Archive for March, 2008
» My House is Staying Clean!!!
I’ve been following my routine and am happy to say that my house is staying clean! It’s not completely spotless yet, but I am very happy with the results. I would not be embarrassed if someone were to come over and things are looking better each day!
All I’m doing is this:
- Make sure my kitchen is clean each night before I go to bed.
- Wash, dry, fold and put away one load of laundry each day.
- Prepare the night before for the following morning (lunches, lay out clothes, etc.)
- Once an area is clean I pick up behind myself/kids when things are out of place
- When the kids go to bed I spend about 30 - 45 minutes doing one “extra” thing (clean out a drawer, straighten pantry, vacuum, etc.)
- Take one bag each week to Goodwill and/or trash dump
It is making a major difference in my home and is not taking a lot of time. I guess I’ll have to say thanks to FlyLady for emphasizing routines! I’m still not going to subscribe to her though!
No comments» In the spirit of Sunshine Week 2008..
..I’m offering up some stories that I believe warrant “their day in court” and lots of “sunshine” on their cases in the hopes that those who wield power to make changes, make good, correct wrongs; those journalists and investigative reporters among us who choose to show courage in the face of stone-wall ridicule, and speak truth to power. I offer you the chance to become familiar with the stories presented here and challenge you to walk the talk. Shall we proceed, then..
From Dr. J’s HouseCalls: Burned Citizen Journalism. From the blog:
“(B) In the matter of Dr. Mary Johnson v. Randolph Hospital, the facts have been ignored in deference to the continued well-being of people who control (or have “cooperative relationships” with others who control) large advertising budgets. Despite the new “momentum” for “ethics” and public/fiscal accountability in government and government-sponsored programs/institutions (i.e. “non-profits”), the N&R will not even have an “off-the-record” conversation to look at the evidence (in the form of public records and sworn court documents) . . . evidence that screams perjury, contempt and fraud. This story cannot be viewed through the prism of race, so the N&R doesn’t think the crimes committed are “relevant”. As for being “local”, the N&R says it covers Randolph County, but it hasn’t really been back to Asheboro since Jerry Bledsoe handed them their hat over the SCV debacle. We’re relegated to the High Point section now. And neither the patient nor the doctor caught up in this mess is JR’s daughter. So the N&R does not care that “non-profit” hospital officials, entrusted with the public good, betrayed the mission of a federal program, stabbed a physician & public servant in the back, called her a liar for telling the truth, and then lied under Oath to cover their tails & save some money when they tucked them. The N&R does not care that a local DA, abusing his discretion, can kill (before it starts) an independent SBI investigation of the “non-profit” hospital’s unfair business & legal tactics against a medical whistleblower & potential private-sector competitor. Once again, the whole truth does not matter. The REAL story doesn’t get told at all. Result: A good Pediatrician, with strong ties to Greensboro - recruited back to her hometown with federal money . . . a doctor forced one night to make a choice no physician should have to make . . . has been driven of her home out by community “leaders” who abused their power, repeatedly lied, and stuffed their own pockets on the public dime.” [Note: N&R is the Greensboro News & Record]
From REP. Jim Traficant - Can & Will blog:
“Exculpatory Evidence: Sworn Affidavit of Another Witness Pressured to Lie in the Case Against Congressman James Traficant of Ohio.
“Miscarriage of Justice Against Former Congressman James Traficant, Part 1. William Wallace, May, 2006.
“A. Overview As a result of the Department of Justice’s (”DOJ”) flagrant and obvious program of lies, perjury and manufactured false “evidence” against former Congressman Jim Traficant (”Traficant”), many people have asked how they can help to correct this miscarriage of justice.
“The opportunity is now. The method includes the Internet and the national talk radio shows that expose government corruption, e.g., The Drudge Report, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy, Oliver North and Greta Von Susteren at Fox News.
“Traficant stood for the people. He was a major threat to the shadow government which runs the DOJ and the Internal Revenue Service (”IRS”) and had to be discredited and taken out before his citizen friendly bills, which included an overhaul of the DOJ, could be passed.
“This report will be limited to prosecutorial misconduct to “bribe witnesses for testimony,” which under “treaty-standards” set by the Supreme Court in Missouri v. Holland, (1920) 252 US 416, rose to “acts of corruption” that violated the 1996 Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (”Corruption Convention”), 35 I.L.M. 724. This self-executing treaty bound all Federal officers, including prosecutors, to their terms. Executive Order (”E.O.”) 13107 commanded their compliance, as this treaty made the offering or accepting of “a thing of value for testimony” a crime under the anti-bribery and graft statutes. (See 18 U.S.C. ” 201(c)(2) to 224)
“The prosecutor, Assistant United States Attorney (”AUSA”) Craig Morford was proscribed from pressuring, intimidating and bribing witnesses for false testimony which also violated the obstruction of justice and witness-tampering statutes that served the Corruption Convention. (See 18 U.S.C. ” 1503, 1512)
“To support and prove Traficant’s allegations, he has audio tapes and affidavits available on almost all witnesses against him, all affirming they were coerced and intimidated to lie against him under extreme duress from the DOJ. Traficant demonstrated uncanny insight into preserving his evidence by placing it in the Congressional Record during the months of May, June, July and August 2002. It is waiting for investigators to dig out and prove this miscarriage of justice. “
» Decisions reduce complexity
My grandson Luke (4) is actively working out the cause-effect relationships that govern his world. He recently told his mom, “I need to drink more water, I’m constitrated“. Beyond the humorous combination of constipated + concentrated, he had discerned that his intake of water had an effect on his body. He was thinking about cause and effect.
We would all like life to be simple. We are driven to make it so by reducing life to a few simple rules:
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If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
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What goes around, comes around
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Seize the day
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Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
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God helps those who help themselves
Each of these describe or imply a certain cause-effect model of life; however, they probably won’t help me evaluate career alternatives, college majors, automobiles or potential mates.
Some folks are shocked when I tell that that there are 270 decisions in the Decision Driven® Life pattern. “Life can’t be that complex” is their response. The truth is just the opposite. Life is a million times more complex than those 270 decisions; there are millions of interactions between what we think and do on a daily basis and the future state of our lives. No supercomputer could simulate all the variables and tell us “I have 17% confidence that eating that double-cheeseburger will shorten your life by at least 3 days.”
Decisions reduce complexity. The supercomputer inside our skulls can frame a decision (a fundamental question that demands an answer or solution) and reduce the number of variables (that are relevant to that decision) to something manageable, perhaps 7-10 criteria or factors that define success in our eyes. We can then estimate the expected outcomes associated with 2 or 3 alternatives and conclude that Path A will produce more joy, wealth, productivity, peace of mind, smiles from God, or relationship quality than Path B or Path C. It typically takes about an hour to think through a decision on this level and then commit to an answer that will carry us for years - through the next season of life.
This would still be hopeless for most folks, if they had to start with a blank sheet of paper, master the skill of framing a decision and defining criteria. That’s why we’ve done the heavy lifting for you already within the Decision Driven® Life pattern. We’ve broken down life into well-framed choices that are loosely coupled to the other decisions, so you can focus on one decision at a time. We have provided the 7-10 criteria (factors, variables) to consider when evaluating your alternatives. With that head-start, it is now possible to manage all the important parts of your life by grabbing hold of these new decision “controls”.
Albert Einstein has been quoted as saying, “Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler“. We think that Decision Driven® Life has done that by reducing the complexities of life to a manageable set of decisions.
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