Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

A True Competive Grant

2012-01-17T16:31:00.001-06:00

Well it has been quite some time since my last post, and between the demands of a new job and 3 nights a week at a police academy, I have been sorely missing the simple joy of writing blog posts. I am happy to announce that I have completed my academy and am not-so-patiently waiting to get the required permission to take the peace officer's state certification test.

However that in not the thrust of this post, I recently found out that the Great State of Texas (Said as should be with the hand held over the heart) held a grant opportunity that was not advertised very well: The Feral Hog Abatement Grant Program. The thought behind the initiative was to give Texas counties money to help control the wild hog problem, but with only 40 counties out of 254 participating I don't see how this helps. It seems they may need some help with getting the word out... This program is set to give the highest scoring county $20,000; the second highest will be $15,000; the third highest will be $10,000; and the fourth & fifth highest will be $7,500 each. Please contact the The Texas Department of Agriculture and request this program be continued for another year. Why are hogs so reviled in rural areas? Read on.
Wild hogs, wild boars, razorbacks, pineywoods rooters, or woods hogs, what ever you want to call them according to the link above there is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.6 million feral hogs in Texas causing some $500 million in damages to a host of items such as property or livestock and given the rate of reproduction I am sure these figures are outdated.
The rate of reproduction is simply amazing, a herd of wild hogs can double every 4 months. These hogs are usually weaned within 2-3 months of birth and sow (female hog) can start breading when she is 6 to 10 months old. At that age she can produce two litters containing 4-8 piglets every 12-15 months. The older sows can produce 10 -13 piglets every litter twice every 12-15 months and both young or old sows have a male-female ratio of roughly 1:1 in every litter. That's a lot of hogs!
What about natural predators, you may ask. Can you think of natural animal in Texas that would stand up to something as tall as 3 feet and will weigh in at around 100 to 130 pounds with 44 sharp teeth including tusks? Me either. Because many ancestors of these hogs were released for game hunting in the 1930's they lack natural predators to help with population control. So it is up to us to control the population. Fortunately, the state legislature has made it OK to hunt these vermin year round with out the need for a **hunting license. So do your part, if you see a herd of swine, shoot'em trap'em or what ever just help control'em. It appears that this problem is only going to get worse unless we do something drastic.
Finally, here is a very useful PDF that explains all this way better then I can.. http://icwdm.org/publications/pdf/feral%20pig/txferalhogs.pdf

** If they are on your property and are doing damage.

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Launching Links With Google Chrome In Incognito Mode

2011-11-27T00:24:00.001-06:00

The other night I was fiddling around with Google Chrome. It occured to me that it would be a great thing to be able to click a link on a web page or from Twitter and it not show up in my history...

No not because of that!

Anyway, the only help I could find on the subject was for Ubuntu and since I run Winders XP, it was less then helpful. So with out futrther ado..

Goto My Computer -> Tools -> File Types and find and hight "URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol"

Click Advanced

In the new window click on Edit

"In Application used to preform action" (Path where Chrome is stored) add everything after the "--" (including the dash dash)

"C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --incognito "%1"

Then fore good measure type --incognito "%1" in DDE Message blank. Click on OK untill you are back a My Computer and you are done!

The next time you click on a link it should open in Incognito Mode. Enjoy.

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My People

2011-04-14T15:58:00.001-05:00

2 Chronicles 7:14.

This is one of my favorite verses from the Old Testament. It describes not only the way to Salvation but also the way to bring our country back from the current road it’s on.

It reads:
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

We are, despite what some of our leaders think, still a Christian nation. We were founded on the principles and teachings of God and will continue to be as long as there are folks here that will do as today’s scripture says.

There are 4 things that we must do before God will listen to mankind. We are promised that He will hear our pleas and heal our land if we become humble, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. But what do these things mean? Humility is weakness right? Isn’t prayer and seeking His face the same thing? How can we turn from our wicked ways when we are surrounded by wickedness?

The scripture says to humble themselves: This is not an invitation to be weak or timid. It is a frame of mind, recognizing that God is in control of every thing and that without the power and love of Christ we could do nothing. Being humble is the first step to forgiveness because unless we realize that we need help, we would never do the rest of what the passage says and we would never submit to the authority of Christ.

Next it says Pray: Prayer is our most powerful weapon against the evils of this world. It is the act of talking with God to seek his desires for your life. It is also where we can gain the strength to finish the tasks that He has laid out for our lives. And get a measure of comfort for the hurts we must endure. Without prayer I dare say most of us would not be here today. I know in my own life, there have been many people faithfully lifting my name up to God.

Then is says to Seek His Face: This is prayer and study of the bible in action. We are to study the word of God, talk about what it means in our lives and apply it the best way we can. I have seen several people read the same scripture and get different things out of it. That doesn’t mean that one was right and the others were wrong, it just means that each of those people were at a different place in their life and were looking at it differently. For example, I think of today’s scripture when the tanks are getting low and the grass in the pasture is dying and we pray for rain, or like I said at the beginning today about our leaders. Both fit, our land needs to be healed but in very different ways. However, the remedy is the same, by seeking God we can make a difference in the world around us. It is crucial to seek God if you want to have a personal relationship with Him.

Finally the scripture says to Turn from their wicked ways: This is what the term repent means, to literally turn away from sin and change the direction of our life. Yes, we are surrounded by wickedness, and it may seem that turning one way is no different then turning another, but God offers us a way to live our life that is pleasing to Him.

Romans 10:9-10 says that if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Him for the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.

This is repentance. This is how you can turn away from wickedness when you are surrounded by it. We can not look to worldly solutions for spiritual problems. God has a plan for us. He wants to be a part of our lives and most of all He wants to restore that relationship He had with mankind that was lost in Eden when sin entered the world.

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Texas DPS's Odd Office Hours Makes Me A Criminal

2011-03-28T13:42:00.001-05:00

Here is an email I sent to the DPS Customer Service Center today.

I have been trying for 3 months to renew my driver's license. The closest office to me (some 20 miles away)has had a sign on the door for the past 2 months saying it will be closed until further notice due to computer problems. Every place else (more then an hour away) only processes renewals in the morning hours. As shocking as this may seem, most people in this area have jobs and are unable to meet these unreasonable office hours. Is there anything that can be done? I have tried to renew online and was told I am ineligible. Your customer service center will not take my call "due to high call volume".. Does the DPS enjoy making criminals out of Texas citizens that would other wise like to comply with state law?

I do not like being a criminal only because I have a job that does not allow for 2 hour round trips that would have to start at 8:00am. Couple that with most offices be open only one day a week and you are just inviting a backup of disgruntled customers.

We are forced by law to have a "valid" driver's license, but it seems the state has in every way contrived to make it as difficult as possible to get these renewals. We have the Technology to make this a painless event. Why not use it to do so? It seems asinine to me to only allow one online renewal, but what can we do? Call your Representatives and make this a priority may something can change. Here is a page listing your Texas House of Representatives call em and see the lethargic response. Otherwise, on a birthday coming soon you too will be a criminal.

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Word Search For Freestone Co. Academy

2011-03-26T19:12:00.001-05:00

While studying this weekend for my TX Penal Code test, I thought I would create a word search or 2 for all the spelling words that we have. They are broken up into ~20 word puzzles and fit on one page. Please feel free to download and use these as you wish.

BTW, if you want to create your own puzzles you can find the page here: http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch/ Have fun!

FCSO Word Search Puzzle1.pdf Download this file

FCSO Word Search Puzzle2.pdf Download this file

FCSO Word Search Puzzle3.pdf Download this file

FCSO Word Search Puzzle4.pdf Download this file

FCSO Word Search Puzzle5.pdf Download this file

FCSO Word Search Puzzle6.pdf Download this file

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Techie Type Post

2011-02-09T15:16:00.001-06:00

I haven't had a techie post in a while, so I thought I would let you know what I have been piddling with at the office. I suddenly became in desperate need of a way to rotate pictures on our website and didn't have a clue how to make that happen. After many hours of scouring the web I ran across this page by Matt Mullenweg:

http://photomatt.net/scripts/randomimage

Basically, you create a .PHP file and drop it in a (web accessible) folder then put a link to the .PHP file where you want the pictures to show up. SCORE! No typing in the names of each picture! This was hugely important to me, as I truly hate having to go line by line typing in a picture list. The only down side was that it would only show one picture.. Yes it was random and yes it saved a lot if time but you know me, it did not rotate them out with out reloading the page and I wanted MORE. So after a little time well spent banging my head against the monitors on my desk I figured out that I could combine this imminently awesome PHP file with of all things, a HTML file with the link inside as a source for an iFrame. Uhmm.. here let me Try this again..

Things you need:

The code from the link above.

An empty HTML file

A page to encapsulate every thing in.

Copy the code on Matt's page into a text file, name it rotator.php and save it to a folder that has a bunch of pictures in it. For this example I will use the directory "pictures" and is accessible from my website with this address <sitename>\pictures. Next create a HTML file in the root of your website folder and name it picrotate.html.

In the head section type this line:

In body of the HTML file save this line:

Now in the page that you want the picture to be seen on use an iframe like this:

</iframe>

After you save this file you should have rotator.php called from picrotate.htm which is called from the page where you want to see the picture. The meta tag will cause picrotate.htm to be redirected to itself every 5 seconds causing rotator.php to be reloaded and will display a new random picture from the folder. It is beyond the scope of this post to get into page formating, but I will say this: div tags are the best thing to happen to websites in a long time!

This may seem convoluted, but it does work. If you want to see it in use, go to my video board page here http://www.calvertisd.com/index.php?page=tv-out This is shown on a 42" flat screen TV in one of our hallways. Enjoy!

NOTE: If you are doing this on a more public page, I would suggest that you increase the meta refresh value to at least 15 or 20 seconds. and use a program to reduce the over-all size of your pictures. Most cameras today take pictures that are in the 5-10MB (very large) range and is way too big to be useful on a website. I recommend Gimp and the ever useful DBP (David's Batch Processor) plugin, both are free.

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My Rather Simplistic Thoughts On Rolling Black Outs

2011-02-02T15:39:00.001-06:00

I the wake of the recent "rolling black outs" here in Texas it occurs to me that there is another simple way to avoid them and maybe increase our employment numbers to boot.

We start by encouraging the electric companies to build more sub-stations and power plants with incentives for them to do so, i.e. tax incentives for the length of say 10 or 20 years and relaxing some of the more idiotic EPA rules so that the construction could begin post-hast. This would in turn put people to work causing an economic boost to communities across the state. What would this get us?

1. More power to service the people of Texas.

2. Make our state more energy independent. (Another cost savings)

3. Increase Employment - more money in the hands of consumers

4. Increase economic stability of surrounding businesses -because of above.

Not bad for a couples of sentences huh? Best of all, the only governmental involvement is the temporary abeyance of tax collection. I know this is a little simplistic maybe, but I think it will work don't you?

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The "Evils" of Drinking.. Explained

2011-01-24T15:46:00.001-06:00

This past weekend I was taken to task for a picture I posted to my FB page. This one in fact:

As you can see it contains not only a bottle of wine but -Gasp!- a glass full of the stuff.. E-gads what was I thinking?? Me, a preacher of the Gospel of Christ drinking -in my own home.. with a meal- Hmmm..

Now this will probably raise all kinds of Doctrinal debate especially because my particular faith if based on the Baptist Doctrine, but let me be clear, as our umm esteemed POTUS would say, there is not a scripture in the entire bible that says THOU SHALT NOT DRINK. No you ask, what does the bible really say then? Keep reading, we'll get to that.

Paul said that he became all things to all men that they may come to the knowledge of Christ. If one comes to a friend sneering at the drink in his hand and with a "holier then thou" attitude what do you think will happen? Now imaging going to that friend in the love of Christ sharing with him the Good News of Eternal Salvation, while politely refusing an offered drink till your work is done. Do you think there will be a different outcome? Yes, telling people about God is like a job and I don't know about you, but I don't think it is a good idea to be drinking while your working. A reference listed below talks about the priest may not drink when he enters the inner court.

The thing to remember is that above all, we strive to be Christ-like. We are ambassadors of Christ and as such should comport ourselves in an upright and dignified manor at all times. Drunkenness does NOT help you remain upright or dignified so if you can not control yourself, literally for God's sake, stay away from the hooch! We have enough idiots running around trying to give God a bad name and don't need your help in the matter.

Old Testament

Proverbs 20:1

Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Proverbs 31:6

Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to him whose life is bitter.

Ecclesiastes 9:7

Go, eat your foodwith joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, because God has already approved your works.

Ezekiel 44:21

No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner court.

NEW Testament

1 Corinthians 5:11

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who calls himself a Christianwho is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or verbally abusive,or a drunkard, or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.

Titus 1:7

Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

Ephesians 5:18

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

My reading and study of this subject has told me that the consumption of alcohol in excess makes you a fool, and unworthy of honor which has been and is borne out almost daily in the bars and parties across this country. This is where God has an issue with drinking. However, drinking in moderation with family or friends after your work is done seems to be ohkey dohkey with God..

Its at this point that I must make something absolutely clear: If your drinking, or for that matter eating, causes a brother to stumble the onus is on you bud. What does this mean to me? If I, in my idiocy, offer a recovering alcoholic a drink, causing him to return to a life of indulgence that would be a sin. So be careful and most of all be honest with yourself, if you can't handle what the bible tells you about drinking, i.e. don't get drunk 'cause it makes you stupid, then don't do it.

May God continue to love ya!

NOTE: For the curious the wine in the picture is a sweet red made in Texas, the food in the bowl is Chili Con Carne that I whipped up. and yes, that is a salt and pepper shaker in a cowboy boot holder..

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Email to the Baptist General Convention of Texas

2011-01-21T02:00:00.002-06:00

Below is an email that I sent to Executive Director Steve Vernon I will keep you updated on any response i receive..

Matthew 18:15-17

Mr. Vernon,

This is a very hard email to write, I do not do this lightly but I am concerned about the recent publicity that has been generated by the Westboro "Baptist" Church. I have neither the means nor authority to approach this group directly, but you and your counter parts in the several states do so I ask that you exercise those rights. Please understand, I'm all for free speech, but when it disrupts a funeral, be it a fallen soldier or that of a child, its no longer free. As a preacher I find it repugnant to vilify a grieving family and deny them the comfort God wants give in a time of need. Do the sermons of sexual immorality need to be taught? Absolutely! But if those sermons are not presented in the love and compassion of Christ, will there be any gain?

After reading the vile and hate filled press release on January 8, 2011,(PDF document) and the FAQ section of their site I was moved to contact the state level Baptist organization via Twitter and was directed to your email. I understand that they are in Kansas not Texas, but it has to start somewhere. As John F. Kennedy once said: "If not us, who? If not now, when?"

My questions and concerns can be summed up as follows:

1. Can a delegation be formed to speak with Fred Phelps, the "pastor"?
2. If after all biblical means of reconciliation have failed, will the Baptist organizations publicly denounce association with this group?
3. Is there a recourse available to preclude them from further destroying our (Baptists) message of Salvation?

Thank you for your time and consideration, I leave with this thought: A few years ago I read several news stories wherein religious leaders were demanding Muslim clerics disavowal or rein in their more radical sects, and rightly so, but can we ask any less of ourselves?

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Thoughts On The Florida School Board Shooting

2010-12-15T11:09:00.001-06:00

As many of you have heard by now there was a shooting on Tuesday at a Florida School Board Meeting. Predictively, there have been calls for more gun regulations and bands. But think for a minuet, Florida is a Concealed Carry State and yet not one person there had a gun except the bad guy. Why? Because the government in its infinite wisdom decreed that it is UNLAWFUL to carry concealed on school property. It is what's called a "Gun Free Zone" which is loosely translated to "prime target areas" in bad guy speak. They know that ALL law abiding citizens that exercise their right to bear arms will be unable to defend themselves or others in those areas.

Could this have been avoided if the bad guy knew there was a chance that there were armed and trained citizens in there ready to defend themselves and others? We may never know about this particular instance, but statistically, criminals are cowards and will not attack if there is a reasonable chance of being out numbered or less armed then the intended victims.

One of my favorite quotes is "An armed society is a polite society"

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No-Bake Cookies

2010-12-14T14:43:00.001-06:00

This is a recipe that my family loves. It's very chocolatey and yummy - there

usually aren't any left-overs.

15 min | 5 min prep | SERVES 15 -20

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

6 tablespoons cocoa

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Bring 1st 4 Ingredients (Butter, Milk, Cocoa, Sugar) to a boil.

2. Boil 1 Minute.

3. Remove From Heat.

4. Add Remaining Ingredients (Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, Vanilla). Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet or spread in a baking dish to cool.

5. Cut into squares (if baking dish used) & store cookies in an air-tight container

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Open Letter to the State of Texas

2010-11-16T09:00:00.001-06:00

To the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative bodies of the State of Texas:

I formally call upon you to preform your sworn duties and protect those that live within the Texas border on this the 16 day of November, 2011. I request and demand that legislation be authored and enacted, post hast, to have the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) offices and officials cease and desist all unconstitutional, invasive and humiliating acts which have been foisted upon your citizenry i.e electorate. I also ask you to give no quarter, or legal refuge to any agent of the TSA that may be found guilty of sexual assault, child molestation or have any computer containing images that break current child protection laws. I find this a reasonable request because it is the duty of any agent, officer, or soldier to refuse any and all unlawful orders.

As a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the State of Texas, I am guaranteed certain rights given to me by God, enshrined in the US Constitution and reinforced by the state Constitution including protection against unlawful searches, assault, sexual assault, and molestation. It is incumbent on you, our duly elected Representatives to step in and take up the fight against these acts of Tyranny.

I eagerly await your response.

Respectfully,
Dennis Kirkland
twitter @dkirkland

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Thoughts On The 17th Amendment

2010-11-12T11:19:00.001-06:00

Amendment 17 - Senators Elected by Popular Vote. Ratified 4.8.1913

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

The 17th Amendment is perhaps the most pernicious addition that was ever made to the US Constitution. While on the surface it would seem to be a good thing to have another voice in DC directly elected "By the People" but it has given rise to the ever increasing intrusion of the Federal Government into the inter-workings of State affairs

.
By enacting the 17th Amendment we have effectively silenced our States ability to demand that the Feds adhere to the rest of the article and amendments in the Constitution. The Founding Fathers knew that in order to keep the Federal Government in its Constitutional cage there would have to be a mechanism to ensure State Governments (As a legislative body) had a say in the law making process. Article 1 Section 3 was that mechanism. By amending the Constitution in 1913, we upset the balance of power that was originally outlined in the document and removed the only buffer that citizens have against an unrelenting assault on our Liberties, The Senate was never meant to be a House of Representatives Lite, it is a voting body that is supposed to be an advocate to the individual states and protector of State sovereignty.

The Federal Government was never intended the to be a central repository of power in the land, it was to be strong enough to do the enumerated duties listed but not strong enough to over-step the Will of the State and certainly not strong enough to over turn the Will of the People. Between unfunded Federal mandates, unconstitutional Federal laws, and activist Federal Judges, we have been forced to cede Liberties granted to us by "Nature and Nature's God" and outlined in the Constitution. We are at a cross-road of American History, we can either choose the continued Tyranny* of our Federal Government or the absolute adherence to the Constitution the choice is ours to make.

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” -Patrick Henery

* Tyranny is defined as the arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power

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Tea Party Activism: the basic who? what? why? when? where? & how? Download this Document for FreePrintMobile

2010-11-04T11:42:00.001-05:00

Tea Party Activism: the basic who? what? why? when? where? & how? <object id="doc_622102739786486" name="doc_622102739786486" height="600" width="100%" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf" style="outline:none;" > <param name="movie" value="http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="FlashVars" value="document_id=29191216&access_key=key-1349po3s8g3jzrlavvf7&page=1&viewMode=list"> </object>

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Congressional Reform Act of 2010

2010-10-22T09:45:00.001-05:00

I got this in an email today.. I have seen it before and wish our candidates would join in with these..

Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits.

12 years only, one of the possible options below..

   A. Two Six-year Senate terms
   B. Six Two-year House terms
   C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when
they are out of office.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social
Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social
Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all
Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional
pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in
the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American
people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective
1/1/11.

The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen.
Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers
envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and
back to work.

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Free Texas Voters Guide

2010-10-19T13:55:00.001-05:00

Download now or preview on posterous

FreeVotersGuide-TX.pdf (1489 KB)

Here is a free Texas Voters Guide from http://www.freevotersguide.com

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WSJ Article Intellectually Dishonest

2010-10-19T11:01:00.001-05:00

Democrats Pin Hopes on Obama

This story irritates me.

While the facts in this article may be correct in and of themselves the writer is being a bit dishonest in the comparisons that are made. Take for example, in the 4th paragraph the writer says, "His job-approval rating stands at 46%, which isn't good, but is slightly above where President George W. Bush's approval stood at this point in 2006.."
Now I ask you, what is wrong with this comparison? Answer: 2006 marked Bush's 5th year in office (i.e. 1st yr into second term) and the writer is comparing that to Obama's less then 2 years of the first term? Conclusion: Obama irritates people almost twice as fast as Bush, but according to the mass media, Bush is Satan incarnate.

In the 5th paragraph the writer says a "reasonably healthy 47% say they have positive feelings toward Mr. Obama.." So, why is 46% job approval rating "not good" but 47% is good for a "reasonably healthy" positive feeling? Answer: Intellectual dishonesty.

At first reading, the writer is in effect saying is that because the Democrats have blown it for the past 4 years (Yes they have been in power and making policies for the past 4 years!) their only Hope for continued Change is a guy with about a 46% approval rating. In truth, I am surprised there are that many people that are gullible enough to "still believe" in this failed attempt at American Socialism.

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Untitled

2010-09-01T13:59:00.001-05:00

Galatians 5:1

Stand fast therefore in the liberty with which Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Galatians 5:1 is talking about Liberty through the teachings of Jesus. The freedom from the Law of Moses, the Old Testament rules that the Jewish people had to observe.

In today’s world it has become politically incorrect to begin events with prayer.. It is unpopular to say the pledge of Allegiance with the words Under God. And people now object to placing crosses on the side of the road as a reminder of where people have died. All of these things were brought about in an effort to not offend anyone.

It’s funny really, in an ironic kind of way that a country whose very foundations are based on Christian ideas and beliefs now tell us that it is not appropriate to hang the Ten Commandments in a court room. That our inalienable rights are not from some god but given at the pleasure of the government and its many agencies. And that God has been expelled from our schools.

My answer is No.

No I will not sacrifice my beliefs so that some yahoo can feel more comfortable about his life choices! No I will not apologize for the spirit of conviction someone may feel when they hear the scripture talked about. And no, I will not bow down to an ungodly society that believes “there’s not a definitive right and wrong, it depends on the situation”

I will, as the scripture says Stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has made us free.

We are a nation whose Christian heritage cannot be covered up or glossed over. The unchanging truths of Christ are written on the hearts and minds of most of its people. It is well past time that we stand firm for what is right according to God’s word.

God has been very merciful to us the past couple of hundred years. I just pray that that mercy is sufficient for awhile longer.

I believe that the only hope for our country is to fall to our knees, beg God to forgive our sins then wrap ourselves in the protection of God’s armor and to stand firm on the promises He has given us through His word.

Ephesians 6:11-13 tells us to

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

I think that God still has something special planed for this country. We can again reclaim that certain spark of exceptionalism if we will look towards Him and not to our own wisdom.

Psalms 14:1 says

The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that does good.

The only thing God requires of us for the gift of eternal life is to confess Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts God raised him from the dead.

It really is that simple.

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

ipadio: Welcome

2010-03-19T14:20:00.001-05:00

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Texas Parks that Don't Honor CHLs

2010-03-10T22:55:00.001-06:00

Download now or preview on posterous

Corps Lakes Gateway_ Texas.pdf (395 KB)

List of State Parks that are owned by Corps of Engineers and have a negative impact on the rights of law abiding citizens to legally carry a concealed hand gun..

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

What Do Tea Party Movements Stand for? | The Freedomist

2010-02-09T15:54:00.001-06:00

Reagan’s Ten Commandments For Prosperity

If you will be free and prosperous, follow these Ten Commandments For Prosperity in the letter and spirit, do not look to the left nor to the right, consult not thine emotions or thy media, nor be persuaded to adopt the ways of those who have failed to produce prosperity with freedom for ALL who practice those ways.

1. Thou Shalt Have Low Tax rates

High taxes are not good for anybody, neither those who are taxed, nor those who think they will benefit from those taxes, because they take wealth and resources, which is power, and they concentrate them into the hands of those who are taking the taxes, which ultimately makes those people more wealthy and powerful, reduces the wealth of those who have earned it, and has no positive effect on those who are lacking or who are poor.
—————————-
When I sign this bill into law, America will have the lowest marginal tax rates and the most modern tax code among major industrialized nations, one that encourages risk-taking, innovation, and that old American spirit of enterprise. We’ll be refueling the American growth economy with the kind of incentives that helped create record new businesses and nearly 11.7 million jobs in just 46 months. Remarks on Signing the Tax Reform Act of 1986, October 22, 1986

2. Thou Shalt Have A Strong dollar.
Inflation is almost entirely a product of the printing press, the more money the government prints, and the weaker the value of each individual dollar, the less each dollar buys for Americans, it is only by pursuing a strong dollar that is stable and that is not at the whim of a few individuals who can decide, almost without constraint, what interest rates should be or how many dollars to put into circulation, that we can protect ourselves from fiscal ruin.
——————————————-
A strong dollar is one of our greatest weapons against inflation. Conservative Political Action Conference March 2, 1984

3. Thou Shalt Have Free trade.
Free Trade IS FAIR TRADE, where both sides agree to open, fair, and competitive trade allowing the markets to determine the value of goods, promoting connections between nations and cultures, and spreading the principles of freedom in the economic realm even where political freedom is lacking. For Trade to be Free, it must of course be fair, but for wealth to increase for ALL trade must be free!
————————-
Our trade policy rests firmly on the foundation of free and open markets. I recognize … the inescapable conclusion that all of history has taught: The freer the flow of world trade, the stronger the tides of human progress and peace among nations. Remarks at a White House Meeting With Business and Trade Leaders Se…

4. Thou Shalt Not Over-Regulate the People
Whatever good you think a “regulation” will do, ALL regulation transfers the decision-making authority away from the individual, the community, private entities, and the individual states to the entity that is making the regulation. If you think you can “regulate” away all problems and all risks, or use regulation to make things “fair” or “just”, you are mistaken- you will only end up increase the power of a few over the many and the result will be gigantism without any of the benefits the regulation was meant to deliver.
——————————–
The economic realities of the marketplace have done more to bring down the price of oil than all those years of frenetic government regulating. Presidential Radio Address – 26 February 1983

5. Thou Shalt Have Only A Limited Government.
The notion that you can justify giving something like 30% of ALL wealth that the People produce, over 30% of the LAND in this nation, and almost 50% or so of ALL decision-making powers to 9 supreme court justices, a president, and 535 legislators without seeing serious abuses of power at the expense of the rights, the property, and the welfare of the People is a Utopian fantasy. Those who pursue gigantism in government can use whatever high-sounding terminology they LIKE, but in the end, they are either foolishly ignorant of how dangerous giving such powers to a FEW people is OR they actually WANT that power.
———————-
It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government. Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981

6. Thou Shalt Limit Government Spending.
Every dime spent by government IS A TAX on the People, and in the end, that tax is going to be paid one way or another. For every dollar spent by government, there are fewer dollars available to YOU: only economic activity produces wealth, government spending reduces the amount of available wealth and reduces the overall wealth of the People!
———————–
We’ve tried spending our way to prosperity for more than four decades and it hasn’t worked. Radio Address, October 18, 1977

7. Thou Shalt Have Market Pricing.
It is true that there must always be restraint in favor of ethics, fairness, and even the common good, but the best judge of what should be produced and how much it should cost must be the People, as individuals who invest, who own businesses, who work, who sell, and who buy good and services. When this basic freedom is removed it delivers only inefficiency, more gigantism, and nothing good for the People, be they well off or poor or in between.
—————————-
Why don’t we impose wage and price controls? Because they don’t work and never have… They distort the natural market forces, create shortages and end up with black markets supplying the people’s needs at bootleg prices. Letter to Captain Wayne Speigel, 1975

8. Thou Shalt Have Privatization.
The “middling sort”, as Benjamin Franklin described himself and his friends, the artisans, shop keepers, and entrepreneurs who started with nothing, gave MUCH, and produced wealth for themselves and MANY OTHERS around them, were the “agents of transformation” in 1776 and they have always been the “prime mover” of our nation. The only groups who ever benefit from nationalization of any kind and by ANY name, are the people who get rich off government favors and the people who run the government- nobody else, which includes over 95% of the population, benefits.
——————————
Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States. May 1988 Speech at Moscow University

9. Thou Shalt Have A Strong Defense.
Regardless of the myth-makers on your TV and in your newspapers, the Cold War was won because the United States of America was STRONG and the Soviets could not keep up with our advances in technology nor in raw capabilities, or firepower. It was the people manning SOSUS who tracked Soviet subs, the people who funded and manned all those “non-wars”, and the men and women of the US Military who proved to be too great an obstacle to Soviet ambitions who ended the Cold War, and those of us who were THERE will always be proud of this and will not simply let those who all the while told us we would fail try to take away from this glorious result of the Reagan revolution!
—————————
Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong. Republican National Convention, August 23, 1984

10. Thou Shalt Reform Welfare
We could even refer to this commandment as “Thou Shalt Not Promote Dependency”. Why does the Bible itself say that those who do not work should not eat? Meeting our own needs, being independent of others, being self-reliant is not just a way to live well, it is an experience that is in and of itself enjoyable and fulfilling like few other experiences. Simply handing people money, after the government keeps its share to feed itself and line its pockets, is a terrible way to treat people and it tells them “we don’t think you have what it takes to even survive on your own.”
——————————
I’m talking about real and lasting emancipation, because the success of welfare should be judged by how many of its recipients become independent of welfare. State of the Union Address, February 4, 1986
———————-

via freedomist.com

This is an excerpt of a great post by @freedomist Please click on the freedomist.com link above to check out more great articles!

Ronald Reagan was perhaps the most distinguished statesman of our time. He continually confounded public wisdom and the country is better off because of it. Now is our time to stand firm against the inherent evils of an out-of-control government, who better to base the core edicts on that Reagan?

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Wait a minute - give me back my 63359 inches!

2010-01-20T12:38:00.001-06:00

You have heard the expression ‘give’em an inch and they take a mile’.. Well there are about 63360 inches in a mile and I think most of them back need to be given back. The stunning win in the Massachusetts senate race has a lot of Republicans beating their chests as though it was the RNC who swooped to the poles to win the day. I have a problem with that view of what happened.

This was NOT a Republican victory! This was a victory for the Patriots of MA who happen to be Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. It was a victory for those that want to put the good of our country above the good of the party. It was a victory for the Tea Party Movement!

Never forget that we are in this to get honorable men and women elected to office. We are not here to advance a party ideology but rather to reinstate a Constitutional Philosophy into the halls of Washington.

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Test from Google Wave..

2009-11-30T22:14:00.001-06:00

Test from Google Wave.. Can you see me? I wavin I'm wavin!

via google-wave-robot

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Not A Good Climate To Be a Climatologist

2009-11-25T13:37:00.001-06:00

I have read a few of these emails that have been posted and found the one below to be interesting.. I am told this is from file 0848679780.txt Too may games..I have removed the ending of the email addresses but that is all.

From: gjjenkins@meto.
To: p.jones@uea.ac.uk, deparker@meadow
Subject: 1996 global temperatures
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 1996 11:23 +0000 (GMT)
Cc: llivingston@meadow., djcarson@meadow., ckfolland@meadow.

     Phil

     Remember all the fun we had last year over 1995 global temperatures,
     with early release of information (via Oz), "inventing" the December
     monthly value, letters to Nature etc etc?

       I think we should have a cunning plan about what to do this year,
     simply to avoid a lot of wasted time.

     I have been discussing with David P and suggest the following:

     1. By 20 Dec we will have land and sea data up to Nov

     2. David (?) computes the December land anomaly based on 500hPa
     heights up to 20 Dec.

     3. We assume that Dec SST anomaly is the same as Nov

     4. We can therefore give a good estimate of 1996 global temps by 20
     Dec

     5. We feed this selectively to Nick Nuttall (who has had this in the
     past and seems now to expect special treatment) so that he can write
     an article for the silly season. We could also give this to Neville
     Nicholls??

     6. We explain that data is provisional and how the data has been
     created so early (ie the estimate for Dec) and also

     7. We explain why the globe is 0.23k (or whatever the final figure is)
     cooler than 95 (NAO reversal, slight La Nina). Also that global annual
     avg is only accuirate to a few hundredths of a degree (we said this
     last year - can we be more exact, eg PS/MS 0.05K or is this to big??)

     8. FROM NOW ON WE ANSWER NO MORE ENQUIRIES ABOUT 1996 GLOBAL TEMPS BUT
     EXPLAIN THAT IT WILL BE RELEASED IN JANUARY.

     9. We relesae the final estimate on 20 Jan, with a joint UEA/MetO
     press release. It may not evoke any interest by then.

     10. For questions after the release to Nuttall, (I late Dec, early
     Jan) we give the same answer as we gave him.

      Are you happy with this, or can you suggest something better (ie
     simpler)? I know it sound a bit cloak-and-dagger but its just meant to
     save time in the long run.

     Im copying this to DEP and CKF also for comments.

     Cheers

     Geoff

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You MUST own a gun - it's the law!

2009-11-10T21:02:00.001-06:00

Sensible Gun Registration Plan
Finally .... A Sensible Gun Registration Plan That Will Work...and make a bit of money too.....Clif
Vermont State Rep. Fred Maslack has read the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as Vermont 's own Constitution very carefully, and his strict interpretation of these documents is popping some eyeballs in New England and elsewhere.
Maslack recently proposed a bill to register "non-gun-owners" and require them to pay a $500 fee to the state. Thus Vermont would become the first state to require a permit for the luxury of going about unarmed and assess a fee of $500 for the privilege of not owning a gun.
Maslack read the "militia" phrase of the Second Amendment as not only affirming the right of the individual citizen to bear arms, but as a clear mandate to do so. He believes that universal gun ownership was advocated by the Framers of the Constitution as an antidote to a "monopoly of force" by the government as well as criminals.
Vermont 's constitution states explicitly that "the people have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and the State" and those persons who are "conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms" shall be required to "pay such equivalent." Clearly, says Maslack, Vermonters have a constitutional obligation to arm themselves, so that they are capable of responding to "any situation that may arise."
Under the bill, adults who choose not to own a firearm would be required to register their name, address, Social Security Number, and driver's license number with the state. "There is a legitimate government interest in knowing who is not prepared to defend the state should they be asked to do so," Maslack says.
Vermont already boasts a high rate of gun ownership along with the least restrictive laws of any state .. it's currently the only state that allows a citizen to carry a concealed firearm without a permit. This combination of plenty of guns and few laws regulating them has resulted in a crime rate that is the third lowest in the nation.
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
This makes sense! There is no reason why gun owners should have to pay taxes to support police protection for people not wanting to own guns. Let them contribute their fair share and pay their own way.

via usacarry.com

This is a post I found on www.usaopencarry.com I gotta tell ya I like the idea. Thank you TnRebel for sharing this information.

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

The (R) Is Just Not That Important To Me Anymore

2009-10-26T12:53:00.001-05:00

I think I should express my definition of Conservative before we get started. I don't want any confusion.. To me a Conservative is a person (Note NOT a Party) that believes in smaller government, lower taxes, a moral right and wrong, and feels the State is not the answer to welfare, health care, or bailouts. The doctrine of "Too-big-to-fail" is not something that we subscribe to. The Conservative also believes that the Constitution is the highest law of the land and we as Americans have no business being governed by anything different. The Constitution is NOT a 'living breathing document" the intent of the founders hasn't changed since the ink dried. We the People are the government, and that government should be large enough to provide the enumerated duties but small enough that it is not constantly in our wallets..We should interpret the document as it was written with credence given to the linguistics of the 1700s and not of today. There is more but for the sake of time let's get back to our regularly scheduled program...

Tea Party and 912 members are fed up with the inability of the RNC to field conservative candidates. So we are with holding our funds from the GOP because, lets face it, the only change I see in the RNC is in the wrong direction. Most of the people that identify with these grassroots movements have long been feeling betrayed by their party, hence the reason for the movement. Positive change is coming to the RNC rather it wants it or not. The old guard has lost touch with its base, and the new comers have a had enough of the corruption, the RINOs and the 'Good Ol' Boy Network' that has so effectively twisted the concept of Conservationism.

If the RNC wants to be a Demarcate-Lite party then just be honest with us and join the liberal party. I can't tell you how sad it is to see a politician change their core values just to stay in power or in the public light. I respect Newt for what he did in the past, but actively supporting a RINO is not longer acceptable. He will end up paying a heavy public price in support for his endorsements. Lyndsey Graham, is another that I feel should go. Like a lot of RINOs he talks a good conservative philosophy but his voting record just doesn't bear it out. I mean come on Senator, Global warming? Seriously? Don't even get me started on Olimpia Snowe, Susan Collins or Mitt Romney, When a Republican candidate is more liberal then the Democratic one something has gone seriously wrong with the party.

What the RNC has yet to grasp is that a these groups are not made up of only disenfranchised Republicans they are Libertarians, Democrats, and even those that do not affiliate themselves with a political party so when I hear the RNC say that there is a possibility of losing more seats in the next election, I have to ask, is that a bad thing?. If those seats were picked up by someone that holds closely to my beliefs, I could care less what letter is beside their name. I suspect it will be an (I), but if it is a (D) and that person supports the Conservative philosophy, how can this be a bad thing? I feel these warning are an attempt to keep a strangle hold on those members that are on the fence within the party abd who have to hold their noses every time they vote. I was one those types for a long time, but now I have bolted from the tent and have taken up guard beside the Constitution, the rightful place of our public servants. Sadly, there are a lot of those public servants missing from guard duty. Many like me, didn't vote for McCain in the last election, we voted against Obama. The only peace I had in that vote was that Sarah Palin was on the ticket with him. At some point the Republican party will have to grow a spine and produce a true conservative.. on purpose, for once. Otherwise I see the lights being turned out at the Grand Ol; Party and a big tent standing empty.

Just my two cents..

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

New to CHL

2009-10-25T02:22:00.001-05:00

I recently received my Concealed Handgun License (CHL) in the mail and have had trouble with where I can and can't carry my firearm. So to help me remember I have started reading the pertinent sections of that riveting and most easily understood lexicon of knowledge: The Texas Penal Code. Yea Me! Please note that I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV so take this information as you will But I am NOT offering legal advice here. Clear? Good, so this is what I found:

Section 46.035 subsection (b) describes where it is a big NO-NO to have a firearm. I have chosen to list only the subsections I am concerned with.

Sub Section (f) defines a few key words used in the whole section.

Subsection (i) are a list of exceptions.

Finally Section 30.06 is where we find what constitutes a trespass for people with CHLs.

My first question was:
Can I take my firearm to work? And since I work for a school district and if I was wrong it would me a felony I needed to get this right. After much searching and talking to instructors I found that Yes I can carry it to work as long as I:
1) LEAVE IT SECURED IN MY VEHICLE and
2) There is not an employment policy that says I can't.
Because as you can see from sub2(b) it says premises and the definition of premises from sub(f) specifically excludes parking lots. So unless I park in one of the buildings that is not a parking garage I am good to go and if I do park in one of those building, I think we can agree that I will have much bigger problems than the firearm.

Next question I had was:
Can I take my firearm to church? This one was a little tricky but I think I am correct on this. Sub(b)(6) talks about NOT being able to take my firearm with me to church, but if you keep reading the section you will find that there is a disclaimer to this subsection: enter sub(i), this litte and easily overlook section states that Sub(b)(6) and several are conditional on the property owner having signs posted that have very exact wording and appearance. Yep, you guested it, Section 30.06 defines what constitutes a trespass with a firearm by a CHL. Basically you have to go on to a persons property without permission AND have been told either your weapon is not welcome or stayed where your weapon is not welcome after being asked to leave. Now I didn't list all the very specific language and physical characteristics the sign has to be, but let me tell you, it is VERY specific on verbiage AND looks. So if for what ever reason you what people with CHLs to stay off your property while armed, You need to read this section.

Below are the Sections and Subsections that I referenced, again I only copied those that were relevant to my questions if you want to read it all go here and here ( the Bold emphisis was added by me)

Sec. 46.035. UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF HANDGUN BY LICENSE HOLDER.

Sub section (b)

(2) on the premises where a high school, collegiate, or professional sporting event or interscholastic event is taking place, unless the license holder is a participant in the event and a handgun is used in the event;

(4) on the premises of a hospital licensed under Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code, or on the premises of a nursing home licensed under Chapter 242, Health and Safety Code, unless the license holder has written authorization of the hospital or nursing home administration, as appropriate;

(5) in an amusement park; or

(6) on the premises of a church, synagogue, or other established place of religious worship.

Sub Section (c) A license holder commits an offense if the license holder intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly carries a handgun under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, regardless of whether the handgun is concealed, at any meeting of a governmental entity

Sub section (f)

(3) "Premises" means a building or a portion of a building. The term does not include any public or private driveway, street, sidewalk or walkway, parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area.

Sub Section (i) Subsections (b)(4), (b)(5), (b)(6), and (c) do not apply if the actor was not given effective notice under Section 30.06.

Sec. 30.06. TRESPASS BY HOLDER OF LICENSE TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUN. (a) A license holder commits an offense if the license holder:

(1) carries a handgun under the authority of Subchapter H, Chapter 411, Government Code, on property of another without effective consent; and

(2) received notice that:

(A) entry on the property by a license holder with a concealed handgun was forbidden; or

(B) remaining on the property with a concealed handgun was forbidden and failed to depart.

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Verizon Samsung Omnia i910 | KNGUYENTU - PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN & SAP HELP BY KEVIN

2009-10-11T20:38:00.001-05:00

I recently upgraded my old Motorola Q cellphone with Verizon Wireless. Originally I went for the new Verizon Touch Pro (XV6850). While it is a great phone, I didn’t have the need for the keyboard, thus the added thickness. I traded that in for the Verizon Samsung Omnia i910.

via knguyentu.com

This is one of the best sites I found if you want to make your Omnia i910 usable. Try the reg files! Getting the Samsung Today2 alone is worth the time to read this page.

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Tethering on the I910 Verizon Omnia? - WinMo @ MoDaCo

2009-10-10T22:04:00.001-05:00

How to: Get Wifi Tethering working on the Verizon Omnia I910
**** If you have installed any other ICS files before you will need to do a hard reset. ****
Use the files I have attached.
Download/Install the attached "ICSInstall.CAB" file.
(You may not need to do 2 - 6 but this is how I got it to work.)
Restart your phone.
Test the install by Connecting the USB cable to your computer.
Then run "IntShrUI" from the Programs Menu and select "Connect".
If done correctly the program should display "Connected".
Now select "Disconnect" and disconnect the USB cable.
Download/Install the attached "WMWifiRouter91.CAB" file.
Restart your phone.
Turn on Wifi.
Run WMWifiRouter from the Programs Menu.
Select "Connect"
If done correctly the program should display "Connected to WMWifiRouter Ready".
From your computer search for the "WMWifiRouter" wireless connection.
Now have fun surfing the web from anywhere.
*You may need to restart your phone and repeat steps 10 - 14 a few times to get it to work.

This post has been edited by OctaneMS: Dec 8 2008, 14:32

Attached File(s)
ICSInstall.CAB ( 174.11K ) Number of downloads: 3739
WMWifiRouter.CAB ( 115.6K ) Number of downloads: 2883

via modaco.com

I found this tonight while looking for things to do to my new phone. Works great! Thanks OctaneMS for the original post on MoDaCo.

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Wal-Mart Cake

2009-09-30T20:45:00.001-05:00

Wal-Mart Cake

It took me a second, but make sure you read the story about the picture.
Keep in mind this actually really did happen.

This cake is for someone who was moving from an insurance claims office

Okay so this is how I imagine this conversation went:

Walmart Employee: 'Hello 'dis be Walmarts, how can I hep you?'

Customer: ' I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week.'

Walmart Employee: 'What you want on da cake?'

Customer: 'Best Wishes Suzanne' and underneath that 'We will miss you'.

STOP LAUGHING!

You can't fix stupid.

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ACORN: Offices

2009-09-14T17:32:00.001-05:00

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana

Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Jersey
New Mexico

New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin

via 74.125.155.132

I read somewhere Acorn removed it's links to local offices from it's website so I thought I would help them restore access to this vital information... James, Hannah and BigGovernment.com, you people ROCK Keep up the good work

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

I'm Tired

2009-09-11T11:03:00.001-05:00

I am tired of all the politically correct tap dancing people are doing over this whole Liar story.. It seems one can not say how things are anymore with out some pantywaist crying foul. I miss the days when people could speak plainly and without fear of offending the idiots.

First, I guess we have to define what a liar is: "a person who tells lies." Now we have to define what a lie is:

1.	a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood.

2.	something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture: His flashy car was a lie that deceived no one.

3.	an inaccurate or false statement.

4.	the charge or accusation of lying: He flung the lie back at his accusers.

Next we must determine if the President told a lie - anybody? Ok. I will answer that one. Illegal immigrants not getting Heath care under this government boondoggle they want to ram through Congress. Umm LIE! Want proof? Read Pages 50-51 of the Heath Care bill (it can be found on page 2 of this blog ): All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services. SEC152 .."provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services."

It's not just me saying this, do a search for the findings of the Congressional Research Service to see what else is not true about this little problem.

While reading other articles and and comments for this post, I have read people defending these lies by saying the authors "dug up old revisions of the HC Bill" but the facts remain that unless specifically stated in the legislation, non-citizens will have health care at the expense of hard working Americans and it was in the original bill that was almost passed with out debate!. What was it doing there in the first place? Why are we even having to discuss this issue? If it has been removed in updated proposals (I haven't heard) it is only because Americans stood up and said enough is enough we will not stand aside and let you mortgage our children's future for your political gain.

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Network Printer Install to All Users

2009-09-03T11:53:00.001-05:00

I had a script a few years ago that would lee me install network printers to all users of the computer at one time. I lost it recently and had to find it again so I am posting it here so I know exactly where to go next time I loose it.

Just put the unnumbered lines in a .bat file, change to suit your network and run.

1) This installs printer quietly

rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /q /n\\servername\printername

2) This deletes the networked printer from the machine being logged onto, and does so quietly.
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /dn /q /n\\servename\printername

3) This Sets the default printer
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /y /n\\servername\printername

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Complete E-Mail Addresses for Congress/House, Senate, Governors & State Legislators

2009-08-16T22:51:00.001-05:00

Texas
Gov. Rick Perry (R) 512-463-2000
State Legislature Links
Sen. John Cornyn (R) Fax: 202-228-2856
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) Fax: 202-224-0776
Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-1) Fax: 202-225-5866
Rep. Ted Poe (R-2) Fax: 202-225-5547
Rep. Sam Johnson (R-3) Fax: 202-225-1485
Rep. Ralph Hall (R-4) Fax: 202-225-3332
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-5) Fax: 202-226-4888
Rep. Joe Barton (R-6) Fax: 202-225-3052
Rep. John Culberson (R-7) Fax: 202-225-4381
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-8) Fax: 202-225-5524
Rep. Al Green (D-9) Fax: 202-225-2947
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-10) Fax: 202-225-5955
Rep. Mike Conaway (R-11) Fax: 202-225-1783
Rep. Kay Granger (R-12) Fax: 202-225-5683
Rep. "Mac" Thornberry (R-13) Fax: 202-225-3486
Rep. Ron Paul (R-14) Fax: 202-226-6553
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-15) Fax: 202-225-5688
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-16) Fax: 202-225-2016
Rep. Chet Edwards (D-17) Fax: 202-225-2234
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-18) Fax: 202-225-3317
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-19) Fax: 202-225-9615
Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-20) Fax: 202-225-1915
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-21) Fax: 202-225-8628
Rep. Pete Olson (R-22) Fax: 202-225-5241
Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-23) Fax: 202-225-2237
Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-24) Fax: 202-225-0074
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-25) Fax: 202-225-2947
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-26) Fax: 202-225-2919
Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-27) Fax: 202-226-1134
Rep. Enrique Cuellar (D-28) Fax: 202-225-1641
Rep. Gene Green (D-29) Fax: 202-225-9903
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-30) Fax: 202-226-1477
Rep. John Carter (R-31) Fax: 202-225-5886
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-32) Fax: 202-225-5878

via conservativeusa.org

Thanks to the folks at Conservative USA for posting a List of State Governors, Senators & Reps. Keep up the good work!

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

In Defense Of The Cowboy

2009-08-15T16:01:00.001-05:00

While preparing for my first message today I ran across an article titled "Cowboy Churches See Big Growth". I thought this was going to be an article about the Western Heritage movement and how it is changing the lives of many that would never darken the door of traditional church. Sadly I was wrong. Instead to actually looking at the plethora of positive change produced by this movement the author ridicules most important parts of the Cowboy Church's' method of proselytizing. A quote from the page:

That’s right, folks. If you don’t have long sermons (the article says the churches give “short devotions”), feature rodeo entertainment, don’t teach on tithing or present the need for Jesus as Savior, you can have a humdinger of a church. Yee ha.

Aside form the outright lies in this quote, it seems a bit pretentious to think that there is only one way to worship an all knowing and timeless God.Lets go through these one by one so we can set the record straight.

"Don't have Long Sermons"

If memory serves, the New Testament is rife with parables from Jesus where he would say in a few words what the priests of the day would spend hours telling the synagogues. It also brings to mind the admonishments a couple of verses before the Lord's Prayer in the Gospels. I refer you to Matthew 6:7 when Jesus says: “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

So I would say that "short devotions" are biblical.

Next is "Feature rodeo Entertainment"

I should point out that even at these events there is short devotional..Ok, I am having trouble seeing a problem with this. I guess because I know this movement started one day while a son and his father were AT A RODEO but instead of seeing loud rancorous men of the world they saw a field ready for harvest with few labors.. and they are after all TRYING to reach the cowboy. What better outreach could a church offer where friends and family can get together for fellowship to show that church is not just a building but a body of believers gathering in one place and in one accord? Didn't Jesus teach about not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together?

"Don’t Teach On Tithing"

This one boggles my mind. Our church has just finished a 13 week Wednesday night series called The Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey.. Also, I have listened to several sermons from our pastor about giving. Maybe it's thought that because we don't pass an offering plate we don't teach about money I can't be sure, but by only giving a brief mention that the milk can (think big butter churn) is on the back table our coffers are never empty.

Finally, we at the most outrageous claim made in the article: "or present the need for Jesus as Savior"

Umm have you ever been to a Cowboy Church? At the end of EVERY short devotional we encourage everyone there that has never received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior to say a prayer quietly to their selves lead by who ever is speaking. Then after the prayer we tell them about a form on the back table kinda like a decision card offered by other denominations that enables the church to contact them in a more comfortable setting to explain one on one what the prayer means and answer any questions about salvation. From what I see it is working, every Sunday I see cards filled out and souls saved because someone though the cowboy would be more comfortable around his peers than in a traditional church

I write this NOT to claim the Cowboy Church is any better than any other church, but to help those people that think the only way to worship God is to go to church, set in uncomfortable pews and sing "Just As I Am" and leave just as you was. The Cowboy Church is among the fastest growing churches in the US. We are seeing lives changed, hearts mended, and families saved every week.

God bless this movement and God bless the Cowboy!

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

New Laws Fror TX starting Sept 1, 2009

2009-08-11T10:21:00.001-05:00

Download now or preview on posterous

NewTXLaws.pdf (97 KB)

Here is a PDF of the new laws that are set to go into effect on Sept1 of this year. If you have a CHL you will want to read this because there are some updates in there for you. Just another PSA I ran across during my musings today. Enjoy.

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

The 3/50 Project ::: Home

2009-08-09T14:36:00.001-05:00

via the350project.net

You know, I was thinking about my local choices lately.. I live in a very small town but there are several shops to goto. If these figures are true, then I can help my town on and save on my fuel costs at the same time. Yeah!

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

First Draft in PDF

2009-08-07T16:41:00.001-05:00

Download now or preview on posterous

The 28th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.pdf (46 KB)

Here for your reading pleasure is a copy of the first draft of the The 28th Amendment Proposal. Please read and distribute to any one interested in helping this movement out.If you have any questions, you can find out more at the website. Thanks for your help.

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

YouTube - B.R. Police Censoring ObamaCare Discussion @ ACORN's Request

2009-08-07T00:42:00.001-05:00

via youtube.com

Is this what is becoming of MY America?

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Amending the US Constitution – Methods For Amending the US Constitution

2009-08-06T22:11:00.001-05:00

To Propose Amendments

Two-thirds of both houses of Congress vote to propose an amendment, or

Two-thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments. (This method has never been used.)

To Ratify Amendments

Three-fourths of the state legislatures approve it, or

Ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states approve it. This method has been used only once -- to ratify the 21st Amendment -- repealing Prohibition.

The Supreme Court has stated that ratification must be within "some reasonable time after the proposal." Beginning with the 18th amendment, it has been customary for Congress to set a definite period for ratification. In the case of the 18th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd amendments, the period set was 7 years, but there has been no determination as to just how long a "reasonable time" might extend.

Of the thousands of proposals that have been made to amend the Constitution, only 33 obtained the necessary two-thirds vote in Congress. Of those 33, only 27 amendments (including the Bill of Rights) have been ratified.

via usgovinfo.about.com

Above is what I found when reading about Amending the Constitution I would suggest to anyone wanting to start a process that you urge your congressmen to introduce the bill because if you were to start at with the state legislatures they would be free introduce ANY proposals that strikes their fancy. I don't trust my elected "leaders" that much.

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

The 28th Amendment Proposal

2009-08-06T19:33:00.001-05:00

via the28thamendmentproposal.org

Hmm.. An amendment to the Constitution that fosters the Liberty. Yep I like. Head on over to the 28th Amendment's website for the latest information on this grassroots campaign.

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Meet the Mob «

2009-08-06T18:13:00.001-05:00

via thedanashow.wordpress.com

I am trying out the Posterous Bookmark applet If this posts too much of the page Danna I am sorry. Head on over to her website for more information. Truly great stuff.

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Health Care by the Bullet

2009-08-05T17:18:00.001-05:00

Download now or preview on posterous

HC09.pdf (1800 KB)

Yes I stole the information below from The Georgia Christian Alliance I want to thank them for the original post. That said, here is a list of a few things that can be found in the onerous Health Care Bill of 2009. Take a few minutes and go through the list you can event check the Bill text in the attached PDF document Then if you are as mad as I was Please call your Rep and tell the to get their hands off our heath care!

Ohh, and stop by the Georgia Christian Alliance to send them a thank you for putting this information out there. I am not affiliated with them in any aspect but we are on the same team.

KEEPING THE FAITH ACTION ALERT
August 5, 2009

Health Care Bill in Bullet Form
No matter what political Party you are affiliated with.....This IS about Your Life.....

48 Important Things to Know About Obama's Healthcare Plan

* Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
* Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
* Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
* Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
* Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.
* Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
* Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
* Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
* Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
* Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
* Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens
* Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
* Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.
* Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly.Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.
* Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will20set wages.
* Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.
* Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees AND their families.
* Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll
* Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll
* Page 167: Any individual who doesn’t have acceptable healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
* Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them).
* Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.
* Page 203: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." Yes, it really says that.
* Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors and the poor most affected."
* Page 241: Doctors: no matter what specialty you have, you'll all be paid the same (thanks, AMA!)
* Page 253: Government sets value of doctors' time, their professional judgment, etc.
* Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private healthcare industries.
* Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs.
* Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!
* Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.
* Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.
* Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in healthcare companies!
* Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval.
* Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on "community" input: in other words, yet another payoff for ACORN.
* Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based measures: i.e., rationing.
* Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs, etc.
* Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS individuals.
* Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare by phone).
* Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?
* Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time.
* Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life resources, guiding you in death.
* Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life treatment; government dictates how your life ends.
* Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used todictate treatment as patient's health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
* Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life.
* Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN.
* Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs for ACORN.
* Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy. Government intervenes in your marriage.
* Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining, creating and rationing those services.

Thank you for Keeping The Faith,
Sadie Fields

Respectfully,
twitter @dkirkland

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Helping out the White House thought police « A Conservative's Opinion and Solutions

2009-08-04T22:52:00.001-05:00

Check out this website I found at rdickerhoof.wordpress.com

This guy Rock!

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Town Hall Meetings in Texas

2009-08-04T18:54:00.001-05:00

Below is a list of Town Hall Meetings in Texas as listed on Tea Party Patriots web site. Thanks Tabitha Hale!

Health Care Town Hall
Center for the Visual Arts
Denton, TX 76201
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Start Time: 10:00 AM End Time: 11:00 AM

In attendance, Rep. Michael Burgess H (REP) District 26

Health Care Town Hall
North Central Texas College
Gainesville, TX 76240
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Start Time: 2:00 PM End Time: 3:00 PM

In attendance, Rep. Michael Burgess H (REP) District 26

Health Care Town Hall
American Legion Hall
Crosby, TX 77532
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Start Time: 6:00 PM End Time:

In attendance, Rep. Ted Poe H (REP) District 2

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

The Chart the Dems Don't Want You To See

2009-07-23T11:08:00.001-05:00

Download now or preview on posterous

House-Democrats-Health-Plan.pdf (186 KB)

While reading through some of my top-of-the-morning news sites I ran across a disturbing article that describes one of the latest fights in the House.. I know, I know, big news right? However, this one unnerved me a bit. It describes the lengths to which the Democratic party will go to in order to stop Republican points of view from being heard by their constituents.

At issue is an organizational chart of the purposed Health Care legislation (See PDF) and the labyrinth of bureaucratic offices that will be created if passed into law. For reasons not quite clear, Democrats do not want to have open honest debates on this subject which leads me to believe there are items in the bill that most Americans would consider repugnant. For instance, it will be mandated that you buy insurance, You will no longer have a choice about it. I have read in other articles that the mandate is backed up with a rather hefty fine, Hmm.. I am trying to find in the Constitution where this power if granted. I'll let you know when I find it, but I wouldn't hold my breath until it is found. I leave you with 2 quotes from Thomas Jefferson:

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

-Thomas Jefferson

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

-Thomas Jefferson

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Google Voice

2009-07-14T09:27:00.001-05:00

I received an invite to Google Voice last week and am trying it out. First impression is complete "Geeky Bliss"! I love the available features and am excited to see more as time goes by. However, the one missing element that surprised me was the lack of the ability to use Google Voice as a soft-phone. Sure you can originate calls from the web interface then direct the call to a phone of your choosing but not talk there.
To some this may not be a problem, but for me, I have to use my cell phone as a modem when I am out of the house or office so I can not talk on the phone and be on the internet at the same time. After digging around the help section a while I found a user that was able to get around this little problem. From @Zanthexter:

Step 1 Set up a GIzmo5 account.

Step 2 Add the "Gizmo5" phone number to Google Voice. Same as any other phone, just be sure to select the Gizmo TYPE

Step 3 Configure a SIP compatible soft phone, WiFi phone, Hardline Phone, or SoftPhoneForMobile to answer calls received on your Gizmo5 number.

That's it.. You have to start the call from the Google Voice interface and send it to your Gizmo Phone number that you added and you are set.

Respectfully,
twitter @dkirkland
Google Voice 979.209.0322

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

We The People Stimulus Package

2009-06-25T22:43:00.001-05:00

Bob Basso author of "Common Sense" plays the role of Thomas Paine to ignite the fire of change in America. Patriotism and Pride for America lead Thomas Paine to help take back America!

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Dave Ramsey's Town Hall For Hope

2009-05-22T15:13:00.001-05:00

Last month I help our church prepare for the Town Hall For Hope by Dave Ramesy. Here is the event on line... enjoy!

<p><a href=" ">Dave Ramsey - Town Hall for Hope 2009</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1704137">Central FPU</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

SFFMA Legislative Alert

2009-04-24T14:41:00.001-05:00

Here is an email that received form the SFFMA If you are a volunteer Firefighter Please call your representative . On the surface this may sound like a good idea, but DO NOT confuse the term education with training. These people are talking about not allowing someone to volunteer unless they have an as yet determined amount of education. Sorry, but in a fire fight I don't care if the man/woman beside me has a college degree of even finished high school I just need to know that they are trained.

SFFMA Legislative Alert - Immediate Action Needed!

Tuesday of this week, Representative Linda Harper-Brown laid out the committee substitute to House Bill 3390, which is the Sunset bill for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. At the request of the Chair, Representative Yvonne Davis, the substitute includes language requiring the Commission to regulate volunteer firefighters.

Section 17 of the bill requires the Commission to establish minimum educational and training standards for volunteer firefighters.

Section 28 of the bill authorizes the Commission to prohibit someone from being a volunteer firefighter if they don’t meet minimum requirements, don’t meet continuing education requirements, and don’t meet other “certain requirements determined by commission rule.” The bill does not specify what these other requirements might be!

The bill was voted out of the Urban Affairs committee late last night and is now heading to the House floor for a vote.

At a time when we are struggling to raise the funds to put fuel in our trucks, purchase much needed equipment, and fight the wildfires that are sweeping across large parts of the state, the last thing we need is more regulation from Austin! The Legislature should be helping us protect the state of Texas, not discouraging people from VOLUNTEERING their time to serve their communities.

WE NEED YOUR IMMEDIATE ACTION ON THIS MATTER! PLEASE CALL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE!

Tell whomever answers the phone who you are and that you want the Representative to support volunteer firefighters and vote for an amendment to strip Sections 17 and 28 from CSHB 3390. The person on the phone will tell you that they will advise the Representative. Tell them thank you for their support and hang up. Please be professional. In most cases your Representative had nothing to do with this committee substitute and we need their help.

You can find your State Representative’s Austin office phone number by going to The Texas Legislature online at http://www.capitol.state.tx.us .

Please do not call legislators who are not your representative – this is counterproductive.

For further information please check www.sffma.org

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

The Art of Lawn Mowing…

2009-04-15T01:30:00.001-05:00

Today sucked… A lot of things went wrong that should have been easy, but that’s ok, it ended well. I was reintroduced to the joys of mowing my yard with a push mower. It may sound strange to say something like this, but hear me out:

As a kid, the mindless tedium of mowing gave me the chance to ponder the really big questions of life… Like ‘I wonder if what’s her and I will get together” or going over the newest additions to the play book from Coach. I had time on my hands and a restless mind; which I used for good… Usually.

Today, my mind is still restless but my questions are a bit more serious. While walking behind that mower I began to think about some of the news stories that I’ve read, like the Department of Homeland Security painting what seems to be any dissention against the current administration as “rightwing extremist activity” or state governments finding it necessary to reaffirm their sovereignty in accordance with the 10^th Amendment of the US Constitution. I mean, what is going on with ~~our~~ MY country? Has it come to the point where you’re either Liberal or Conservative, Democrat or Republican with no room for being an American?

I choose to be an American first and a party member later! I choose to live my life and conform my civic philosophies to those of the Founding Fathers, men who knew and believed in words like sacrifice, honor, courage, and patriotism. I choose to cling to my guns AND my religion and dare anyone to try to take them away! Finally, I choose to stand up and be counted as one who still thinks Freedom and Liberty are things worth fighting for.

I guess the burning question I had running around in my head was this:

Are you man enough to live in the United States as envisioned by the Founding Fathers?

Think about that before you answer. There are several things that go along with it. Are willing to stand up to your party ideologies when they are morally wrong – or go contrary to the Constitution? Are you willing to take responsibility for your own actions? Are you willing to rely on yourself and, God willing, your church for help? In short, could you take every political and social entitlement belief you have and find where the Constitution grants them? Then, if they are not in there, could you throw them out or revise them to bring them inline with the Constitution? Can you resist the compulsion to negate one civil liberty to protect other ones? Can you truthfully tell me that you would vigorously defend the right to free speech for someone whose beliefs are repugnant to you?

Folks we are at a cross road of American History. We stand on the brink of destruction by a government that is not fiscally responsible, or morally representative of our core values, and is out of compliance with what was written all those years ago.

Think about what we are doing to our country! We need to elect people that are strict Constitutionalist and fiscally responsible. Do not vote for someone just because you share a party affiliation. Vote for those that follow the rule of law and will make the tough choices to up hold our sovereignty in the face of opposition from abroad. Vote for those that will let the military fight the wars and give our fallen and wounded soldiers the respect they deserve. But most importantly vote for those who would never see our nation as arrogant or intolerant.

I’m @dkirkland and I AM a true American!

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

City of Burleson Tea Party

2009-04-03T18:26:00.001-05:00

Below are emails exchanged between my self and the mayor of Burleson. As you can see from his response, he must have gotten a few undignified emails from some people.

Mr. Shetter,
I am trying to find out before I forward http://www.freedomworks.org/comment/reply/19372 to the national media if the City of Burleson is in the process of denying free citizens their constitutional right to a peaceful gathering. It is my understanding that you are not the one blocking this teaparty, but rather one of the city employees, an unelected “street supervisor” Ray Gonzales, that believes the event is "not in the public interest". To help further this along, Mr. Gonzales reports to city manger David Wynn. Please consider having a review this situation and resolve it soon.

Respectfully,
Dennis Kirkland
twitter @dkirkland

FROM: Mayor Ken Shetter, City of Burleson

RE: Burleson Tea Party

SUBJ: City of Burleson is Not Shutting Down Tea Party

Concerned Citizen:

The City of Burleson is NOT TRYING TO STOP THE APRIL 15 TEA PARTY.

Members of the Burleson Tea Party group have contacted the City of Burleson wanting permission to conduct a demonstration in an area near the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard (State Highway 174) and Hidden Creek Parkway. The area is across the street from the location of the Burleson Super Wal-Mart, and adjacent to a residential area. The area where the demonstration has been planned includes right of way for the state highway, municipal right of way, and a city street. The organizer said the event is expected to draw between 300 and 500 people to participate in the demonstration.

From the beginning the city has made it clear that no city permit is required for the gathering. This being said, the city has also made it clear that there are a number of safety related concerns that need to be addressed at the originally proposed location. It is one of the busiest street intersections in the city. The posted speed limit on Wilshire/SH 174 is 50 mph. It is a 4-lane highway with a center turn lane. It is a heavily travelled highway, particularly during the hours of the planned demonstration (3-7 pm) when school is dismissing and evening going home drive-time traffic is at its peak. The original request also included the barricading of four residential streets to keep group members from parking in the neighborhoods. The city’s main concerns are safety of the demonstrators and other pedestrians, traffic safety, and the ability for fire trucks to get in and out of the residential streets and hook up to fire hydrants. In speaking with representatives from the Texas Department of Transportation, it is clear that TxDOT and the city share the safety concerns.

The city has a special events committee that reviews requests for street closures (for example, neighborhood block parties, festivals). That committee met Thursday to review the request. Due to the topography of the area and the design of the highway, the number of anticipated participants in the demonstration, and the other safety concerns the special events committee has suggested that an alternative site be considered. In fact, in an attempt to accommodate the group, City Hall, site of many community festivals, was offered as an alternative site. Nevertheless, although the site originally proposed for the demonstration presented numerous safety concerns, the committee was willing to take steps to accommodate the event if certain steps could be taken by the organizers of the event to assure safety for everyone involved.

At the time the attached news release from the city was issued this morning, we had not heard back from the organizers of the event. We since have had several discussions with the organizers and it is our understanding that an alternative site has indeed been secured. You can contact the organizers of the event for the final location.

There are a few things that need to be made clear. First, Rey Gonzales, one of the members of the city’s special events committee, is a good man and dedicated public servant that works very hard every day to make our city a great place to live. He is not trying to stop the tea party, and from my understanding has worked hard to accomodate the organizers. Second, our city functions with a Council-Manager form of government. As such, the mayor is not responsible for running the city on a day-to-day basis, and I have no authority to try to stop a function like the tea party. Third, a number of people have e-mailed nasty comments about our city and our city government--Burleson is a great place to live, work, learn and play. The members of our City Council and staff are concerned with one thing only--doing what's right for our citizens. If you come to Burleson I think you will agree it's a great place, and I hope you spend some time in some of our great stores and restaurants--you might want to check out our "Old Town" area.

By the way, I have read and studied our Constitution--I've even taken an oath to preserve, protect and defend it. I take that oath very seriously.

Sincerely,

Ken Shetter

Mayor of Burleson, Texas

Just thought you should know...

Respectfully,
Dennis Kirkland
twitter @dkirkland

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

House Bill 45

2009-02-28T00:09:00.003-06:00

Here is an email that I received from a friend of mine:

Very Important for you to be aware of a new bill HR 45 introduced into the House.

This is the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009.

We just learned yesterday about this on the Peter Boyles radio program.

Even gun shop owners didn't know about this because it is flying under the radar.

To find out about this - go to any government website and type in HR 45 or Google HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009. You will get all the information.

Basically this would make it illegal to own a firearm - any rifle with a clip or ANY pistol unless:

•It is registered

•You are fingerprinted

•You supply a current Driver's License

•You supply your Social Security #

•You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of their choosing

•Each update - change or ownership through private or public sale must be reported and costs $25 - Failure to do so you automatically lose the right to own a firearm and are subject up to a year in jail.

•There is a child provision clause on page 16 section 305 stating a child-access provision. Gun must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18.

They would have the right to come and inspect that you are storing your gun safely away from accessibility to children and fine is punishable for up to 5 yrs. in prison.

If you think this is a joke - go to the website and take your pick of many options to read this. It is long and lengthy. But, more and more people are becoming aware of this. Pass the word along. Any hunters in your family - pass this along.

Peter Boyles is on this and having guests. Listen to him on KHOW 630 a.m. in the morning. He suggests the best way to fight this is to tell all your friends about it and "spring into action". Also he suggests we all join a pro-gun group like the Colorado Rifle Association, hunting associations, gun clubs and especially the NRA.

This is just a "termite" approach to complete confiscation of guns and disarming of our society to the point we have no defense - chip away a little here and there until the goal is accomplished before anyone realizes it.

This is one to act on whether you own a gun or not.

If you take my gun, only the criminal will have one to use against me. HR 45 only makes me/us less safe. After working with convicts for 26 years I know this bill, if passed, would make them happy and in less danger from their victims.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.45:

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/show

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45

Please... copy and send this out to EVERYONE in the USA ...

Respectfully,
twitter @dkirkland

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

2009-02-17T22:02:00.002-06:00

Last night my wife's dog Samson was hit by a truck and had to be put down. We got Samson from a shelter a couple of years ago saving him from the needle. He is best decribed as large, goofy, and lovable with a head the size of a Volkswagen.

Posted via web from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Old Ultimate Bootdisk 4 Windows?

2009-01-29T12:25:00.001-06:00

I keep about 10 of theses in my office to help with every thing form virus/spyware removal to re-imaging full labs and I have recently ran into a problem with Avira's AntiVir program not updating correctly. It seems this program all though free, requires a licence file(hbedv.key) to update the virus def. file. Here is a link to the updated .key file

http://dlce.antivir.com/down/windows/hbedv.key

Next I had a problem with downloading the update multiple times in the same room (this this is several Megs). To fix this, I found the update link to get the file it downloads:

http://dl1.avgate.net/down/vdf/ivdf_fusebundle_nt_en.zip

Finally, I started having problem with Antivir grumbling that the virus def file was corrupt and found that the defs were for a newer version of the program. Here is another work around:

Prep Work:

Download the current version of Antivr to a clean computer.

Use 7zip to extract the .exe file to a folder

Rename the basic folder to antir (optional) and copy to a USB drive or a network drive

Download the update file above

Boot up a computer with UBD4wWin disk and use the Antivir on the USB drive.

BTW here is the update to the Adaware program on the Disk:

http://download.lavasoft.com/public/defs.zip

This stuff works in a pinch, but I would advise you to update you UBD4Win iso soon. And for those that are scratching your heads asking what I am talking about, go here:

http://www.ubcd4win.com/

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

No Taskbar, Desktop Icons... Nothing.

2009-01-16T10:23:00.001-06:00

Haven't seen this problem before...
A computer had a few viruses and some spyware, but when I removed them the computer starts up and can not start explorer.exe. I could get to a blank desktop, but there was not a start menu or desktop icons. I had to do CTRL-ALT-DELTET to get to the task manager and run anything. I was able to get to every thing I needed except explorer.exe which would give me an error about not being able to find it - DANG.

I ran all the fixes I could find an still was not able to get it to work. in desperation I tried the following and both worked but I would suggest the second method:

Method 1:

First, go to c:\windows and rename explorer.exe to zexplorer.exe and try to launch it. If you get your desktop back, then go to regedit and change

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon to zexplorer.exe

This would work but I was not comfortable in having to change the file names to get it to work.

Method 2:

Open regedit and delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\explorer.exe then restart the computer.

Explorer.exe should start up when your computer comes back up.

Of course before doing either of these, you need to make sure that you have removed all viruses and spyware from your computer.

Good luck!

twitter @dkirkland

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

I am an Idiot

2009-01-08T18:48:00.001-06:00

OK, so I spent a couple hours fiddling with a project that should have taken a few minutes. The kid got a PSP for for Christmas and wanted to put some music on it. No problem... Export her iTunes Playlist and use a script to copy the files...hmmm if was only that easy. I have a batch file that will read a txt file and use it as an input for something else that works great, but I did not realize that the (whatever.txt) line had to be different for xcopy. Also, the txt file contained "fullpath\2\whatever.ext" one on each line and in quotes. Here is what I finially had to do to get it to work:

FOR /f "tokens=*" %%X IN ('type fullpath\2\whaterver.txt') DO (XCOPY %%X dest\ /y)

The TYPE statement is manditory! It will not work with out it.
Have fun!
-
Respectfully,
twitter @dkirkland

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Its Christmas in Texas

2008-12-25T01:38:00.001-06:00

Well, it's Christmas time again and I found the PERFECT song for the holidays. Here is a video of Christmas in Houston... enjoy and Happy HO HO HO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhei5sUY3I4

Respectfully,
twitter @dkirkland

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Budget

2008-12-05T09:04:00.001-06:00

It has been about a month since I posted on my quest for financial freedom and about two months since I started my budget... I have to say it is going better then I expected. I have been able to pay off 2 credit cards (low balances) and move those payments to the next highest one on the list. I have also started treating the money I need to pay property taxes as a revolving monthly payment due and putting in my savings account. I see no reason not to make a little interest off money I have to pay the government. I am still working on my Emergency Fund... This seems to be the hardest to get started. I think once I pay off a couple more cards it will be easier to contribute.
With Holidays coming so soon after my decision to become fiscally responsible, I am glad to report that with the help of my every loving and infinitely patient wife we have agreed to not over spend and adjusted our Christmas list accordingly. This means only spending on the kid, niece and nephew this year (sorry Grandpa) and asking that the family not spend anything on me. By this time next year I expect that I will have a tidy little sum in place for gift giving. Yes, it is marked as a revolving monthly payment (% of yearly take home divided by 12) in my budget to be activated after my Emergency Fund gets to a certain balance. Wish me luck... I will need it.
By the way for whatever reason I did not include a link to a page that I found most helpful in starting my budget it is The Financial Page Created and maintained by Keith Rawlinson. Please, if you have a few minutes, stop by his site it will be well worth your time. It has saved me several hundred dollars already!

Posted via email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish

Replacing Notepad.exe with Notepad2.exe

2008-11-21T11:57:00.001-06:00

I do not like notepad.exe... It will not behave the way I think it should so I replaced it with something better: Notepad2.exe
Hare are some of the features:

  - Syntax highlighting: HTML, XML, PHP, ASP (JS, VBS), CSS,
    JavaScript, VBScript, C/C++, C#, Resource Script, Makefiles, Java,
    Visual Basic, Pascal, Assembly, SQL, Perl, Python, Configuration
    Files, Apache Config Files, Batch Files, Diff Files
  - Drag & drop text editing inside and outside Notepad2
  - Basic regular expression search and replace
  - Useful word, line and block editing shortcuts
  - Rectangular selection (Alt+Mouse)
  - Brace matching, auto indent, long line marker, zoom functions
  - Support for Unicode, UTF-8, Unix and Mac text files
  - Open shell links
  - Mostly adjustable

Below is a batch file I found to help speed things up (Wish I could remember where I found it to give credit) in replacing notepad. You will notice that notepad2 has been renamed and is in the folder c:\notepad. Also you will need to un-hide all system files.
To install just copy the batch file below into a txt file and name it whatever.bat and run it. That's it. Have fun.

@echo off
echo ****You must have Notepad2.exe in c:\notepad and named notepad.exe****
pause
copy /y %WinDir%\System32\dllcache\notepad.exe %WinDir%\System32\dllcache\notepad.exe.orig
copy /y %WinDir%\ServicePackFiles\i386\notepad.exe %WinDir%\ServicePackFiles\i386\notepad.exe.orig
copy /y %WinDir%\System32\notepad.exe %WinDir%\System32\notepad.exe.orig
copy /y %WinDir%\notepad.exe %WinDir%\notepad.exe.orig
copy /y C:\notepad\notepad.exe %WinDir%\System32\dllcache
copy /y C:\notepad\notepad.exe %WinDir%\ServicePackFiles\i386
copy /y C:\notepad\notepad.exe %WinDir%\System32
copy /y C:\notepad\notepad.exe %WinDir%
echo.
echo.
echo Write down the locations after the REG_MULTI_SZ or REG_SZ in case the batch file does not work. If it does not work, you will need to look in the locations from below to find other copies of notepad.exe that are possibly being used to restore the original notepad.exe
echo.
reg query HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup /v "Installation Sources"
reg query HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup /v ServicePackSourcePath
reg query HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup /v SourcePath

twitter @dkirkland

Posted by email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish (posterous)

Ok, I have had it with IIS... Time to install Apache!

2008-11-20T14:25:00.001-06:00

I was reluctant to install Apache because I always thought that it would be too hard. Lot's of fiddly things to install, mucking about with a bunch of text files... the list went on and on, but as it turns out, I was wrong. Just go to http://httpd.apache.org/ grab apache_2.2.10-win32-x86-openssl-0.9.8i.msi (at the time of this writing) and run the msi file. The only change I made was to install everything and point the installer to something like x:\apache (x being any drive you choose) for easy webroot access.

This install will do everything! Unlike the PHP installer Apache will work as soon as the installer is finished. Now the fiddly part that I was afraid of: Getting PHP and MySQL to play nice with it...
Add these three lines to your httpd.conf:

LoadModule php5_module "x:/php5/php5apache2_2.dll"
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

Do a search for DirectoryIndex and make it look like this: DirectoryIndex index.php index.html

That's it! You are done.

Ohh almost forgot if you have set anything to the Inetpub\wwwroot folder in the php.ini file (like upload_tmp_dir or session.save_path), you will need to change it to reflect your new webroot folder:x:\Apache\htdocs

Posted by email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish (posterous)

PHP+MySQL+IIS Install

2008-11-19T15:00:00.001-06:00

Here are the steps that I took to get PHP and MySQL on IIS:

Software Needed:

IIS: Installed on all Windows Servers and can be added to XP Pro via the Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs -> Add Windows Components.
PHP: Can be downloaded from http://www.php.net/ (Be cure to get the Windows Binaries Zip Package NOT the installer package)
MySQL: Can be downloaded from http://www.mysql.com Choose the Community Server download. Also grab the GUI-Tools Administrator while you are there.
IZArc: If you do not have an unzip tool this one is one of the best

PHP Install

Unzip the PHP binaries package (php-5.x.x-Win32.zip) to C:\PHP5 and do the following:

Copy php.ini-recommended to C:\windows\ and rename to php.ini.
Copy php5ts.dll to C:\windows\System32

Let IIS know you have PHP

You have to tell IIS where PHP is and add the extensions:

Open IIS control panel and expand the computer name to reveal "Web Sites" right click to properties.
Click on the Home Directories tab and look for and click on the Configuration button
On the Mappings tab click Add button, browse to C:\php5 and select php5isapi.dll. Then type .PHP in the extension field (Yes, type the period first)
Next go to the Documents tab and add index.php as a new document and move it up to the top of the list.
Add C:\PHP5 to your system Path

In a cmd windows type PATH C:\PHP5; %PATH%

Testing PHP

Go to your webroot folder (C:\Insetpub\wwwroot) and copy the following into a newly created text file phpinfo.php:

<?PHP phpinfo(); ?>

Open a web browser and point it to http://localhost/phpinfo.php You should see the PHP information page. It contains all config variables that are loaded from the php.ini file. If you see this page, PHP is installed and configured.

MySQL Install

Unzip the MySQL file that you downloaded earlier and runSetup.exe

Choose Compete Install and click NEXT till starts to copy files
Choose Configure the MySQL Server now
Pick Detailed Configuration
Select Server Machine
Choose Multifunctional Database
Leave the Default settings for InnoDB Tablespace
Pick Online Transaction Processing
Leave the networking options at the default settings
Choose Standard character set
Check Install as a service and include in to Path
Modify Security settings and choose a new root password
Click Execute to begin the configuration process
Press Finnish

Add a user to test with:

Open the SQL Administrator CommandLine and type the next commands (hit enter after each line)

CREATE USER 'test'@'localhost'IDENTIFIED BY 'test';

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

This will create a user called testwith a password of test

Bringing It All Together

Now we have to let PHP know thatMySQL has been install:

Open the php.ini file (Start ->Run -> php.ini) and either uncomment or add the following:

extension=php_mbstring.dll

extension=php_mysql.dll

extension=php_mysqli.dll

Save the php.ini file and restartIIS

Testing PHP & MySQL Together

Type the following in a text file and name it test.php

<?php

// Let's connect and select adatabase

$link = mysql_connect('localhost','test', 'test')

or die('Couldn't connect to the MySQL Server:' . mysql_error());

mysql_select_db('mysql') ordie('Couldn't Select the Database.<br><br>

The error returned by MySQL says:<br>' . mysql_error());

// See Ya!

mysql_close($link);

This page will comeback with the errors:

Couldn't Select the Database.
The error returned by MySQL says:
Access denied for user 'test'@'localhost' to database 'mysql'

This was just to see if PHP could see the MySQL Server. If you see this error it is install andworking.

Posted by email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish (posterous)

New Test Site

2008-11-14T23:07:00.001-06:00

I have a new test site up for students @ work...
http://students.mumford.k12.tx.us
As you can tell it is still very much a beta site so be gentle with it. :) Off to start my Weekend!

More later...

Posted by email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish (posterous)

Websites

2008-11-13T12:30:00.001-06:00

I have been in a frenzy the past couple of weeks looking atdifferent web templates for a site that I am thinking about. As aTechnology Director of a small school it is hard to find quality technologyresources that I can afford and when none exist, I have to coble somethingtogether. There are several good sitetemplates out there, but I have focused on just two.. Joomla! andWordpress. Below is what I have found...

Rating:

Joomla☺ - for the shininess of it..NOT the install

Wordpress ☺ ☺ ☺ - because it just works.

Joomla!: This is one of the newer finds that was mentioned to me by afellow Tech Director and was eager to try it out. The installation was for the most partpainless, if you are accustomed to white-hot pokers being stabbed in your eye(or else where) repeatedly. Yes, theyhave a web based install method that looks very good. It will walk you through setting up your siteand associating it with a database. Thatpart is easy. Where you start to run into trouble is when you complete all the steps and hit the final Finishbutton. There is a very small message atthe bottom of the page that tells you that setup could not write to theconfiguration.php file while at the very top in large red letter it is tellingyou to completely remove the installation folder.

What appears to be happing is that the Anonymous InternetUser account does not have write access to the file. Fine I can deal with that, give it writeaccess with IIS and every thing is happy right? Wrong… You have to go to the web-root folder andgive it the permission from the security tab!.. Think about this. Is it wise to leave a config file world writable? IMHO - Nope. Then manually edit the file in atxt editor. After you do this you canbring up the page. However, when you login to the Admin interface and try to make more global changes you will not beable to unless you leave the config file world writable. Ohh,and just incase you have tried to install Joomla and wanted to go to the forumsfor help – forget it. They will tell youto check to make sure that the config file is in the correct directory and gothrough the set up again. Or the willmove your post to another forum with out posting a link to where they movedit.

Over all my impression was that the Joomla group is more interestedin eye-candy than making a quality product that works.

Wordpress: I have used word press for quite awhile and havebeen very impressed with the install, support forums and easy of use. There area lot of templates available to set your site up almost any way you want. I know, Wordpress is a blogging suite, but itis not that hard to turn in to a stable and very usable web site. I had one site that I wanted to work as amobile gateway. I looked on Wordpressand found an add-on for it. In 5 minutesI had a site that was accessible to mobile phones. Give it a try, it may surpriseyou.

My over all impression was that Wordpress just works. There are a lot of tweaks that you can do anda lot of templates to use. If you want ano-hassle web site this is a good way to go.

I will be digging out an old web site suite that have usedin the past to give another review soon. It is called Plone and runs on Python and Zope. I need to configure my web server to make itwok so bear with me. From what Iremember it is very customizable and fairly easy to use.

More later…

Posted by email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish (posterous)

Edge Device

2008-11-11T10:14:00.001-06:00

I found a great Open Sourceproduct the other day while looking for a way to monitor me network @ work.. Untangle (UT). Here were myrequirements:

Had to be Open Source (schools have little enough funding)
Should have firewall and IDS/IPS components
Would be nice to have QOS
Must be transparent to my users
Must have good/active user forums
Must be Easy to maintain

I set UT up as a transparent bridge and stuffed it in between my last switchand router where it can see all traffic going into and out of my network. Itested it for a while in my office before deploying it on my network anddecided that I liked the interface. It's been up for about a week now andno problems in production. I will caution you, that is you are going torun it headless, you will need to enable SSH. I know it may soundgoofy, but it didn't occur to me to do it during my testing because I hadaccess to the console but 10 min. after I put it on the network I ~~needed~~ wanted to access something that was not on the webinterface. Also with SSH you can modify(with extensive help from the forum) the default install to add among otherthings nTop, a nifty little program to showbandwidth usage and network usage statistics.

Considering I have nothing more than time invested in thismachine, I would say it serves my needs quite well.

More Later...
--
twitter @dkirkland

Posted by email from Musings, Ramblings and Other Assorted Rubbish (posterous)

Blog Has Moved

2008-08-27T22:40:00.001-05:00

I have moved this blog to another domain. See ya there! Posts will continue to be updated here as well.

Web Site Additions

2008-07-07T09:25:00.004-05:00

I found a couple web site additions I thought were worth telling you about. These are simple enough to use with little or no web design knowledge but are robust enough to satisfy most job demands.

The first is Webpad, read what their site has to say:

webpad is a web-based text editor which gives you access to files from any of the following locations;

Your own computer (via file upload)
The server that webpad is installed on (via direct file manipulation)
Any FTP server (via FTP file operations)
Any website (via remote file requests)
Popular blogging tools (Blogger.com, MovableType, TypePad, LiveJournal, blosxom, WordPress)
Other data sources via a flexible plugin system

It features a simple interface and includes a collection of powerful HTML tools for working with web pages.

webpad is written entirely in PHP (HTML, CSS and JS), and operates in your browser without any need for cumbersome plugins or extra downloads.

This is one of the easiest web editors that I have seen you should check them out if you need an online editor.

Next Podcast Generator, here is what their site has to say about it:

Podcast Generator is a free web based podcast publishing script written in PHP: upload media files (audio-video) via a web form along with episode information and automatically create podcast w3c-compliant feed including iTunes specific tags. It also features a comprehensive web administration.

This is an easy to use solution to distribute podcasts. I simply FTP my audio file to my site and then click one link on the PodGen admin page to updadte my XML page. Then modify the episode information and I'm done.

...I'm a page designer..Who Knew?

2008-06-30T20:42:00.006-05:00

Recently I started going to a new church in town. They are just getting started and were already looking for a web designer. I offered my services to "help out" with who ever they found. UMMM... turns out they found me. I work with hardware not so much with the software side of things, so when I realized what they had in mind I started playing around with some ideas. Turns out that they liked it and I am having a ball. There is not much verbage there yet but we are working on it.

If I am going to do it, I figured this will be the perfect time to find some really good Open Source web tools that are also portable (no install). So far I have used nothing but free programs to create this site. Below is what I have been using:

KompoZer: A HTML editor that replaced NUV. So far the only thing I had trouble with was making the frames page (easy enough with a text editor though)
GIMP: A wonderfully powerful image editor.
FileZilla: A great FTP client.
Audacity: For my audio editing needs.
XAMPP: Local web server to test my pages.
NotePad2: One of the best text editor replacements I have found.
FireFox: The greatest browser on the planet! (ever notice it takes you 3Xs longer to a make page look as good in IE as it does in FF?)

Also, I would be a fool not to mention the wonderful folks at Dynamic Drive for all the cool scripts and stuff

I will try to keep you posted on the more interesting stuff.

Too Much Stuff...

2008-06-08T16:06:00.003-05:00

I have been overloaded with stuff to do. It seems that every time I turn a round I have forgotten to do something that I promised someone that I would do. I just couldn't keep up with every thing. That is until I found this little template. This is a 'pocketmod' -ish style print out that can be edited with Word and folded into an eight page book that will fit in almost any pocket. This thing is great for those of us that require a little low tech every now and then.

I couldn't see spending money on a day planner that I would be locked into for ever or worse stop using after a while - and I enjoy the idea of doing it myself. I took the basic layout of this template and designed my own to fit my needs. It was easy, cheap, and I learned a few things as well. Now I am ready to join the masses that have decided to "Get Things Done".

Here is a copy of what I came up with... ToDoTemplatenopic.doc

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAHHH!!!

2008-05-07T11:08:00.003-05:00

So I get to the office this morning and we have NO INTERNET!! (First sign of a bad day) Between answering calls asking me if I knew we had lost our internet connection and actually working on the problem, I'm informed that Embarq is here and is ready to up grade our phones... AND that the phone system will be down for "a while." I have to take this as "We have the updated system installed but why is it not coming back up?"

OK, Current state of affairs:
Internet connection: up
Phones: MIA
Phone Techs: @ Lunch

Training Videos

2008-03-18T12:07:00.005-05:00

If you are like me, you probably have a few hundred people trying to get your attention at the same time, and all of them are thinking that their problem is the one you need to work on first. Fortunately, some of these users have the same problem or it is a problem that you have seen before. In these cases you may be well server to create a training video distribution system. Training videos are very easy to create, convert and distribute if you have the right software.

Here is a list of the software that I use to make my video files. You may know of better ones, if so, let know! These are all OpenSource and FREE to use:

CamStudio
This the main video capture program that I use. It does a great job recording what is on your screen. It can do voice overs while recording, pop-up info clouds, and highlight your mouse for high visibility. If you would rather not have to deal with an AVI file, it can also record to Flash.

SUPER
Is a program that handles video conversion of the .avi files from CamStudio to .mov files so I can use them in iTunes. I am sure it can do more but that is all I need it to do at the moment. It has "drag and drop" file importing and will take an AVI created with the Microsoft1 Video codec that is 857MB and convert it to an 8.61MB MOV file encoded with DivX. (Real numbers!)

PodProducer
Is an audio mixing program that can handle multiple audio inputs such as MP3s, and WAVs and combine them with your voice via the microphone. It has queuing capabilities, audio level control, and instant play buttons that you can configure as well and the ability to
upload it strait from the program interface.

Basically, if you can see it on screen or have to tell someone howto do it, it can be captured with these programs and distributed to your users. I am getting rather long here, so I will save that for later missives...

It's Been A While...

2008-03-08T22:43:00.003-06:00

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I hope to rectify this in the coming weeks. I have a few new (To me!) topics that may be of interest to those that work at school districts:

Creating tutorial videos for employees and how to distribute them for FREE.

Creating a podcast entry in iTunes for a LOCALLY created and used podcast.

An interesting use for iPods in schools.

Other truly useful Freeware programs.

That's about it for now...

A peaceful Sunday...

2008-01-14T20:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday my family and I went to my father-in-law's house to hang out and ride horses/4-wheelers. Now you have to bear in mind what this entails ... Getting everyone ready. Hooking up the horse trailer. Loading the 4-wheeler and (The freshly groomed) horse into the trailer, loading our "house horses" (4 year old rotties) in to the back of the truck; THEN wrangling the goat (Who thinks the horse is mamma!) back in to the pasture while loading all the tack. But I digress...

We made it safe, happy and ready to ride. It was nice to see my father-in-law!

The UK and Microsoft

2008-01-11T15:20:00.000-06:00

It looks like the UK education agency has an issue with Microsoft...
According to this page at least.

Thanks for the heads up Phil!

The Meeting is Set!

2008-01-11T12:04:00.000-06:00

I am still working out the finner technical details, but the date and place of our meeting has been set. I hope to have about 20 people show up, but we shall see. Patrick tells me he is excited about this because it is a new take on an old process. It seems that he is liking the idea about avoiding the purchase of MS CALs by using an X-server to authenticate against. More details soon!

Planning

2008-01-10T23:27:00.000-06:00

I had a call today from Patrick, he wants to push back the meeting till the first of the month. It seems if we can accommodate this he can get a SE to come to the meeting that may be able to go into more detail about the server and setup in a bi-computer environment... We shall see.

Can't Please Everyone

2008-01-10T11:51:00.000-06:00

I don't think that I have mentioned this before, but I work at a small school district in Central Texas. What this means is I am continually baffled by the goings on of the typical student mind. It is amazing to watch the thought process and see where those thoughts take them. For instance, I was working on a student computer station the other day when I came across the search history of the browser. It seems that there is a student here very upset with me because after trying to get to several blocked sites, and proxies this student decided to search for "gay fat computer teacher that blocks web sites." I can only assume this student meant me as I am a rather joyfully rotund individual and I do block websites, however, I am NOT a teacher. My wife and I got a good laugh out of it because it lets me know that my new web filter is working... apparently pretty well. Just remember if someone is mad at you at work, it may be because you are doing a good job!

Just a note before bed time

2008-01-09T00:33:00.000-06:00

Here is a very informative article from the folks over at lifehacker's Geek To Live that deals with PC - Mac Compatibility.Check it out, you may learn something... I did

Thanks Life Hacker!

Phase One Almost There...

2008-01-08T16:43:00.000-06:00

Ok, so when last we left I was rambling on about hoping to get Macs with good Vistas or at least a lot of eXPerience. Well I have been talking to Patrick at the Apple National Education Center and have been assured that there are ways to accomplish the primary goal! In fact there seems to be at least two ways to do this:

One is the use of of the third-party software, Parallels, to start a virtual Windows session to run your Windows applications. On the plus side if you have a problem with the windows portion you could just push a new Windows image file out to the computer.

The second is to use what the Mac people call BootCamp which is already apart of the Mac OS. This solution will require that the user restart the computer in question and choose which OS to use. As a foot note, David, an inside Systems Engineer at Apple, told me that there is even a FREE boot manager that could be loaded so that the computer will boot into a GUI and present the user with a Choice via two buttons on the desktop! While this seems the easy road he did caution me to consider the roll-out process. It seems that to get an image of this computer I will need to use third-party software (Casper... I think) because of the NTFS partition. This has all the hallmarks of a good decision and I will probably follow this path.

Next in line is the server options... Again Patrick and David were there to answer my initial questions. First and foremost is the burning Question about whether or not we can control/manage windows computers from the Xserve. The answer is a resounding yes. Through the use of OpenDirectory and other OpenSource software it is possible to talk to Active Directory.

My plan is ambitious, but I hope to be able to pull it off... I want to completely remove AD from my network and use the Mac servers to authenticate against for all computers and have the windows servers regulated to very specific job rolls in the hope of eliminating the need for CALs.

Next step.. "The Meeting" with the Mac people. I hope to have more information on this tale in 2 weeks or so. Until then, I will more than likely have something else to say about something.

A peaceful co-existence

2008-01-07T23:15:00.000-06:00

When you think of Computer Labs what comes to mind? Row upon row of new Dells, or shiney new HPs, or are you adventurous and dream of a room full of Macs? Here I will try to chronicle the evolution of the birth of one computer lab as it forms into a homogeneous collection of Mac computers with a clear Vista or at least a lot of eXPerience. It may be a fruitless journey, but it will be interesting!
More to come...