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I don't like the label "conservative." I'm not a Republican. Those are easy labels. This isn't Republican vs. Democrat. This isn't conservative vs. liberal. This is individual freedom vs. government control. I'm rethinking my grassroots approach based on this line of thought. I also believe that any political discussions I have going forward will ask the other person to explain the morality of their position in terms of individual liberty. This is not my team is better than your team. It's not Red vs. Blue. Do you support individual liberty?
Do you advocate the right to private property?
How passionate are you about Freedom of Religion? Speech? Press/Writing? If you're a self-described liberal, do you really believe in individual liberty? If you're a conservative, do you really believe in limited government? You decide: individual freedom, or government control? It's that simple. |
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No brainstorming meeting this coming holiday weekend, few meetings on the calendar, and Tamara in California until late Thursday night. Full speed ahead on development... We had a sales call earlier this week for 247. Recently, I'd made the decision to begin a re-write of the core of the technology, which would make it more flexible. All very cool, but we need something available for sale this month, frankly. It looks like we might have our fourth or fifth customer by the end of the month. I decided, after making the core architecture changes in the data schema, to give them what they need for now and after that's done, I'll get back into the re-write. So I'll likely have the wrap-up of what we're calling v1.0 done by the end of the weekend, leaving testing and refinement to be done through next week. Then the work on v2.0 begins. My personal goal: two or three sales per month through the rest of the year. Still learning what the marketplace thinks. I love that part. Deep listening required... that's where the secret sauce can be made. Is my team up to it? We'll find out :) Oh, and this was my rendition of last Sunday's brianstorming session:  After thinking it through further, the left side is where the grassroots lives. The right side is where the politicians live. To the very left of the graphic, that's where the self is. Just to the right of that is where we meet and interact with others. It's at this juncture that the various talents and abilities of people get involved. That's the hard part. That's where the secret sauce will be made - or lost. |
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Nothing Serious in Connecticut |
 Really... do we want these people mandating "solutions" for us? |
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Phillip, who hails from England, says this: America is still an idea, and needs to be written about. The world hates America because it is still an idea. America is whatever we want it to be - unlike Europe, [America] breathes unrestricted by doubt and genuflection. Generally speaking, in the rest of the world anything is possible. In America, meanwhile, anything is probable. If you take a moment to consider what he's saying, from across the pond America seems to him to be a bastion of rebellious irreverance, a place where individual achievement is likely.He follows it up with this: It is no coincidence that the two most hated nations on Earth - America and Israel - both belong to the realm of ideas, of idealism. Israel certainly doesn't bow before any nation. Self-confident enough to pursue its own self-interest, Israel gives the world the finger when it needs to do so.America used to be like that. Then Obama came along and instead gives successful Americans the finger rather than the world. Which pretty much sums up why so many of us are pissed at him. America ought to celebrate my success with me. If it doesn't, then to hell with any detractors, no matter how presidential they might be. |
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 Eighteen people, fifty-two ideas, six categories, and one heart to restore liberty in America. |
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Pictures of Late, with Comments |
A couple of days ago, Tamara and I went for a walk in our favorite cemetary. It has some significance for us because it was a few blocks from her house when we were dating, so we often took Dochas for a walk through it. Amidst lots of good conversation about life and death, it was one of the ways in which we got to know each other and became the best of friends. In fact, it was on our way to the cemetary that I first held her hand. So, when we went back there last week, we took our dogs with us. Mojo, who seems to be making his debut here on beatcanvas, wasn't sure what to make of the pond or the geese near it. Here he is, running back to us, deciding that the fowl and the water weren't really his thing.  The Dorrells, Charles and Jeri, had to have it their way, right to the very end. (Tamara and I appreciated their uniqueness...)  Driving home, we saw this billboard of Lou Reed, declaring his geekness for art.  Now, this is a problem with some marketing companies. That billboard, and others like it around town, tell you absolutely nothing of what they advertise. In fact, I would bet that only about 5% of the population - if that - would even know that it was Lou Reed. What's the point, even if you get that Lou Reed is a geek for art? Well, down in the lower right corner, which you really can't read from your car unless you literally stop to read it carefully, is this:  igeekthelibrary.org Get it? Yeah, whatever. This is where some marketing company came up with their slick campaign, hired a bunch of celebrities (Lou Reed, Brian Denehy, and others I don't know the names of), took cool pictures, and promoted the beauty of the campaign above the purpose of the message. Further... it's not even igeekthelibrary.org. That takes you to some cybersquatted domain. No, the red "i" in the lower right-hand corner is not an "i" at all. I'm not sure what it is. The correct domain is: geekthelibrary.org Because of the red lettering in the "Igeekart," it suggests that the red line near the web site name is part of the domain name - but no. It's just kind of there. I guess. Anyway, if the goal is to drive more people to the library, I'm a tad skeptical of its efficacy. Then today we rode almost 30 miles on our bikes to Gray's Lake and Cumming, Iowa. We discovered once we arrived in Cumming that a biker was run off the road by a fella in a white pickup and killed. Rough... And then on the way back, we saw this tree:  It's August. Leaves are changing already. Today's high was 67°. Global warming? No, no... global cooling. Al Gore needs to update his slideshow. And then tonight, it's the Sunday brainstorming session for us in the conservative grassroots. A local commercial real estate owner with some vacant property is giving us office space to use for our meetings - for free!    No doubt he's being deeply compensated for his gift by insurance companies. I mean, why else would anyone give of their resources to help restore liberty in America? |
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Among other things she is best at, I married the best cook in the world. Tamara grilled halibut with cajun seasoning and mango salsa tonight. She served it over a thin bed of grilled hatch peppers and grilled peaches.  Every man on the planet should be jealous of me. Hell, every woman on the planet should be jealous, too. Because that dinner was amazing. Just sayin'... |
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I've been saying for quite a while that Obama's policies will crush our children with the burden of its cost. Investor's Business Daily makes this very point in its final paragraph: It won't be today's voters who will pay for this error. It will be their children and grandchildren. A local attorney thought I was rude to say, "Love your kids? Fight Obama." But that's what it is. Loving parents don't vote for politicians who increase the burden of debt on their kids. Doesn't matter what political stripe you are. |
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Recently, I took a screenshot of a Craigslist want ad that the left is using to entice people to join its pro-ObamaCare, "grassroots" movement. You ought to check out Steven Crowder's shoe leather reporting on his job interview with the California leftist "grassroots." Really... go. Click on the link. It's hilarious, and informative. And by the way, for all of my effort in organizing the right-leaning grassroots here in Iowa, as Steven points out in the video, I make $0 in salary. As do the rest of my cohorts. Astroturf this, Nancy. |
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Being self-employed, I get to work from home. My "office" is a make-shift construction every morning that sits in our family room off our kitchen. I take my artist's table, which is foldable (a gift from my very thoughtful wife), put it on top of the anti-static mat, bring out the chair, and thus set up shop each day.  You can see our dog, Mojo, in the left corner of the picture. Between him and Dochas, our Schnauzer, and the view out the sliding glass door, it's ideal. And then when I let them outside every once in a while, I get to see this:  Now if only my wife could join me at home... of course, I might not spend as much time in my "office," but then - where's the problem with that? |
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