Fixing the Budget Bizzio Style

1.) Decriminalize marijuana federally by reclassifying its FDA status. This saves on multiple points you decrease the federal amount of money need to fight the so called war on drugs, you reduce the amount of federal money used to imprison Americans for no violent drug related offenses and you can tax the hell out of it for a revenue source. Estimate savings is probably close to $100 billion dollars.

2.) Legalize prostitution federally and locally. Same as above with the added benefit that you will likely reduce the health care costs inflicted by advanced cases of VD

3.) Legalize gambling.

4.) Increase cigarette and liquor taxes. $1.50 for smokes 5% for booze increased revenue will help head off medical expenses related to the true cost of smoking with the added benefit of fewer people smoking and getting serious health issues. (Saying this and I would get hit)

5.) Sell excess weapons to other countries to help fund national defense – Every 3 years hold a garage sale of weapons, planes, tanks etc to other countries – particularly third world countries. This has added benefits of raising revenue, reducing the number of wars we have to enter, stabilizing regions where we can sell products and services. We find ourselves having to fight every global conflict because we are one of the only countries that can. If there is more world superpowers there is more people who can help, the world becomes more stable. A more stable world = more stable markets.

6.) Repeal Bushes tax cuts

7.) Increase income tax by 0.5% yeah it sucks.

8.) Slash every federally funded budget across the board by 2% and freeze funding at those levels for 2 years.

F!@% Frank Ball Part II

Really who are you?

http://www.startribune.com/politics/local/116784158.html

If your business owners are worried about losing money by being open 7 days a week there is a simple solution....close one day a week!! Just because the law says that you can be open 7 days a week doesn't mean a business owner has to be open 7 days a week.

Now you want to block Surley factory from going forward too?

As a special vow I am personally abstaining from purchasing anything in a municipal liquor store until this silly little law is overturned.

F!@#$% You Mr. Ball

I vote and donate too.

The municipal liquor laws are a monopoly and should be abolished so should the rest of the blue laws in the state. This should go to a vote or at least a discussion.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/116537693.html?page=1&c=y

I would have to think there is some grounds for a lawsuit that can be brought against Mr Ball and his lobbyists for anti-competition or the separation of church and state etc.

Email your legislators or better yet stop going\shopping at any store or bar that is part of this coalition.

Thoughts on what is going on in Wisconsin

What is being proposed ?
Walker is asking for government employees to contribute 5.8% of their salaries to cover pension costs and fund their own retirement .

Walker is asking for government employees to double their health care coverage costs.

In order to pass these two mandates he is proposing the end of collective bargaining. (Labor Union Resolution Process)

To the protestors in Wisconsin…..
1.) Go home. Do you really want to have this conversation?

a. Save for your own retirement – It is not a new concept the rest of us have to do and you don’t see people in the private sector hitting the streets.

b. Double your health care cost - You want to complain? Anyone who is in the private sector has seen this increase already.

2.) It pisses me off to sit and watch this play out. Tax payers pay for you to shirk your individual responsibility to plan for your own retirement and contribute fairly to the cost of your medical coverage and as soon as you get asked to pitch in the fair share you owe you protest? WTF?

3.) I can see why labor people are upset to certain extent over the proposed abolishment of collective bargaining but the reality is that these changes need to take place to balance the budget. The other option is laying off 12,000 people.

4.) The democrats that fled the state…..I am disappointed. What else can I say. The democratic process means that the people spoke and voted in people who support this measure. It should pass. If the people don’t like the outcome they will speak with their voting in the next election. To repeal or reform the bill. Leaving the state cheapens the democratic process we have in place it dilutes the meaning of every individual who casts a ballots vote. For the record I am a demarcate and for the record I think leaving the state and cheapening the meaning of our democracy is an abomination.


Go Home… or if you are one of the missing democrats come back…

Forward> Forward>Forward>

Got a little chuckle out of this email forward

What Makes 100%?

What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they

are giving more than 100%? We have all been

to those meetings where someone wants you

to give over 100%.

How about achieving 103%?

What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that

might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U

V W X Y Z

is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

and

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But ,

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

And,

B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%

AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.

A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical

certainty, that While Hard work and

Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude

will get you there, its the Bullshit and Ass Kissing that will put you over the top.

Today

It is warm.

I am happy.

It is almost the weekend.

That is all.

On Going Out….

“The only things that are going to make your life different five year from now is the people you meet and the books you read”

I re-interrupt that a little to be the people you meet and the things you learn. With that as my frame of reference I have the following standing goals every year.

1.) Read 24 books – 12 Fiction 12 Non-Fiction (Learn)
2.) At Least 16 hours of formal training or classes (Learn)
3.) Go to 24 New Bars and Restaurants (Meet People)
4.) Go to @ least 1 concert - (Meet People)
5.) Go to @ least 1 play or show - (Meet People)
6.) Go to @ least one museum or art show - (Meet People)
7.) Go to @ least one social business related networking event (Meet people)
8.) Go to @ least 2 sporting events - (Meet People)
9.) Go to @ least one city outside Minnesota (Meet people)
10.) Every other year go to @ least one city outside of the US (Meet people)

I know some people might think these are weird goals but as someone who struggles with being an introvert I have a make a conscience effort to mix it up.

There are a lot of people I know who say it is a waste of money to go out. I look at it as an investment.
Here are the positive aspects as I see them
1.) New experiences keep your mind fresh
2.) You experience different venues (Which can come in handy in a variety of business situations)
3.) You build a variety of shared experiences that enable to more readily relate to different types of people
4.) You build comfort in a variety of different social situations.
5.) You learn to see the world in a different perspectives.
6.) You have a chance to interact with people that you can’t have on your couch.
7.) Life is more beautiful in 3-D
8.) You build better relationships not only with the people you bring but new relationships with the people you meet on the way.

So if you need a reason to loosen up on the purse strings and get out of the house try looking at how a night out can enrich your life instead of diminish your wallet and then go somewhere new. Smile, hold doors, say hello, and buy a round it will pay dividends in happiness I promise.

Fork in the Plate

I work in a fairly affluent office building and every morning when I walk into the building I am presented with a couple of options; I can go down the stairs to a restaurant or I can go straight into an office building. It occurs to me almost every day when I walk in that I get to see the two separate paths my life could have gone down. I get to stand at the literal fork in my life’s road.

When I was growing up I started working in a small dinner in south Minneapolis washing dishes, serving, cooking and by the time I was 18 managing. I was making a ton of money relative to my age and loving every minute of it. I could see myself doing it for the rest of my life to be honest. Great hours, cash, good people, fun environment that was constantly in motion.

One night I was closing down shop with my first mentor Eric and he looked at me and said kid what are you doing? You can do better. Until that moment I had never thought of what else I would do but for some reason those simple words from a man I truly respected shattered the whole illusion of what I wanted to do with my life.

They haunted me. They drove me.

About a month later I took a job in a corporate office. In a world of suit and ties and 9-5 grind. In a mail room in fact to complete the cliché.

I saw my group of friends less and less. It was hard keeping pace with people who don’t have to wake up at 7:00AM and work weekends.

I see the cooks outback on my way in smoking, laughing, letting the prep pile up until the last possible second, talking about who nailed which waitress last night. A part of me gets nostalgic and misses a lot of great people I had so much fun with. There was a tightness among my little tribe growing up as we struggled to make ends meet and beat out another day that I am not sure I will ever be able to fully replicate.

But every morning I smile to myself as I walk past the restaurant and into my office knowing I made the right choice.

Even though I have not seen Erik in 10 years every morning I press the elevator button I hear his voice say, “ kid what are you doing?, You can do better.”

And then I do.

A New Era

One thing I like about software is its evolution over time. It is always fun to look at previous versions through a programs version control and see all the features that have been added, enhanced or inactivated. It is fluid able to be modified for expansion and if all else fails completely rewritten. Sure new bugs arise and it is never perfect but you can use the power of your mind to modify towards perfection.

It is how I view my life.

I am on version 3.3.2.2.7 and if I might say so it is the best release so far.

The Most Dangerous Word in Software Requirements

The most dangerous word in soft ware requirements is ”etc.”

Such as I need I need something that does this function, this process etc. If you have these three letters anywhere in your requirements I can make three predictions.

1.) Your project is going to be late….really late.
2.) Your project is going to be over budget…..really over budget.
3.) You stakeholders and developers are going to be pissed since this is a key sign requirements are not complete and expectations are not known to all parties.


If a requirement document has etc anywhere in the document it FAILS.

Do it over.

The fracture of culture

I was listening to MPR recently and the moderator was talking about the facture of culture and used the Cosby episode as an example. I forget the exact specifics for numbers they used but the conversation went like this in the 80’s 25 million people tuned in to watch the Crosby’s every night. Today the most popular show on television is American idol and it pulls in about 10 million people. They discussed the implications for talking at the water cooler and having moments with people who our outside of your subculture. These moments of common understanding and common relation are becoming more rare. It then went on to discuss the larger impacts of a fragmented culture that don’t have these elements to relate to one another.

I started to wonder what is the common thread that binds our larger American culture? I am still wondering…

Every answer I come up with Is still a fragment of the total culture. Is our common culture that we have no common culture? What does that mean for rallying people to address problems?

Evil Fruit

Today I attempted to eat my first and last grapefruit. The result was juice all over my desk and shirt and enough citrus in my eye that I cried in the bathroom for the first 30 minutes of work. I think I will stick to the pre-squeezed version that I take on the rocks over a cold pour of gin and leave the manual eating to the birds.