LIBERTY: For laughs, FTL’s Ian pokes the property tax folks

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

http://www.freestateproject.org/node/13676

“Property Taxes” and the Consent of the Governed

What is the nature of this organization of people calling themselves the “government”?

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Imagine asking them to prove from where there authority come! How cheeky. ROFL, next the folks from ‘mental hygene’ will come to clean up.

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TECH SERVICE: Easy to bookmark or recommend

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Added a tool to make it easier for you to promote the content.

2008-07-JUL003A

 

Which gives you lots of choices:

2008-07-JUL002A

It would be nice to get good publicity and a grazillion visitors!

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PRODUCTIVITY: “Zerstreutheit” and the Attention Management Cure

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

http://www.43folders.com/2008/06/13/zerstreutheit-and-attention-management-cure

“Zerstreutheit” and the Attention Management Cure
Merlin Mann | Jun 13 2008

Linda Stone: Is it Time to Retire the Never-Ending List?

Linda Stone – who coined the phrase “continuous partial attention” – makes a thoughtful distinction between managing time and attention, deflating the misconception that making long lists and then overscheduling your day can be a bulwark against distractions, interruptions, and the crippling feeling of being overwhelmed.

*** AND ***

What did surgeons, artists, and CEO’s have in common? Most of them reported that they managed both their time and their attention. In surgery, in the studio, and in the time carved out to think through strategies and issues, these professionals reported shutting down the devices and endless inputs (email, phone, interruptions), at scheduled times, and claiming those moments to focus. In almost every case, these professionals reported experiencing “flow” (a la Csikszentmihalyi) in their work.

*** AND ***

… share this William James quote, which Stone’s post mentions in passing (my emphasis).

Every one knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state which in French is called distraction, and Zerstreutheit in German.

*** AND ***

“Zerstreutheit.” I love it when there’s a German word for my problem.

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me2!

It seems that this descibes the modern enterprise with its overbooking meetings, berry email during presentations, and just ‘no time to focus’. I heard someone (maybe Covey?) describe it as “the Important pushed out of the way by the Urgent”.

Quiet time?

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INTERESTING: Diana Rigg: 70?

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Diana Rigg: her story

Dame Diana Rigg may be 70 this month but she still drives a Mercedes sports car, smokes 20 a day and swears by a bottle of Merlot before bedtime. The spirit of Emma Peel lives on, finds Nigel Farndale. Portrait by James Deavin

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/07/06/sv_dianarigg.xml

[JR: Ouch. 70! ]

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LIBERTY: Taxachussetts may revert to being Massachusetts yet!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

***Begin Quote***

Small Government News*
Monday, July 7, 2008

Publisher: Carla Howell
Editor: Michael Cloud

===========================================================
IN THIS ISSUE
===========================================================

— Massachusetts Secretary of State Certifies END the Income Tax
Initiative for Ballot with 16,135 Signatures – Enough to Scare Off
Challenge by Teachers Union
— Help Reach and Persuade 1,600,000 Voters to Vote “Yes” to END the
state Income Tax

===========================================================
MASSACHUSETTS SECRETARY OF STATE CERTIFIES END THE INCOME TAX
INITIATIVE FOR BALLOT WITH 16,135 SIGNATURES –
ENOUGH TO SCARE OFF CHALLENGE BY TEACHERS UNION
===========================================================

Last December, just hours after we filed 76,085 validated and
certified signatures for our END the Income Tax Ballot Initiative with
the Secretary of State, the Massachusetts Teachers Union sent a swarm
of representatives to electronically scan these 76,085 into their
computer database.

They quietly set up and ran a Stealth, Boiler Room Telemarketing
Operation that telephoned signers – and asked whether their signatures
might have gotten on the petition through “fraud” or “forgery.” (Their
words.)

The Teachers Union failed to disqualify our Initiative. We moved
forward. (For more details, see the 12-19-08 and 1-03-08 issues of
“Small Government News.”)

This time, we turned in a Kevlar strength, bulletproof, challenge-
proof number: 16,135 Certified Petition Signatures – 5,036 more than
required by law.

On Thursday, July 3rd, the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
officially certified our END the Income Tax Initiative for the
November 4th Ballot.

Although the Teachers Union Headquarters is across the street from the
Massachusetts Elections Division – which has our petitions – the
Teachers Union hasn’t even walked over to check our petitions. They
have until this Wednesday, July 9th to file a challenge. With our
signature margin, the walk looks too daunting.

Massachusetts law requires initiative petitioners for a statewide
ballot to collect signatures both in the fall preceding the election
year and in the spring of election year. They must turn petitions in
to each of 351 cities and towns to certify voter signatures.
Petitioners must then collect the certified signatures from each town
and turn them in to the Elections Division. No more than 25% of
certified voters may reside in any one of the 14 counties in
Massachusetts.

In the fall of 2007, the Elections Division approved 76,085 certified
signatures turned in by the Committee For Small Government – 9,492
more than required by law.

Over 123,000 voters in Massachusetts signed the petition – either in
the fall of 2007 or spring of 2008 – to End the Income Tax.

In a statement to the News Media, Carla Howell said:

“Governor Deval Patrick, the state legislature, and the Massachusetts
Teachers Union no longer control the decision of whether to END the
Income Tax. The voters will decide this November 4th.”

“Our END the Income Tax Ballot Initiative is the first major tax cut
for working class and middle class Massachusetts taxpayers in 28
years. Since Proposition 2 ½.”

Two Polls of likely voters – one in January, another in May – show
that 45% of Massachusetts voters already support this ballot
initiative.

A November 4th “yes” vote to End the State Income Tax will give back
$3,600 each (average) to 3,000,000 Massachusetts workers and
taxpayers. A $3,600 tax refund every year.

A “yes” vote to End the State Income Tax will stop the job exodus from
Massachusetts. It will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in
Massachusetts in the next 2 years. New jobs for our unemployed and
underemployed workers. New opportunities, new jobs for our high school
and college graduates.

“In the face of $4.50 a gallon gasoline, skyrocketing heating oil
costs, exploding home foreclosures, and 28 straight years of property
tax increases on Massachusetts homes – ENDing the Income Tax will give
desperately needed financial relief to Massachusetts families,” said
Carla Howell, Chair of the Committee For Small Government.

===================================================
HELP REACH AND PERSUADE 1,600,000 VOTERS TO VOTE “YES”
TO END THE STATE INCOME TAX
===================================================

We’ll probably need at least 1,600,000 “yes” votes this November 4th
to win.

To legally END the state Income Tax.

What’s the best, most cost effective way to win the hearts and minds
and votes of 1,600,000 voters – starting now?

10,000 Yard Signs and Bumper Stickers. In front of supporters homes.
On their cars.

While our opponents may spend millions of advertising dollars urging
and scaring people to vote “no”, paying more than $10 for each “no”
vote — you and we can lock in the FIRST 1,000,000 “Yes” votes for
just 4.4 cents a vote.

Are we serious? Is this really possible?

Yes.

Unfamiliarity is the biggest barrier to new ideas and proposals. Most
people initially reject the unfamiliar.

Immediate rejection. Without examination or consideration. Without
investigation or deliberation.

Reflexive rejection as immediate as pulling your fingers off a hot
stove.

That’s how most people first react to unfamiliar ideas. To the
foreign, the strange, the different.

That’s the first and biggest obstacle we’re up against with our Ballot
Initiative to END the Income Tax. Often, it’s the ONLY obstacle to
accepting and embracing a new and different idea.

Are there ways of getting around this barrier? Are there solutions to
reflexive rejection?

Yes! And one way is simple and easy to use.

It’s called: The Exposure Effect.

The more often that people are exposed to something, the more
comfortable and positive they feel toward it. The less often that
they’re exposed to it, the more uncomfortable and negative they feel
toward it.

The first time a person hears or reads something outside his comfort
zone, outside his familiarity zone, he immediately, reflexively
rejects it. The second time, he quickly rejects it. The third, he
rejects it. The forth, he treats it skeptically. The fifth, he may see
some interesting or valuable points. The sixth, a little more. And so
on, until he’s comfortable examining it — because it’s become
familiar.

Why do Yard Signs and Bumper Stickers Create an Exposure Effect?

Yard Signs Facts: 107 neighbors will drive by and notice the yard sign
an average of 22 times in the last 11 weeks of the campaign. Another
100 to 200 visitors and non-neighbors will see the sign an average of
twice. (Michael Cloud did field research in 2000 and 2002 to get these
numbers.)

10,000 yard signs X 107 neighbors = 1,070,000 voters familiar and
comfortable with open-mindedly considering ENDing the Income Tax. And
remember that UN-familiarity is the ONLY reason that over 1,000,000
Massachusetts voters are not yet ready to vote “Yes.”

Plus the 100 to 200 visitors also exposed to each END the Income Tax
Message on the yard sign. Another 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 people
exposed by the first 10,000 signs.

Bumper Sticker Facts: Less than 2% of Massachusetts cars have bumper
stickers. Only 50% of bumper stickers are political. (Michael Cloud
did this hands-on empirical research in 2000 and 2002.)

There are roughly 3,000,000 cars and trucks in Massachusetts.

2% bumper stickers on 3,000,000 cars and trucks = 60,000 cars with
bumper stickers. 50% of the 60,000 are political.

That’s 30,000 cars and trucks in Massachusetts with political bumper
stickers.

10,000 of our cars and trucks with END the Income Tax Bumper stickers
added to today’s 30,000 means that 25% of ALL political bumper
stickers will be ours.

Each bumper sticker grabs the attention of slightly over 100 drivers a
week. With bumper stickers on our supporters cars for the last 10
weeks of the campaign – that’s 1,000 Massachusetts drivers exposed to
each bumper sticker. That’s 3 exposures EACH to the 3,000,000 drivers
of these cars.

Add the millions of drivers exposed to END the Income Tax bumper
stickers to the 1,000,000 drivers repeatedly exposed to END the Income
Tax yard signs by their neighbors – and we can win over the first
1,000,000 votes with just these campaign materials.

But that’s not all.

These first 1,000,000 “Yes” voters AND the additional 2,000,000
exposed to our message will now be dramatically more receptive and
responsive to our advertising. They will be more open-minded and
willing to embrace our evidence and arguments when they read them on
the internet or in the newspapers, hear them on the radio, or watch
them on TV and YouTube.

Those multiple exposures create a persuasive “Social Proof Effect” –
as documented by Social Scientist Dr. Robert Cialdini.

They create and reinforce a persuasive “Commitment/Consistency Effect”
– empirically verified by social psychologists.

These Multiple source exposures amplify and reinforce each other.

Our first 1,000,000 “Yes” votes locked in for only 4.4 cents a vote –
and the simple and easy support of supporters.

We’ve priced and shopped the quality and cost of Yard Signs and bumper
stickers.

We can buy 10,000 2-color, 2-sided high visibility, weather proof Yard
Signs and frames – production and shipping – for only $36,000.

We can buy and distribute 10,000 2-color, bright, weatherproof END the
Income Tax Bumper stickers – for only $8,100. (The biggest cost is for
mailing them to supporters.)

$44,100 cost for winning over the first 1,000,000 “Yes” voters.

We need to put these 10,000 yard signs up as soon as we can. And get
the 10,000 bumper stickers in the hands of our supporters.

We only need 2 things: first, our official ballot question number from
the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. (They should give it
to us within 14 days.)

Second, we need $44,100 to pay for the signs and bumper stickers. We
must pre-pay for them. Why? Screeners and printers have been burned by
political campaigns. Not any more. They require us to pay in advance.

We get our Yard Signs 21 days AFTER we pay for them. So we need to pay
for them NOW to get them by early August. Further, signs are printed
“first come, first served,” so if it takes us 2 weeks to raise the
money – we’ll have to wait in line behind whoever got there first.
This could delay us to late August – or even September.

Delay in ordering our Yard Signs will cost us hundreds of thousands of
voter exposures – and perhaps hundreds of thousands of votes.

We need to raise $44,100 this week to get the Yard Signs on time.

If you have the financial ability to contribute $10,000 or $5,000 or
$2,500 today, and the burning desire to help make history, will you
please donate now?

Perhaps you’ve been “holding your fire” – until you could really make
an impact. If you can donate $1,500 or $850 or $550 today, will you
please do it now?

Or can you contribute $250 or $150 right now – so we can begin?

Even $5 from you will help. Will you please give your best donation
now?

Please contribute now by credit card by clicking:

https://secure.bluehost.com/%7Esavyonco/ms/sga/sga2.php

Or please write your check today and mail it to:

The Committee For Small Government
6 Goodman Lane
Wayland, Massachusetts
01778

Thank You.

Small government is possible,

Carla Howell & Michael Cloud

***End Quote***

wrote another check. How about you? You verbally deplore taxes. These folks are striking a blow for all of us against Gooferment!

?

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TECHNOLOGYSITE: Wordie, a gestalt

Monday, July 7, 2008


http://wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/56805/http%3A–www.reinkefaceslife.com-

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TECH SERVICE: Fooling around with CAFEPRESS stores

Monday, July 7, 2008

http://www.cafepress.com/isic

http://www.cafepress.com/reinkefj

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INTERESTING: Success through failures

Monday, July 7, 2008

http://hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com/2008/07/figure-out-why-and-where-others-failed.html

Figure out why (and where) others failed
Monday, July 07, 2008 – posted by hellomynameisscott at 9:21 AM

***Begin Quote***

Here are some questions you can ask:

1. What was the biggest mistake you made in your first year of business?
2. What are the three biggest mistakes made by people in your industry?
3. What is the stupidest possible thing I could be doing right now?
4. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
5. What’s on your list of “Things I’ll Never Do Again”?
6. What things do you wish you started doing earlier?
7. Complete the following sentence: “I would have been a lot more successful had I never…”

***End Quote***

1. What was the biggest mistake you made in your first year of business?

Not realizing that the gravy train would end when a key guarantor of the whole effort would get a divorce in the third year. The effort limped along after that as he was distracted. The workers, like me, needed him to schmooze the big wigs and get us in the door. It was lucrative and I should have billed more when the ‘billing fairy’ was sprinkling money on any contract you proposed.

2. What are the three biggest mistakes made by people in your industry?

* Fail to invest in themselves. (One thing I have done right is 1% in tech toys and 1% in education.)

* Fail to realize their ‘real’ job is to find their next one.

* Fail to have a formal networking program (ala Lucht’s description) running at ALL times.

3. What is the stupidest possible thing I could be doing right now?

Being complacent about the probability I’ll be laid off by EOY!

4. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

I would go to Law School with my AT&T Study group that I did my MBA with! That was a BIG mistake.

5. What’s on your list of “Things I’ll Never Do Again”?

Never trust anything not in writing. Never doubt your gut feelings. Never chase money. Never make investment decision based on taxes as the top criteria. Never make big mistakes; just lots of small ones!

6. What things do you wish you started doing earlier?

Saving for retirement. Or started at all? Followed the Sony Bloch’s ‘Buy 12 houses as a retirement plan’. Ran track in college. Played poker. Wrote my books.

7. Complete the following sentence: “I would have been a lot more successful had I never…”

Lost my information security focus when I branched into Enterprise Architecture.

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WRITING: TEOTWAWKI fiction — It happened in Church – Chapter Seventy Four – Sprinting tunnel rats

Monday, July 7, 2008

It happened in Church – October 19, 1962
Chapter Seventy Four – Sprinting tunnel rats

It Started In Church – October 19, 1962
http://www.itstartedinchurch.com

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TECHHARDWARE: JVC Customer Service Camcorder set

Monday, July 7, 2008

The following information has been sent to JVC Customer Service.

*** begin quote ***

First Name: fjohn
Last Name: reinke
E-Mail:
Address:
City: Kendall Park
State: NJ
Zip Code: 08824
Phone Number:
Model Number: GZ-HD3U
Serial Number: 13265472
Purchase Date: 2008-07-06
Product Type: Everio/Camcorder
Inquiry Type: Hookup/Operation
E-Mail Body: Can’t set the clock. Seems dumb.

Your email has been sent! Due to our increasing email volume, our current response time is 5 business days. We apologize for this temporary inconvenience. Thank you for contacting JVC Customer Care.

*** end quote ***

Guess what guys. If I can’t figure out how to set the clock by bed time tonight. Back it goes!!

# # # # #

Dear Ms. Garcia: Way too late. You didn’t make your promised SLA. I wound up calling in. The clock is set. But, it didn’t work for several hours as I reset the clock over and over again. It just wouldn’t save. It was as if there was a magic button I was missing. When I called in and powered it up talking to the phone rep, magic: the clock was set. I hope whatever gremlin was there has left for other places. But, who knows. fjohn

p.s., Emailing me the reproduced instruction page is really irritating. Did you think I didn’t read it? Or couldn’t find page 17! The phone rep was equally condescending. Argh!

#####

On Jul 11, 2008, at 10:01 AM, Garcia, Nancy wrote:

Dear Mr. / Ms. Reinke,

Thank you for contacting JVC Customer Care. I am Nancy, your email care specialist. We value you as a JVC customer and appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.

I understand that you are inquiring about having trouble setting the clock.

Please follow the steps below on how to set the clock.

<image001.jpg> <image002.jpg>

If we can be of further assistance, please let us know at customerrelations@jvc.com.

Sincerely,

Nancy
JVC Customer Care Center

This e-mail and its attachments may contain JVC proprietary information, which is PRIVILEGED, CONFIDENTIAL, or subject to COPYRIGHT belonging to JVC. This e-mail is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this e-mail to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying, or action taken in relation to the contents of and attachments to this e-mail is STRICTLY PROHIBITED and may be UNLAWFUL. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and permanently delete the original and any copy of this e-mail and any printout. Thank you.

[JR: Privileged? Confidential? Copyright? Are they kidding!?!]

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