Here are the results versus my recommendations for the 2010 General Primary Election in Pennsylvania on May 18th.
US Senator: Peg Luksik - LOST
Governor: Samuel E. Rohrer - LOST
Lt. Governor: Daryl Metcalfe - LOST
Rep in Congress: William Russell - LOST
Special Election for Rep in Congress: William Russell (write in if available) - LOST
Rep in General Assembly: Dave Reed - WON (but there was no one running against him)
It looks like this fall's elections will be nothing but trouble. The wrong people are already on the ballot. I suspect I will either be voting for the independents (if there are any) or else I will be writing my name in for everything.
May 19, 2010
May 14, 2010
2010 General Primary Election
Here are my recommendations for the 2010 General Primary Election in Pennsylvania on May 18th
US Senator: Peg Luksik
Governor: Samuel E. Rohrer
Lt. Governor: Daryl Metcalfe
Rep in Congress: William Russell
Special Election for Rep in Congress: William Russell (write in if available)
Rep in General Assembly: Dave Reed
We'll see what the election brings!
US Senator: Peg Luksik
Governor: Samuel E. Rohrer
Lt. Governor: Daryl Metcalfe
Rep in Congress: William Russell
Special Election for Rep in Congress: William Russell (write in if available)
Rep in General Assembly: Dave Reed
We'll see what the election brings!
May 11, 2010
ACT mouthwash
As usual I am always thinking here at Doe Valley.
The other day I was evaluating which ACT mouthwash to purchase: Total Care or Restoring. I ended up getting the Total Care because the label had more check marks on it than the Restoring version.
When I returned home I compared the Total Care to the Restoring. It turns out the ingredients are identical. So I decided to email the ACT company to find out what the difference is.
As it turns out the Total Care is supposed to kill more germs. Total Care also costs more.
The interesting part of this story is the difference between the larger 33.8 ounce bottles and the smaller 18 ounce bottles.
Of course, I bought the larger bottle, because it seemed liked the better deal.
As it turns out the 33.8 ounce bottles are meant to be used twice a day so there is only half as much fluoride in it as compared to the 18 ounce bottle.
The moral of the story is don't let the marketing genius fool you. Compare prices. Compare ingredients. Know what you are buying.
The other day I was evaluating which ACT mouthwash to purchase: Total Care or Restoring. I ended up getting the Total Care because the label had more check marks on it than the Restoring version.
When I returned home I compared the Total Care to the Restoring. It turns out the ingredients are identical. So I decided to email the ACT company to find out what the difference is.
As it turns out the Total Care is supposed to kill more germs. Total Care also costs more.
The interesting part of this story is the difference between the larger 33.8 ounce bottles and the smaller 18 ounce bottles.
Of course, I bought the larger bottle, because it seemed liked the better deal.
As it turns out the 33.8 ounce bottles are meant to be used twice a day so there is only half as much fluoride in it as compared to the 18 ounce bottle.
The moral of the story is don't let the marketing genius fool you. Compare prices. Compare ingredients. Know what you are buying.
May 06, 2010
Arlen Specter Ad
Usually I don't pay much attention to the political ads because they are usually just one person twisting the facts and attacking the other candidate.
So I was pleasantly surprised to see Arlen Specter's latest ad. In the ad, Specter does not attack any of his opponents. He simply states what he stands for and has stood for. Here are the four points in his ad.
So I was pleasantly surprised to see Arlen Specter's latest ad. In the ad, Specter does not attack any of his opponents. He simply states what he stands for and has stood for. Here are the four points in his ad.
- Voted 20 times to raise the minimum wage
- Fought China's illegal trade practices
- Worked for increased health care
- Lead fight for stem cell research
- I am against a minimum wage for various reasons. I believe business owners should pay there employees a fair wage for their work, not be forced to pay what the government tells them to pay. Minimum wage increases usually hurt small businesses the worst and can cause unemployment to rise.
- Personally, I like getting the best bang for my buck, so I don't mind buying stuff made in China. Yes, I do have a problem with human rights violations anywhere in the world, but that is not what Specter fought about.
- By increased health care, Specter means the heath insurance bill, which I am totally against. People do not need nor should they be required to have health insurance. Yes, people should have access to affordable health care. One of the main problems with health care is the fact that lawsuits drive up the cost. And for those of you who don't know, Specter earned his law degree from Yale.
- As for stem cell research, I am still not quite sure I understand what it is all about and no one seems to really be able to explain it exactly. But if stem cell research involves experimenting with a human life then it is wrong.
March 19, 2010
Firefighters Charitable Foundation
About two weeks ago, I received a call from someone at the Firefighters Charitable Foundation asking for a donation. Of course, they don't start the conversation out that way. They start out asking if you have ever known a victim of a fire. Obviously, most people have. So I answered, "Sure."
The guy didn't really seem to know how to respond, so he said "OK" and continued reading his script. I continued listening to his pitch and then of course he asked if I would donate money. I told him to send me me some information about the foundation along with a financial report so I could evaluate their organization.
He responded, "Great, how much will you donate." I told him again, that it would depend on their organizations financial report. He said, "Ok, do you think you will donate $25?" Again, I stated that I need to read the financial report first. Finally, the guy reiterates everything we already talked about and said he would mail me the information.
This week I received a letter in the mail from the foundation. Inside the envelope was a pamphlet, a letter asking for a $25 donation, and a return envelope. No financial information at all.
I did like the PS on the bottom of the letter, "P.S. An additional gift of $2.00 to your original pledge can help raise additional funds." Really? If I give you 2 more dollars, that is more money you would have? Wow, I never realized that. Thanks for the tip!
I was simple going to pitch the information, but I thought I will at least spend a few minutes looking up the website to see if they have any financial information available there. For whatever reason the website would not load.
So I decided to try one more thing. I checked them out on Charity Navigator. The latest data available was for the year ending 2007. Their revenue was $4.1 million. The expenses were $4.2 million.
So far, it doesn't sound too good. They spend more than they make. As I continued to look more closely at the data I saw that $3.5 million was spent on fundraising and $245,000 was spent on administration. So that means about 91% of their revenue last year went to something other than the main purpose of the foundation!
Conclusion:
If you want to donate to victims of fires, your best bet is to support your local agencies. Always evaluate who you are giving money too. You might be surprised to find out where your money is going.
Always thinking here at Doe Valley.
The guy didn't really seem to know how to respond, so he said "OK" and continued reading his script. I continued listening to his pitch and then of course he asked if I would donate money. I told him to send me me some information about the foundation along with a financial report so I could evaluate their organization.
He responded, "Great, how much will you donate." I told him again, that it would depend on their organizations financial report. He said, "Ok, do you think you will donate $25?" Again, I stated that I need to read the financial report first. Finally, the guy reiterates everything we already talked about and said he would mail me the information.
This week I received a letter in the mail from the foundation. Inside the envelope was a pamphlet, a letter asking for a $25 donation, and a return envelope. No financial information at all.
I did like the PS on the bottom of the letter, "P.S. An additional gift of $2.00 to your original pledge can help raise additional funds." Really? If I give you 2 more dollars, that is more money you would have? Wow, I never realized that. Thanks for the tip!
I was simple going to pitch the information, but I thought I will at least spend a few minutes looking up the website to see if they have any financial information available there. For whatever reason the website would not load.
So I decided to try one more thing. I checked them out on Charity Navigator. The latest data available was for the year ending 2007. Their revenue was $4.1 million. The expenses were $4.2 million.
So far, it doesn't sound too good. They spend more than they make. As I continued to look more closely at the data I saw that $3.5 million was spent on fundraising and $245,000 was spent on administration. So that means about 91% of their revenue last year went to something other than the main purpose of the foundation!
Conclusion:
If you want to donate to victims of fires, your best bet is to support your local agencies. Always evaluate who you are giving money too. You might be surprised to find out where your money is going.
Always thinking here at Doe Valley.
March 12, 2010
Book Review
The Faith-Based Millionaire by Jay Peroni
This book claims to be a "practical how-to book" regarding faith and finances. There are 12 easy to read chapters containing information about aligning your finances with your faith. I cannot say that any of the advice was outstanding though.
The book can easily be summarized by saying, trust God with your finances, do what He would want you to do with "your" money. Give to God, spend wisely, save and invest as much as possible so that you can help others.
There didn't seem to be much "practical" advice about investing other than saying hire a professional if you do not have the time to evaluate companies for their moral, social, or religious activities. Obviously, don't invest in companies that violate your principles.
It almost seemed to me that the author wrote this book to promote his website and his faith-based advising business.
Overall, this book is worth a read. There are a few tidbits of information that could help you out. This isn't a book you would refer to often, so it would be better to borrow the book from a library and save yourself some money.
This book claims to be a "practical how-to book" regarding faith and finances. There are 12 easy to read chapters containing information about aligning your finances with your faith. I cannot say that any of the advice was outstanding though.
The book can easily be summarized by saying, trust God with your finances, do what He would want you to do with "your" money. Give to God, spend wisely, save and invest as much as possible so that you can help others.
There didn't seem to be much "practical" advice about investing other than saying hire a professional if you do not have the time to evaluate companies for their moral, social, or religious activities. Obviously, don't invest in companies that violate your principles.
It almost seemed to me that the author wrote this book to promote his website and his faith-based advising business.
Overall, this book is worth a read. There are a few tidbits of information that could help you out. This isn't a book you would refer to often, so it would be better to borrow the book from a library and save yourself some money.
March 10, 2010
Book Review
The Message - The New Testament in Contemporary Language
by Eugene H. Peterson
This book is a "translation" of the New Testament in modern English, it is almost translated the way someone would talk to their friends.
This is a special edition for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Throughout the book there are thoughts from Billy Graham about a particular topic, usually something that is discussed in that part of Scripture. Each book of the Bible also has a brief introduction. This book was easy to read, almost like a normal paperback book. The font size was just right.
I enjoyed reading this translation. However, I would not recommend it to the new student of the Bible. In my opinion, this version loses to much of the original wording, especially for some of the theological issues.
There were some interesting insights that Peterson translates, especially some of the parables of Christ. However, I did not like the way Peterson translated other says of Christ, especially some of the "I am" statements ("I am the road!").
Overall, I would recommend reading this book only after you are familiar with a good, accurate translation of the Word of God.
.
by Eugene H. Peterson
This book is a "translation" of the New Testament in modern English, it is almost translated the way someone would talk to their friends.
This is a special edition for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Throughout the book there are thoughts from Billy Graham about a particular topic, usually something that is discussed in that part of Scripture. Each book of the Bible also has a brief introduction. This book was easy to read, almost like a normal paperback book. The font size was just right.
I enjoyed reading this translation. However, I would not recommend it to the new student of the Bible. In my opinion, this version loses to much of the original wording, especially for some of the theological issues.
There were some interesting insights that Peterson translates, especially some of the parables of Christ. However, I did not like the way Peterson translated other says of Christ, especially some of the "I am" statements ("I am the road!").
Overall, I would recommend reading this book only after you are familiar with a good, accurate translation of the Word of God.
.
February 01, 2010
The Kiplinger's Saga Continues
On Friday night, I received a call from "Mark" at Kiplinger's.
My heart started to race, where they reading my blog and calling to order me to stop writing about them or were they going to call and offer me a great deal to write something positive about them for a change.
Neither! They were calling me to let me know my subscription had expired, but if I acted "right now" I could renew my subscription for 2 years at the special price of $26.97!
I thanked Mark and told him I have already subscribed to it at a different special price. He made a note of it and then hung up.
Just for the record, I do enjoy reading Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.
My heart started to race, where they reading my blog and calling to order me to stop writing about them or were they going to call and offer me a great deal to write something positive about them for a change.
Neither! They were calling me to let me know my subscription had expired, but if I acted "right now" I could renew my subscription for 2 years at the special price of $26.97!
I thanked Mark and told him I have already subscribed to it at a different special price. He made a note of it and then hung up.
Just for the record, I do enjoy reading Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine.
January 28, 2010
Kiplinger's Magazine Update
I received in the mail yesterday a "letter" from Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine telling me that my subscription has expired. But if I act before January 28th I can still renew at the "special" rate of $14.97 for one year, $26.97 for two years, or $37.97 for three years.
As my readers here know, I have already resubscribed for $8.97 for one year. It just so happens that I also got my first issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine that I subscribed to for $8.97.
They also gave me the opportunity to extend that subscription for another year at the cost of only $8.97.
I think I will drop my extended subscription check in the mail this afternoon!
.
As my readers here know, I have already resubscribed for $8.97 for one year. It just so happens that I also got my first issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine that I subscribed to for $8.97.
They also gave me the opportunity to extend that subscription for another year at the cost of only $8.97.
I think I will drop my extended subscription check in the mail this afternoon!
.
January 04, 2010
Book Review
Truth for Today by John MacArthur
This is a daily devotional book. Each month has a particular theme or topic to it.
Each day has a small portion of Scripture and a brief thought about it. This is MacArthur's third daily devotional book.
In my opinion this book is not as good as the first two. This book is very basic and lacks the depth of his other two devotionals.
I suspect this book is marketed more as a gift book to introduce someone to MacArthur's teachings.
Overall, this devotional can be skipped by the people who like the in-depth teaching of MacArthur.
.
This is a daily devotional book. Each month has a particular theme or topic to it.
Each day has a small portion of Scripture and a brief thought about it. This is MacArthur's third daily devotional book.
In my opinion this book is not as good as the first two. This book is very basic and lacks the depth of his other two devotionals.
I suspect this book is marketed more as a gift book to introduce someone to MacArthur's teachings.
Overall, this devotional can be skipped by the people who like the in-depth teaching of MacArthur.
.
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