Online Safety with Chuck Norris

Chuck tells parents how to make the internet a safe place for kids. Sex solicitaion is a big problem online: ” According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation news, “MySpace has found more than 29,000 registered sex offenders on its site as of July – four times its original estimate.” What’s further alarming is that Consumer Reports noted in its “Net Threats” (Sept. 2007) that, “13 percent of their children who were registered at the giant networking site MySpace.com were younger than 14, the minimum age the site officially allows. We also found that many parents haven’t prepared their children for online risks.”

Here are his 9 suggestions for combating cyber predators:

1. Read “A Parent’s Guide To Internet Safety” to become even more familiar with online crime and how to prevent it. Further resources for parental help with various electronic media can also be found at the website for Obscenity Crimes.

2. Review what is on your child’s computer and other electronic devices. If you don’t know how, ask a friend, co-worker, relative or other knowledgeable person. Require your access to your child’s e-mails, and inform him or her of the online dangers and how to spot them.

3. If your computers are not protected by anti-porn software, don’t wait another day to download it. I personally use and recommend the defensive systems found at max.com. Its service can filter peer-to-peer communications, e-mails, instant messages and chat room exchanges. Other resources can also be found at Obscenity Crimes website.

4. Introduce your children to Web Wise Kids, which seeks to empower young people to make wise online choices.

5. Put the family computer in the room where you spend most of your at-home time. If your child uses a laptop, make sure he or she uses it in your full view of the screen.

6. Use the Caller ID service to determine who is calling your child, and call your phone company to purchase the option to block your family’s numbers from appearing on others’ caller ID.

7. Report all online obscene criminal activity. Information submitted to Obscenity Crimes is forwarded to U.S. Attorneys in the 50 states and to the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in Washington.

8. If you suspect your underage youngster has received pornography, been sexually solicited or is in communication with a child predator, talk openly to him or her about it. If your suspicions prove to be true, contact your local FBI office or make an online report to the Cyber Tipline or call by phone at 1-800-843-5678.

9. You can also check the National Sex Offender Public Web Site or your individual State’s Sex Offender Registry Web Sites to see the names and locations of cyber-pedophiles in your area and beyond.”

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The Real Problems With Hardees

In the past Hardees has been famous for their poor quality food. If you were to talk about their chicken or burgers most people would give a disgusted look. But recent changes to the company such as their brand new angus beef “Thick Burger” line has boosted the quality and the taste of their burgers. And let us not forget about their delicious new chicken sandwich line. Hardees is doing many little things to improve their image but there are bigger problems with Hardees that seem to be over looked

Let us first look at more of the improvements of Hardees. And that is their “Six dollar service.” This name comes from their “ Six Dollar Burger” promotion a few years ago. The burger is worth 6 dollars, but you the consumer only pay 4 dollars for the sandwich. 6 dollar service, on the other hand, refers to the better than average service that you the consumer will receive with this new service. This service includes having your meal brought to your table, cheerful, quick service, and a comment card located on your table for you to fill out. Although these are noteworthy improvements for Hardees. There are some bigger problems that are the result of these new improvements that must be dealt with in order to better compete with other fast food chains.

The biggest problem of Hardees is quick service. There are three reasons for Hardees slow service. The first reason is that every time a Hardees employee has to change an order, whether it is because the customer changed their mind, or the employee hit the wrong button, a code must be typed into the computer to allow the employee to change the order on the computer. Only the store or shift manager knows the code. The second problem is that the shift or store manage must type in the code if a customer requires a refund for their meal. Having to go get a manager to type in a code to change an order wastes a great deal of time. The clerk’s time is wasted trying to find the manager, and the manager’s time is wasted because whatever project that the manager was working on, now must be put on hold in order to go type in the code. And finally, the customer’s time is wasted because of the time it take the clerk to find the manager to type in the code. I call this bureaucracy. Dictionary.com defines Bureaucracy as excessive multiplication of, and concentration of power in, administrative bureaus or administrators. Administrator can also mean manager. Bureaucracy makes it hard for employees to give very good customer service. This is because employees rely on managers to take care of customers needs, such as giving refunds and changing orders as we see at Hardees. I do not find it hard to imagine that Hardees has lost some customers because this problem.

Another reason, unrelated to the bureaucracy of Hardees, is how long it take for the angus beef and chicken to cook. The burger patties and chicken are slow cooked on a conveyer belt grill to provide a better, more thoroughly cooked taste. When you cook a burger under a flame quickly, you have to turn up the flame higher than a slow cooking, which in turn makes you have a more burned tasting burger. The same is true for chicken. Although I think it is a idea of Hardees to slow cook their burgers under a flame grill because of the taste, Americans usually are coming to a fast food restaurant to eat a meal quickly. If they wanted to sit down for a while and relax, they would be eating at a sit down restaurant similar to Applebees and Chili’s. If Hardees wants to continue cooking their burgers and chicken using the slow cook method. They must completely change their image to a sit down restaurant style. Then customers will not mind at all waiting for their burgers to be cooked.

Hardee’s food quality can compete with any fast food restaurant today. But customers do not merely want great tasting food. They want their food served quickly. As more and more people are on the go, so must their food be on the go. If Hardees allows their employees to provide speedy customer service without the bureaucracy then customers will be satisfied and will tell their friends to come. And there is also the option to discontinue being a fast food restaurant and simply turn Hardees into a sit down restaurant. These customers will not be in such a hurry. If Hardees can make these changes and keep up the changes they have already made, they will expand their customer base even further and make customers want to come back in the first place!

Scott Adams Vision

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, recently blogged about a dream he had.(http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/08/my-life-as-a-ho.html).  He claims to have received a vision in his dream to move to San Francisco.  Keep in mind he had planned to score a job as a banker in New York.  Let us read how Scott responded to his dream: “

After graduating, I traded my beat-up Datsun 510 to my sister for a one-way ticket to Los Angeles, where my brother had moved a few years earlier. I slept in a sleeping bag on his couch and applied for banking jobs. I had two offers, and was planning to pick one of them.

Meanwhile, sometime after my so-called vision, an ex girlfriend dropped out of college and moved to San Francisco. While I was in LA, she invited me up for the weekend. I went. She convinced me that San Francisco was a much nicer place than LA, and I should move there. I said I’d stay if I could find a job on Monday. I was almost out of money. Otherwise, I would return to LA and accept one of the offers there.

On Monday morning, I walked into a branch of Crocker National Bank in San Francisco, asked for a job, and got one, as a teller. I’ve lived in the San Francisco area ever since. This is where I created Dilbert. And I have stood on stage in front of huge audiences a few hundred times, just as I saw it in the vision.”

Mr. Adams has many theories as to how he recieved this vision.  His favorite theory is that he is a hologram from an ancient computer:

“But my favorite theory is that I’m nothing but a hologram in a computer program built by my ancient self, before the planet was destroyed by some disaster. The reason I can glimpse my future is that I have all of the qualities of the real me who wrote my program. In other words, I can accurately imagine my future because it is playing out much like I would have authored it myself.

The great thing about this theory is that I can find all sorts of clues to validate it. For example, when I come up with a “new” idea only to discover that others have had the same thought, this fits my theory too. The reason other people have my same thoughts is because they were programmed by my ancient self, who only had a finite number of thoughts to build into the program. This reality is bound to have repeats.

Then there is all the science I don’t understand. One explanation is that it’s over my head. But I prefer the explanation that it is nothing but gibberish programmed into the system. The reason I don’t understand string theory, for example, is that there are no real scientists, only holograms programmed by my ancient self. And since my ancient self didn’t know string theory, he concealed that fact by making it seem as though it is just too complicated to understand.” 

Personally I believe the vision was from God.  I do not believe even he believes his hologram theory.  God has a plan for everyone.  And you might not know what everything in that plan right away.  But circumstances, personal talents and even dreams can help show what direction to take in life.  Did Mr.Adams receive his vision from his ancient self or from God.  I vote God. 

Star Wars Pop-Art (Re-Blogged)

 Laughingsquid.com posted these awsome Star War Pop Art screen paintings.  I love the incredible fusion of the 1950’s dressed girl and barber interacting with the Star Wars machinery and characters.   I find these pictures to be orignal, eye catching, and unusual.  I had  to repost these awsome pictures.  The original source for these pictures can be found at http://galleryscene.com/index.php/?page_id=42.

Fred on Abortion

Here is a video of Fred Thompson talking about his pro-life stance:   http://blip.tv/file/303866 He recieved the National Right to Life endorsement when he ran for the U.S. Senate.  He appears to be 100% pro-life.  I suggest that you send this link to anyone who wants to know where Thompson stands on abortion. 

Worter Von Weisheit Society

One of the greatest blessings in my life right now has to be the monthy Worter Von Weisheit Society meetings I have been involved in. The phrase ”Worter Von Weisheit” is German for Words of Wisdom.  A couple men and I meet monthly to discuss how we can have a positve impact on our decaying culture through a greater understanding of who God is and what he wants from us.  All the people in the group have tremendous wisdom and insight about being a light in this dark world. 

We have many plans for the Worter Von Weisheit Society.  One major plan is to start other chapters where small groups of people can come together and talk about how they can attain the wisdom needed to impact the culture in a positive way.  We are thinking of making men’s chapters and women’s chapters.  Our small group also plans to make some promotional videos, nararate famous speaches by the founding fathers, and Letter’s of encouragement written to those people/organizations standing for truth.

To find out more information about our group please visit our blog: www.wvws.blogspot.com.

Get with the program

I know everyone has their favorite canidate for president.  But your favorite candidate may have no chance of winning the presidential nominatiom.  In regards to the republican nomination, the only two people who have a chance of winning the primaries are Fred Thomson or Rudy Guillani.  I know there are many Sam Brownback,  Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul fans but these guys have no chance of winning the presidential nomination.  Many people have never even heard of these people.  If you showed a picture Brownback, Hukabee, or Paul to people on the street many people would have no clue as to who they were. 

Thomson and Guillani are incredibly well known.  Thompson for his long career as a politician and as an actor.  And Guillani as the famous mayor of New York.

 As for the Democratic nominations.  Hillary Clinton will clearly get the nomination.  She is blowing away all the other canidates in the polls.  You are wasting your time if you are promoting Barak Obama for president.  He’s a nobody promoted by the media.  But people view him as inexperienced and one who can not make decisions.  Many people can see that Clinton cares nothing more than to attain the highest power in land as well as the fact that she is a socialist, but she is still doing extrodinarily better in the polls than all the other democratic canidates.

 So wake up folks and start promoting someone who actually has a chance of becoming president.

Shelley Lubben

Please visit the website of former porn actress Shelly Lubben. She wanted to find love, but she searched for it in all the wrong places. Her site tells of her transformation from being a drug addicted porn star to joy-filled motivational speaker. She also tells you how to beat porn addiction and find the kind of love that is fullfilling. Visit her site here: http://www.shelleylubben.com/

Benny the Fraud

Many people ask who am I to  judge God’s servants such as Benny Hinn.  Well I do not believe Benny Hinn is allowing himself to be used as God’s servent in the first place. Someone must expose the truth about Benny Hinn. And I am willing to do it.

Today their is so much twisting, and deletion of certain concepts in the Bible. Pastors not grounded in a Bible believing Seminary will be more easily seduced to teach the Bible how they want to see it. I believe you need some sort of training before you become a pastor. Going to college with a Bible major is good, but going to a seminary is better. Hinn has had no Biblical training.

Secondly, Benny Hinn has not healed anyone. There have been zero documented cases. He and his ministry claimed they healed 10 people, but those people were documented to have never been healed. People are in a such a euphoric state of glee, they actually believe and feel heeled, but no such healing is actually taking place.
And most of the “experts at Hinn’s concerts who proclaim that a person has been healed, are not Doctors.

Thirdly, I believe he is only traveling the globe on his crusades to make money. He often takes luxorious vacations staying in $10,000 a night hotels. His ministry also never reveals their finances to the public. This is extremely unusual for a ministry to do.

There are many great ministers of the Gospel today, but I do not believe Benny Hinn is one of them.

BTW, there is a great 4 part video expose’ that I strongly encourage everyone to watch. Here are the links.

Part 1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=pp0hHH-lH40
Part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=1mD9OGS6rPU
Part 3: http://youtube.com/watch?v=L_BzBEcVozk
Part 4: http://youtube.com/watch?v=MD0PdaTBjoA

Think “Others”

It’s easy for people in today’s world to become self centered.  Adds on television, the radio, and the internet tell us how we deserve every comfort or material possesion invented.  We can want what other people have, and not appreciate what we already have.  When we lust after what we do not have, we can become jeolus, materialistica, angry, and even bitter if we never wind up getting what we want. 

But there is a way to counter the “give me” attitude.  You simply have to realize that giving to others provides more happiness than receiving.  The happiest times in my life have been the times when I have helped other.  Helping others results in higher self esteem, makes great use of your time, and brings you lingering sense of joy.  So when you wake up tommorow morning, reject the notion that material possesion will bring you happiness.  Focus on helping others and you will be a happier person.