Give a man a fish...

There is a saying that if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. You teach a man to fish you feed him for a life time. How much better would government be if this principle were applied to the different social programs? Don't get me wrong, I think social programs are necessary. Nobody knows when they might need medicare, medicaid, or welfare. I just hope people don't consider that as their first or only option.

After Hurricane Katrina I met with some people who had spent some time helping people clean up and leave their damaged homes. One story that I heard was of a man that wouldn't leave his home and when they asked him why, he said that he was waiting for his welfare check to come in the mail. That is someone who was waiting for his fish.

The welfare program should be more than a hand out. There must be a requirement that someone who goes on welfare should learn how to fish. If someone can't find another job in their field, then they should train for a job in another field. I know that will take time, but it is better for everyone involved to improve their education. Hopefully the end game is that the person has improved self confidence and life skills. And on the other hand I hope it stops the reliance on welfare.

When does life begin?

This week both candidates appeared in front of an evangelical group to discuss their faith and to answer questions. One question that was posed to both candidates was, "When does life begin?" Both answers were quite interesting. Barrack Obama had a thoughtful answer, but he didn't answer the question. He said it was "above his pay grade". Even though he gave an answer, I really wished he would have answered the question than talk his way around it.

Compare that answer to John McCain's. He said "at conception". A short answer, that answered the question. Even though it was a political answer and probably his true belief, it was still good to at least hear an answer to the question that was asked.

For your information Merriam-Webster defines Life this way:
1
a: the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body
b: a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings
c : an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction

Texting while driving

One thing that I don't understand is why people think it is okay to text while driving. Do they think that they aren't going to have an accident? Do they think they have the skills to do both? I can tell you that they don't. In the late 90's if there was someone driving slowly on the freeway it was normally an older person driving the car. In today's world it is the teenager, the business manager, or mom texting while driving. I want to honk at them to let them know that I'm not please, but I'm afraid that they will over correct and cause an accident.

I think there should be a federal law put in place stating what a driver can do while driving. Texting shouldn't be one of them. Here are a few other ones that I would include: hands free required, no doing their make up, and no reading. Please drive while you drive. Remember driving is a privilege, it isn't a right.

How much does it cost to be President?

This week John McCain and Barrack Obama released how much money they collected during the month of June. John McCain raised $22 Million while Barrack Obama raised $52 Million. So far in this campaign they have raised a total of over $481 Million. Add that total to all the other money raised by the other candidates and it totals $1,074,000,000. Over 1 billion dollars. At what point do we say enough is enough? We need to change how elections are run in this country. They shouldn't cost this much or last this long.

New website, but what is it rated?

In 1922, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) was formed. Its international counterpart the Motion Picture Association (MPA) was founded in 1945. Together they "serve as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries, domestically through the MPAA and internationally through the MPA. Today, these associations represent not only the world of theatrical film, but serve as leader and advocate for major producers and distributors of entertainment programming for television, cable, home video and future delivery systems not yet imagined." (1) Starting in November 1968, the MPAA started to rate films based on the films content. Today we have the ratings of G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17.

In 1997, the TV Parental Guidelines was enacted by the FCC to provide ratings to TV content and applies to most broadcast and cable programming. It was intended to work with the V-chip that was built into televisions after 2000 to allow parents to block content on their TVs. Ratings include: TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, and TV-MA.

As we see different forms of media have provided a rating system to allow parents and individuals to get an understanding of what the content is in the. I have given examples of different forms of "visual" media. Would it be too much to ask that a ranking system be put in place for the Internet? In order to rate the Internet a few questions need to be answered first: 1) who would do the rating, 2) who would enforce it, and 3) how is it useful? For two of those questions, I think the FCC would be the answer.

The FCC would provide guidelines on what types of images, words, or content would qualify for each ranking. They would also be responsible for handing out fines to the website owners and web hosting companies that provide space for the websites. The FCC could also work in conjunction with other governments to create a global standard of website ratings.

Once websites have been rated (within a reasonable timeframe), parents or other individuals could them block certain rated material from entering their homes. This would allow parents to protect their child from content they find unsuitable. It would be similar to how the V-chip works.

There are some potential problems with this idea. First, how long and how much would it cost to implement this rating system? Who is to interrupt who certain content is to be ranked? What is one country doesn't follow the ranking system? Those are some of the areas that need to be worked out, but they are manageable.

I understand that that is only a brief list of potential problems and someone is always going to find a way around it, but at least it is a start. It isn't a new idea. They have done it with movies. They have done it with television. Why can't they do it with the internet?

(1) http://www.mpaa.org/AboutUs.asp

Because I can...

The local news has been running stories over the past few days about individuals who feel like they are being harassed by the local police departments because they carry handguns out in the open. For full disclosure, I want to say I'm a firm believer in the second amendment, but I do think there should be some restrictions.

It is hard for me to understand why someone wants to carry a gun in public. Don't they fill safe walking through the community? What is this need that drives them to carry a weapon in public? I haven't talked with them personally, but I have talked with friends and family members that have concealed weapons permits. I've asked them multiple times why they want to carry a weapon. I usually hear two answers: 1) self defense and 2) because I can.

If the open carry individuals answer the same way, then I have to ask, isn't showing a gun a more aggressive stance than a defensive one? The majority of Americans don't carry a gun. I'm sure many don't even own a gun. So why does someone feel the need to take an aggressive stance in public by carrying a gun? "Because I can."

Just because someone can do something doesn't mean that they should do it. Many people use the Bill of Rights, especially the first and second amendment, to do and say things because they can. Personally I don't think that was the intent of the founding fathers when they created the document. It was to protect our rights, not to give us the right to flaunt them.

I say, if you really want to carry a gun, get a concealed weapons permit and don't make others uncomfortable, especially those who willingly choose to "protect and serve" us.

Teachers vs Babysitters

Do we pay our teachers enough? I did a simple calculation the other day thinking about what it would cost me to have one of my kids watched by a babysitter for the same amount of time an average student is in school. Here is my math:

6 Hours X 180 Days X $5/hour = $5,400

Now that doesn't seem like a lot until you put 20 kids in a class room.

$5400 X 20 = $108,000

I'm not saying we should pay teachers $108,000, but it sure makes you think about what we are paying them per hour per student.