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March 31, 2006

FOUR FOR FRIDAY

Q1 - Underdogs: One of the teams playing in this weekend's NCAA Men's Division I College Basketball Tournament ìFinal Fourî here in Indianapolis is Virginia's very own George Mason University. Generally speaking, are you the type of person who likes to root for the underdog?

Q2 - Immigrants: Do you think employers should face criminal charges for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants?

Q3 - Wages: As of today, the federal minimum wage here in the U.S. stands at $5.15 per hour. In your opinion, should the minimum wage be raised, and if so, to how much; and if not, why not?

Q4 - Shopping: I'm headed to the grocery store. Is there anything I can get for you?

Posted by Mikal at 8:36 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

March 27, 2006

TWO REQUESTS FOR HELP

Here are two requests that BeliBlog readers may be able to come to the rescue on. One is from my good friend and mentor, Ford Church, while the other is a referral from a friend here in Indy:

Multimedia Projector: The Cottonwood Institute is in need of a multimedia projector to give presentations to help spread the word about our programs. If you, a colleague, or your company is trying to upgrade your multimedia projector and are looking to donate your old one for a tax-write off, please contact me at (303) 447-1076. Please feel free to forward this request to any contacts in your network. For more information about the Cottonwood Institute, please visit our website at: www.cottonwoodinstitute.org. [Submitted by Ford Church, Founder and Executive Director of The Cottonwood Institute: ford@cottonwoodinstitute.org]

Mini Marathon Spirit Competition: This year I am overseeing the Spirit Competition that goes on during the Indianapolis Mini Marathon. Cheerleading squads line the route of the Mini and cheer on the runners and walkers. This is actually a competition for them in which the first place squad wins $1,000, 2nd place gets $500, and 3rd earns $250. Typically, the judges are runners and walkers at different speeds who volunteers to judge the Cheerleading squads as they go by. Judging is based mostly on spirit and presentation. If you know of anyone, friends or family, running or walking in the Mini that might be interested in helping us out by being a judge, I'd really appreciate hearing back from you. Thanks so much! [Submitted by Natalie LabÈjof: Indy Mini Parade Intern: (317) 614-6115: NLabejof@500festival.com]

Posted by Mikal at 10:56 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 24, 2006

Q1 - Lost Data: Do you think that a company--regardless of its size or scope--should be fined or penalized for losing its employees' or customers' financial data?

Q2 - Searching For Data: Do you think search engines like Ask's, Google's, and Yahoo's be required to give the U.S. Department of Justice data on users' searches?

Q3 - Shredding Data: Do you use a shredder either at home or work?

Q4 - Sharing Your Data: When you turn to a professional tax preparer to complete your state or federal income tax filings, you trust that person or the company they work for with your most guarded and personal financial information. But what if the tax preparer or the company they work for was allowed to sell your information to data miners and telemarketers, as well as to sister firms associated with the tax preparation company. It could happen if a new IRS proposal is approved. According to an IRS statement, the heart of the proposed regulation focuses on "...the right of taxpayers to control their own tax return information." In other words, in order for a tax preparer to sell your information, you would first have to give your consent. The IRS says that's a good thing because it empowers taxpayers, while critics like the ACLU fear that unscrupulous preparers could dupe some of us. How do you feel about this? Should tax preparers be allowed to sell our personal information, and/or should the IRS even make this an option in the first place?

March 18, 2006

A very dear friend sent the following message just a few hours ago. It contains so many great thoughts that I didn't want to keep it myself, and since I want to be able to come back to it at some point in the future and read it again, it gets posted here.

Hi Mikal

It's really late... after 1AM, but we are all on "death watch". Pretty much the entire family is here at my aunt's house. We've gone from praying, to eating, to making coffee, to sitting with her, to praying, to napping, and on and on and on.

She seems restful and at peace, unable to talk, open her eyes, or move (except for the occasional involuntary movements). We're anticipating just some hours from now she'll pass peacefully. It's actually been a very real, pronounced, and eye-opening experience to watch death so close and personal. While I was not present for my father's nor my grandfather's death, I thought I understood the process. Far from it... we never understand it. Only those entering and ultimately passing through it understand. Seems we can speculate and surmise what the process is like or will be from observation, interaction, or impressions, but there is a real lack of words and cognitive realization to express this process.

Each death is so unique, and so alone! The withdraw from the world around them as they enter inside themselves where there is sorting out, evaluating one's self and one's life. But inside, there is only room for one!

Eyes closed, in deep sleep is where the important work is done, on a level outsiders aren't aware of. Words are no longer necessary to communicate, because it only serves to keep them in this physical world, one they are trying to leave. Talking with loved one's that have died before them, they are no longer grounded to this earth. As death approaches, one last surge provides them with the spiritual energy to move on... then finally, the last breaths give rise to their chest, and as they exhale, their done... gone.

So simple, so elegant... the cycle of life is complete.

March 17, 2006

Hi, Everyone!

I am having major problems with my web server, so Four For Friday is on hold for today. My apologies. Hopefully the problem will be cleared up soon.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Mikal

March 10, 2006

Q1 - Greeting Cards: When was the last time you mailed a card to someone, and what was the occasion?

Q2 - Courts: Now that two new judges have been nominated, confirmed, and sworn in to serve on the United States Supreme Court, do you believe the Court will overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision at some point over the next five to ten years?

Q3 - E-mail: How many different e-mail accounts do you have, and how often do you tend to use each one?

Q4 - March Madness: Because of all the college basketball tournaments taking place this month, some people say the month of March should be renamed "Basketball." Are you following this month's college basketball action, and if so, which men's and women's teams are you rooting for?

March 8, 2006

It's 10:15 a.m. here in Indianapolis, and for the last five minutes or so our town's emergency sirens have been pounding out a constant 'air raid' alarm. Typically, when an alarm like this goes off at any time other than 11:00 a.m. on a Friday morning (that's when the alarms are tested here in Indianapolis), it's to signal that we're under a Tornado Warning or Watch or a Severe Thunderstorm Warning or Watch, which I believe is issued for downtown Indy by the Marion County Emergency Management Agency.

One would think though that when an alarm of such magnitude goes on for five minutes without a single drop in decibel, that our local television stations--the same ones that go absolutely nuts every time it snows--would have at least a scrolling warning on their screens, if not a total interruption of regularly schedule programming to explain what all the hubbub is about. But no, that didn't happen this morning, nor has it happened the last three times our air raid siren has been used outside of the normal testing schedule.

As it turns out, today's siren *was* a test. I did some quick snooping around, and according to an official who answered the phone at NOAA's National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office here in Indianapolis, the system was being tested as a part of a statewide tornado drill involving public and private schools.

Is it just me or does anyone else feel that there should be a legal basis for local media to provide instant coverage of why an air raid siren is being sounded? To me, itís simple knowledge management. To assume people wonít go in search of information related to an impending threat is foolish and counter intuitive to why the warning system exists in the first place.

March 3, 2006

Q1 - Pay E-mail: Starting in April, AOL will charge companies about 1/4 of a cent to send e-mail messages to its users that will bypass the company's filters. E-mails from paying companies will go straight to a user's inbox, while e-mails from non-paying companies will go through a gauntlet of filters that could divert them to a junk-mail folder or strip them of images and links, even if they're not spam. How do you feel about this? Should companies like AOL be able to put policies like these into place because they protect its customers, or pay E-mail a bad idea because it doesn't account for bulk messages sent by not-for-profits or other legitimate groups who cannot afford to pay the price to bypass the system?

Q2 - Weather: Do you check your weather report on a daily basis? Regardless of how often you check, where do you go for information about the weather... newspaper, television, radio, or do you receive your weather reports via the Internet?

Q3 - Sold: What's the last thing you sold (both personally and professionally)?

Q4 - Footwear: How many different pairs of shoes do you own verses how many you actually wear on a regular basis?