Are You the Inn Keeper at Christmas?

Let's face it, the Holidays are full.  They are full of hectic trips to the mall to get that perfect present for a loved one.  They're full of last minute runs to the grocery store for that ingredient you forget every year.  Then there's the wrapping, the decorating, the card sending, the cleaning to prepare for friends and family, and on and on.  Yes the holidays are full of alot of great things.  The question I'd like to pose is this: is your holiday also full of the most important good thing?
When Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem they found the local inn and were told that it was completely full.  In fairness to the inn keeper at that time it is doubtful that he knew who he was talking, so we can't blame him for providing them the manger as a last resort.  Unfortunately we can't give ourselves the same benefit of the doubt when we give Jesus the left over room of our holiday.
I am not trying to say that the gifts and the time with family isn't important.  To be sure, we give gifts to remember the wisemen came bearing gifts on the inaugural Christma, and I can only imagine the searching they did to find the right gifts for that occasion.  And family is one of the most vital institutions in our culture and it is important to connect and spend time with one another.  I only want to point out that when it comes to how and why we celebrate Christmas, those things should all be given their proper place and Jesus should be given the highest place and highest priority.  It should always be that way in our live, God first and everything else after Him, but it should be even more apparent on this Holiday.
So wake up early, unwrap the gifts and eat too much all day.  Pile into the car and visit all the stops you have meticulously scheduled to see everyone you should.  If you have a large family like I do, have patience when you give the same answer to a question you've been asked by ten different people.  But most of all keep Jesus first and remember that we give gifts to each other not only because of the wisemen but even more so because this event was the beginning of the greatest gift God ever gave to all of us.  Merry Christmas.

Who Really Builds A Business

Who Really Builds A Business?

Recently, our President made the comment that if you are an entrepreneur and own a small business, you didn't build it yourself.  He made the comment in an attempt to show the importance of infrastructure and other government services such as public schooling.  Instead, he gave us a revealing glimpse into his world-view and the role he believes our government plays in job creation and the private sector.
Mr. Obama argues that if it weren't for infrastructure like roads, rail, and ports, then private businesses would not be able to so easily transport goods and services and would therefore not exist.  He also puts forth the theory that teachers are a motivating force that spark the entrepreneurial spirit of kids that go on to become tomorrow's business owners.  I will show that Mr. Obama suffers from an inability to properly assign causality to these issues and how that effects his policy that has restrained growth while in office.
Let's start with the argument that teachers are the motivating force behind entrepreneurs and therefore the U.S. economy.  For the record, my dad is an eighth grade math teacher and I have the ultimate respect for what these public servants do on a daily basis.  However, it is a leap too far to say that teachers are the causal factor in an individual's decision to pursue a business venture of their own creation.  After all, entrepreneurs have existed long before public schooling, and many autodidacts have gone on to be fantastic titans of industry.  Andrew Carnegie did not have a teacher that showed him how to create steel and told him to use it to transform the history of our country and cities across the world.  Steve Jobs wrote to two other entrepreneurs, Hewlitt and Packard, to ask for the parts necessary to build his own computer without the poking or prodding of a teacher.  Don't get me wrong; teachers do a great deal to inspire children and young adults to pursue their dreams and expose them to dreams they may not have even thought of on their own, but they do not create entrepreneurs out of mindless drones.
Now let us move on to the idea that without infrastructure, industry would cease to exist.  Again Mr. Obama is putting the cart in front of the horse here.  Before there were ports, roads, electrical grids, or railways young enterprising men and women came to the new world for a chance to create their own destiny. Let's look at the flow of capital as further evidence of whether the government creates industry or industry supports government and infrastructure.  In order for the government to build infrastructure, they need revenue.  Where does this revenue come from?  It comes from a couple sources; individuals through the individual income tax and businesses through the corporate income tax.  If all the businesses in the U.S. were to board up their doors tomorrow and not employ a single person or sell a single good or service there would cease to be revenue for the government to function.  If the government instead were to tear up all the roads, rail, electrical grids and everything else under their complete control, businesses would adapt and continue to exist.  Would it be a difficult transition?  Yes.  Would it be the end of entrepreneurs?  No.
This doesn't even mention the fact that the government is using capital that was created and accumulated by the private sector in order to create the infrastructure that exists today.  Before the government built roads, pioneers cleared paths and used horses and other beasts of burden to transport goods.  Before airports were even dreamed of, the Wright brothers used their entrepreneurial spirit to claim the sky as their own.  The private sector has always found a way to meet demands that exist in the market, regardless of whether infrastructure existed or not.  Infrastructure and governments don't create businesses.  Businesses create the capital that allows a government to exist.
I'm a big fan of analogies so I want to give a few that I think show the error in Mr. Obama's line of thinking.  Without medicine, there would be no doctors.  Without machines, there would be no mechanics.  If it weren't for books, trees would disappear from our planet.  It doesn't work in any of these relationships, and it doesn't work the way Mr. Obama asserts no matter how loud he shouts it.
What does it mean for us that we have a President that believes the car drives the driver?  Perhaps the most obvious implication is the role the government plays in our lives.  If our leaders believe they exist only because we allow them to and they thrive because of our success, then individual freedoms, property rights, contract law and all the other necessities of a successful free market are protected.  When we have a President like our current one, we see things like the auto sector failed bailout where contract law is completely nullified in order to serve the interests of a particular group that helped the President gain office.  We see things like the individual mandate where the government says they know what's best for you much like a parent would for a three year old.  We see things like Solyndra where resources are taken from the free market and given to a special interest group that tries to create a product that isn't technologically efficable at a price that the free market wouldn't support.  Perhaps Solyndra would still be in business if every home owner with electricity was required to buy their product.
The issue isn't that Solyndra failed, it is that it failed with money that was given to them unilaterally by a government that took the money from those who created it in the first place.  The issue is that our President believes this is how advances are made in the private sector - only with the help of government subsidies and handouts will businesses succeed.  Only by taxing businesses in order to build more infrastructure will businesses be able to generate larger profits.  Only by exerting more goverment control will we all be free to prosper.
In four months we will choose who our President will be for the next four years.  We will also be selecting our congressmen and senators.  Perhaps more importantly, we will tell our government officials who we think we are and who they are in the causal relationship of society and government.  Do we believe we are subjects that exist because of the benevolence of the ruling government, or do believe that we are sovereign individuals who work, toil, sweat, and bleed to create a better life for ourselves and those we will leave behind and the government exists only because we say it does.

Evolution, God, and exclusive disjunction

All too often in this world we want to define things in a way that fits into a black or white, right or wrong, up or down definition.  When we do this we can fall victim to wrongly using exclusive disjunction in our arguments and decision making.  Exclusive disjunctions place constraints on arguments that may not always be true or necessary.  For example, if it is sunny outside it cannot be raining.  It is sunny, therefore it cannot be raining.  As anyone who has lived in Florida will tell you, it most certainly can be raining while you are getting a sun tan.

If all wrong-headed use of this argument structure were as trivial as the example I gave, there wouldn't be much se in this article.  However, I can't count the number of times I've come across this argument when discussing the existence of God or evolution with someone.  It shocks me how many times someone tries to use the existence of one to disprove the existence of the other, without the slightest concession that both could coexist.  The argument is either "God is real and therefore evolution cannot be real" or "evolution is real and therefore God cannot exist."  It saddens me that people have used this argument in such a way and cheapened the quest for truth of scientists or discarded the omnipotent power of God.

To give a little background on myself so you can judge my biases coming in to this article, I will say that I have been brought up in a christian home my entire life, I believe in God, and try to live my life according to His teachings in the Bible.  I also have a bachelor's degree in microbiology and cell science from the University of Florida and worked in two research labs while I attended the school in Gainesville.
I'm writing this article in the hopes that I can convince someone who has refused to believe in God because they believe in evolution that the two are not mutually exclusive.  And to convince someone who distrusts or refuses to believe scientists and evolution because they believe doing so will discredit the existence of God that they can broaden their horizons and allow God out of the box they've constructed for Him.  Hopefully, this will lead to more constructive conversations about the subject and create tolerance and a quest to know God better.

First, let's look at the evidence of evolution.  We have fossil records that go back tens of millions of years before any evidence of human existence.  The methods used to date these fossils have been designed, tested, and validated by the same process that allows us to harness the power of atoms into usable electricity.  I have no reason to doubt that dinosaurs walked the earth or that life on earth started as single-cell organisms.
Now let's look at how this information fits pretty conveniently into the creation story from Genesis.  We're told the universe was void and all that existed was God and He created the heavens and the earth - sounds like a symbolic rendering of the big bang to me.  Let there be light, separation of water and sky, development of land, vegetation, then animals, and then man - matches up pretty nicely with how scientist explain us coming to be here right?

So here's my point on not putting God into a box.  If you believe that God is truly all-powerful and that His will is greater than anything we can fathom and supersedes anything else, why couldn't God create us by using evolution as the mechanism?  If God is truly who we say He is, doesn't He get to choose His own methods?  Also, believing the Bible is true doesn't take away from our argument here either: nowhere in Genesis does it say "and then some chance mutations took place and God said 'whoops, guess I'll have to do something with that at some point'."  God is the creator, whether natural selection, genetic mutations, or magic potions were his tools, it does not take away from the fact that He is still God.

This isn't post-modernism trying to diminish God.  This is an attempt to allow God to exist inside of science.  Galileo is quoted as saying "Mathematics is the language with which God wrote the universe."  I would argue that all of science - mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, etc. are all the language of God and as we learn more about the inner-workings of our universe it should not diminish our thoughts of God, but instead fill us with more awe and reverence for the being that created such perfect and intricate systems.

What will become of RIM?

Friday, RIM gave investors a triple dose of ad news - profits and revenues missed expectations, Blackberry 10 was delayed (again) and the company announced it will lay off 5000 employees.  Investors responded by hammering the stock price to the tune of a 19% drop.  That brought the company's market value to 3.8 billion dollars, approximately 5% of what it was at its peak in 2008.
There were two possible silver linings to all the bad news - the company still has $2.2 billion in cash and it has no debt.  The question becomes, are dry rooms on a sinking ship worth any price?
RIM told investors that the Blackberry 10 devices will begin to be sold sometime in 2013.  That could mean as early as January or as late as the Christmas shopping season, and if history has taught us anything about RIM's time lines I would expect it to be no earlier than late Q2.  What does that mean for the company?
In the time leading up to the release of BB10 it means the company is going to be hard-pressed to keep that cash cushion from deflating like a cheap air mattress.  The company has already said they expect to spend $350 million in order to layoff those 5,000 employees mentioned earlier.  They have also struggled to control inventory as they consistently overproduce the underselling Blackberry devices.  Revenues dropped 33% in Q2 as a result, and this will continue to worsen as companies become more willing to explore bring-your-own-device polices and even continue to make iOS, Android or Windows 8 their enterprise system of choice.  For a company that values cash-on-hand as much as RIM, they do not seem to have the tools necessary to turn the cash-flow pipeline back on in the short term.
If they do survive until they release Blackberry 10 (and I think they will), the technology may already be obsolete.  That is unless you buy into the thought that RIM would have released something that was an entire year ahead of anything Apple, Google, and Microsoft had they released it this year.  It has been a number of years since Apple has produced a big leap in their iOS (no Siri was not a significant leap no matter how many commercials it does with Samuel L. Jackson).  With reports pointing to a new 4" screen on what should be the iPhone 5, that leap may be on the way shortly.  Google has just released a tablet that runs their Jelly Bean operating system (click here to see my first walk through on my Galaxy Nexus), which builds on the ICS idea of integrating all of a user's devices while also providing a consistent user interface experience and feel.  Microsoft launched, with little fanfare, the Nokia Lumia which is scheduled to receive the Windows 8 update as soon as it is released (probably by Christmas) and is currently running a similar operating system known as Metro.  Windows 8 will be Microsoft's answer to Android's consistent user experience and mobile mentality.  Given that these devices will have at least 9 months to divvy-up the smartphone market, do we really expect that RIM will be able to make inroads where the idea of switching devices and learning a new OS is both cost and time prohibitive?
The other hurdle that RIM has is the trend of product/brand ecosystems started by Apple and copied by Android and Windows 8.  Recently, a Bank of America analyst said he predicts RIM will not be able to effectively create an ecosystem the way its competitors have.  RIM disagrees (as if they could say anything else) but the question is, with the company laying off 5000 employees and struggling t release an already delayed product, who is going to have the bandwidth to work on creating an ecosystem?  If they are unable to create a stand-alone ecosystem, the BlackBerry 10 won't be able to make any inroads in a market where ease-of-use and integration are valued much more than technical specs and features.  It took Google a few years to figure this out as their phones were based on open source coding that allowed limitless customization and functionality, but continued to be less popular than the easy-to-use iPhone and its simple out of the box setup and industrial form factor.  If RIM is slow to create this type of integration, it may be the final death knoll for the company as we know it.
So what is my prediction for the company over the next two years?  At a market cap of only $3.8 billion, and an inability to impress customers, investors, or anyone that isn't an employee's own mother,  I think RIM has two possible futures.
One is a dramatic sell-off of all their current assets such as production lines and patents and a departure to a completely different core competency.  The patents are valued somewhere between $5 and $8 billion which would re-inflate the air mattress for a long enough period that RIM could reinvent itself into a completely different company.  Before you say this is a crazy idea you may want to think back to HP deciding they were going to do this before realizing they were actually decent at their current core competencies.  If Kodak had shifted its focus, could they be a competitor of Corningware in making glass for these high-end devices or even making the cameras for them instead of trying to sell us stand alone cameras that were marginally better than the ones found on our phone+text+email+internet browsing+gaming+etc devices?  A dramatic sell and shift mentality may be exactly what is needed to keep RIM independent.
The other future is the one I personally think has the higher likelihood of happening.  This is the future where RIM is acquired for somewhere between $9-15 billion and is absorbed into another company.  The main mystery in this scenario is: who does the buying?  Apple already makes their own devices, and although they are sitting on an Everest of cash, it seems like a high price tag just to keep a competitor from the table.  I would say Google would make an interesting match since they are both relatively young companies and Google could gather some synergy from RIM and use their production skills to become an OEM.  Alas, Google recently bought a good portion of Motorola's mobile capability which I suspect is for the exact reasons mentioned above, so they're off the list as well.  That leaves us one possible suitor - Microsoft.  The software giant is trying to play catch up in the post-PC world and this acquisition would let them skip a few grades.  Microsoft also has a little experience of their own as a manufacturer with their Xbox devices, so they've already learned some of the difficult lessons from that process that could be applied here.
So there you have it - in 2014 we will have 3 companies, Microsoft, Apple, and Google, all making their own devices and running their own operating system with fully cooked-in ecosystems to house all your pictures, documents, emails, music, and whatever other information you deem to be so vital you can't be without it.  Check back in 2 years and see how accurate I was.

Still not sane

      Sorry for the lack of posts last week - work got pretty crazy and I wasn't able to get in any time to write a post.  With that apology out of the way let's start to catch up.  I have continued the isanity program and results are still pretty tepid.  I'm sure my stamina is up and all kinds of cardio metrics have probably increased.  However, as far as how I look in the mirror, my measurements when I use the tape measure haven't really improved in any visible way, and I have to admit that is a little disheartening.  I probably have not followed the diet plan as exactly as possible but I also haven't been eating anything crazy like fast food or candy every day.  I'm hoping that after this is over I can write that all these things have improved in a big way.    
     To make sure I do everything I can to make this a reality, I have recommitted to making sure that I am only eatig healthy foods and have started to substitute one meal a day with a shake.  I know that it takes a long time for a body to change and I'm just trying to keep that in mind as this journey continues.  I constantly remind myself with trite sayings like "a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step" and "Decide. Commit. Succeed."  I'm also considering adding weight-lifting into my workout plan because I've noticed that there is a serious lack of upper-body strength building.  The plan would be to do the insanity workout in the morning and the weight-lifting after work.  I will keep you all posted on how this works.

For now though - I need to get some sleep and try to get ready for another long day of work tomorrow.  Thanks for checking in on the post and if you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see a post on send me an email or leave a comment on this one.

Fitness Test 2

Well tonight was my second round of the fitness test in my insanity journey, and the proof is in the proverbial pudding.  There was not a single exercise in the eight exercise fitness test that I did not improve in over the course of two weeks.  The first move in the test is switch kicks which is basically hopping from foot to foot and kicking your leg out for sixty seconds.  In my first test I had 85 reps and tonight I finished with 120.  More than just the increased reps I can say that I felt a difference in my breathing and heart rate.  The first time I did the fitness test I was gasping for air at the end of every session and wanted to just die on the spot.  Tonight I still felt winded at the end of every minute, but I was able to quickly level my breathing back to a normal level.  Also, aftwer weighing myself tonight, I have lost two pounds since last week.  So hopefully you have been able to concentrate on how you feel and how your clothes fit and this will give you some hope that the weight loss is just around the corner.

Insanity continue

My journey has continued over the past few days.  Ever since the rest day on Sunday I have gone through 3 sets of exercises.  The good news is, it seems to be getting easier and I seem to be able to stick with Shaun T and his insane moves longer and longer.  The bad news is I still have 6 and a half weeks left of it.

In the spirit of full disclosure I want to share that I have not lost any weight while doing the workouts.  It has only been a week and a half and I didn't expect to see anything drastic, but the fact of the matter is that I weigh exactly the same today as I did when I started.  Earlier this year, I started training for a 15k which I ran in March.  I only mention this because I had a similar experience when I was training for that run.  Over the first couple weeks I actually gained 5 pounds.  I researched it and found that it was normal when you are starting an intense traininng program because your body starts to store glycogen which causes your body to also store more water.
I wanted to bring this up so that you don't lose your motivation if you decide to take on the insanity challenge yourself.  By the time I was done training for the 15k I had lost 6 pounds from my original weight and had dropped a minute and fifteen seconds off my mile pace.  A much better gauge of how you are progressing through the training is to keep a journal of how you feel.  Monitor your energy levels, how your clothes are fitting, how your mood was throughout the workout and throughout the day.  I can tell you that using those metrics has helped me to keep my motivation level high throughout training.  I hope this helps you in your journey as well.

Easter Sunday

No insanity update today - it was a scheduled rest day and it's good because I'd rather talk about something much more important.  Today was Easter Sunday.
This is the day that we celebrate Jesus Christ's resurrection on the third day after his crucifixion. This is the day that makes the other 364 days of the year worth living.  For all the miracles, there were many men in history that performed miracles.  For all the wise teachings of Jesus, there were many men in history that gave us wisdom.  For all the compassion that Jesus showed, there were many men that were compassionate to their fellow man.  Even his death at the cross would be nothing more than a paragraph in a history book if it were not for today.
Today shows us that Jesus was more than a magician.  Today shows us he was more than a wise teacher - more than a man full of compassion.  Today we celebrate that Jesus was God incarnate, who gave himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins, was crucified, died and was buried, and that He rose again.
We give each other gifts on Christmas to symbolize the gifts that the wise men gave to Jesus as a baby born in the manger.  Today we don't give any big gifts, perhaps because we know that they could not even begin to symbolize the gift that Jesus gave us in salvation.

Insanity Days 3 and 4

The journey continues... Yesterday was day 3 of the Insanity program and was my first day of a recovery workout.  The cardio recovery was much easier than the rest of the workouts, but don't mistake this for a rest day.  You will still get your heart rate up and break a sweat, and you will still feel it afterwards.  However, it is a day that allows you to leave without your muscles screaming at the top of their lungs.
Tonight was day 4 and the workout scheduled today was Pure Cardio.  Let me just say that I was glad yesterday was a recovery workout because tonight SUCKED.  I had some doubts about this one when Shaun T said HE was nervous about it, and probably should have watched the DVD before I made the before picture commitment.  The video itself is only 38 minutes long, but it is brutal.  It starts with about a 12 minute warm up which is a bit of a misnomer because it feels like a pretty good workout.  Then you get a 30 second rest followed up by about 5 minutes of stretching that is more like yoga work then the old-fashioned "touch your toes" stretching.  Another 30-45 second break let's you catch your breath before you go into 18 minutes of all out insane cardio.  Normally in these workouts you got 3-5 minutes of hard work before getting a 30 second break, but not today.  Any recovery I got from last night was more than destroyed by the workout tonight.  To give you an idea, I did not see one person out of the 10 or so people in the video who did not need to walk off the floor for a minute just to catch their breath and get some water.
I will say that during the stretch after the workout I could feel that my legs were tighter than 4 days ago when I started the program.  My energy level is higher in the day and I'm starting to get used to the physical exertion that's required in the program.  I'm honestly looking forward to the next 56 days and the after picture moment.
In related news - I am considering taking some home video and posting it on youtube showing a few progressions.  I will keep you posted on whether I actually follow through on this ides.  Also, we have company for the weekend so I probably won't update this until Sunday evening.  Happy Easter and God bless.

Insanity Day 2

Good evening (or morning for those in Australia) everyone!  As you know from yesterday's post, I have embarked on a journey of getting into the best shape of my life by doing the Insanity fitness program by Shaun T of Beach Body.
I did the fitness test and yesterday did the plyometrics workout.  Today the schedule called for Cardio Power and I have to say when I woke up I was not looking forward to it because I was still feeling the effects from last night's plyometric workout.  My lower back was tight, my legs ached, and I really did not want to do much of anything.
With that said, I remembered the promise I made to everyone who read last night's post.  And the thought of my before pictures being posted on the blog were enough motivation to make me lace up the shoes and press play one more time.  I'm hoping that the soreness subsides a little each day to make it a little bit easier to drag myself in front of the tv.
Well, that's all for tonight.  If you are interested in learning more about the Insanity program, feel free to visit beachbody.com and hopefully the good people at Google adsense will post a few ads for them on my page and you can click on those as well.  

My Insanity

Hey everyone,  I know it's been a while since I wrote a post and I've been trying to think about how to change things up a little bit.  I will still write a few blogs based on politics and technology, but for the next 60 days I will be using my blog as my accountability partner.  If you didn't guess yet, I'm going to be doing Shaun T's Insanity workout.  I've done the fitness test and tonight I did the first actual workout - plyometrics.
For those of you unfamiliar with Insanity, it is a high intensity cardio workout that last about 45 minutes.  The workout videos also come with a fitness guide to help you make sure that you eat right to get the maximum benefit.  You follow the fitness guide and do a workout every day for 60 days straight, and you're supposed to transform your body.  Over the next 60 days we will find out.
As an added incentive, I have taken the before pictures and it is my commitment that if I do not finish the 60 days, I will post them here on my blog for all to see.  They will only be up for 48 hours so you'll have to check back frequently to get updates on how the progress is going or to see the before pictures.
I will try to post every day what workout I did and how I felt after.  Tonight was plyometrics, and I won't lie - it kicked my butt like I was a Kansas Jayhawk.  I felt pretty good for the first 15 minutes or so until I realized that was just the warmup.  Part of me thinks Shaun T has to be some type of sadist to ever dream up this routine.
Well that's all for tonight kiddos - hope you'll follow along on my journey or at least check every couple days in the hopes that I have folded and had to post pictures of fluffy Brian on the web.

How the Real Debate Over Contraception Should Have Sounded

Unless you have been living under a rock lately, you’ve undoubtedly heard the controversy started by Rush Limbaugh when he called a female law student a slut and prostitute because she supported the mandate from the White House that would require employers to provide a health insurance plan that covers female contraceptives.  Now let me be clear, because I don’t want to spend my whole post talking about how Rush Limbaugh is an idiot; Rush Limbaugh is an idiot.  Clear enough?  Ok, let’s move on to what I really want to talk about.

This latest outburst by Limbaugh is just another example of how the Republican Party and Republican media fails to effectively frame an argument that otherwise could be a very valid one.  The GOP has an addiction to appeal the moral and religious base when making arguments instead of forming a legitimate argument based on affordability and individual liberty. 

The sad part about this fact is it doesn’t just apply to Rush Limbaugh.  While discussing his views on contraception, Rick Santorum said he didn’t support it because it gives individuals “a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to the way it should be.”  This argument assumes either A. that only unwed women are using contraceptives or B. that the use of any type of contraceptive is counter to the way things “should be.”  It completely ignores that married couples use contraceptives as a way to plan families.  It also doesn’t address the fact that even if it is morally wrong to have pre-marital sex, the government cannot and should not legislate morality.

Let’s now move on to the legitimate argument the Republican Party should have made when this debate started.  The mandate would require that employers have to supply a health insurance plan that would cover contraception regardless of religious belief.  Given that at our country’s most core belief is the freedom of religion, this debate should have been over before it even started.  The idea that the government can dictate anything to a religious organization should repulse us to the point that this mandate should have been a non-starter.

Now let’s look at the individual liberty argument.  Even if the employer were not a religious organization, the government should not be regulating businesses at this level.  Some may argue that government currently regulates businesses with waste disposal requirements and air quality requirements.  The reason these regulations exist is because they directly affect all members of society without the ability for individuals to avoid the adverse effects.  This is not true of the contraceptive argument.  Clearly, there is no legislation requiring that employees choose the insurance provided by the employer.  Although it would be more expensive, individuals who desire a health insurance policy that pays for contraceptives could shop for one on the open market. 

The choices don’t end here either.  Women could look for other options than merely their insurance provider for affordable contraception.  Interestingly enough, the Wall Street Journal reported that Miss Fluke could have purchased her birth control for around $9 a month instead of the $3000 per year that she claimed from a local retail store.  That is the price without any health insurance.  Women could also require that their sexual partner wear a condom like the years before the creation of the birth control pill.  And if none of these options seem viable and a woman still does not want to get pregnant, she could abstain from having sex.  Obviously, the choice of an employer not to provide a health insurance plan that provides free contraceptives does not directly impact the entire society and even fails to impact their own employees in an unavoidable manner.

The icing on the cake could be the affordability argument.  While many on the pro-mandate side would argue that this does not cost the taxpayer any government money, we can see that this just isn’t true.  If the government requires this of all employers, they too need to provide this option for their employees whose wages are paid by tax revenues.  Also, if private companies have to provide this option, they have less money to hire new employees or provide raises.  This, in turn, reduces the wages that are paid by the company and tax revenue collected by the government.  In a time when our government is running deficits over a trillion dollars a year and at least 8.3% of Americans are out of work, this is a mandate we simply cannot afford.

The biggest obstacle the GOP should have faced during this debate was the predictable attempt by the Democrats to cast the GOP as the heartless party that doesn’t care about women’s rights.  This would need to be balanced by the arguments that the GOP believes women should have the right to choose the best contraceptive method for them as individuals and businesses have the same right to choose the best health care options for their employees.  It is not a heartless viewpoint, but one that requires individuals to be responsible for the choices they make, and does not pretend to know the best option for them.  The GOP could even go as far as to say they know the birth control pill was not the option that all women would choose, and that the government was essentially promoting the pill as the best option when this should be a decision made at the individual level with the input of a medical doctor.

Taxes and income inequality.

Tonight, President Obama is going to talk about income inequality and how unfair the tax code is as it stands right now because the wealthy pay less on income that comes from investments.  I'm going to spend a few minutes showing why this is fundamentally untrue and a dangerous stance for our businesses if this fallacy is accepted.
Let's first talk about the differences in how our tax code treats income.  The income that most of us get in our paycheck is what I will refer to as regular income.  The percentage of taxes you pay on this depends on how much money you earn in regular income and can vary from 10% for the lowest earners to 35% for the highest earners.
The income that comes from investments (capital gains and dividends) is treated separately by our system.  If you have held a stock for over 60 days and that stock pays a dividend, it is considered a "qualified" dividend and you pay a lower rate on this income.  This rate is 0% for the lowest two income brackets and 15% for everyone else currently.  Capital gains are similar.  If you held a stock for over a year and then sell it, the profits are considered long term capital gains and are taxed at the same rate as qualified dividends.  It should be noted that any ordinary dividends (stock being held under 60 days) and short term capital gains (stocks bought ad sold within one year) are taxed at the same rate as regular income.
Now at first glance it may seem unfair that someone who held a stock for a few years and made a million dollars on it pays a lower tax rate than someone who earns $35,000 from their job, but let's explore that a little more thoroughly.  First, we should note that any money used to buy stock has already been taxed once.  Therefore, if someone earned $35,000 they would pay 25% on their ordinary income.  If they then invested some portion of that money and sold it two years later for a one million dollar profit, they would then pay 15% on that one million dollars.  It's plain to see that this is not unfair, because they already paid their fair share on their ordinary income and shouldn't be punished for investing in a successful business.
If we go even further into this we can explore what this money was used for during the time it was invested.  The main purpose of stock markets is for public companies to raise money needed to start or build businesses, and in turn, create jobs.  People who buy stock hope that the company will generate profits which will be passed on to them via higher stock prices or dividend payouts.  It is the business profits that are passed on to the stock holder that are taxed at this "lower" rate than regular income.  However, businesses in the United States currently pay 35% in corporate income taxes before any of the profits are paid to shareholders.  So in reality, the effective tax rate on any profits from business that are passed on to individuals is 44.75%  (35% plus 15% of the remainder).  Hopefully, it is clear now that the individuals who already paid their fair share on ordinary income, took some of what was remaining to promote a successful business that created jobs for more people, and then paid taxes on profits that had already been taxed once have paid their fair share.
Now let's talk about the ramifications of having higher taxes on investment income.  Since this is pretty elementary, this part will be rather short.  If you increase the taxes on interest income, you lower the incentive for individuals to invest.  If you lower the incentive for individuals to invest, you decrease the ability for businesses to raise money to start and expand businesses that create jobs.  If you have less businesses creating profits and jobs, not only does your economy lag, but your tax revenue falls as well.
I understand our country is searching for alot of answers on how to balance the public welfare with individual liberty, but I can guarantee the answer is not to tax investment income higher.

Review of Transformer Prime keyboard dock

Ok so I have already reviewed the Transformer Prime tablet and I hope you found that review helpful in your search for a tablet or laptop replacement.  After searching for a long time I have finally found a keyboard dock to play with so I can finish my full review of the Transformer Prime.
Let's start just like we did with the review of the tablet itself - with the initial thoughts during unboxing.  First of all, let me say that I picked up my dock from Best Buy tonight and when I picked it up they had actually pulled the TF-101 dock.  I couldn't blame them as the boxes look very similar except for the size, so if you are picking yours up in a store make sure the back says TF-201 for the product number.  With that said let's get started.  The keyboard is a very nice compliment to the tablet itself.  The only real difference seems to be the aluminum casing is brushed in straight lines instead of concentric circles like the tablet.  Other than that it is a sharp piece of hardware and makes a great add on for a very reasonable $149.99.  Probably the only downside on the design in my opinion is the quality of the keys.  For some reason I just feel they could have done something to make the keys feel more polished.
Now let's talk about design.  As I'm sure you know by now the keyboard comes with custom made shortcut keys specifically designed for the android tablet.  A few examples include the home shortcut to go to the home page no matter what application you are in, the bluetooth toggle shortcut, auto-brightness, and a touchpad toggle shortcut.  I have to say these definitely come in handy when you have the tablet docked.  The touchpad is pretty well done for a device this size, but I did find myself nudging it when typing for extended periods.  Because of this I did turn the touchpad off when typing this review.  However, it was kind of nice to be able to right and left click different icons and links with the trackpad.  Overall, I give the design an A.  The one key that I wish had been included would be a key that would wake and unlock the screen.  I found it a little annoying to reach up and press the wake button on the tablet instead of just hitting a key on the keyboard especially considering that I can lock the screen this way.
Let's move on to the functionality of the keyboard.  The connection made between the tablet and the dock does seem to be extremely solid and I have to admit, if I didn't connect them myself I would probably think it is just a netbook.  I even went so far as to hold the tablet and try to shake it loose from the keyboard dock, and it didn't budge.  It didn't so much as make a squeak when I did this.  There were some complaints with the initial Transformer that when docked it felt a little top heavy, as if it were going tilt over if you weren't careful.  I will say that the new dock seems well balanced, but I would still stay to be careful.  After all, you did just spend $650 for the tablet and keyboard dock.  One of the drawbacks of the smaller keyboard is the keys do feel a little cramped at first, but you do get used to it rather quickly.  I actually typed this entire review on the keyboard in my first night of using it and didn't seem to have any problems with typos or any other keyboard related issues.  One thing I would like to see out of Asus and Android is separate settings for when the tablet is docked as opposed to being a standalone tablet.  For instance, a couple things I would like to set separately would be my screen lock settings and whether enter would act as send.
Finally, let's talk about a few cool things that you may have missed when looking at the other reviews.  One is the SD card, which I'm sure you knew about but I did want to reiterate how awesome this is for expandable flash memory.  A large SD card can easily hold all your movies, music, and paperwork that you could possibly want.  The other spot that comes in handy is the USB connection.  If you haven't read this somewhere else, let me just say this connection could easily become your favorite if you are a gamer.  Using the usb connection you can actually hook up your PS3 or Xbox controller to the keyboard dock and use it as a controller to play games that are compatible.  I haven't tried this yet, but theoretically you could plug the controller into the dock and an HDMI into the tablet and play your favorite games straight from the tablet.  Know any other tablets that can do that?  I didn't think so.
Overall, I have to say that the keyboard dock really makes this device a top of the line device that can be as versatile as you can dream.  When the tablet is by itself, it is a great machine for content consumption, but when it is docked it turns into a fantastic device to do a little serious work or even a little serious gaming.

Review of Asus Transformer Prime

Ok my Prime has finally arrived from Office Depot (props to them for having it available quickly as opposed to the 4-6 weeks on Amazon) and I am ready to go through my review.  I have not been able to find the keyboard dock ANYWHERE so what follows is only a review of the tablet itself.  I will post another review with the keyboard dock when I find one.

I came home and found the package from office depot and promptly ripped it open.  As I open the Asus box, sunlight shines down from my ceiling and a choir of angels sings.  This is a beautiful device.  It comes with a little protective wrapping that also gives you a map of where all the controls are.  The screen looks and feels durable, the aluminum back is the quality and design you would expect in a $500 tablet, and it feels both light and sturdy in your hands.  As for the bezel goes, some people have complained it is too thick but it seems just about right for preventing any incidental screen bumps with wandering thumbs.

Let’s look at the software.  The Asus came running stock Honeycomb and it worked well.  However, I had a couple day lag before I got back to this review due to a few different things (mostly football playoffs).  Tonight I picked up my Prime to a HUGE surprise – a firmware update waiting to be installed.  Surely this couldn’t be Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.  After all, that’s not promised until January 12^th and we all know that companies are always late on their promises.  Amazingly, it was ICS so I can offer a review of what this tablet can really do with an operating system that is a huge step up from Honeycomb. 

The first thing I noticed after the update was how the fluid transitions from screen to screen now appear seamless.  Apps load faster, home screens rotate faster, and sure enough my wifi connection is even a little better.  A couple other nice improvements include the new font for the clock in the lock screen, the ability to stretch widgets, and the option to launch straight to the camera from the lock screen.  The clock font is a little thing but it really makes the Prime look like the premium device it is.

Also, the ICS update comes with an update to the camera.  I only took a few photos initially with the tablet before the update but the new interface is pretty nice.  It includes the functionality for one motion panorama shots, too which is fun to play with.  I will try to update a few pictures to this post in a few days after I have a chance to play with it.

A few cool things that Asus has preloaded on the device include the Riptide demo and the MyCloud app.   MyCloud is a little cloud storage provided by Asus as well as it includes a My Desktop portion that allows remote desktop setup and control of any of your laptops on the network.  The Riptide demo shows you what the quad core tablet is able to do when it comes to mobile gaming.  The graphics are amazing and look even better than the countless youtube videos out there of the demo.

Finally, let’s talk about why I made the choice to go with this tablet over the iPad 2.  First of all, let me say that I think Apple makes a good product that excels at what it does.  However, I find the iProducts a little bland as far as the interface goes and the widgets and customization that Android provides were a much better fit for what I wanted.  Another reason I chose to go with Asus’ Transformer Prime was because of the expandable memory.  While the iPad 2 ships in different memory capacities (16, 32, and 64 GB) starting at $499, the Transformer Prime offers 32 GB built in at the same price point as the 16 GB iPad 2 and it has slots that allow you to expand that.  The tablet itself has a microSD slot that can hold up to an additional 32 GB of data, and the keyboard dock has a full SD slot that can hold a card as well.  The SD cards can be found at capacities of 128 or 256 GB right now and theoretically can hold up to 2 TB of data.  I plan on getting a 32 GB microSD card and 128 GB SD card which will turn my tablet into a device with 192 GB of space to hold offline videos, music, and anything else my heart desires.  The keyboard dock itself was another selling point as it is optimized specifically for the tablet and turns it into a mini-laptop.  Apple does not provide this ability with the iPad 2, and I assume this is to ensure they don't sway any current or prospective macbook air customers to a cheaper option.  Last, many people crave the iPad 2 because it offers 3g connections for additional data rates from several wireless carriers.  For me, the ability to connect via wifi handles 80% of my needs.  The other 20% can be supplemented by mobile hotspot or even pdanet which allows bluetooth to share data connection with my phone so this was not a deterrent for me.

This is just my humble opinion and a very non-technical review but I hope you found it useful if you are considering getting a tablet in 2011.  I highly recommend the Asus Transformer Prime and I think you would be extremely happy with your purchase.  Check back soon for a review of my favorite apps for the Prime as well as a review of the Samsung Nexus which I recently got my hands on. 

The Dangers of Political Pendulums

Shortly after Barack Obama was elected as our President, I said to my wife "I hope he succeeds."  I didn't say this because I voted for him (I actually voted for someone else). I didn't say this because I believed in his vision.  I said this for no other reason than I had seen how far our political pendulum had swung from George W. Bush to President Obama, and I was afraid of where it would swing if he failed.  While it is understandable for people frustrated with a crumbling economy to look for a different set of ideas or a new approach, the ideas held by President Obama are among the most liberal of any politician in our government. 
Now, four years later, the GOP primaries are giving a glimpse into the volatility in our political system.  The Iowa primary is still up for grabs between three men who have their eyes focused on the White House.  Mitt Romney is the most central of these and his views are pretty conservative.  The other two candidates competing with Mr. Romney are Ron Paul and Rick Santorum.
First, let's talk about Mr. Paul.  It's hard to say it any other way than he's crazy.  He would have America be an isolationist state, legalize not only marijuana but also heroin, cocaine, and any other controlled substance, and try to abolish the Federal Reserve.  He would also get rid of FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the list goes on.  The idea that someone with these viewpoints has a legitimate chance at winning a primary shows how far we could go in 2012.
Now for Mr. Santorum.  Let's start with the fact that he has voted against multiple bills and amendments to bills that require background checks for individuals who want to purchase firearms.  He's also supported auditing the Fed, which would basically put political pressure on an appointed organization which is supposed to be non-partisan.  He's also stated that the reason social security is failing is because one third of Americans that should be in this generation aren't alive because one out of three pregnancies end in abortion.  One of his solutions - stop funding pro-choice groups like planned parenthood. Also, in an interview with Meet the Press he said he believes "that any doctor who performs an abortion would be criminally charged for doing so."  I don't think he could overturn Roe v Wade, but again just the fact that he is being considered for the candidacy with these views show how far right the GOP has swung.
In his "Discourses on Titus Livi", Machiavelli talks about how governments are cyclical. Monarchies lead to Tyrants.  This leads to an Aristocracy which eventually becomes an Oligarchy.  That is replaced by a Democracy which degrades into Anarchy.  The question for the United States to answer is this: will we allow our democracy to fall into anarchy, or can we curb the acceleration in our political pendulum?  If tonight's primary in Iowa is any indication, things aren't looking good.