Bradly McGarr
A Nerd and a Blog.
Assumption Junction, What’s Ya Function? Part 2 of a series
437 days
by Brad
in Commentary
Assuming. Everyone has assumed something at some time. Some assumptions are legit, such as “Assume we have 10 apples, and I gave 7 away, but 3 were returned. How many do I have?”. However, many times we assume things to be true we we have insufficient evidence to support our claim. Not because we wish to make an example, as in the apples line, but instead we need evidence to feel validated in our opinions. We will assume many things regardless of what evidence we have based on “common sense observations”, even though there is nothing common nor sensible about “common sense”. In this blog post, I will go over some frequent assumptions that I have seen good people make, but which really should not have been made. My hope is by pointing these out, that people will think prior to making assumptions or statements, and will only opine in regards to information they can verify.
Obesity
As America fights a different battle of the bulge, quite often the subject of obesity comes up. Obesity has become a serious problem in the United States, a common fact understood by most people. Which is why people from Religious Organizations, Civic Organizations, and even the First Lady of the United States are fighting back hard to battle obesity where it is easiest to fight: childhood.
But with the discussions and measures put forward, a common theme comes up: a complete misunderstanding of what it means to be overweight, the causes, and the remedies.
People of all ages from the school yard to the retirement home have a misguided opinion of obesity in general. In their view, the cause and effect is as simple as the solution. The cause: eating. The solution: stop eating. The picture they’ve painted in their mind is that the obese cow they see consumes a metric ton of chocolate, Hostess Snack foods, and potato chips a day. All they see is fat-fat-fatty and a desire to consume massive amounts of food. Standing in line at a fast food joint, they make assumptions about overweight individuals. Are they part owners? Is this the fifth or sixth visit of the day? Does the cashier know what their order is? Many times, not realizing that the overweight person standing in line in front of them is just like them: at the end of a long day, and picking up something quick before they go home or on to their next engagement.
People make gross assumptions about obese and overweight individuals with complete disregard for the fact the person is a human.
As science takes a hard look at the causes of obesity, they begin to find the answers are not as simple as conventionally assumed. Bacterial and viral infections have been linked to obesity, as well as genetics, glandular issues, and mental health. Scientists are finding that, indeed, the issue of obesity is complex.
While this is not to say that everyone who is obese or overweight is so because of the new found issues, but simply that each case is unique. There is no broad brush. Person A may have an eating disorder and actually could use mental health treatments to not eat. Person B may have genetic disposition to weight gain and regardless of what they do, they will never be thin. Person C may have a thyroid issue that once corrected, the weight melts away.
Each person won’t be the same.
Now, that is not to say the individual carries no responsibility, but that there are serious medical and mental health issues that need to be addressed. The individual (or their parent) has the responsibility to ensure that weight is not looked at lightly. The individual needs to make lifestyle choices on their own to provide a solid foundation for moving forward. Parents need to ensure that their children have plenty of free play in addition to physical activities such as Martial Arts, Ballet & Dance, and Sports. Even a bookworm can learn Tai Chi and become active.
Yet, we as a people need to realize that support is not enablement. That befriending and respecting someone of size is not the same as promoting overweight. In fact, an obese person needs friends and family more than they need bullies and rude comments. Instead of making offhand comments about their weight, about what they eat, etc., try instead inviting them to a day of shopping, or to a day hike, or to something that they will enjoy and, as a bonus, be active. Instead of a movie, go bowling or hiking, or take up Tai Chi together.
Our assumptions need to be challenged, and this is part 2 of challenging those assumptions.
Assumption Junction, What’s Ya Function? Part 1 of a series
440 days
by Brad
in Commentary
Assuming. Everyone has assumed something at some time. Some assumptions are legit, such as “Assume we have 10 apples, and I gave 7 away, but 3 were returned. How many do I have?”. However, many times we assume things to be true we we have insufficient evidence to support our claim. Not because we wish to make an example, as in the apples line, but instead we need evidence to feel validated in our opinions. We will assume many things regardless of what evidence we have based on “common sense observations”, even though there is nothing common nor sensible about “common sense”. In this blog post, I will go over some frequent assumptions that I have seen good people make, but which really should not have been made. My hope is by pointing these out, that people will think prior to making assumptions or statements, and will only opine in regards to information they can verify.
Welfare & Unemployment
This is one I have seen a lot lately, and for fairly obvious reasons: the economy sucks, and everyone is struggling. For those lucky enough to have a job, it is quite easy to resent or even hate those who are collecting unemployment and welfare as leeches on society. “They’re stealing MY money!” , many have claimed. “They’re lazy… with welfare and unemployment they have no reason to look for work. They’re living the good life!”
As someone who spent nearly 1 year unemployed, and received unemployment from March through the end of September, I take such comments very personally. First, the assumption is often they’re living an amazing life: money for free, no need to work, they can do what they want. This assumption is grossly exaggerated. Unemployment and welfare is not the sweet life. Living off of unemployment insurance is both a very depressing yet humbling thing. For about 7 months, my unemployment benefits were approximately $240 a week. Sounds like a sweet deal doesn’t it? $960 a month? For free? I mean who in their right mind would WANT to go back to work?
Only, it really isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. By the time someone reaches unemployment, they’ve generally exhausted their savings, used their severance if they were lucky to have one, and generally have debt from before being unemployed.
Had I stayed in Arizona, unemployment would not have been enough to meet my financial obligations. Rent, utilities, phone bill and internet to be able to continue to look for work, gas, insurance, car payment, etc., what I received in unemployment would not have even begun to pay my obligations. It’s not easy to sit and look at your unemployment account, then your bills, and decide “Do I not pay the car this month and buy groceries? Do I not pay insurance and hope I don’t get pulled over and be saddled with a hefty ticket?” And that was all without having a family to support. I was lucky and I had a family safety net I could rely upon, and I was able to emigrate from a piss-poor job market to eventually one that I could find work.
However the notion that I should have forgone unemployment insurance because it’s stealing someone else’s money doesn’t sit well with me. I payed into the system while I worked, I relied upon it for the maximum time needed, and moved off. As most people do. There are only 99 Weeks available for unemployment right now and that is because of the massive recession. Once those 99 weeks are up they’re up. Gone. No mas. Yes, I saw jobs in the paper and never applied for them. Why you ask? “Part time minimum wage, 15 hours a week” wasn’t an option. Sure, some would say “if you didn’t have unemployment you would do it”, and they’re correct. I would apply for that job. But in doing so I would do nothing but satisfy someone else’s desire to see people lose everything so they can sleep knowing their tax dollars are being spent where they should be: on a new missile defense system. In taking that job, with or without unemployment, I would have lost my only method of transportation in an area without good mass transit. I would have lost any option to move to a bigger city and obtain gainful employment. I would have gone into bankruptcy and contributed to the recession. I would have had to default on account after account, making my bank and credit union closer to insolvency. I would not have been putting money back into the economy, I would not have been paying sales tax or gas tax. I would not have been able to contribute to my community through volunteer work.
I simply would have been Brad. working 2 nights a week at a burger joint, asking “And would you like the combo”, and putting the little money I made into payment to a bankruptcy lawyer.
Instead, with unemployment insurance. I kept my accounts stable enough that I only flirted with the notion of repossession, but still made as many payments as possible, which meant my credit union did not have another troubled asset on it’s hands. I bought groceries at the grocery store, which meant the bagger could continue to get paid. I bought gas at the gas station, which meant not only did the night clerk get to continue working, but the state and federal government also continued to receive my tax dollars from the sale of fuel. With unemployment insurance, I was able to contribute my time between going to school and looking for real employment to the local fire district, saving tax payers in that municipality money in IT services.
We can assume that everyone on unemployment and welfare are just leaches stealing money from our pockets. Or we can realize that there are circumstances beyond the control of people, and that the money they receive is actually doing the economy better than just saying “oh, sorry”. In my case, it would mean punishing an individual for the inept management decisions of a group of people fighting in power plays with absolute disregard for the people they were effecting.
While I admit there are a few people out there gaming the system, it is a shame that we in this country have gotten to the point where we assume everyone is gaming the system, with no evidence supporting that.
Remember, most people are good people trying to do the right thing. While in your day to day interactions you may come across every cretin and jackass out there, you’re just unfortunate enough to find yourself surrounded by the bottom percentile. Every day this past summer I wanted to work. I wanted to work so much I volunteered in my field to ensure I didn’t have a gap in my resume. Taking a 15 hour a week part time minimum wage job would have been tantamount to suicide.
Election 2010 Update – Colorado Senate
460 days
by Brad
in Elections / Politics
Denver Post announces Bennett to win Colorado Senate Seat.
Election 2010 Liveblog
Welcome to the 2010 Election Liveblog.
23.47
Well, folks, the remaining races won’t be decided anytime soon. Here’s to hoping that Bennett can eek out a win over Buck in the coming legal challenges.
Next on the agenda? Let’s get ready for getting election reforms on the ballots in most states, let’s get ready for a hearty Green showing, and if any of my friends at the Green party read my blog: I’m more than willing to help our candidates actually win for a change.
23.23
Neck and Neck in the Colorado Senate Race, NBC reporting 47/47 split between Buck and Bennett. Coverage states the state is waiting on Jeffco results.
Democrats are probably going to be pushing for the Provisional Ballots to be counted.
El Paso County states they may have accidentally counted 30-40k Votes for Bennett for Buck. And Republicans are the ones whining about election fraud? Really?
23.04
Arizona has passed an initiative to make state affirmative action illegal. Way to stay classy.
22.54
This race is very much urban/rural in a lot of places. There are a lot of urban congressional districts going republican, with urban districts going Democrat. Not all are that way, but largely if you look at the House map the blue areas are primarily urban areas. It’s very interesting the disconnect between rural/suburban Americans and urban Americans.
22.47
CBS 4 and Colorado Public Television reporting 60, 61, and Prop 101 have all failed.
22.45
Very interesting to watch as basically the United States heads toward a split capitol, with Democrats controlling the Senate and Republicans controlling the House. The big news tonight though is that the Tea Party’s big candidates: O’Donnell and Angle have been defeated.
In Colorado Ballot Measures: Everything failed except Amendment Q, Emergency State Seat Relocation. 61 hasn’t been reported by 9 News yet.
22.42
California Governor, Jerry Brown called by NBC. Democrats take Governorship in California.
22.41
Polls closing in Alaska in about 19 minutes!
Prop 19 fails in California after an early lead.
22.37
Harry Reid called by NBC to win Nevada giving Democrats a one seat majority thus far in the Senate!
22.34
Palin, just shut up PLEASE.
22.14
Obama’s old seat falls to the Republicans.
22.12
Washington State: Murray and Rossi are neck and neck.
21.59
Colorado Ballots: Amendment 60 – Property Taxes Fails. Amendment 62 – Definition of a person: FAILS. Amendment 63: Healthcare Choice: FAILS. Amendment P- Reg. Games of Chance (migration) FAILS. Amendment Q Passing. Amend R: Exempt Property FAILS. Prop 101: Fails Prop 102: Fails
21.12
It’s amazing, having been a delegate to Evergreen Boys State, how much of an impact it had on me and how interested it got me into politics. And, I get the claim to fame that I lost the Superintendents of Public Instruction seat by 1 vote. One single vote! That was 2003, in my junior year of High School. Ah, good times, good times.
21.07
In other news, hiccups suck.
21.05
On MSNBC’s map of the Governors races, Colorado is a blue island surrounded by red.
20.34
Hickenlooper to win Colorado Governorship, Barney Frank in Mass. slated to retain his House seat.
20.33
So far, the verdict for the Tea Party: Crazy wins Primaries, but it doesn’t win the General Election.
19.57
Early results from Colorado, Bennett leading 54% to 51% at 25% of the precincts reporting.
19.33
Good news so far is that we won’t have Bachmann lite (O’Donnell) joining the Senate.
18.37
Green Party discussion; Problem #1: Media Coverage
Green Party Candidates rarely get much in the way of media coverage. Many attribute this to a conspiracy by the media to keep the current duality between the Dems and Repubs. I don’t think this is the case. I think the Media is looking at not wanting to waste their time with someone who is a long shot. They’ve covered Independent and third party candidates for office before: Nader, Perot, Crist, all were third party or independent and earned some media coverage.
I think the big thing for the Greens going forward is to ask themselves some questions:
1) Am I presenting myself as a legitimate candidate, or a fringe candidate?
2) Am I making myself available to the media as often as possible?
3) Am I going out and making contacts with the media, keeping in touch with them as often as possible, meeting with reporters or station managers, and making an effort to contact them?
There are some things that I’ve noticed in the past with third party candidates, including Green candidates, in terms of garnering support. It comes off as half-assed or not serious. Use of certain fonts, not being careful what press releases or statements are made, the images used in print and electronic sources, and not organizing a ground effort to get out there and tell the story.
If the Green Party wants to win seats going forward, it’s candidates have to be very serious about their candidacy. They need to have a very professional website (which can be done on a tight budget), they need to get out and canvas early, and often. More importantly, they need to present themselves as a legitimate, mainstream candidate and not someone on the wacky fringe (not saying all have, but some have, often unintentionally).
The Green Party can win seats, but it is an uphill effort.
18.20
NBC Projects Democrats will pick up the Delaware Seat. Christopher Coons will beat Christine O’Donnell. Democrats will also keep the New Hampshire Governor seat as John Lynch is projected to be re-elected.
18.13
Ongoing discussion topic tonight: The Green Party. We’ll begin this discussion shortly.
18.12
Okay, I’m going on the record now to say that I am really sick and tired of people talking about taxes being heigher than they were a few years ago. They aren’t, they’ve actually gone down on the federal level. If you’re pissed off over “higher taxes”, you’re not paying attention to your taxes, and who is taxing you.
So far, I hate to say this, but this election is really highlighting the ignorance of the American electorate.
18.06
Florida Governorship goes to Marco Rubio (R). Senate count: 8 R, 3 D, house so far is 5 Dems and 28 Republicans.
17.58
Indiana Senate seat projected to go to Dan Coats, Republican. So far the Repubs have picked up 4 seats, Democrats pick up one.
17.53
Rand Paul projected to win Kentucky, Jim DeMint projected for So. Carolina with a huge lead at 63% so far per MSNBC.
17.48
Repubs pickup Ohio, MSNBC projecting Rob Portman will take the Senate seat.
16.21
MSNBC Breaking News: 56% say country on wrong track. Well no duh, but how many of those actually know what they’re talking about?
16.08
First polls in the east have closed. Awaiting first results. Being that most races are close, I don’t see us getting very many calls of races in the east until nearly midnight.
15.35
Oh how funny. Twitter is showing a fail whale! Too much traffic!
14.27
About an hour and a half from the first poll closures in the East. Listening to CPR/NPR right now to pass the time.
14.23
Facebook has an interesting app that shows up when you login counting the number of Facebookers that are stating that they voted. Very cool, a feature that I actually like. Zuckerburg and his cronies made something that DOESN’T suck? Hell must have frozen over.
14.20
The Green Party of Colorado has their hat in this major senate election, with Bob Kinsey running against Tea Partier Ken Buck and Democrat Bennett.
The Green Party has a long standing tradition of putting their hat in races, and not winning (not even breaching 10% in some cases). Tonight in addition to the polls, I will be discussing my new party, and why they most likely will not win the majority of their races, and why we as Green Party members need to make some changes in how we operate to get people to actually register Green and Vote Green.
14.15
As we count down the hours for the first results coming in from the east, I think we need to have a national discussion about reforming our electoral process, including a nationwide standardization of polling processes, ballot formats, etc.
We need to look at, again, electronic voting machines and the need for printed receipts. We need to discuss Instant Runoff Voting, and why we need it. We need to discuss the media, and how the constant perpetuation of R/D fights in the media put third party candidates, who may very well be better, in the dark.
We need to have a real civilized discussion on how to get out the vote, from promoting Vote by Mail, to Internet Voting, to whatever methods encourage voters to register and cast their ballots. (For example, there is often a mistaken assumption that registering to vote means you’re more likely to be called for Jury Duty. It really depends on jurisdicition, most have gone to ID and Drivers License rolls!)
The system works, and can work well, if we also look at removing the Electoral College, and replacing it with Instant runoff voting.
There are a lot of solutions, but few being actively discussed. Let’s start this national discussion as we watch the polls come in tonight.
14.02
Colorado Voters – Please note that polls close at 7:00 PM. You must be in line at the poll at 7:00 PM in order to cast a ballot.
If you were not considering voting, please reconsider… no matter whom you vote for, your vote is very important.
13.54
Okay, now that I have the live blog working, I will be live blogging throughout the night as I follow the elections coverage online. I will offer my prospectives and opinion, as well as updates on races in Colorado.
Tune in and discuss!
13.51
Testing Liveblog
13.50
Testing Liveblog.
A Mile High
So I have now been in Denver for over 2 months now. Moving to a completely new city has had it’s challenges. Mainly my social network, my friends, some I would even classify more appropriately as Family (you know who you are) are scattered around the US. In Denver, I have my brother, my mom, and a distant cousin whom I have only met a couple of times now as my foundation. I work with some very interesting people, but I’m still trying to become even remotely comfortable in a new environment. However, I decided when I got here I was going to do things differently. I decided to be outgoing, and to do things I have not done in the past. I joined a Universal Unitarian church and have been going nearly every Sunday. Through that I have met some very nice and interesting people. As I get more involved and more comfortable, I’m sure I will find a few friends. I’ve been more outgoing in other aspects, getting out, doing things, and meeting people which was normally not my method of doing things.
But when I got here I realized I had an opportunity. A blank slate to learn from my mistakes in Phoenix. The fear and comfortableness of being exposed, so to speak, is not something easy to get over. It’s not something that’s just going to go a way. The social awkwardness that defines my existance (much to the contrary of what many of my close friends would say) is something that isn’t going to change overnight. It is going to be a part of my character, my personality, most likely indefinitely.
But at a mile above MSL, where 14,000′+ mountains sit small on the horizon (compared to 14,000+’ Mt. Ranier which looms over the skyline of Western Washington), there is opportunity. Sure, my alcohol tolerance level is embarrassing low at this altitude compared to just above MSL, but that’s the least of my worries. I’m doing things differently this time, and so far, so good.
I’ve met some amazing people since I arrived here, and all it took was a change in attitude and altitude. [This has no relation to the corny, motivational saying].
Denver, ending month 2
So as I end my 2nd month in Denver, I should take a moment to update folks on what is going on. Tomorrow I start work for the first time in almost a year. I’ve recently joined the UU church in Parker and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. I’ve located the wearabouts of the poetry community in Denver, only my schedule will make enjoying it difficult. So far Denver is looking like it will be good to me.
It’s been a long time since I felt at home. Phoenix took me a long time to feel like home, and it wasn’t until I met some great people at Apollo Group did I feel like I was at home. Good people like The Standifirds, The Jensens, Kelly B. and David, Necko, The Allah’s, Junior, and too many more people to list while typing on a Palm Pixi.
Denver is home, but a large part of my family is in Phoenix, San Diego, and a few in Wenatchee.
Things are going well, and they can only get better.
Journalism and the Future
524 days
by Brad
in Commentary
The closure of newspapers means for us as Americans that we will have less accountability, less access to information, and just generally less. Journalists are an important piece of the puzzle in our country.
However, this is a scene that doesn’t need to happen. The outright closure of a newspaper never needs to occur, even if that is what the corporate bodies upstairs decide.
Journalism in our country needs to take a refreshing evaluation of itself and realizes different mediums call for different types of reporting:
- Radio and Television: Headlines, Breaking News, etc.
- Newspapers/NewsWeb: Indepth journalism
Truth be told, part of the reason newspapers are dying is because they are focusing on the wrong stories. They try to report stories that are instant, immediate, and not suitable for the morning after. Newspapers are an amazing medium for in-depth investigative journalism. Not weather, not sports scores, but serious hard hitting journalism that takes a page and a half to discuss and dive into.
My advice? Newspapers in our country need to move from daily editions to weekly editions in areas that are not lucritive. I fully expect daily editions of NYT, LAT, and a few other big name papers, but by and large, most papers don’t need to be daily. There isn’t enough news. Weekly or biweekly print, featuring in-depth investigative stories, longer articles, and a ‘week in review’ of top headlines people may have missed has a better chance of saving newspapers.
That, or going to an entirely web-based system and again, focusing less on daily reporting of stories also seen on TV.
You can make money in Journalism, and still have most of your reporting staff if you ask them not to run around town chasing top stories likely seen on the news, but investigating and seeking out.
News agencies need to figure out how to adapt to our current world of electronic print, or they will continue to die off.
The Mystery of Twitter: Why Some People Are Confused
544 days
by Brad
in Uncategorized
If you spend much time on forums, in places like Digg, etc., you’ll notice a trend: there’s a group of people who cannot see why people use Twitter.
There are different uses for Twitter. Companies and Celebrities alike have found it as a way to reach out directly to their masses, 140 characters at a time.
However, for the average user, there are many more ways to use Twitter. But to use Twitter properly, you have to understand what Twitter is.
Imagine, for a moment, Twitter as the offspring of SMS, RSS, and Social Networking. SMS is the technical term for Text Messaging. RSS is short for Really Simple Syndication, and it’s used by websites to update you the end user with their content through an RSS feed (basically, an RSS feed finds the stuff you want for you). And finally, most people know what social networking is.
So, outside of things you follow like your favorite Clebs, the USGS, NASA, etc., you can also follow your friends. You can also select some friends for mobile following, meaning their tweets are sent to you by text message, and you can update by text or phone app. Like RSS, it finds things posted by friends and things you’re interested in, into your timeline. Like SMS, you can communicate with your circle of friends and family instantly with only one text or tweet, thus augmenting your social network.
It’s not for posting long blogs, or updates on everything you do (some people think that posting bodily functions is part of the Twitter experience, no body cares). It’s about updating simple things, thoughts, etc. on the go.
This is what confuses some people. “If you can’t post a long blog post, why would you want to post 140 character messages? Who cares?” Well, your friends might if you update on your Twitter: “Flat tire sucks, even worse on the freeway” or fun things like “New rollercoaster at Theme Park is AWESOME.”
It takes a little creativity to know when to use Twitter, and with services like Twitpic and Trunc.it, you can expand your Twitter experience, but you still need to know when and where to use it. As you can tell I don’t Tweet very often, and for good reason: I don’t have that much that is that interesting, but when I move, I will.
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Advice for Property Managers
I’m temporarily taking a break from my series on assumptions (which I will return to soon), to bring some public advice to anyone out there in the property management community.
1) Give you apartments a simple name, please. Like after a landmark or geographic feature in the immediate area.
1a) Please, do not try to pass your complex off as a resort by calling it “The Retreat” or “The Resort”. Unless you’re going to have some chick in a bikini bring me a margarita at 2 AM, you’re not a retreat. You’re an apartment complex.
1b) If your complex is, say, further than 2 blocks from a major body of water, please don’t use terms like “Cove” “Bay” “Beach”. Again, you are not a resort and calling your complex “The Cove at Sandpoint” when it’s in the middle of, say Denver or Phoenix, not only makes you seem stupid, it actually proves the point.
1c) Simple names aren’t cheesy or lame, and actually give character.
2) The Internet is your friend. Seriously, timely updates of property rates and availability is worth the investment.
These are just two pieces of advice I would give to Property Managers, other than cleaning up your properties!