Evansville city council to take up smoking ban - Stop talking and do it!

                   I’m kind of shocked to hear a local official against a smoking ban in this day of age! What bubble does Missy Mosby lives in? While Ward 2 has a mix of socio economic groups, data shows low income groups tends to have higher smoking percentage than  middle to high income groups, which puts Ms Mosby in predicament. Do good to her fellow citizens and not get re elected or provide poison for her district and get re-elected?  She could convince the businesses that a smoking ban would have an effect on getting more dining tables turnover quickly to generate more income, or how smoking affect health of everyone and increase cost to everyone in that district! Yes its people choice to do what they want, but why stop at smoking then, why not allow drugs at inner cities to be legal since that is good for business (Drug dealers make money and spend it there)! Why not allow drunk drivers drive (you keep busting people then bars and clubs lose customers, so bad for business)? That is their choice to kill others just like smokers has the right to smoke and affect others via second hand smoking.

            It is sad that when Louisville Kentucky, the State that lives off tobacco farming has a smoking ban in restaurants and bars, while we in Evansville still fight to keep smoking and obesity going!

Deficit reduction

So now after the debt ceiling has been raised and both parties back to pointing figures…before we go any further let us see what they have agreed on:

1. Total debt ceiling increase of about 2.1 Trillion dollars
   1. $900 Billion now
   2. $1.2 Trillion later on when president ask for it IF Congress does not approve a joint resolution $1.2trillion in savings
2. The deal puts in place the annual discretionary spending caps found in the bill the Republican-controlled House passed last week worth about $917 billion in cuts over 10 years. But those caps, from $1.043 trillion in fiscal 2012 to $1.234 trillion in fiscal 2021, are now split between "security" and "non-security" spending, enforceable by across-the-board cuts. The bill defines the "security category" as 'discretionary appropriations associated with agency budgets for the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the intelligence community management account, and all budget accounts under international affairs.
   
3. Forming a SuperCommittee ….. (To me sounds like Mission Impossible): The committee will have 12 appointed members assigned by the top leaders from each party. This committee has the responsibility of coming up with $1.2 Trillion in additional reduction by 11/23.
   
4. Pell Grant gets additional $20 Billion and Federal government will no longer defer interest rates on loans until student graduate.

Let us examine the Mission Impossible here:

We 'the people' are trusting the same politicians people who couldn't/wouldn't come up to a solution given ample time, to figure it out in 2 months? Remember DC is shut down until Sept for summer vacation. These are the same people who left 4000 FAA employees & 74,000 construction workers out of a job because they couldn't come to an agreement over pity stuff. Yes Senate Majority leader did pass a bill to end the partial shutdown, but this is a temporarily one and most likely we will be back to same place in Sept.

So how can this SuperCommittee save us if they have already wasted $30 Million/day in tax collections from airlines ($330 million total for those 11 days)? Simple answer they can't and they won't so long as it's all about me mentality exists in DC we will not move forward.
Therefore I suggest the following:

1. Eliminate the SuperCommittee
   
2. Get the back taxes from the airlines (they kept charging consumer the fees). That's $330 million going back to workers and getting everyone back to work and spending at local level.
   
3. Reduce senators in DC to 50 from 100. Why? What good really comes from them…we are in the 21^st century we can really utilize new technology to reduce the inefficiency at DC (I will discuss this below). That is $174K/year per Senator which is about $9 Million/year *note.
   
4. Reduce number of Congress by half as well from 435 to 218. That is 217 jobs eliminated that is costing us close to $38Million/year.*note
   
   *Note: I'm not taking into account reduction in insurance and retirement benefits here.
   
5. Pull troops from Iraq & Afghanistan. The war has cost us over $1.2 Trillion since 2001 that is about $123 billion/year. If Iraq wants support they can start paying from their Oil or sign an agreement the USA gets all the oil until war debt is paid for. As for Afghanistan and the worries of Talaban attacking us and supporting Al-Qaida, well we have used more powerful weapons in past, we can surly use those again and avoid troop buildup and major cost.
   
6. Provide a simple tax code, what has been touted as Flat tax. Have one simple tax rate on income (income being paycheck, capital gains from stock sales/options, etc.), allow charitable deduction, remove mortgage deduction (really doesn't affect homeownership and might get people paying debt faster). According to Dick Armey (Former House Republican Leader). One of the Flat tax Advantages is: "It would reduce the cost of compliance from $593 Billion to an estimated $50 billion per year." Let us just say that is $500 billion in reduction ($93 billion in expense for not making it that simple)
   
7. Finally reduce or eliminate the foreign aid to all nations. Why in the world we are spending $8 billion/year (http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/politics/us-foreign-aid.htm) for all these countries. Until we get our budget in order and you still want to be Mr. Nice guy at least reduce it by ½

Looking at all the savings above an estimated of $630 billion can be saved each year for a total of $6 trillion over 10 years.
The big question is if we eliminated politicians how will we use 21^st century to help run the country and vote on important issues (from voting of people in office to bills)? First of all in my opinion the country will run smoother with less people fighting who has better ideology in their party. Second if American idol and various polls can do voting using text, we can search products using barcodes and QR Codes why can’t we the people do the same on important issues?
So I suggest having every person 18years and older be able to vote on any issue affecting where we live and vote for people in office by:

• Use of the smartphones (over 150 million in USA), tablets, PC (internet access, most laptops have cameras), ATMs, DMV for voting on local, state and government issues (such as the debt ceiling).
• Create an app for all the smartphones to vote on City, County, State, Country issues. (close to 50% US population has one)
• Create a website for voting on same issues for people with no smartphones. (240 million internet users)
• Using the banks ATMs for another venue to vote, we trust our money and their security so can’t we do this?
• Finally most DMVs have renewal machines outside to renew your car registration; this can also be used for voting.

Of course we need to address security issues (one person one vote). Security can be accomplished by a combination of Biometric scans (Retina, thumb print) which can be obtained during a person renewal of their driver license or their state ID, using a person special PIN (maybe last 4 digits of SSN) and passwords.
A simple example:
Do you want to increase the debt ceiling? (This is done on each issue and not bundle everything in one like what is currently done)? Voters have 24 hours to complete the process.

1. Voter uses Smartphone, ATM, PC, or DMV to scan their Retina or Fingerprint
2. Enter PIN & Password
3. Vote on issue
4. Real time results
5. Congress/Senate pass it and President sign it

As you can see we no longer need two parties controlling us and bickering among each other. True democracy at work, only one to blame is you for not voting or your vote created ripple effect (we can’t push blame on DC anymore), elimination of lobbyist (maybe their money can be used to improve the country not to line up the pockets of the few). Process is streamlined and efficient.

Microsoft, Google Feuding over Patents

Lately both Google and Microsoft have taken their fight to social media as well as courtroom. The fight stems from Microsoft & Co (Apple, RIM (Blackberry), Sony, EMC and Ericsson) won close to 6000 patents from the bankrupt Nortel & Novel. Nortel was a communication company with history dating back to 1895 and Novell dates back to 1979 and is a networking company and supporter for the open source code Linux. While I would like to say congratulation to the winning parties and Google to stop whining and acting childish, I can’t! Taking a closer look at what transpired should give all of us a pause including the FTC (Federal Trade Commission).

Few red flags are out there that at minimum should have made the FTC question the transactions/auction legality. Those are:

1.     Microsoft offering Google to join the bidding process

2.     Consortium included industry heavy weights and competitors  

How in the world FCC and the public didn’t question this illegal behavior is beyond me. According to the FTC website on antitrust: “For the most blatant agreements not to compete, such as price fixing, big rigging, and market division, the rules are clear. The courts decided many years ago that these practices are so inherently harmful to consumers that they are always illegal, so-called per se violations. For other dealings among competitors, the rules are not as clear-cut and often require fact-intensive inquiry into the purpose and effect of the collaboration, including any business justifications. Enforcers must ask: what is the purpose and effect of dealings among competitors? Do they restrict competition or promote efficiency?” http://www.ftc.gov/bc/antitrust/dealings_with_competitors.shtm

To me the act of having a consortium of competitors acting as one entity had one thing in mind, to harm the consumer with Google being a byproduct of that. How could a small technology business flourish if this consortium will fight with their deep pockets or ask for licensing fees that might be too high for small firm to absorb? This partnership in my opinion has violated the FTC rules in:

1.     Bid Rigging. Some might argue auction was open to all, but if you look at the deep pockets of competitors in this partnership no one could have truly won. If Apple had more cash than the US government imagine how much cash this consortium has. Imagine as well if Google did join in!

2.     Price Fixing. This is to be seen if those patents will be used to increase prices for licensing the purchased patents on companies not part of this consortium. But big indication this is happening is the flood of law suits coming against companies “infringing” on those patents. Think of organized crime mentality, pay us or get destroyed by our might of legal onslaught. For example Barnes & Noble is being sued by Microsoft for their Nook infringing on patents using Android OS! (some the patents Microsoft going after their partner Apples uses on IPads!)

3.     Monopolizations. According to:” Section 2 of the Sherman Act makes it unlawful for a company to "monopolize, or attempt to monopolize," trade or commerce. As that law has been interpreted, it is not illegal for a company to have a monopoly, to charge "high prices," or to try to achieve a monopoly position by what might be viewed by some as particularly aggressive methods. The law is violated only if the company tries to maintain or acquire a monopoly through unreasonable methods. For the courts, a key factor in determining what is unreasonable is whether the practice has a legitimate business justification.” This partnership used aggressive methods to cannibalize the patents to monopolize the trade and harm future innovation by burying competitors in either litigations or unreasonable licensing fees or force them to use their products.

The fact it’s only patents that were sold shouldn’t been any different than if above companies where to be merged with above consortium or to be acquired by competitor. The FTC needs to take a hard look at what happened and in the future not allow such practice. I would suggest if a company of that size default then for the benefit of everyone (consumers and corporations alike), their patents becomes public and for all to use. Think of drug patents when it expires and generic flood the market. Technology patent of defunct companies need to be treated as such and open it to public, think of all the new technological innovations that colleges would come up with when they utilize those public patents.  

Samsung Galaxy S Tips and Tools

I have had my Galaxy captivate from ATT for 2 months now and I wanted to share some of the tips and tools I found to help you take full advantage of your phone.
First of all rooting the phone, this will enable you gain Super User access which means bypass some of the ATT "bloated" apps they install. Once you root it, you can delete unwanted apps that phone company installed.  You can also install 3rd party apps and best of all gives you the ability to Tether your phone with your laptop or tablet without paying ATT the tethering fee :)
Let us start:

•  To root your phone it's very simple, download SuperOneClick (I have tried others but this seems to work like a champ). Link below will give you instructions and where to download it from.

                                     http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=803682

• Use SuperOneClick and select "Allow third market apps", this will enable you to download "WiFi Tether" from Android Market

               http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/downloads/list
         Install the apk on your phone SD card and use "MyFiles" app on phone to extract it.

• If your phone still running 2.1 (Setting --> about phone --> Firmware Version), then time for you to upgrade it to 2.2 and take advantage of 2.2 and tethering capability.  See link below for instructions:

                http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa/jsp/faqs/faqs_view_us.jsp?SITE_ID=22&PG_ID=2&PROD_SUB_ID=557&PROD_ID=558&AT_ID=368733 

• If you have issues with your GPS phone, The instruction below will guide you thru it and how to fix. Multiple steps, the third one worked for me. I copied those steps from another site, but had to get the right number to dial from a different site. You don't have to hunt for it. Here it is:

Method One:
Disable ‘Use Wireless Networks’ under Settings —> Location and Security.
Go into LbsTestMode (*#3214789650#)
Go to Application Settings
Enable MS-Based Mode
Increase Accuracy to 100
Leave the rest stock
Return to the main LbsTestMode menu
Go to SUPL/CP Settings
Select the Serve FQDN Type drop down menu
Hit AUTO Config
Exit to the dialer and reboot your Vibrant twice for good measure.
Method Two :
1 – Disable “Use Wireless Networks” – Settings / Location & Security
2 – Dial *#3214789650#
3 – Under “Application settings” Change “Operation Mode” to MS Based
4 – Under “SUPL/CP Settings” Change the SERVER & PORT to supl.google.com and port 7276 [ Do not use www. in front of supl]
5 – REBOOT
6 – Turn back on the “User Wireless Networks”
Method Three – what worked for me
1 – Dial *#3214789650#
2 – Go outside to get an unimpeded GPS fix.
3 – Choose Delete GPS Data button.
4 – Choose Get Position Test button. Let it run for 3 min or until you have 10 to 12 Sat locks and back out.
Source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=739662
Source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728894
Good luck.
If anyone has extra tips and tools that would like to share please do so.

I stand semi corrected about White House

Ok so I have sent a fax back in 6/6/2010 regarding Immigration policy and received a response from the white house in Nov 2010 (see previous blog). In my letter I asked for a picture of the president, the idea is to find out if they read the letter or just saw the title. Well today I received the picture (see picture).
Of course the picture is generic like the letter with no mention of my name in either of the documents (hence the semi corrected) nor touching on the subject I inquired about from my fax and later an email. BUT nevertheless I got a picture signed (photo copied by the President), and this is at least some communication you get from the White House.
I shall test the same communication during a different president and report.
Thank you

In response to the World Cup Editorial published Monday, December 06, 2010 in Evansville Courier & Press.

The view of the article was that Qatar was an odd choice as to U.S. with Indianapolis losing a chance to host some of the games.

    What the Editorial failed to realize is that this is "World Cup" not USA Cup or only for the elite nations! Unlike American Football, World Cup is shared by the entire globe, and each nation is entitled to make a bid for this great sporting event without prejudice to size, ethnicity, population, etc. But can the Host nation provide the facilities, security, and newness to showcase what other parts of the world offer? Qatar can and FIFA believed it can accomplish what it promised it will do.

The editorial argued the fowling regarding Qatar:

1. A flat country with short on scenery and people. WOW what a closed minded view that is. So anything short of Indiana corn fields is considered short on scenery? Qatar white sand beaches rival those in Florida. As for the people, they are as hospitable as any small town USA, just because their dress code/language is different doesn't make them short in that regard.
   
2. The article argues the country average temperature is 106 reaching to 130F, which meant how can you play Football? But the author failed to mention what technical feat the country is taken, something I doubt Indiana or for that matter U.S. can handle at this time. Qatar has taken upon itself to revolutionize the cooling of its outdoor stadiums, utilizing Solar power to generate electricity and in return run all the air conditioning units to keep the temperature at the stadium at below 80F during the games, during none game time electricity will go back to the grid. For a country that has Oil & Gas to choose this route (Solar); one must tip their hat to them if they can pull it off. Can we do this in Indiana? I doubt it we still fighting about Roberts Stadium and downtown arena.
   

       Just imagine how this technological feat can be adopted to future stadiums we build in this nation? We talk about being none dependant for foreign oil, yet the country that has it actually has a plan for renewable energy! Go figure.
   

3. I do have to thank the author for showing the country generosity; donating the stadiums to poor countries once the event is complete, talk about recycling and moving the renewable energy of the stadiums to other cities in the world to benefit. (Maybe Evansville can ask for one of the stadiums to replace Roberts!).
   

 

    How about security one might argue, well I only have to direct each and everyone to the latest news about TSA treatments of its own citizens, how do you think TSA would treat the various fans that will enter this great nation of ours? Here is a hint, not good.     Other argument I saw online was that Qatar is a country that doesn't treat women right, Jews not allowed and other ignorant remarks. I do understand people fear of the unknown or different. Qatar was one of the first Persian countries to open ties with Israel (trade relation started in 1996), also do not be surprised to see the various US bases in Qatar.

    Qatar is a progressive nation with women allowed to work, drive, do what women do in the US; Qatari law doesn't all work/pay discrimination between men & women for same job. You are just asked to follow the law just like the US has its laws.

    This FIFA event will showcase to the world the beauty of that part of the world and different can be good sometime. We are not disconnected from the rest of the world but all connected to each other.

 

North Korea vs Iran vs USA

So let me get this straight North Korea has nuclear weapons (2002), admit to having them, tested the missiles (2206) and what did our Ex-President Bush did in 2008à took them off the Axis of Evil list/State Sponsor of Terror! Was the cowboy scared of attacking North Korea or is it because no oil in North Korea? So he decided Iraq is a better story to sell to the public?

What happens next à North sunk a South Korean ship and now attacked an island killing people! What we do now under new administration we send a ship (USS George Washington) to play a war game with South Korea. In the mean time North Korea is like a wild child not being checked and told to stop behaving foolishly with such instigation attacks (China must be wielding major power to keep the US out of the region business à this is another story). The US needs to concentrate on North Korea now and not Iran; at least Iran is all talk (for now) and has not attacked its neighbor (yet). Before people jump on and say: did you forget the Iran-Iraq war, I say check your history of who was helping Iraq at that time (USA was supplying military weapons and spying to keep the war going).

What I suggest:

1. USA have balls to stop North Korea at its tracks and stop playing with fire OR surrender to North and leave Korea
   
2. Major economic and political embargo against the North
   
3. Target (Clandestine) killing of VIP in North Korea, similar to what has been done lately in Iran (two nuclear scientist attacked in Iran by attaching magnetized bombs to their car during am commute, one killed the other injured)
   

Not doing anything about North Korea will only give the message out that obtaining nuclear weapons and being reckless is OK, since we are afraid to touch you, otherwise if you are a weak nation we will kick your butt!!!!

 

Consumer Reports Money & Shopping Blog: Which companies will be naughty or nice this holiday season?

Consumer Reports Money & Shopping Blog: Which companies will be naughty or nice this holiday season?

President Obama & Immigration

I have received this letter from The White House - Presidential Correspondence, in response to my letter that I sent. As you see its a generic letter that is sent and no mention to any issues I have posted to the President, they also could have; at least Said "Dear Shadi", unless me and Mr. Obama go way back and are good Ole Buddies!!! - Anyway, reason I sent a letter (actually two) is to see if the President actually reads 10 letters/day or this is just a PR! Also give my two cents about certain Immigration issues.
Letter below:
----------------------------------------------------

Dear Friend:

Thank you for writing me. I have heard from many Americans concerned about immigration, and I value your input as we work to address this pressing challenge.

We are all united under the principles etched onto our Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Our Nation has always prospered from this generous and hopeful spirit. Yet, today, our immigration system is broken and a large portion of our economy depends on millions of workers living in the shadows. We are a Nation of laws and a Nation of immigrants, and we must reconcile those traditions.

For too long, politicians in Washington have exploited this issue to divide us rather than searching for practical solutions that unite us. We must put politics aside and offer a comprehensive solution that secures our borders, enforces our laws, and reaffirms our rich tradition of welcoming immigrants.

There is broad consensus around building a solution that stops the flow of undocumented workers across our borders and prevents employers from hiring undocumented workers. However, we know that enforcement is only part of the solution. We must also require undocumented immigrants who are already here to step out of the shadows and onto a responsible path to earn citizenship by demonstrating sound character, a commitment to America, and a strong work ethic.

To learn more about my policies on immigration, please join me online at: www.WhiteHouse.gov/agenda/immigration. For additional information and resources, visit www.dhs.gov or call 1-800-375-5283. Again, thank you for writing.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

GM Shares

We are the people that own GM!!! NOT TOO FAST says our government, it's the investment bankers that underwrite it and will own it!

So let me get this straight à GM Default goes bankrupt wipe shareholder value à United State Government bails GM out with everyone's tax dollars à GM exit bankruptcy fast!! (you would think it would take years for huge corporation like GM) à GM with its Lean no debt loading goes for IPO à Fools like us not allowed unless you are the super doper rich or investor banker then you are allowed to own some of those shares!

OK and let me get this straight also à The investment banks are the same ones we bailed out à now they want to snub us?

So if the US government is not run by the people for the people who the hell running this government?

I say let the people that bailed out GM aka Government Motors to buy into this IPO and let us make some quick cash to be able to bail the same ***holes that will most likely need another bailout in the future!

 

USA Elections

So now the 2010 elections behind us what will we expect from the new formed GOP and Democrats?

Major reforms will be upon us and unemployment rate will plummet drastically by next presidential elections and everyone will live happily ever after …….. wait a second this politics we are talking about not cartoon.

My own predictions with republicans wining the house and taking few seats from under the democrats in the Senate, this will turn into an ugly battle between those two parties and again nothing will be accomplished. The main losers are the people of the United States who voted for them. Why because most the politicians are paid by lobbyist firms (check out the biggest spenders http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?type=A ) Do I blame them? No not really, they got family to feed, kids and their own private interest before they think of the rest, anyone of us probably will do the same, and you are selling a service to the highest bidder.

Of course I will be reminded that, this is what makes United States great country ability to vote and freedom of speech, while I do not disagree with this premise, I differ in how things are going, we are in the internet age, fast information flowing all around us, smart phones that can do things super computers only dreamed of 20 years ago. Here is where I would like to see us going in 10-15 years:

1. Let the people vote on majority of issues that goes in front of the house/Senate without inserting unwanted items in the bill to satisfy various pockets. Example how this can run in new age polling:
   
   1. A bill is introduced by gathering enough signatures to have it in the ballot. Instead of having our two major parties duel it out (that can be fun though if it was an actual duel), let the people decide.
      
   2. Bill goes on for a vote just similar how we just voted on State issues pertaining to our Taxes, Immigration in AZ, marijuana in CA, etc BUT instead of going to polling stations we vote using our computers, Phones, Tablet PC by:
      
      1. Accessing a secure website for voting
         
      2. Entering a PIN number that was mailed to each person, plus last 4 digits of SSN
         
      3. Most of the devices I spoke about have cameras built in, this is used to take a picture of voter and compare it to record. Maybe also take a picture of our driver license!
         
      4. Once all is established you vote
         
      5. Of course for some the might need to go to library or polling place if they do not have the current technology to do the above
         
   3. Elections end by midnight
      
   4. Results known immediately as soon as polls closes
      
2. No need for the people to support 435 Congressman and 100 Senators; look at the yearly savings if we drop those numbers in half. Congressman salary is $165K and Senator is at $174K total saving of around $44 Million a year in salaries not to mention all the side benefits (healthcare, pension etc). That money can be put to good use.
   
3. A more efficient and lean government can be formed here when you are cutting the red tape from house and Senate and stop having party affiliation. I want a person that can THINK on their own not follow his party. OR let us make it a kingdom have Bush era, Clinton Era, we had the Kennedy's era.
   

Maybe I can be proven wrong and D & R will work together in the next two years but I'm not willing to bet the house on it. I will wait to see if voting will happen as I predicted above.

NPR actions

        It's interesting to see how this country needs a reason to find an escape goat in certain groups (wrong color, religion, sex etc) we speak of tolerance and democracy but damn if you go against me! In the past the "White" or so called Anglo-Saxon had slavery and considered themselves none Bigots, political correction came in and changed the name referring to salves from using the N word to African-American (1920 when they got their rights to vote). We also have the Anti-Japanese sentiment; this movement treated the Japanese similar to Slavery or Hitler for that manner (minus the gas chambers) by having "War Relocation Camps".

        Reading the Testimony of John L. DeWitt, April 13, 1943, House Naval Affairs Subcommittee to Investigate Congested Areas: "I don't want any of them [persons of Japanese ancestry] here. They are a dangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty... It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen, he is still Japanese. American citizenship does not necessarily determine loyalty... But we must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map." OH my how we have changed from those days, now we drive Japanse cars and play on Playstation.

         So to me it seems a natural reaction in this country if a small member of a group does something bad then it must be by default the entire group that is bad and we HAVE to hate them no questions asked. Pearl Harbor happened and by default we can't trust those "Japs", 9/11 happened and we can't trust ANY Muslim. This is a normal reaction to something we do not know or understand. With Black we used Skin color as differentiation with Muslims it's Religion!

        Let us assume the role was reversed and NPR had an Arab-American who said this:" When I fly and see Hasidic Jew I get scared".

Do you think Fox news would say this is his free speech right or would Fox have went on the attack? Would they have offered him $2 Million contract to give Fox a different point of view? Do I agree with NPR firing John Williams for speaking his personal views? No I do not. If Juan did say this is NPR views then NPR has right to fire him (if he was speaking outside NPR views). Just like any of us bad mouthing the company you work for in public, they can terminate your employment if they deem you not following their Vision. Yes what NPR did is wrong in taking this drastic action, but as a Muslim I want to thank them for taking a stand to support the minority group that is under constant attack.

I leave you with Mr. Jesse Ventura statement:" The First Amendment was not written to protect the popular speech but the unpopular one"

Stock picking

I was told Yahoo is good because of possibility it might be acquired. I tend to disagree even though I'm yahoo user and have been for long time.

Here is what I like and own:

Citibank – C

General Electric – GE, got to love this with nice yield also

Verizon ( I own) or ATT – VZ or T, talk about 6% yield, can't find that any saving     accounts

Want to diversify more how about some Phrama Stocks, Merck (MER), Eli Lilly (LLY) or Pfizer (PFE) all paying 4% + in yield.

 

Love to hear other inputs? Don't be shy

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE Brad Ellsworth

I sent this letter to our U.S. REPRESENTATIVE Brad Ellsworth, regarding immigration issues. I liked the reply I got back from him. Talk about an automated reply, but at least I have to give him this he did reply while our President didn't (sent President Obama two letters). Please see letter below and reply I received. PS. Mr. President I'm still waiting for my reply.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE Brad Ellsworth

101 NW Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Room 124
Evansville, IN 47708

Ref: Immigration to the USA
To Mr. Brad Ellsworth,
    I'm puzzled and irate on how US current immigration system works, it seems to me that anyone trying to immigrate to the US in a legal way following the law, gets passed over by the illegal immigrants and their rights!
    Perfect example, when I became a US citizen over 10 years ago (that's another story), I applied for my father and he received his Green card. After that he applied for my siblings under his name. My sister gained her PhD from xxxx University in Chicago in Medical Physics (via Fulbright scholarship) and my brother is IT manager at biggest bank in UAE. After few years my father decided he has no need for the Green Card and gave up his right to it. His thinking was, I do not plan to migrate to US and use the resource that is meant for others.
    On the other hand my siblings continued the paper work and finally received this year a letter indicating need to pay $70 for AOS (Affidavit Of Support) that was paid, then another email came in to pay $400 For visa processing fee. My brother paid that fee and now we are told we need to fill form I-864 (Affidavit of Support) I was going to fill this form (since I'm the one residing in the US) but to my surprised only the person that applied for them (i.e. our father) has to fill it. Since he gave up his right for the Green Card he couldn't fill that form, therefore we inquired with an attorney about the next step? To my surprise again, I was told NOTHING we can do except start the processes AGAIN and Jordanian citizens have a wait of 9 years! In other words the time they waited and reached this approval process will not be counted! Interesting.
    How about when my brother came to visit in June got harassed by TSA (this was not his first entry) or my sister when she came to a conference and she was a presenter got also harassed by a TSA agent asking her if she is called a doctor in her country! What a sham, they come here for pleasure and spend $$ get harassed come here for a conference they get harassed!
    I travel a lot for work and as a matter of fact, at one of my trips we sat next to each other on our way to Detroit. I'm sure you can tell TSA screening needs to be overhauled; you have been to Israel and saw how it's done.
    What do you suggest? Ask them to cross the border illegally, carry with them drugs and sue the government or the state for trying to stop them at gun point? What do you think about using emotional distress from the ordeal for the case? (Similar to what an Arizona rancher faced when he got sued for $7.2 Million by illegal immigrants crossing his ranch!) Why is this country rewarding bad behavior while punishing people that follow the law?
    Do special interest groups carry better weight than the people in this country? We wonder why we have brain drain in this country, and jobs moving overseas, we do not make it feasible to hire the best. Soon India and China will surpass us and wonder why.

Sincerely yours,
Shadi Wadi-Ramahi
cc. President of the United States of America

Jesse Ventura

Here we have a person that to some can seem off the wall and way off his base. His comments can seem insulting and rude. To me the ex governor of Minnesota, Navy Seal, wrestler & actor is a person that should have ran for President, his no nonsense views and ideas is what this country needs. Too bad the media hounded his family like a fox ready to jump on hens, actually a better way to describe the media is a guy who just had Viagra and was thrown in a strip club. It's a sad state of affair when the Media stop concentrating on the good parts and attacks high profile personals family, can't they have respect to privacy?
Anyway, I wish our government took a lead from Jesse when he gave rebates to Minnesotan during their surplus years for the State. WOW what a way to return the money to the people who worked hard for it, instead we gave bailout to failed businesses. Let us think if that $700 billion bailout, what if the government issued checks to each person living in US that be almost $2300 per US citizen (300 million populations) or about $7000 per household. I think we all could have improved the country and got it out of recession by starting to buy products!
Or how about him spending only $300K on his campaign for governor versus rest of idiots out there that spends tens of millions (or in some extreme cases 100's of Millions) to sell us the idea they care! In the 21^st century utilize the internet and stop TV ads (heck we skip them using our Tivio or DVRs). Send the money to people in need, Mr. Ventura I wish you run for President, but I do understand how the Media will go after your family instead of concentrating on real issues.

Finally I would like to leave you with three quotes from the Ex Governor:

1. Government's role should be only to keep the playing field level, and to work hand in hand with business on issues such as employment. But beyond this, to as great an extent as possible, it should get the hell out of the way.
2. I also believe that government has no business telling us how we should live our lives. I think our lifestyle choices should be left up to us. What we do in our private lives is none of the government's business. That position rules out the Republican Party for me.
3. I believe in the America people's ability to govern themselves. If government would just get out of the way and allow them to lead their lives as they choose, they will succeed.

Branding Yourself

    In today's internet age and the information superhighway, where news travel across the globe while they are happening and companies no longer doing business within one region, one would need to think how to evolve around this technology.
    Let us think how companies communicate their image to us. Nike for example has the phrase "just Do It", Apple coined the phrase "Think Different", GE came up with "Imagination at Work", BMW has "The Ultimate driving machine". Even people came up with phrases we associate it with them, think President Obama "Yes We Can" campaign slogan, Dr. King "I have a dream" or how about Ronald Regan "Its Morning Again in America"
    What about individuals like you and me? The idea of coming up with catchy phrase or branding yourself seems…well…not right, or is it? Our evolution started from smaller communities (villages) where each person knew the other, to a larger city reading about our city news in newspapers, to regional/state and country where Television brought us together and now globally with 28% of population connected online and growing at an exponential rate. While online we leave traces behind be it starting a social webpage or writing a blog like this one (or publishing it in local newspaper), it is no longer limited to our small Evansville region. Once this information online it's accessible to anyone anywhere, therefore a careful thinking needs to take place on how your image is being perceived or what information you are trying to convey? At the same time, not having an online presence can be as detrimental as having a bad imagine online, of course it all depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
    In order to explain this let us take this as an example: We have three (3) individuals that moved to Evansville, one came from England, the other from Chicago and last one from Mexico. Those three individuals were highly respected in their community and great journalists in their small cities where they came from. They were different in the following areas:

• The Englishman while in his resume it said he interviewed royalties and wrote XYZ articles (references available upon request) but he has Zero on-line presence
• The Chicagoan has also a great resume, with on-line presence that showed the person partying , drunk with few quotes from his interviews that has few following
• The Mexican on the other hand, not only he had a great resume but a huge following not only within his region but globally on the issues he discussed online

Knowing that today's HR will search for you on-line (using various search engines) what do you think the initial reaction would be to the above candidates? Of course if we live in "fairy land" all three would be called in for an interview, references would be checked and everyone hired. But we live in high unemployment rate with intense competition. Therefore the HR person will be faced with this:

• Englishman requires more manual research to verify his stories
• Chicagoan while he has written few articles online he has small followers and has shown an imagine that doesn't go well with this Organization (party pictures)
• Mexican not only he has good writings but has a huge followers, which what this Organization needs to build its customer base and increase revenue. This person will gain an interview to investigate him further, while the other two will be eliminated.

To brand yourself and improve your image/reputation online for those who are looking for a job or might be looking for one here are few tips:

1. E-mail address, while "cute" email address can be amusing to your friends to an Organization it doesn't reflect professionalism. Your best bet is to have your first & last name as your email address (e.g. first.last@yahoo.com)
2. In the Social media front, join groups that relates to your field BUT at the same time connect with people outside your field. Let us say you are an Engineer, connect with marketing people for example to gain insight on various businesses. While you have a networked online keep this in mind:
   1. From time to time reconnect with your "networked" individuals, in other words do not treat it as Rolodex card to have when you need it, be active.
   2. Tell people about yourself and who you are.
   3. Avoid controversial images, quotes (unless you plan on making it a topic), associations with groups that will not aid your image. Let us say you want to apply for a job at Exxon but you are part of Greenpeace that protested against that company. Yes it's a free country and Exxon will also be free to toss your resume out.
   4. Leave insightful comments on related blogs using your name or the brand name you created for yourself. Hiding behind "Anonymous" name would convey the message that you are hiding something in your outside life.
   5. Stand out from the crowd. Facebook is more a social medium; create an account in LinkedIn and other professional sites to convey your professional image.
3. Find out what you are passionate about and what drives you to be your best. Maybe you are in the wrong field and would like to switch fields, but how can you relate that to a new employer and reduce the risk. Maybe you want to change from being a Pilot to a car mechanic for NASCAR. Well if you had a youtube video showing how your hobby on working on high performance cars and wrote about it, this will make future employer at ease knowing you have the proper background.
4. Make sure to stay constant to your message and even to your web name
5. Clean up your social medium by removing what can be perceived as unprofessional items
6. Check online for various branding techniques

A person must face the brutal fact of their reality and the truth of their current situation to make the right decisions. This would require you to focus on what you can do better than any other person to lead to the path of greatness.


Finally, if I have missed anything (I'm sure I did), please do include it in the comment lines to help others.
sjwadi.wordpress.com ß my other blog site

Suits over health care law heats up

From USA Today, October 6^th, 2010

First of all I would like to say I agree 100% with Matt Sissel from Iowa City about not having the government dictating his personal financial decisions. Mr. Sissel who is uninsured artist doesn't want to get health insurance and with new Obamacare he doesn't want to pay the penalty for not having one by 2014. Matt I agree with you, this is your right and right of everyone; I don't want to be penalized for something I do not want!!! I also would like to side with attorney general from Virginia to Florida who have filed law suits against this new health care coverage. This is America you can't tell me what to do about my health.

Now since this is our right to refuse (according to the arguments filed by some of the Attorney generals), then I would say it is my right and right of the other insured people out there to ask from the government to stop giving away free Medical Care (Medicaid), I will only agree to provide free health coverage to people who actually can't afford it. What I mean by that is a person that is working to provide good life for his/her family but still falling short. NOT a person that is working have extra cash but decides to spend that cash on body art, smoking, drinking (it's their right) or other none essential items (buying video games or iPhone!) and then decides when he/she gets sick ask us for free care? If they decides to go to ER for none life threatening illness they better give cash for that service, or show insurance card. Let us stop free loaders from our system and stop the abuse.

You cannot have it both ways, refuse health coverage because you know the State or government will bail you out later when you need it.

Rabbis replace Qurans in Mosque Fire

This news was in USA Today (October 6^th, 2010), the Rabbis presented 20 copies of Quran that was burnt in arson in West Bank (Jerusalem) mosque.

Sad part it was in page 16A in small blip on left.

This is the type of news Journalists needs to push to the front page, let us show there are good people who do good deeds regardless of religious beliefs. We gave the pastor in FL huge coverage for wanting to burn the Quran and he held the country hostage. But we can't give this news same treatment?

Thank you for taking care of your neighbors Rabbis, this is how peace in holy land can be accomplished by extending an olive branch.

Clean Energy Solution

Government trying to push for clean energy you says? They are looking at it upside down.

It's like asking the fox to protect the hens; do you really think Utility companies and Oil companies want to find an expensive solution for their current commodity (Oil, Gas, and Coal)? Please do not get me started on the argument about National Security and not depending on foreign oil. If people felt that strongly about it I would see less gas guzzler cars (similar to Europe) on our streets, but opposite is true SUV are back in fashion… I DON'T GET IT ß the argument that is.

You want clean energy from sun here is a solution. Instead of Shingles on the roofs of homes make it Solar wafers. If every new House being built has that part of it look at the new subdivisions that would be generating electricity when you connect all the homes together. Why can't utility companies utilize the roofs on all the industrial buildings out there similar to Edison Electric in California?

But nope as a government we would like to waste money and resources on Clean Energy that doesn't make sense. How is an incentive for electric cars at this time making sense in being Green? Think about it, to Charge your car you have to plug it to an outlet, mmmm this power is coming from "dirty" energy Coal for example and using the Batteries in those cars will let's just say they are not meant to be environmentally friendly. So no thanks I will stick with my good Ole gas engine until a true cleaner car is out in market. Hydrogen?

Elections Bonanza

I'm looking for inputs on why today's candidates spend so much money to be elected?

As my kids would say: I don't get it?

Let us take for example, Meg Whitman who is running for a CA governor position and so far has spent $120Million of her own money plus $20+ million from donations. According to Times magazine she has surpassed the candidates who spent on Presidential elections! For those of you who do not her she was the CEO of ebay and made that company to what it is now with 16000 employees and a reach all over the globe. I will take one point from Meg's website, creating Jobs for CA? The amount of money she has spent so far for this governor race, she could have started a company hired people and helped in CA unemployment. So I DON'T get it, she wants a governor job to help unemployment how?

I'm looking for everyone's input to help me out in this dilemma.

I'm reaching a point to create my own party called "mint tea party"