Still waiting for a real 2016 presidential candidate...

...I am not holding my breath.

The loons are running the show and still there isn't enough entertainment value to generate a desire to follow very closely what is going on.

Really, can anyone tell me what is going on?

The democrats (or should we call them socialist for that is what they really are even if there is only one that will admit to the title) should be embarrassed no end to the list of candidates they have come up with.  I have said before and will say again that they are the very definition of hypocrisy by pretending to be in favor of the 'people' and they are the only ones looking our for our welfare, but when looking at the actions they espouse I question their real intentions as they continue to pass legislation that would restrict the power of the individual with this insane notion that the self appointed saviors of our stupid are better qualified to direct how you live your life than you ever could be.

On the other hand the republicans are all over themselves trying to be the voice of the party but the so called leaders of the party have a different idea of what that voice should be.  Sadly, they are unwilling to state what that voice should be, but they can sure enough tell you what it isn't supposed to be.  They just disagree with any little loony thing that might be said by the party candidates and disassociate themselves from the very people that are trying to create the counter arguments coming from the other side of the same coin.  When your main party candidates are publicly, verbally doubting their own parties leadership's actions and are posing the possibility of defecting, it makes you wonder what is wrong with this picture?

So here we are less than a year away from the election; we may have a few 'labeled' front runners but we don't have any real valid candidates as of this date.

Guess what?  You are the boss, you have a position to fill, you have some candidates that are applying for the job and they are giving you their resumes and answering the most major of questions "What would you do if given this job?".  So ask yourself, 'Is this the person I would select to fill this position, is this the best candidate, and do I judge this person to be qualified to fill this position in my best interest and can I trust them to do so for the next four years?'.  If the list of candidates (which is short when it eventually all boils down to just two) does not provide the dream employee you would take a chance of this magnitude on, then you should keep looking.  You re-list the job opening as often as required.  You keep looking for that someone that can actually fill the shoes properly, someone you can trust fully to represent your best interest, to take care of the business of the country well enough that you can turn your focus to running the business of you and yours.

This goes for all elected positions.  We should demand better.  We deserve better.  We need better.

And that is why I am waiting and hoping that a real worthwhile candidate that has yet to be declared, that will step forward and provide some hope.  I know the odds are thin, especially this late in the game and with the game rigged against us even if someone should stand up it will be very difficult to have the guys running the lights share the spotlight by pointing them in a different direction.  Still...

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

They are finally catching up

How long have I been talking about wanting a player that had a variable speed playback option?  A long, long time.  I have found a few since then and have been able to listen to audio-books and podcasts much faster covering more material and exploring new venues and I have been loving it.

I have been wanting the same thing for video and have found it on occasion with the windows media player but you had to download the file and even then it was hit and miss if it would work or not.  Sometimes the picture would work but the sound was gone, sometimes the sound would work but the video was stuttering.  And since it is hard to download a YouTube video there was little chance of having it work there.

But today I stumbled on a training video on a google site and the setting icon which is usually just used to set the resolution also had a place to adjust the speed of the playback.  I got so excited I just had to come over and share the news.

I don't know if this is for all YouTube videos or not but my fingers are crossed.  There are a lot of good videos out there with a lot of great knowledge to be had but there are a lot of times I wish the presenter could just speed it up a little and now maybe they can just for me.  I really can't wait to see if this trend is a reality for all or even just for some buy I am psyched to try it out.

Now I wonder if the same playback option will start to show up in other video places.

Whoever got this to work, high fives, mega kudos and just plain way to go.  THANKS.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

See anything funny this week?

So I didn't watch the 'debate' this week, other than a few of the sound bites and news clips that were floating around.  I admit it, my interest has waned already and sleep seemed like a better option.  Upon reflection I was right.

By the way, the reason I put debate in quotes is because there have been no debates as of yet.  Honestly, Fox and CNN hosted a get together for tea and biscuits without the tea and biscuits.

The Fox debate was more about directed softballs for the candidates to address their talking points or counter a criticism about individual items of each candidate but was only addressed by one maybe two candidates at best, so where is the debate.

CNN on the other hand was just trying to start fights between the candidates rather than picking an issue and allowing all the candidates to make their comments.  Entertaining maybe but useful, not so much.

Overall the sound bites reported on were weak.  The media is trying so hard to make something out of nothing.  They have to because it is still too early in the season for them to let the average Joe/Jane lose interest and therefore risk losing ratings.  In this day and age, short attention spans reign and they are going to have a tough job ahead of them.  (They are good at it, I mean, they have kept 'Two Broke Girls' on the air for more then three episodes and I still don't see how that happened.  Maybe I put too much faith in 'we the people'.)

Short Takes:
Lindsey Graham sit down and shut up.  You are not funny and you are part of the reason we are in this mess.  You have been in Congress since 1993 and your name is not associated with the best of legislation to come out of Washington.  Too bad Rick Perry beat you to being the first to step down from this years election so you will have to be an also ran there as well.

Carly Fiorina is a republican woman running for president.  Other than that I got nothing, kinda like the democrat front runner.  I am currently sitting next to a desktop HP computer that is on an extended downtime again (I've lost count how many this makes now).  It is an older box probably from your era.  I have had HP printer fun also.  I am not impressed with the way you ran HP and at your level you can't just blame it on the economy (no wait, that is what the last four presidents have done...maybe you are candidate worthy).  Sadly no one can figure out how to pronounce your name, including myself which cuts your chances in half.  (That may also be why I like Cream of Wheat.)

Jeb Bush had a large automatic following from day one, I can't figure out why.  He finally has a chance to express himself and convey his message.  Jeb Bush still has a large following.  I still can't figure out why.

And then there is Trump.  He has admitted he is an entertainer (or at least is trying to be).  I am sorry but I can't take him seriously as a presidential contender as there is very little substance behind the facade.  What I do find amusing is that the media and others still think they can shame him into making changes in what he says or does.  He is the Donald and he is shameless.  (Did you not see him on the celebrity roast on comedy central, I couldn't watch all of it because it was so shameless and this is not a plug to seek it out.  I just have more important things to do with my time like sort my finger nail clippings.)  The guilt trip big enough to overcome his ego will never come from external forces.  Sorry political correctness police, you will have to look elsewhere.

I like the fact that the others are sticking it out a little longer.  The fact is with a field this large the longer they stay the better chance of actually getting to make a point and some of them might actually have a point to be made.  Will anyone be around to care when that time finally comes?  More than a few have candidates have stuck it out just to be given a chance to speak at the party convention only to have no one watch them and no one remember what they said.  Only the last one standing will get any real attention whether they deserve it or not.  That is they way we play.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

Ramblings from 7 Sept. 2015

I haven't done any entries for awhile and I thought it high time I did but wanted to let you the reader know that this will be a venture into the realm of the wondering mind.  I don't know where it will take us or what all it will cover, and I will not guarantee that it will make any sense but like so many things out there you might find a nugget so enjoy.

I put a date in the title today even though I think all of the entries have had a date tied to them.  I find it very helpful to take a web entry and put it into context if there is a date associated with it.  For example, I was browsing around and happened onto a suggested search of "Pope Francis resigns" which I thought was as interesting as suggestion searches go, so I clicked and sure enough he was labeled as the second Pope in recent history to resign, how scandalous.

It turns out that the reference was from a super market tabloid that was created back in April of 2014.  I have a feeling that this is one of those events that did not transpire quite the way the author and editors expected.  Still, it does make for a clickable search item.  I wonder why it is still out there waiting to be looked at?

So just how lousy (or should I say lazy) are the portal web sites getting these days?  Yahoo was the standard but that was decades ago, now they are just a pretend portal site that just processes content from others and can't wait to shuffle you off to the highest bidder.  Come to think of it, they all seem headed that way.  I have pretty much given up on finding a usable news web site.  The fabrication is churned out so quickly without any forethought for intellect, leaving nothing but snippets of superlatives to generate fear and anxiety with which to incite the simpleton to an emotionally driven response that fuels consternation and frustration rather than pacify with perspective and relevance.  But alas, our world is run on this.  I wonder if people quit paying attention to calamity, would they just die out due to lack of attention?

Which leads me to the current state of the union, or at least the continuing saga of a nation bent on self obliteration through the continuing decline of it's choices for public servants and the republic for which they stand.  Sure some of us are laughing now but will we still be able to laugh a year from now?  Why do these elections always come down to either or choice and neither choice is a good one?  Mark my words, this election is headed down the same path as those we have had for the least few decades (if not century) by forcing us to choose between a couple of lousy candidates, none of which is an honest to goodness Leader.

Think for moment how you would define a good honest Leader.  I am not going to insert my definition but ask you to come up with your own.  What traits and characteristics would you choose?  What values would you look for?  What vision charts their course and is it one that you truly would follow?  Is this a Leader that actually leads and that the nations multitude willingly follow?  Are the purposes of this Leader just and true?  Is this Leader truly serving others or merely serving themselves?

Then honestly ask yourself, are any of the candidates today, current or hopeful, able to fit your definition of a Leader in all respects and in all ways?

I am still looking.

But in the mean time I will continue to look on with laughter since it is the only real way to look at the absurd (there is plenty to choose from).  Our time certainly isn't the first and probably won't be the last (a little history can go a long way in adding perspective to the current chaos).  The person who can keep themselves well grounded is the one that will be able to laugh the loudest when the emperor parades past the throngs with no clothes on, but as I recall it was a child that noticed it first and was not afraid to respond appropriately.  Perhaps we should be as little children during this election season.  It seems to me we have been treated as children long enough.  In fact, why do we allow people like this to rule over us?  I think we are more than capable of ruling over ourselves.  That is if we haven't forgotten how.

More to follow I'm sure, but for now...
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

What is your go to Pod Cast?

I really enjoy listening to podcast again after finding Podcast Addict, an app for Android that has variable speed playback. Before this I would listen to all my podcast on a MP3 player that would go 15% faster but make them sound like chipmunks. Now I can listen up to 300% faster and their voices are still at the same pitch. Awesome. I am going nuts playing catch up on the old and discovering the new.

For planes I really enjoy Uncontrolled Airspace (UCAP). It is like hanger talk for days when you can't be around hanger talk. Before these guys there was Roy Beisswenger of Powered Sport Flying Radio. He ended his show at the end of 2011 but he still has the programs in archive. You can't beat his enthusiasm and love for the sport. These guys make it seem like you are hanging out with good friends.

I am always on the look out for interesting, inspirational and/or uplifting podcast. Currently I am tuned into Tim Ferriss of the four hour work week, Freakonomics radio, The Rich Dad Radio Show, Amplified Network Marketing from David T.S. Wood, and The Wizard of Ads Roy H. Williams with his Monday Morning Memo (the man is brilliantly incite-full).

But for pure entertainment you can't beat Old Time Radio, just look for Buck Benny as he has a awesome selection with the Jack Benny Show front and center.

Those are a few of my favorites, so tell me, what are some of yours. Please keep them family friendly for my sake. There is too much good stuff out there to waste time on the garbage.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

Humorous comments on government...

Someone sent this to me some years ago and as I read it again now I still find it all to relevant to our times of today.  I hope you enjoy it as I do.

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a Congress. -- John Adams

2. If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. -- Mark Twain

3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain

4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to
lift himself up by the handle. -- Winston Churchill

5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. -- George Bernard Shaw

6. A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -- G. Gordon Liddy

7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -- James Bovard

8. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. -- Douglas Casey

9. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -- P.J. O'Rourke

10. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -- Frederic Bastiat

11. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -- Ronald Reagan

12. I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. -- Will Rogers

13. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free. -- P.J. O'Rourke

14. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. -- Voltaire

15. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you. --
Pericles (430 B.C.)

16. No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. -- Mark Twain

17. Talk is cheap... except when Congress does it. -- Anonymous

18. The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. -- Ronald Reagan

19. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. -- Winston Churchill

20. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. -- Mark Twain

21. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer

22. There is no distinctly native American criminal class... save Congress. -- Mark Twain

23. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -- Gerald Ford

Some things really haven't changed much over the years have they.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

I like lentils...

...but today I wonder.

Fixing some breakfast of toast, poached eggs and chocolate milk.  While getting the chocolate mix out I had to move a jar of lentils that was in front of it.  Sure enough the lid wasn't on very tight and off it came.  The jar fell to the floor and bounced sending the contents in all directions.  The floor had a nice impression of my foot outlined in lentils as I stepped back to survey my handy work.

So what is one to do when you start out the day this way.  Laugh it off and go finish your breakfast.  That would give me a chance to cool down and have my eggs while they were still warm.

Some days are just like that.  Some days I am a cluts and there is little I can do about it.  I have found that it is much better to just laugh it off and move on rather than getting all upset and blowing a casket.  If I get upset and well very likely get more of the same but if I laugh it off I have a better chance of not having a string of continual episodes that fill the day one after another.  Also, my bad day doesn't have to become someone else's bad day.

So breakfast finished, family comes down and notices the miss.  "What happened?" followed by "Don't worry I will clean it up."  You know what, they let me.

Maybe the pantry needed a little cleaning today.  Maybe I needed to pause and reflect the nature of a lentil.  Maybe I just needed a topic for my blog.  Either way it took a little time and effort but was really no big deal.  Most of these types of things are really no big deal.  And that is how we should treat them.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

So Tsu me

Well I did it.  I signed up for a new social network and so far so good.  You might have heard of tsu.co as the alternate Facebook where you can get a cut of the advertising revenue for producing content rather than letting the Zuckerberg boys have all the fun.  At least that is the idea and I am game for that.

Tsu takes a cut of 10% which isn't much these days and then they pay the content producer half the remaining amount with the other half going to the content producers sponsors (kind of like the upline and downline of multi level marketing).

That means you have to have a sponsor or referral to get in.  It is o.k. because you know me and I will be sure to hook you up if you want in.  My link is https://www.tsu.co/EdHWW.  If you know Facebook then you already know Tsu.  Similar if not simpler.  Where I felt lost with Facebook, Tsu comes a bit more intuitively.  I like that in a web site.

It is new and developing and I am sure there are some that think it wont last but I don't care.  It is a work in process.  If this takes off, and it looks like it may, Facebook has something that it hasn't had to worry about up to this point; competition.  Worried?  Probably not but they better not rest on their laurels and start taking care of their core customers because there now is another place to play.

Here is that invite once again.

https://www.tsu.co/EdHWW

It is kind of exciting to be on the leading edge of something.  If it doesn't work fine, but if it does just Tsu me.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

Overcoming internet fear

I admit that I am extremely cautious when it comes to things internet.  There are trust issues and rightfully so.  There are a lot of bad characters out there and they don't always come with the best of intentions on your behalf.  It pays to be cautious.  But am I being too cautious.

I have been hesitant to enter the whole social world, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, whatever etc.  Do I really want to open myself up that much?  Will I slip up and release too much intel related info as to who I am?  Will I become the target of governments and criminals?

Who am I kidding?  I have been writing this blog for several years now and I don't have a mass following yet.  I want to become a more prolific writer which means I would need an audience which means I need to have a following and you can't do that if you hold yourself incognito.  I should set free the irrational fear and let myself shine.  What is the possible worst thing that can happen...I might make some new friends?

So I went to LinkedIn to update my profile with a photo since it would be easier for others to identify me if they could match a name with a face.  I struggle with matching faces with names myself and need all the help I can get.  Trouble is, while I was looking for a photo to use I noticed that I am mostly the one behind the camera and have very few current photos or even many older photos that are of LinkedIn pretentious caliber let alone Facebook worthy.  Maybe generic silhouette is good for LinkedIn for starters but not if I am going to break the mold.  That goes for my Facebook page as well (I was thinking of doing a series of shots with just the back of my head but I am sure it has been done).

While trying to find some new photos to share I came across some old ones I have taken that I kind of like and should find a way to share those as well.  I may have to start loading a few on this blog even just for the fun of it.

Either way I am going to put myself out there and break down some barriers of my own design.  I am going to explore new territories and see if there is anything grand to be had.  And most of all I am going to do a better job at taking selfies.  I am not always as ugly as I think I am.  None of us ever are.

If my hair wasn't such a mess right now I would prove it.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.