Emergency Alert System Nationwide Test | FCC.gov

At the Federal Communications Commission's June 9, 2011 Agenda meeting, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett, joined by representatives from FEMA and the National Weather Service, announced that the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) would take place at 2:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) on November 9, 2011. The purpose of the test is to assess the reliability and effectiveness of the EAS as a public alert mechanism. EAS Participants currently participate in state-level monthly tests and local-level weekly tests, but no top-down review of the entire system has ever been undertaken. The Commission, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will use the results of this nationwide test to assess the reliability and effectiveness of the EAS as a public alert mechanism, and will work together with EAS stakeholders to make improvements to the system as appropriate.

Official announcement on the FCC.gov website:

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/emergency-alert-system-nationwide-test

People I stand with

@RANGERP, I don't know who you are or where you are today but from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for serving your country and taking care of us under your watch. God bless your family and good fortunes. Come home safe to us.

I am a 53%-er

There has been an explosion of activity of people claiming to be the 53% of Americans that believe in personal freedoms and taking responsibility of their life in reaction to the Wall Street Protesters 99% theory.

Here is are some links to posts I have seen around the Internet:

Meet America‘s ’53%’ – And They Have a Message for the ‘99%’ Protesters

We Are The 53%

I am a 53%-er – Are you?

Lost Localhost: We Are the |132.5*16/-40|%...

So what about my story?

I am 41 years old and have been working since I was 14 yrs old. My first jobs were news paper deliveries and mowing lawns by pulling the push mower to different neighborhoods. I dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and had joined the US Army Reserves at the age of 17. I went to boot camp in the worst winter that Fort Sill, OK had seen in years, returned home and then joined the US Navy Active duty at 18 yrs old and went to Orlando, FL for a second round of boot camp. (Army was tougher, just saying...)

When I was 24 I left military and returned to the civilian work force as we like to call it in the military. I have done car sales, pest control, fiberglass work, marble work, worked on tug boats as a deckhand in the Louisiana Bayous. When I was 26 I had decided that I was tired of being away from the family and found a job with a local ISP called H&L Telecoms as Help Desk Support. It was here I started teaching myself how to create software and work with technologies that bring this wonderful Internet to your computers.

Since I have started working in the IT industry I have worked with such companies as IBM, ATT, Cingular, Bell South, Bank of America and a select group of students from MIT. Currently I work for a company called BPM Specialists that are sub-contractors with SunTrust Bank.

Any other details about me my family knows and that is where I will keep it.

I close with something I heard my dad say to mom when I was a child; "Even if I have to flip hamburgers, I will always have a job to take care of the family". I pray something I say to my children will impact them as much as what my dad words did for me.

God Bless

The Original Argument

Not only have I read the this book and did massive note taking but I have also bought the audio version of the book so I can listen to the context of the book while I work. If you are serious about understanding what our Forefather's intended with the creation and acceptance of the US Constitution then this book will give you incredible insight of the Forefather's "Why".
 

Ephesians 6:12-17

Over the past few days these words have had a huge impact on my life. Some events have occurred recently in my life where these words have come to my aid in my struggles in understanding what I am dealing with in life. I offer these words to everyone who are struggling with difficult times. God Bless

The Armor of God

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

YouVersion.com - Mobile App

YouVersion.com - http://www.youversion.com

I started using this application on my Blackberry a couple of months ago and have found it indespensible for keeping up with my daily reading assignments for learning the Scripture. There are many different interfaces for this application so you DON'T have to have a mobile phone to use this. As a matter of fact the web interface is very easy to use and I have not run into any issues with it as of yet.

UPDATE: Just got an email as I was writing this post from YouVersion.com that stated that the application now being used by 9.1 million users. Just the month of August they saw record growth of 900,000 new mobile users. They say that September is expected to be much more.

Thank the Lord that people are are starting to seek His wisdom once again.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

I have been asked a few times about some of the comments I have made in my tweets about "Going John Galt". Here is the book that I think should be required reading for everyone.

I find it astonishing how this book published in 1957 so closely reflects to today's social issues. Please, if you have not done so either read or listen to this book.

Atlas Shrugged on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged

Ayn Rand University: http://www.aynrand.org

Deuteronomy 28:15-68 – Is This Where America Is Heading?

I am on a new journey in my walk with God and I read this in the process of doing my reading assignments of reading the Bible in 90 days on YouVersion.com and this kinda spooked me the other day to the point that I had to revisit it today with the thought of “Is this where America is heading because we have lost our faith in Him?”

I would really appreciate any feedback on this.

Deuteronomy 28:15-68 (New International Version)

Curses for Disobedience
15 However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

20 The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. 21 The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. 23 The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron.

24 The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

25 The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.

29 At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.
30 You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. 33 A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. 34 The sights you see will drive you mad.

35 The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

36 The Lord will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.

37 You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the Lord will drive you.

38 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. 41 You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity.

42 Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

43 The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower.

44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.

45 All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. 46 They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,

48 therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. 51 They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined.

52 They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.

53 Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you. 54 Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, 55 and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. 56 The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter

57 the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.

58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God.

63 Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

64 Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. 65 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. 66 You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.

68 The Lord will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.

As A Parent We Do The Best We Can

I think all parents will agree with me that we do the best we possible can when it comes to raising our children. From providing food, shelter and love to instilling in our children our personal beliefs and values. Often times we mimic how our own parents raised us in our younger years. And our parents too will say “We did the best we knew how to raise you”. But what if there is a vicious cycle of bad values instilled in the family tree? What do you do to break that chain?

My advice would be to reflect on the values you are instilling into your children. Are you teach them principles that are taught in the Bible? Try this for starters; teach them the Ten Commandments first and foremost as these are the standard building block of a good value system:

Exodus 20:1-17 of the New International Version

1 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.

11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

I believe our decisions as adults are strongly influenced by our values that our parents instill in us while we are under their care. As parents it is our duty to ensure that our children have the right tools to make the proper decisions in life. If you are having a hard time with your children maybe it’s time to look in the mirror and ask yourself, does my child respect me as mom/dad? Do they respect others? Do they understand right from wrong? Are they acting selfish or hateful to other children?

Maybe its time to start acting as the authority figure God wants you to be.

9 Principles, 12 Values

Consider these principles and values as a guideline; just consider it is all I am asking.

http://www.the912project.com/the-912-2/

The 9 Principles

1. America Is Good.
   
   
2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.
   
   God “The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.” from George Washington’s first Inaugural address.
   
   
3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.
   
   Honesty “I hope that I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider to be the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington
   
   
4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.
   
   Marriage/Family “It is in the love of one’s family only that heartfelt happiness is known. By a law of our nature, we cannot be happy without the endearing connections of a family.” Thomas Jefferson
   
   
5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.
   
   Justice “I deem one of the essential principles of our government… equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political.” Thomas Jefferson
   
   
6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.
   
   Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of Happiness “Everyone has a natural right to choose that vocation in life which he thinks most likely to give him comfortable subsistence.” Thomas Jefferson
   
   
7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.
   
   Charity “It is not everyone who asketh that deserveth charity; all however, are worth of the inquiry or the deserving may suffer.” George Washington
   
   
8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share m
   y personal opinion.
   
   On your right to disagree “In a free and republican government, you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude; every man will speak as he thinks, or more properly without thinking.” George Washington
   
   
9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.
   
   Who works for whom? “I consider the people who constitute a society or a nation as the source of all authority in that nation.” Thomas Jefferson
   

The 12 Values

• Honesty
• Reverence
• Hope
• Thrift
• Humility
• Charity
• Sincerity
• Moderation
• Hard Work
• Courage
• Personal Responsibility
• Gratitude

The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes

Just wrapped up with this wonderful book.  Was a huge eye opener to see just how much America is repeating history between the Roosevelt  era to the Obama era.  This is a very huge “MUST READ” to understand where most of this Progressive movement was derived from. I look for comments on books I should follow-up with.

Words of Advice From a Father

As my eldest daughter has left home, I wanted to just give her a few pieces of advice in an email.  Here is some of what I wrote to her:

No matter how much someone craps on you, look them back in the eye, smile at them and tell them in a sweet voice that you care for them in some way.  In other words, kill them with kindness.  BUT if the relationship does not seem to be getting better, know when to cut your losses and move on in life.  Some people are hard to befriend and life is too short to dredge on with trying to establish a relationship with them.  But be sure that any bridge you decide to burn will not come back to bite you later in life.

We only have one life to live so live it honorably and be respectful of the people around you.  Always look out at the traffic passing you by and reflect on how each car has a person with their own lives, troubles and blessings.  This will keep you from feeling alone in the hard world you are about to venture out into. 

Take time to reflect on yourself, try to look inward when something does not go the way you want it to. Learn how to take criticism from yourself and others, but learn not to doubt your instincts as this is your most powerful tool.

Choose your heroes and peers wisely and look for positive mentoring from them. Surround yourself with the people that you feel you would like to be, as this will be positive reinforcement on who you will become.

With that always remember that God gave you two ears, two eyes and one mouth.  Listen and read more than you talk.  Listen to what people are saying and take in everything around you.  Try to never miss out on things that go on around you as you might miss that split second in time that will turn your life for the better or worse. 

Although its comforting to read fantasy literature, balance your reading out with non-fiction, educational and motivational information.  Always, always try learn something new, because if you ever feel like you know everything, then you really don't know much.

Broaden your vocabulary.  It has been found that the more words a person knows and use in their vocabulary the more successful they will be in life (silly but true). Try to stay away from sailor talk and learn to use un-offensive words to make your point.

And finally, learn from your past mistakes and acknowledge your successes.  We all sin and make mistakes.  Look for forgiveness and learn from what you have done.  When we fail, we learn.  That is how I learned how to write software.  I would try something new, it would blow up and then I would try to figure out why it blew up.  This is how I learned to program computers.  I educated myself from my mistakes.

Love Dad

Looking for Inspiration

I look mostly to God for inspiration, but there are times when we as people don’t see his inspiration when He shows it to us.  I look to history, current events or the people around me to find inspiration outside of God’s word in the Bible, because I believe that He teaches us by example most of the time.

Sometimes when I am feeling down and/or frustrated about something in my life, I like to visit a website called Ted.com.  Ted.com is a site filled with videos of people sharing their stories, feelings, beliefs and ideas.  We have to look for inspiration when it does not come looking for us.  This, at times, is the only way we can truly see God doing his handy work.

I encourage you that if you are looking for a three to five minute story to get your day started, a place I like to visit (I know there is more than this site) is the following:

http://www.ted.com <- look to the left navigation and choose your word of the day.

When to Care About What People Think About You

Okay God I am having a moment.  Normally I don’t care about what other people think about me but when You hit me upside the head and tell me to pay attention I do.  It is just really difficult when I figure out that people that I thought loved me and cared about me simply paste on a smile and pretend to enjoy my company.  So help me figure this out, let’s reflect:

Is it because I don’t fit in socially with their thought process or agree with their values or beliefs?

Is it because I am bald or because I have hair on my chest?

Is it because I am short and stocky or maybe just a little over weight?

Is it because I have blue eyes?  Big feet?

See I don’t understand why people who I want to have a relationship with have such a hard time hanging out with me.  I mean, is my dad right when he says I am too uptight and I need to relax more?

Is it because I don’t like to drink?

Oh hey, maybe its because I don’t like doing yard work or that I don’t like to do work around the house to make it more shiny then the other homes in my neighborhood.

Is it because I smoke?

Oh I know, its because I am still driving a minivan at the age of 39 and that is just un-cool.

Wait, is it because I develop computer software for a living and/or that I play computer games with my kids?

See I don’t understand why I feel so alone when I don’t want to play the social game of pretending to be someone or something that I am not.  I have values and beliefs that other people find disturbing.  But to be honest I am a very funny and an outgoing person.  Sure I can be a little over the top with my jokes and humor but that’s just who I am.  Up until my mother took her life, my humor is what made my mother happy.  She would look forward to the phone calls from me I made her laugh with my insanity, I gave her a way to dump her frustrations and concerns as I would listen and them make her laugh at what made her upset.  I know You know this, but I was her sunshine, I brought her laughter and warmth in her cold and lonely days of depression that she went through.  I miss her.

I digress.

See God, I feel that this is who You made me to be.  Happy, outgoing, excitable, humorous, loving, intelligent, hardworking, self motivated and honest.  So why don’t people like to be around me?

I know I have room to improve as a husband and father, but don’t we all?  I mean nobody is perfect when it comes to raising children or making your soul-mate happy,  but I really try to pay attention when You throw lessons my way.  I work to support my family not because I want to.  I try to encourage and motivate my children and wife with logic and beliefs that I try to derive from Your teachings.  Although maybe I don’t spend enough time with You and maybe I only look to You when things are going bad, I always try to push myself to do the honorable thing and ask myself the question, “What would the Son of God do in this situation?”.

So why is it that I have a hard time making friends?  Am I being too picky?  Am I picking the right people to befriend?  Am I looking in the wrong places for people to associate with?  God, I have no one to talk too besides You and my wife, but she can only take so much of me at times.  God I know You have a plan for me and I believe that You also have plans for my family, it can just get so lonely at times when I try not to care what other people think.  I am so tempted at times to try to just “fit in”.

Sometimes I think I am over analyzing what happens in my life and what happens around me.  Am I looking too hard for Your lessons?  Please let me know.

In closing, God, please bless everyone that I come in contact with every day and watch over them in their trials and tribulations in these hard times of the world.  Please listen for their cries when they also feel lonely and need someone to talk to.

Thanks for listening.

Amen!

Definition of Honorable

In case anyone was wondering what a true definition of “honorable” is here is what Dictionary.com has. 

*NOTE*: There is more details on the web page, please click the word for a link to the page I reference.

Honorable

–adjective

1. in accordance with or characterized by principles of honor; upright: They were all honorable men.
2. of high rank, dignity, or distinction; noble, illustrious, or distinguished.
3. worthy of honor and high respect; estimable; creditable.
4. bringing honor or credit; consistent with honor.
5. (initial capital letter)
1. (used as a title of respect for certain ranking government officials.)
2. British. (used as a title of courtesy for children of peers ranking below a marquis.) Abbreviation: Hon.

Now take that definition and try to pick someone that is in the public spot light and see if it applies to them.