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Bill Bean's Blog (55)

Christmas Stimulus

Over the weekend I listened to many reports about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Spending was up a little on Friday but not by much. (better than a decline) The Monday following Black Friday has picked up the moniker Cyber Monday due to the huge numbers of people that get online to do some shopping (managers get the policy manual out). I was not a fan of the stimulus package, specifically the payments that went out to people. No need to resurrect that debate. However, it occurred to me that per… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on November 30, 2009 at 7:39am — No Comments

Drumstick Dash With The Beans

Did the Drumstick Dash with my brother and daughter. Huge crowd made for a bit of an obstacle course. I think that made the 4.5 miles a little closer to 5 with all the dodging and weaving. Glad the rain wasn't any more than a mist. (thanks for the help @paulpoteet ) This was my daughter's first race ever. She did great! I'm very proud of her.

… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on November 27, 2009 at 12:36pm — 2 Comments

Smoking Ban Signals The Wrong Future

Today's Star has another editorial about the Indianapolis smoking ban issue by Francesca Jarosz. It's still a bit slanted, IMHO, but does a fairer job of representing those opposed to the ban. Other recent articles have been much more dismissive. At the risk of simply being dismissed with the others I want to point out some of the particular points of the smoking ban proponents that I take issue with. She says,… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on November 1, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

Social Media Divides

Offline social networks are affected by race and socio-economic status. Why would social media networks be any different than "real world" networks? (Need a better descriptor than "real world") "I have friends who are white," says 19-year-old Diego Luna. "They are my white people friends and they are mostly on Facebook. That's why I use Facebook. My brown people are on MySpace." Diego Luna,19, in an NPR interview. Facebook, MySpace Divide Along Social Lines was… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on October 25, 2009 at 9:07pm — 2 Comments

CIB Wants Out of Stadium Management

"The city of Indianapolis is considering ways to get out of the professional sports stadium and convention center management business. " That from the IBJ's breaking news bulletin. All I can say is too bad we didn't come to that conclusion earlier. As in most things, government doesn't excel at management. In today's economy, excelling is a basic requirement for surviving. Continue

Added by Bill Bean on October 20, 2009 at 5:11pm — No Comments

Nobel Peace Prize To Obama, Really?

Granted, the peace prize pretty much became a farce when they gave it to Yasser Arafat and Al Gore (really?) Neither of them had anything to do with promoting peace. Giving it to President Obama also cheapened it for those who have received it before. Lech Walesa, Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, and others with lifetimes of incredible sacrifice and dedication have come before him. While I don’t like his politics, at least Jimmy Carter has years of service, wrongheaded or not… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on October 10, 2009 at 1:15pm — No Comments

John Stossel Picks A Fight

ohn Stossel took the podium and immediately launched in to his take on the health care/insurance conflict. There seemed to be mostly like-minded people in the audience, though the guests at the head table didn't always appear quite so agreeable. He identified himself as a Libertarian, to loud applause from… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on October 6, 2009 at 3:23pm — 1 Comment

Nomenclature Overload Achieved - Thanks Google Wave!

I wasn't that interested in Google Wave until I realized I had been left out in the cold. Now I feel so...September 2009. Yesterday, I started reading what people have to say about the new wunder-app. Most recently (a few minutes ago), I discovered the Ars Technica review of Google Wave. Couple things I have to say. First, email is not antiquated. Sheesh! Now I really feel old. Seriousl… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on October 3, 2009 at 5:00am — 1 Comment

Educating Workers or Citizens

2009 ISTEP scores were recently released. While no one seems to be trying to say Indiana is doing a great job educating its children, there are differing spins on the numbers. I'm not a big fan of this sort of testing as the sole measure of educational success but I'll readily admit I'm not qualified to offer up helpful alternatives. Personally, I always struggled with these kinds of tests. But that's another story. After hearing various opinions about the stats, both positive and negative, I… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on September 18, 2009 at 12:19am — 11 Comments

Must Have Resource for Business Blogging

Many people got to hear local blogging expert Douglas Karr at the recent Blog Indiana event. For those of you who didn't, here's a must have resource. I just started reading 25 Steps to Blogging for SEO, an ebook about successful business blogging by Douglas Karr (with the help of Bryan Povlinski) Though I haven't finished it yet I can say without hesitation that if you are a small business owner and considering a blog f… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on September 9, 2009 at 3:32pm — 4 Comments

Back To Class For Me Too

My daughter started back to school last week. It's back to class for me as well. Gonna start a new weight loss class today. I've been slacking off and need to knuckle down to reach my original goal. 10 more pounds or so and I'll be down 107lbs. Watching my personal trainer and a couple of friends at the IndyTriathlon over the weekend wa… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on August 17, 2009 at 9:00am — No Comments

Bad Economy Good For Government

No one changes until the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of changing. Could it be that the pain created by the economy will bring about good change in the way our local government handles money? I'd like to say it would change things, for better, at the federal level but that's a whole 'nuther thing. As I drove in to work this morning I listened to another city gov't person talk about ways they were cutting costs, saving money, and being more efficient. Cutting costs. Savi… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on August 14, 2009 at 8:28am — No Comments

Local Author's Book Should Be A Movie

Help a local author get his book made in to a movie. Trolley Dodgers is a story about Bloomington making a bid to buy the Dodgers. It's a great story that incorporates two things we Americans love: rooting for the unde… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on August 12, 2009 at 10:43am — 1 Comment

Because Enough Hasn't Been Said About Health Care

Every time I come across good thinking it reignites the frustration. How come the smart people are not representing us? It's unfortunate that, for the most part, only tools and salesmen get elected. Blog post excerpt from Are We Really All Healthcare Collectivists at the FEE blog. In fact they did. Nearly every aspect of medicine and health insurance that the politicians say needs fixing is the result of po… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on August 1, 2009 at 10:18pm — 3 Comments

Jousting Windmills?

Maybe he's jousting windmills but Kudos to local freedom advocate Sean Shepard. Glad to see the Star talking to someone other than just D's and R's. In the article, he's talking about dialing back the power of federal government. Bush and Obama are both going to get credited with growing the power of the federal government more than any other two presidents before them. I hope are children will know enough to… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on July 4, 2009 at 6:22pm — No Comments

Frog In The Kettle Thing

Slowly turn up the heat on the frog in the kettle and it won't know until it's too late that it's frog soup. We know the principle. Or do we? I was reading in the newspaper (how anachronistic of me) that some of our "progressive" Senators have introduced a new bill that would fine people who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage. Sounds reasonable. Pfft! This is… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on July 3, 2009 at 10:00am — 8 Comments

Jay Leno on Government Stimulus

via The Liberator Online, a Libertarian newsletter "The country of China is going to be doing a Broadway-style play based on Karl Marx's book on communism. A play based on communism. You know, that's where capitalism has been replaced by the government taking over control of all private industries. Or as we call in this country, 'a stimulus package.'" -- Jay Leno, The Tonight Show, March 24. Continue

Added by Bill Bean on June 10, 2009 at 5:47pm — No Comments

At Least 1 Thing I Will Never Do

Just saw this pic via the Indiana Insider Blog. It's the new ride at Holiday World. Get in line now. As President Lincoln onc… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on May 19, 2009 at 8:07am — 5 Comments

BMV AOK

Thanks to the guy at the bank I discovered that my driver's license expired today. Normally, I don't like to spend my Saturday mornings at the BMV. That's second only to being in Wal Mart on Dec. 26. For the most part I'm able to take care of all my renewals online and avoid going inside the branch. I wasn't going to have any better day to do it, and I couldn't upload my favorite avatar online for my license picture,so I decided to head on down to my local branch (Michigan Rd in NW Indy). As I… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on May 16, 2009 at 12:44pm — No Comments

Target Taps Social Media For Charity

Kudos to Target's progressive fund raising for charity. Social media is a great tool for charities, allowing them to build more direct connections with donors and they are so much more cost effective. Having multiple channels of outreach and communication is absolutely essential. Assuming you're on Facebook, visit their page and vote for my personal favorite, The Salvation Army. It w… Continue

Added by Bill Bean on May 13, 2009 at 7:50am — No Comments

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