens here."

Wow, what an interesting state I live in, I hope for the best for the City of Cleveland, I would love to see the City turn around, but they have more hope with Shaquille O'neal than with the DNC (or the Communist Party).

Lost In Translation

2009-08-02T00:10:00.010-04:00

Sarah and I went to New Asian Market in Columbus last week and purchased a few items that may or may not have cleared Customs before they ended up on the shelves. The food so far has been good with the exception of the pork dim sum that smelled like fish (Micah thought it was Sushi and ate most of it).

One of the other things we purchased was a bag of rice noodles, which also tasted good inspite of the cooking directions that Sarah brought to my attention. They are as follows:

--------

RICE NOODLE
Hu Tieu Nam Vang
BEAT TASTE (Not a typo)

GUIDE IN USE

1. GOOD APPETITE AS SOUP :
Mixing Chinese-Noodles in boiling water within 5 minutes, then it is to take out in order to dry water.
Cooking the soup together such as:
Chicken, Duk, Pork, Beef as well to add seasoning as your option. Waiting until the boiled soup. Let pour soup in Chinese Noodle. So it is available for you.

2. GOOD APPETITE ON FRYING :
Soaking Chinese-Noodle in the cold water from 10 to 15 minutes (or mixing Chinese Noodle in the boiled water within 2 minutes, then it is to take out in order to dry the water and giving into a little vegetable oil and mixing evenly.
On trying together. Meat, Shrimp, Crab, Egg and to add seasoning as your option. Finally, giving Chinese-Noodles into the Chop-Suey already fried and frying evenly. So it is available for you.

--------

Of course, I would hate to see my translation from English into Chinese, I'm sure it would be much worse than what's written above... after all I am the one who said "arrivederci" (Italian) when I left our local Mexican restaurant earlier today.

Vice President Bob Uecker?

2009-07-18T14:35:00.006-04:00

I was thinking about Joe Biden this week and how I still cannot believe that he is one heartbeat from being our President. While I was on my Joe Biden thought pattern I also though "man, doesn't Joe Biden look a lot like Bob Uecker, who is a former MLB player turned actor from the 1980s TV show Mr. Belvedere and the movie Major league where he played announcer Harry Doyle ("Just a bit outside").

As I was preparing the pictures for this post, I unfortunately found out that I was not to only person that thought this, but there were actually others that had this same idea. Most everyone agreed that they would actually prefer to have Uecker serve as our VP, and that Biden’s TV coverage would have been cancelled back in the late eighties.

Alternate Titles for 'Jesus for President'

2009-07-06T21:29:00.006-04:00

I've been trudging my way through Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw's manifesto "Jesus For President" and thought I should share some of the rejected titles for this book, most are actually better than the title they ended up chosing.

Jesus for General Secretary

The Hipster's Guide to Heresy

The Gospel of Marx

The Idiots Guide to Creating a Church Split

Gandi for President

Capitalism is Evil: For $16.99 I'll Tell You Why

How to Shun Friends and Condescend People

The Jubilee Book: Every 7th Copy is Free!

Obama for President

Pictures For My Heart

2009-06-29T00:03:00.003-04:00

Every day on my way to work I drive a back way that has me driving past a building with the word ‘Family Planning’ posted outside, so I could be wrong, but I assume this is our local abortion clinic. Very often I think about this building and I am glad to rarely see a vehicle in its lot. Thursday was the first day I actually saw a person in the parking lot and it was one of those images that gets etched into your brain. She was a slender African American lady, who was wearing blue medical garb, so I assumed she was a doctor or a nurse, and she was walking into the building with her head hung so low that it made me feel her hurt. It made me wonder what she was thinking, what she was feeling, where she was at in her life. I don’t know her name and I don’t know her story, but I can pray for her when I drive by and think about the clinic.

This image reminded me of other images that have been impressed on me, like the four year old child quietly waiting on the backside of an upscale Vancouver hotel for dad who I then realized was searching for their dinner in the hotel’s dumpster.

The older lady who gave me money while doing a panhandling experience on the streets of Toronto. She looked so needy herself, why did I need her money? Her generosity broke me.

The sorrow in my seventh grade classmate’s eyes when she was caught cheating in front of a whole class, a class that already didn’t have fond feelings for her. I wish I could have been a bigger person back then… I hope that I could be a bigger person now.

The embarrassment in a 12 year old boy’s face at his first time at a youth camp in Ohio when he was being harassed for the smell emanating from his bunk; it turned out that his younger brother had used the sleeping bag at a previous camp and had urinated in the bag without anyone catching it before sending it back to camp with his brother. The stench was horrific from across the room, let along what it would have been like sleeping inside the bag. After some complications and the bag inducing vomiting multiple times, the bag was able to be cleaned; incidentally the paid staff counselors stopped harassing the 12 year old for the smell.

There have been a lot of images, good and sad, these were just a few reality moments that God has allowed me to be a part so far. I hope that He continues to minister to me through His world around me, both right away and sometimes touching my heart years later.

Myth: Most Americans do not have Health Care

2009-06-10T11:23:00.004-04:00

This is a segment of a post that I originally wrote in January 2006 regarding Misconceptions that Canadians about the US. I thought it was relevant to current political issues:

Myth: Most Americans do not have Health Care

In 2004 the percentage of Americans covered by some sort of Health Insurance was 84.3%. This means that about 46 million Americans had no health insurance at for all or at least part of the year. Here is the age breakdown from the 2004 statistics of Americans covered by Health Insurance:

17 or under 88.8%

18-24 68.6%

25-34 74.1%

35-44 81.3%

45-64 85.7%

64 or older 99.2%

I have a few numbers that need to be pointed out about the 46 million people, keep in mind several of these number overlap, but that does not defeat any of these thoughts:

1. Over 14 million of these people earned more than $50,000 and either chose not to take Medical Insurance so they could pocket more income (something that I probably would do if I were single) or they were temporarily not covered because they were in between jobs.

2. About 11.8 million people are immigrants to the US and chose to move here. They may have come from a country that had no Health Care at all. Side note: when my wife and I moved to Canada, we had no Health Insurance coverage either, because we had recently moved and were in-between jobs.

3. Over 30 million of the people without Health coverage live in the Southern or Western parts of the United States. There is a noticeable percentage difference (West = 17.6%, South = 18%, Northeast = 12.9% and Midwest = 12%) between different regions of this country. There are many options involved with choosing employment, like Full time VS part-time, educational requirements, Salary package and location. A day has come where mobility comes with the territory for job seekers. Some people may need to move states or even regions to find jobs that meet there expectations and needs.

4. Over 8 million people between the ages of 18 and 24 do not have Medical Coverage. This is by far the largest group of uninsured Americans based on percentage. Many of these people have recently left their parents insurance plans and many of them are still students, either way, this is by far the age group with the lowest need for medical insurance. A few exceptions are pregnant mothers or the severely handicapped; both of these groups would qualify for plenty of government assistance.

One of the most important things to understand is that anyone that even goes a few weeks between jobs or between insurance companies or even after graduation from High School or college without insurance is counted in this 46 million people as well as everyone in their family. That exact figure is not published by the US Census Bureau, but some have estimated as high as 50% of the people without insurance fall into this category. Of the 46 million people many were still eligible for government assistance, Veterans Affairs help, assistance from State governments and then help from many other privately funded programs. Health insurance is available, I will not say that it is affordable, because neither is Malpractice insurance, which is an expense that trickles down to the patient and raises the cost of Medical insurance every year. Many Americans can be insured but chose not to be and that is their right, can a Canadian chose not to be on the Universal Health Insurance and be reimbursed their share of the cost? Probably not.

Appreciation for Diversity

2009-05-30T23:25:00.008-04:00

So the whole Britain's Got Talent phenomenon has gotten pretty big on this side of the pond this year, so I thought that I'd watch a few of the videos tonight to see what the fuss was about. I have to let you know that I was was pretty impressed with the group that won, Diversity, is amazing. See for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkLhkeD2Z_A

Why Not Waterboard?

2009-05-21T19:07:00.005-04:00

A great big round of applause for the Obama Administration for making the lives of Coalition Soldiers and Iraqi citizens less important than taking advantage of an enemy combatant's fear of drowning.

Obama's rush to appease his constituents will inevitably be realized as a big mistake; unfortunately, these people believe that stopping waterboarding, and other effective interrogation methods, will actually make a terrorist less irritable and cause him to put down his IEDs and a eventually him and his wife will host Obama fundraising dinners.

How asinine is it to think that the CIA would waste their time, skills, and personnel with waterboarding if it didn't work? They are trying to protect our soldiers, to protect us, and also protect other innocent peoples throughout this world.

Instead of eliminating waterboarding, I would propose allowing the CIA (or the FBI) to start waterboarding domestic terrorists, and while they are at it waterboard kidnappers, murders or anyone refusing to volunteer information about these types of major crimes when they have information need to save people or to prevent further crimes.

Why are these people's comfort more important than the lives of the innocent people?

Counting with Abel

2009-05-05T00:21:00.003-04:00

Abel and I got to spend the day together on Saturday while the ladies were at a baby shower. We had some fun with the camera, here is one of the videos we made.

Can someone please tell us how U. S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano got her job?

2009-04-22T23:24:00.005-04:00

This was a question in a National Post editorial today about President Obama's Homeland Security chief after she blamed Canada some involvement in the September 11 attacks in the US. Of course this is not true, just like it wasn't true back in 2001 when it was also proven incorrect. However I would like to address the question which makes up the title of this post...

Napolitano got her job because the US elected an uninformed, inexperienced, and unprepared first term Senator, who had never ran a business, had never been a chief executive in a company or more importantly in politics, nor had he ever served in the US millitary. Obama was elected to serve as the Chief Executive of the US Government and to be the Commander and Chief of the most powerful army in the world (at least it was at the time he took office). Of course he would select Janet Napolitano, what else should we expect from a guy who thinks the US has 57 states?

Obama hired her, not because she has any idea what homeland security is, but because she buys into the liberal/socialist agenda. Yes she has said a stupid thing about Canada, but she is also saying and doing stupid things here in the United States. Case in point, a recent Homeland Security memo that says a lot about what concerns the current administration: http://video1.washingtontimes.com/video/extremismreport.pdf Even if you have already read an article on this DHS memo or have listened to talk radio in the last week, you should still read this article, I was still shocked.

So back to the question: How (did) U. S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano got her job?

Well, for that I need to give some credit where credit is due, and thank the hundreds of Canadians who "volunteered" their time to come down to the US or made phone calls to help get Barack Obama elected, and have the opportunity to apoint his band of incompetent men and women. Yes, you (70%) wanted him (along with 53% of Americans), and now the fun begins.

Well at least I didn't say "I'm going to move to Canada if Barack Obama wins", and I can move there.

10 ways you might confuse me for an Emergent

2009-04-09T19:58:00.008-04:00

1. I eat ethnic food. My favorite food in our town is Indian, Greek, Japanese and Mexican (not Taco Bell).

2. I wear leather sandals. I still don't wear them all of the time, but I'll try to do this more in the summer when I'm not at work.

3. We buy produce from our farmer's market. Its fresh and more importantly, it is sometimes cheaper.

4. I read Generous Orthodoxy; in an attempt to familiarize myself with current theological trends.

5. We recycle. Hey, conservatives can care about reducing the landfills too, plus its included in our trash service and allows me to go with the lower rate (hence... save more money).

6. I like candles, dimmed and colored lighting, and even incense to be included in a worship service. I like a sanctuary to look and smell nice.

7. I hurt for the poor and disenfranchised, and think that the Church really needs to do a better job in reaching out to them; however I believe that the vast majority of them are not American.

8. I bike to work when its warm. Its good exercise and saves money on gas

9. I didn't vote for John McCain; but I would have voted for Sarah Palin, lol.

10. I have a blog, enough said.

Personal Tournament Best

2009-03-29T19:31:00.003-04:00

Most of my NCAA Tournament Brackets are bust, but I have one that I'm particularly proud of where I actually selected the final 4 teams. I have never selected all four teams before. Unfortunately there are still 263 people ahead of me in this group of several thousand people trying to win a $5000 prize. Well thanks for sharing in my excitement. GO UCONN!

Brandon

2009-03-26T10:55:00.004-04:00

My youngest brother is 21 years younger than I am, so he is closer in age to my kids than to me. Brandon is really good around our kids, he likes to play outside with them, play games and toys with them, and he'll watch movies with them; and our kids love their uncle Brandon. Yesterday I found this note that he wrote when he visited a couple of weeks ago:

Once upon a time
their was a girl named
Micah. She was so
pretty. She had so
many friends and
her uncle Brandon
loved her so much.

My Favorite Sit-Coms

2009-03-19T18:57:00.003-04:00

I have always appreciated a good laugh so I am a sucker for a good sit-com. A few weeks ago I made a Seinfeld reference to a coworker, but that coworker told me that he liked Seinfeld so he did know the reference. This made me think that I needed to make a list of my Top 10 favorite Sit-Coms in the order that I originally enjoyed them.

10. Family Ties
9. The Cosby Show
8. Cheers
7. Newhart
6. Seinfeld
5. The Simpsons
4. Malcolm in the Middle
3. Arrested Development
2. King of Queens
1. The Office

Honorable mentions:

My Name is Earl
The Wonder Years
Night Court
WKRP in Cincinnati
How I Met Your Mother
The 70s Show

What shows do/did you like?

I used to like Toby Flenderson

2009-02-24T18:09:00.003-05:00

When Toby Flenderson left Scranton, PA for the sandy beaches of Costa Rica, I have to admit I was kind of sad to see him leave. A couple months ago upon his return I was pretty excited to see him again; however this footage is causing me to second guess those thoughts...

Parenting Can Be Scary

2009-01-30T22:51:00.005-05:00

I'm watching an incredibly sad movie right now called Reservation Road, about the family of a little boy killed in a hit and run. I really don't want to watch it anymore because hurts me to think of anything bad happening to any of my children. We are fairly protective parents, but a couple of years ago we had a scary thing happen to our second child Eva.

When Eva was barely 2 years old, we were at a College Basketball game sitting with some friends and our kids were all sitting together in a row kicking their feet up and down. Eva was the smallest and somehow before the game began, the kicking motion she was making caused momentum enough to pull her downward and as she tried to recover, she twisted in a way that caused her slipped through the hole in the bleachers. The next few seconds were a blur, Sarah screamed, my friend Lee was able to get over to where Eva had fallen, and I went through another hole in the bleachers and slid under to try to get to her, thinking she was on the floor in pain.

This was one of the scariest moments of mine and Sarah's life, we both just saw our 2 year old fall through the bleachers from the highest possible point. When I got through those bleachers I couldn’t believe my eyes, Eva had not only turned sideways, but she had managed to have her arms out to catch on to a metal beam that was part of the bleachers and the top of a protruding concrete wall. Everything about how she fell seemed completely unrealistic but she barely fell 2 feet instead, instead of the 20 feet she would have fallen if she had not caught herself. Because of what happened, Lee was able to reach down and grab her and pull her to safety.

Two weeks ago I went to another basketball in that same gym and spent some time remembering the incident. I took a closer look at the bottom on the bleachers to see Eva really grabbed onto that day, and even looking at it two years later, I still don't know how this was possible, but I am very grateful to my friend Lee for responding quickly and I am grateful to God for watching out for our little girl.

Saving with Four Kids

2009-01-25T23:07:00.006-05:00

A question was asked of my wife and I as to how we can afford to raise 3 children (now four) on 1 income, so here are a few ways we have been able to make things work (warning some of these ideas are not for everyone).

1. No cable or satellite TV. Like I said, these may not be for everyone.

2. Buy used vehicles and try not to finance if you can avoid it.

3. Low house payment. When we were looking for a home, we were looking to pay an amount that was close to what we would end up paying monthly what it would cost to rent for a month.

4. Keep utility costs low. Keep the temperature in the 60 in the winter and 70 in the summer. I have even started closing vents to the bedrooms to mornings while we are really using them as much.

5. Use the library. We can get more new releases for free if we are willing to wait a few weeks.

6. No home phone.

7. Buy when on sale only when you need to make the purchase. It isn't a good sale if you don't really need it.

8. Limit eating out. And get take out to avoid the tip (in Ohio you avoid tax as well).

9. Don't purchase pop when eating out, you end up paying a dollar or usually more plus tax and sometimes tip for something the restaurant pays pennies for, they're ripping you off.

10. Pay off credit cards in whole every month. Even if stay away from the minimum payment and pay most of your bill, you still pay interest on the whole amount that you borrowed that month.

11. Use credit cards that earn cash/gift card. A lot of the card where you earn other points are not really worth it if you have to shell out more money just to use them (i.e. flights, where you'll have to get hotel rooms, park cars, buy meals etc.)

12. Don't be a clothes snob. Look for deals out of season, on clearance, and even at thrift stores or garages sales.

13. Shop around for major purchases. Use the Internet whenever possible, here are some helpful sites:
shopping.com
buy.com
mysimon.com
nextag.com
amazon.com
campusbooks.com (for (text)books)
ebay.com
craigslist.com
cars.com
autotrader.com

14. Whenever you can do something yourself without paying somebody else, you are saving money, so at least try first. Especially taxes, do it yourself online, its easy and its free; and sometimes the efile is free as well.

15. If you have dependants, you should talk to your HR department or whoever does your payroll to make sure your exemptions are set properly. Sometimes you can reduce your federal and/or state withholding in your favor and keep more of your money on each paycheck.

16. If you get a tax refund, look at using it to pay off dept before you use it to buy something you don't need. And if you have no dept (including mortgage), then put it into a high interest savings account or into another type of savings vehicle.

17. Another one that is not for everyone, is that we do not have pets. Pets have a lot of benefit, but they also cost a lot of money to feed more mouths.

18. Here are a few energy/money saving tips: Turn off lights, clothes windows, unplug items when not in use, turn down your water heater, turn it to vacation when you're gone for awhile, use energy saver setting on appliances, use energy saving bulbs, bike, walk or carpool to work, and use the microwave or toaster oven instead of the convection oven whenever possible.

Please add thoughts to this list, this is not my complete list, just some ideas that came to me tonight, but I know this is just the beginning of what can be done; I learn more ideas all the time and want to here what you have to say. Thanks!

Gifts from God

2009-01-17T20:54:00.007-05:00

My fourth child was born yesterday, her name is Esme (Pronounced: S-May) McKenna Schmitz. She was our smallest baby at 6 pounds and 9 ounces but she is already full of life. Each time we have been blessed with one of our children it makes me recognize how wonderful children are; when I saw Esme in the nursery (as pictured above) with the accidental note, it made me think how something like “do not throw away” should never be associate with such a beautiful and defenseless child. It is unimaginable for me to think that we have legal systems throughout this world that do little to protect the most innocent victims among us from being arbitrarily chosen to live or to die, and do almost anything to protect this practice.

When I hold Esme, it barely feels like I am holding anything in my arms, and as I embrace her, I find it hard to imagine any baby could be smaller than she is; but I know that just because they are smaller than Esme, these babies still have ears like her, still have eyes like her, still have arms like her, still have toes like her, and even have a beating heart like hers; these tiny babies just as innocent as she is, no matter their story, or the story of their parents, they have done nothing wrong, but for some reason, we pretend that these tiny babies cannot feel pain, at least not until the third trimester.

What kind of society is this that the littlest ones among us have become our human sacrifices at the alter of human selfishness?

A Touchier, Feelier Church

2009-01-13T00:09:00.008-05:00

On Christmas Eve I visited my father-in-law's church. It was a good service, however they did add the obligatory "Greet someone around you" time. My brother-in-law and I looked at each other and we mutually confessed that we just don't like the All Church Handshake.

I don't think I'm the only one out there, but it just seems that this trend has spread to just about every evangelical church in the nation, including my church. I'm not really sure of the theological prospective on the Handshake time:

Is it meant to be a form of worship? I hope not, since is it is an activity between two people, not an act between a person and God. It is both cheesy and insulting to think its worshipful to quickly make small talk with the Smith family so you have enough time to pat the associate pastor on the shoulder.

Is it meant to be a form of welcoming people? I can't imagine this is the most comfortable part of the service for visitors (especially the introverts). If you disagree, visit a new church to see the number of superficial greeting you receive during this time of the service, then imagine you are someone looking for a place where people truly care, a place where deeper relationship can develop.

Is it meant to be filler or a segway? A well planned and managed handshake time, can fill a good 3-8 minutes of a worship service, so if you are pressed for time and cannot think of anything creative to fill the five minutes between music and preaching, you can always choose the choose the weekly Meet & Greet.

Is it meant to be a form of witnessing? Rarely do you even hear names being exchanged, which should be the cornerstone of any Meeting or Greeting. "Hello", "Hi", "How are you today?" and "Good morning" are very polite, but they are things I hear from the cashier at Wal-Mart, the difference is that the cashiers at Wal-Mart asks the most probing question of all when they occasionally ask "did you find everything you were looking for?"

The Artful Dodger

2009-01-06T20:44:00.005-05:00

This week when President Elect Obama was asked to weigh in on the issues in Israel, his reply was "One President at a Time".

Now I can't fault him on the comment, it was clever. However it was definitely a blow off to avoid developing a position on a legitimate issue. Its similar to the question that he was asked in the height of the "banking/credit crisis" and his presidential run, when asked about his opinion on the Bailout, Senator Obama deferred until he could speak to the Democratic caucus (or his campaign team).

I think its funny that the man who is suppose to bring us "hope" and "change" is already making a career out of avoiding having to take a position. I really hope that this isn't a glimpse of what is to come. The presidency needs a responsible decision maker, not decision based on what is best for the DNC or based on that weeks' gallup poll. That was the position of the Clinton Presidency and we don't need a third Clinton Presidency; at least Clinton sounded intelligent when he was "skirting" around, the issues.

Union Bailout in Motown

2008-12-17T00:18:00.007-05:00

I think that I could start a car company for less that 5 billion dollars. I would probably not hire as many workers that the domestic producers, I would probably not offer as many products and definitely avoid putting out anything too ridiculous. I'm not really sure whether I would offer any hybrids, but I definitely wouldn't market anything getting less that 20 MPG. I would not locate any plants in Michigan, I think that I would actually want to look at the south, say Texas or maybe even Mississippi (Mississippi is still in the Union, right?) Speaking about Unions, yeah none of those will work for this company, no illegal immigrants either.

What will make this company different than GM, Chrysler and Ford? Well the price tag will need to be more competitive, the longevity will need to improve, and we won't expect the Government to clean up our messes. If I the Federal Government gave me a third of the proposed $14 billion dollar bailout (not to mention Canada is offer another $4 billion) I could start a car company that could turn a profit, but at least it wouldn't be the huge sink hole of Detroit where the Federal Government is voting to put taxpayer's money into the hands of wasteful auto industry execs and overpaid unions.

The Old Man Still Has It

2008-12-14T23:14:00.003-05:00

In case you haven't seen the goof throwing his shoes at President Bush, here is the video:

What I think if funny is that actually thought this was an important statement, and then he missed (twice). The poor inaccurate moron probably got the beat down of his life last night (and not by the Americans).

Au Revoir Québecois

2008-12-05T00:56:00.006-05:00

Here is another article about Canada, but I needed to get this out tonight. I'm pretty frustrated with the recent political choices being made by the Leftist Political Parties in Canada to join with the separatists in order to threaten the rightfully elected Canadian government. This is another reason validating the American two-party system. In the past I have been cared entirely way too much about keeping Quebec within the Dominion of Canada, however I need to be honest, I could care less anymore. Here are the options on the table:

Quebec separates on their own: Probably going to happen anyway, as soon as they get a 50.1% vote. The result of this will be the fragmentation of the Province, much of Western and Northern Quebec will choose not to secede, and either stay with Canada or become an independent territory.

Quebec finally shuts their separatist traps: Probably not going to happen without a huge dose of reality or some sort of spiritual awakening or reformation. This would be the best option if it could last.

The Canadian government has a referendum on kicking Quebec out: Not going to happen, but dare I dream. This would be in response to their referendum on whether or not to stay in Canada.

Civil War: I know, not in Canada. But the way things can heat up over this issue, you might be surprised. Should Quebec choose to separate at any time, there will be violent actions taking place throughout the province. Things and escalate quickly and with a rag-tag military and heavily armed Native population, people will learn how quickly "playing with fire" will burn you. I am okay with Quebec staying in Canada, but not if there is going to be government funded rantings of the Bloc and Parti Quebecois for decades to come.

A Northern Light

2008-11-28T23:34:00.008-05:00

I became interested in politics at a very young age, and ever since I started to understand the issues, I have been a conservative. I will admit that as a middle school student I opposed the Conservative government of Canada over their decision to impose a national value added tax (I still oppose it), but I wasn't knowledgeable enough to understand that the alternative parties in Canada were also pro-tax. I also appreciated Ronald Reagan in spite of growing up in a more socialist nation.

I know that I have not talked about the recent Canadian election (held on October 14), I was very happy to hear that Canadians voted in favor of the Conservative Party. Once again there is not a majority government, but there is a stronger mandate with more Members of Parliament, and hopefully Canada will have the opportunity to be impacted to a greater extent by the economic policies of the Harper government.

I say this to say that it is both sad (for the US) and great (for Canada) to acknowledge that Canada now has a more conservative government than the US. I wish the Harper government well, I hope for the best for my fellow Canadians, and I'll be praying hard for those of us waiting in line for the Socialist carnival ride opening on January 20th, 2009.

Obama: Abortion Rights Trump All

2008-11-18T23:59:00.004-05:00

In case you haven't heard, one of the last things that President George Bush is attempting to pass is a basic protection for person's of faith who serve in the Health Care industry (including pharmacists), to make a personal decision not to mandated because of their position to be involved in abortion procedures or in providing medication that can be considered abortive. President Elect Obama has weighed in saying that this is unfair to the person wanting to Abort their Baby, because it would be inconvenient for the woman wanting to use the morning after pill to walk to the next pharmacy. President Elect Obama where is the CHOICE for the person who does not want to participate in genocide?

Here is an article writen from an opposition stance to President Bush's proposition:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/18/america/abort.php

"and doggone it, people dislike me!"

2008-11-13T19:00:00.006-05:00

With the new Democratic gains in Congress and have now won the White house, I decided to do my part and continue with more of the political tone of late and actually change the name of the blog to "The Uprising", I may soon change the web address as well, but for now stay tuned.

Last Wednesday I came into work with a smile on my face and told a coworker we would celebrate over a glass of orange juice. He asked what there was to celebrate? I responded "That Al Franken is not a Senator".

Al Franken was a writer and occasional bit player on Saturday Night Live and failed radio talk show host with Air America. He is an outspoken liberal whose only political tools seem to be partisan mockery and comedic timing.

After the Tuesday election Norm Coleman was still ahead in votes and now after an initial recount the vote tally has tightened but Senator Coleman is still ahead. So apart from utilizing the courts to throw out more Coleman ballots than the "Franken" ballots that are "reinterpreted", I am hopeful we keep this joker out of Washington (and actually off of the airwaves as well).

Minnesotans, please keep your weirdos to yourself and limit them to State politics.

Shame, shame, John McCain!

2008-11-06T21:18:00.006-05:00

So as I've said before, I'm not a fan of John McCain, but I really hate how he is the only one being called a negative campaigner. The McCain AND the Obama campaign were both very negative, but why has John McCain been given the moniker? Well here are some of my theories:

1. Obama's ads were on various forms of media, not just TV (well done on his campaign marketing team's part). Most of the people were complaining about the TV ads, not the radio spots, websites and blogs etc.

2. The Obama team toned things down in the last month of the campaign and cried foul on McCain. Kind of like getting your sibling all upset to the point where they would hit back and then you get them in trouble (Classic).

3. McCain's campaign didn't pick the right battles. Unfortunately for him more of his skeletons were on the record and easier to explain.

4. More people are upset with George Bush than with Reverend Wright or William Ayres.

5. Saturday Night Live helped Obama win the campaign, they characterized McCain and Palin as morons and Obama and Biden as simply nervous and loud, respectively. So many people that I talked with in October actually attributed the SNL dialog and characters to the real McCain and Palin as their actual personality (I wonder if Lorne Michael's has registered SNL as a 527 organization?)

6. Obama had so much more money, this allowed him to balance out the negative with the positive. Because McCain was more limited, his ads seemed negative more often than they seemed positive.

Here are some of the ads that the positive Obama campaign produced:

Need more proof? Go to Obama's Youtube site.

President Obama

2008-11-04T23:10:00.011-05:00

So Barack Obama is our new President elect. Congratulations to his campaign and to his supporters and my condolences to McCain and to his supporters. BTW, great caption contest photo, please submit your in the comments...

I think were in for an interesting presidency and there is a potential for a lot of change in the Federal Government, so I thought that I should put a few terms and phrases from both sides that we better get use to hearing for the next 2-4 years:

From the Right:

Socialism

Liberals

Where is the promised "Bipartisanship"?

Filibuster

Lack of mandate

National defense

Jimmy Carter VS. Ronald Reagan

Government handouts

Energy Independence

2012

***

From the Left:

War Crimes

Universal Health care

The Bush Administration

Tariffs

Mandate

Carbon Offsets

Military reduction

Amnesty

Fairness Doctrine

United Nations

***

If you can think of some, please add those in the comments as well. It should be an interesting next few month and then the 2-4 years beyond that as the Republicans officially move back into the minority role in Washington. I definitely concerned about the road bumps we will face with Democrat control, but hopefully this will be a signal to the GOP that they need to get their act in gear beginning Wednesday morning, just like the Hillary 2012 campaign will be doing:

Not his auntie's keeper...

2008-11-01T16:40:00.006-04:00

So it is November 1st and Obama's auntie Zeituni has entered the mix. Of course the Republican spin is "This was news to us... and it is just a coincidence". The Obama campaign spin is "We didn't know she was in the US illegally... we want the law to be followed here... and what does this have to do with the election."

Well when Bernard Kerrick was nominated for the Secretary of Homeland security it sure mattered when democrats found out that his housekeeper was an illegal immigrant. Barack is saying he didn't know that she was in the US illegally... so either he is lying or he is a terrible relative (or at least so apathetic to anyone besides himself). I know where all of my aunts live, and I am not the junior Senator from Illinois.

What I'd like to know is if he didn't know that she was in the US, let alone here illegally... why did she say she couldn't talk to anyone until after the November 4th election? The next question is whether ACORN has registered her to vote?