The U.S. Census

The United States is gearing up for the Decennial Census which is the major census and happens every ten years.

The Census is a massive undertaking that at times gets a bad reputation due to the fact that they have to do a nationwide survey of the population with many people being afraid to give the needed information due to the big brother mentality that is perpetuated by some media outlets and by people fearing that the information is going to be misused by the government in general.

the census workers only show up at any given address for specific reasons which are address canvassing which makes sure that the address data base is up to date, and in instances where the survey has not been returned or completely filled out.

A U.S. Census worker has to identify him or herself as a U.S. Census Employee, why they are there and make sure that they have their credentials on on them for identification purposes. If for any reason you feel that an individual isn't who they say they are then you have every right to call the U.S. Census offices in your area to see if they have an individual employed at one of their offices, or you can call your local authorities as well.

Any information you do give to the U.S. Census is legally protected by the U.S. Constitution and can not be shared with anyone.

The Census date is April 1, 2010 any one showing up before then saying that you didn't fill out your survey or it was incomplete isn't a Census worker and the Census has to wait for the surveys to come in to be able to process the information and it will be a while before you hear from the Census if you didn't fill out your survey or if it wasn't compete before returning it.

congratulations to the president

Even though the Nobel Piece Prize is a surprise to many people, he deserves to be congratulated on winning it. Now that he has won it, it will make it harder for him to do his job due to the expectations that will inevitably be placed on him but it will also make it a little easier for him to bring people to the table to work things out once people stop wondering what he has done to deserve the honor.

Senator Ted Kennedy

Senator Kennedy a man that may have come from a privileged family, will surely be missed for his tirelessly fighting for those who had nothing while serving his beloved constituents even as he himself faced some of the toughest adversities one could ever face, with having to bury 2 brothers who died while trying to serve our country in the manner they thought best.

He has shown that no matter the adversity you must stand up and fight, fight for what you believe in no matter the cost. For that whom ever the torch passes to, will be judged based on what Senator Kennedy tried regardless of whether or not his efforts were fruitful.

Obama's health care plan

I believe that President Obama has the right idea in general in the fact that we need to reform the health care system and also to get the government involved. I feel that its not a matter of whether or not the government should get more involved but rather how they should be involved and to what degree.

the one major problem is that not everyone wants health insurance for one reason or another and you also have people who can't afford the health insurance or would rather use the emergency room as their doctors office. any and all reform has to take these into account and we have figure out how to remedy them as well.

what's with people in power in other countries

with what is going on in both North Korea and in Iran it makes me wonder how the people that lead their countries got their power. One seems overly eccentric and the other seems to want to do anything to stay in power including not letting a full recount of his countries election.

jobs, unemployment, skin cancer, friends

its been a year since I had been diagnosed with skin cancer. In that time I had lost a job due to the place I was working at closing, while recovering from surgery to removed I was forced to be on unemployment and looking for a new job. even though I had that going on I could not have asked for better time of year to be off where I ended up having most of the summer off from having to go to work every day so I could recover more easily from the surgery, not because of the type of surgery but from where I had the surgery.

a month or two after I was fully recovered from the surgery I ended up with a better job than I had left last spring. Even though some of the social interactions are weirder than I am accustomed too I feel as if I have found some better friends than I had in my last job aside from a couple people in my last job I still have contact with.

stem cell research reversal

I am happy that President Obama reversed President Bush's decision to ban stem cell research. I believe that every life is important but I also feel that there is no gaurantee that the embryos would mature enough to be a viable life.

I feel that regardless of religious beliefs, the good of the many in most cases out weighs the good of the one but in the case of medicine the needs of the one help push forward the research that helps us deal with the needs of the many and we need to explore options that we may not always agree with. we have shown in the past that under certain conditions we will forego ethics so we can save a live during war time which means we cannot pick and choose our battles with medicine as long as we don't intend to hurt anyone.

the stimulus package

The stimulus package that has made its way through the house and senate is far from perfect with what is in it but at the same time the government needs to do something. unfortunately it is still politics as usual in washington which means that it could have been a lot better but due to politicians not wanting to work at making it better for all they whined about it not being up to their standards.

the economy and jobs

with the way the economy is going it looks like even with the newest stimulus package it will not stop the economy from dictating that fewer employees are needed in many area's at least in the short term. when the job market starts heating up again many of the jobs that once had a high rate of pay to begin with, will undoubtedly have a lower base pay to start than just a year or two ago. this will mean that even though someone finds a new job, they may not be out of their financial troubles due to what they are use to in terms of living standards and what they have to deal with prior financial obligations that they would still be required to live up too. this will most likely cause just as many problems as the person being on unemployment if not worsen their problems.

congratulations to President Obama

I would like to congratulate Mr. Obama on attaining the office of the President of the United States. I hope that he can live up to the promises made and live up to the aspirations of a nations that hopes that a new voice can and will be the voice of change.

Israel and the middle east process

Both Israel and certain segments of the Middle East in particular the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip need to approach the whole process of peace differently.

To this point any attempt at piece has been a fragile that has been easily fractured by even the smallest of events that may have more to do with a legacy of mistrust between both sides rather than a lack of wanting to end the violence.

The problem on both sides at least in one persons opinion is a lack of respect and control. The Palestinians appear to be unable or unwilling to prevent individuals from attaining weapons that are capable of being launched into Israel due to the legacy of mistrust and Israel seems to be unwilling or incapable of controlling their retaliatory response to any skirmish that may occur.

in the end both sides even though stating and making what looks like a half hearted attempt at change end up perpetuating the legacy of tit-for-tat that has been going on for countless generations.