pic by wstera2

Propaganda based on distortions if used long enough destroys the integrity of any argument. 

The longer a person can remember a false fact the more likely the person will come to believe the fact to be true. 

Therefore, if a person believes something is true or a portion of the statement is true then it becomes more difficult that the person can be found guilty of a lie.  However, the harm due to the lie will have been bestowed upon an entity or an individual already.

The freedom of speech was meant to allow a group in the minority to be able to promote their views, have equal access,  gain recognition and ultimately representation.

There is nothing like experiencing first hand the harm that others in the US have experienced to know the truth.  Fairness only works when everyone plays by the intent of same rules.  However, individuals do choose to manipulate the rules to control outcomes for their own greater good.

Nonprofits have an opportunity as charity organizations to be above the image of lies and manipulation.

Nonprofits can start with bringing salaries to the level of 99% of the population.  According to the Wall Street Journal a salary of $400,000 places an individual in the top 1%.  These large salaries are harming the nonprofit industries reputation as being charitable organizations. 

pic by wstera2

The health care debate is at its ultimate level of confusion.  Nonprofits and government are afraid of what real reform can bring just like every other interested party.  Which seems to be the whole world.  So is it to be the survival of the fittest or Gods will that ultimately prevails?

Remember God does allow humankind to make decisions that could ultimately kill individuals or society.  The choice is ours to make may we do so wisely.

pic by Tobias Higbie

One congressman’s disrupted remark during the President’s Speech “you lie” has focused talks for health care on not allowing illegal immigrants to benefit from health care reform.

To make sure there is a system that is easy to use, lets not invent a new one.  Use the social security number as the required verification process and have everyone use the one line verification process in place today.  The only issue that may arise if care is necessary upon entering the US legally is that the social security number has not been obtained.  I would suggest that the appropriate alternative documents should be those allowing permanent entry up to a certain date.

The argument that verification will prevent legal residents from getting care would highlight flaws in the health care system that need to be fixed.  The automation of health care records, the use of the social security numbers for verification will also have an assurance means to validate the patient information is matched to the right individual.

A Social Security number is the gateway to many benefits and anyone who advocates not to use it has the right not to want services funded by a government entity or mechanism but they should not have the right to prevent others from making that choice.

If such action is to take place then Congress must allow the health care industry or states not to be penalized to use their free care pools or charitable dollars to fund the health care of these individuals.  It is a policy set for financial failure if Congress does not address health care for anyone in the US.  It will open the states to be able to sue the federal government for placing a financial burden on them for a population they are not to be responsible for. 

The failure of the federal government to prevent illegal immigration in the millions is their funding liability and not the states.  The states should join together in a class action lawsuit to have the federal government pay for services that laws make states responsible to provide.  Two of the most expensive areas are education and health care.

While I do not agree that the education and health care should be ignored, it is not reasonable to have it fall to the states.  Therefore, if there are requirements to prevent illegal immigrants from being covered under health care reform there must be a provision that will stand up to court challenges that specifically provides states and health care providers with the legal means to refuse to treat those that can not pay and show proof of legal status.  Someone has to pay for the health care services.

pic by sepponet

How to increase your ability to score big in today’s economy is dependent upon knowing the habits that will effect how you are perceived.

Today much of ones activity as a company or as an individual is very public.  Therefore, understanding some of the variables that make you popular or shun are helpful to know.

There are five areas to think about.

1. What is the type of debt that you or your organization has?  Is the mortgages or rents between 33%-40% of the income stream.  Are there vehicles payments?  Are there credit card payments?
2. What is the payment history on the reported above expenses?
3. How long have you had the above accounts?
4. How often do you open accounts or are there inquiries to your account?
5. What is the amount owed in comparison to the amount that could be owed or was the original amount?

Have some bad history, you need not to worry if you know how to be patient.  After seven years it is usually dropped.  And do not try to score a hundred percent.  Once you reach 90% of your potential the rest is meaningless.

The key to your ability to be able to score is to manage your actions in a meaningful way.

Create history, document what happened when there was a problem, do not be obsessed to have large credit lines.  Have smaller lines of credit and use them in a manner that does not show you are dependent on the credit line.

So make managing your means to increase your score a passion of fun and not work.  It is a game that many play but you can be in better control of the outcome either as an individual or a corporation.

 pic from http://mentalhealthhumor.today.com/

Nonprofits have one direction to take and that is to pass on the facts.   

“It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance.  It will provide insurance to those who don’t. And it will lower the cost of health care for our families, our businesses, and our government.”  – PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

If You Have Health Insurance, the President’s Plan:
· Ends discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.
· Limits premium discrimination based on gender and age.
· Prevents insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most.
· Caps out-of-pocket expenses so people don’t go broke when they get sick.
· Eliminates extra charges for preventive care like mammograms, flu shots and diabetes tests to improve health and save money.
· Protects Medicare for seniors and eliminates the “donut-hole” gap in coverage for prescription drugs.

If You Don’t Have Insurance, the President’s Plan:
· Creates a new insurance marketplace — the Exchange — that allows people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices.
· Provides new tax credits to help people buy insurance and to help small businesses cover their employees.
· Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice.
· Offers new, low-cost coverage through a national “high risk” pool to protect people with preexisting conditions from financial ruin until the new Exchange is created.

For All Americans, the President’s Plan:
· Won’t add a dime to the deficit and is paid for upfront.
· Requires additional cuts if savings are not realized.
· Implements a number of delivery system reforms that begin to rein in health care costs and align incentives for hospitals, physicians, and others to improve quality.
· Creates an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system.
· Orders immediate medical malpractice reform projects that could help doctors focus on putting their patients first, not on practicing defensive medicine.
· Requires large employers to cover their employees and individuals who can afford it to buy insurance so everyone shares in the responsibility of reform.

As a business write your members of Congress and ask them to  support President Obama’s Plan for Health Reform.

pic by Robin Hutton

Hey I know you guys hate school but I just started liking it last year.   I like the projects that we get to do.  I get to use the computer at home.  While doing my Internet search for home work I took a break and learned to do the moon walk watching a You Tube video. 

If I could use the computer more often I would have more fun.  I asked my papa that after I am in 8th grade if I would go to another school.   I want the school to have lots of computers so I can use one for myself.  While I do not mind sharing no one can agree what to look for and when I find what I want my time is up.  It is not fair to say i can use it but then my time is up once I find what I like.

From Papa:

Nonprofits can provide a lot more support to those it serves by utilizing computers more.  While I am not advocating that nonprofits lay off staff, it is important to automate those services that can reach the maximum amount of people.  The cost savings in staffing by using computers just might surprise you.  I liked what Chris had to say with the pic of plugging in and getting turned on.  I guess he is trying to advocate for his own home computer. 

Many students do not have access to the Internet or a computer to expand their opportunities for learning.  There area number of states including Maine who have been making a major effort to get a computer into the hands of a majority of their students. 

pic by torbakhooper

What does the Electrical Grid Initiative, High Speed Rail Initiative, Internet Initiative, and the Gas Line Initiative have in common?

1. They require environmental approvals.
2. They require bringing heavy equipment and laborers into remote locations
3. They require large sums of capital to complete.

I have a suggestion for maximizing the dollars and having greatest impact.

Since high speed rail brings most people to population centers it make sense to use the same corridor to connect the electrical grid  to bring alternative energy to the population centers.  It can also be used to power the high speed rail system.

Since the rail and electrical grid are laying track to transport or running wires for power it would make sense to run the Internet along such routes and thereby creating for every community along the route easy access to tap the resource as a rural community.  The internet cables could be placed in large underground prefab  tunnels along the route to allow for expanded IT technology business which can pay the government for the use of the assets.

On the other side of the track place the underground gas pipeline to bring the fuel to many communities along the route and the larger population centers.

The utilization of the billions to be spent for these four initiatives in a coordinated fashion will allow for thousands of more citizens of the US to feel the positive impact because more projects will be able to be completed.

It is not so much about whether there will be an environmental impact, but why would positive changes have to create four separate environmental impacts.  The joining of the initiatives mitigates the impact of building the infrastructure.

The joining of the initiatives makes it easier to mobilize and deliver the workforce and materials for each of the initiatives.  Nothing like using the same route to coordinate the projects in the same amount of time and possibly keeping individuals employed longer to deliver on multiple projects.

There is not enough money to fund every project for each initiative, however; more projects could be funded  and the number of communities  effected increased if these projects used the same route and the projects managed jointly.

pic by Sseme

School districts across the country are laying off hundreds of teachers and closing schools but still student transportation continues even though it provides no educational value.  I can understand small communities joining together to create district schools for efficiency, offerings and options to have a viable school district.

Shame on the large school districts who choose to send students across town when there is a neighborhood school the student could attend.

Shame on schools districts for allowing certain neighborhood schools to fail their students and have their student opt out of their neighborhood school.

Shame on school districts that build schools not on public transportation hubs.

Education is suppose to be equal to all and readily available, but it is not to be provided by wasting money on expenses that do not educate a student.

Instead of laying off teachers and closing schools cut transportation costs and put it towards the education of the students.

Instead of laying off teachers and closing schools consolidate school districts. Do not close schools unless they are failing, however; do reopen them under a successful school which is oversubscribed.

pic by J Garrettley

Just when you think it is safe to start investing again, there are more surprises.  The Feds agreed with banks to withhold from people who have borrowed money under Tarp, or how one ranked under the Stress tests.  It took a court order to release some of the information.  Now there is another way to beat the small organization or individual investor with high-frequency trading.  It is a technique where lots of trades are executed and canceled in seconds to get a pulse of what is going on in the market to find the best deals and make money.  First, I would ask how many organizations or individuals have the ability to execute and cancel trades in seconds.  Second,  the argument that it makes a more efficient market, I find false since it makes money for a chosen few.  The financial markets need to be open and transparent at all times to be trustworthy.  If the market place can not be regulated appropriately then just maybe it is time to stop certain functions from occurring.  It might be radical for some but it is better than having others make money on the small businesses and individuals.

I guess it is time organizations and individuals create their own heroes to look out for their interest.  I nominate Mickey!!!

pic by Terry McCombs

The Vatican office headed by Cardinal Wlliam Levada is investigating the leadership of the Council of Women Religious, a group that represents 95% of the nuns in the United States.  It is the second time that the male hierarchy seems to be looking to rein in the perceived independent nuns.  It seems odd that an institution that has been around for centuries would continue to subjugate women to complementary, subordinate, and expected workforce roles.  These women of faith dedicated to serving humanity in Christ’s name are doing just fine and should be allowed to continue to serve their communities as they find appropriate.  Much of the community outreach to nonprofits from the faith based community has been conducted by the woman of faith.  The increase in faith among the population of the United States I would be willing to say is due to the creative ways of these women to get out the message of God.

Faith is a strong powerful force in getting one to heal and overcoming barriers to create a better society for individuals and society as a whole.  No one group or individual should try to control or censure how women provide their meaningful service to society with God and Church.

I urge more nonprofits to join with the faith base organizations of their community to maximize the strength that each brings to the community.