Archive for October, 2008

Honey Projects…

Friday, October 31st, 2008

I read an article last night that gave me some very good ideas. It started with a poem:

I always eat my peas with honey
I’ve done it all my life
They do taste kind of funny
But it keeps them on my knife
- anonymous

In IT we are often doing the same things as eating peas with honey because we are using a knife. What we need to do is not create solutions that make bad things bearable, but that actually fix the root of the problem - getting a spoon instead of using a knife.

So I went through my projects today to see how many of them could be considered “honey projects” - probably half of them could go away with a good CRM solution.

Even better, not only would they go away but they would be easier to maintain in the future. I’ve started, instead of looking at my projects a entities in and of themselves, looking at them in the whole scheme of things and whether they only are a band-aid to cover a problem, or if they are actually fixing it. Its a good change and I anticipate that looking at things this way will help to make projects in the future more productive.

Proposition 8 - its important!

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Ok, so I’m not usually one to get overly involved in politics.  I follow things, but I find that often I’m one of the onlookers who lets things happen as they will.  We can’t let just anything happen with this vote.  This is really a big deal and it needs to be dealt with in the right way.  We need to vote to help protect our kids and the future of this country.

Digg the website up: http://digg.com/political_opinion/Prop_8_The_Divine_Institution_of_Marriage/ (The site can be seen here: http://www.preservingmarriage.org/ If you don’t have a digg account - get one just for this!

Here is the text of an email I just received - and my response to it:

Good day all!

I do highly dislike forward emails and that is why you don’t usually don’t get any from me but I believe this is one of those times when forward emails is justified.

Some one once said, and I quote:

‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’(http://tartarus.org/~martin/essays/burkequote.html)

Here it is a little of my contribution.  We need to show people, this country, and the world that there are people still standing for what it is right!. I DO NOT CLAIM the following message (The links are not working, I am working on that part) to be mine; I actually got it from Allison Theodosis. I please!!!!! ask you to pass this on and let people hear that good people is there and we won’t let evil triumph. If this issue does not rise any kind of concern in you, I would say, you DON’T care for your love ones! and to be hones with you, you…..

Thank you for standing up! and stepping up

Ben
http://www.preservingmarriage.org/

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

YES on Proposition 8

PLEASE READ THIS no matter what state you live in.

Failure to pass Proposition 8 will hurt children. If gay marriage remains legal, public schools will put it on equal footing with traditional marriage. Children will likely receive “age appropriate” information about sexual relations within heterosexual and homosexual marriages.

Failure to pass Proposition 8 will hurt churches. The court’s decision will inevitably lead to conflicts with religious liberty and free speech rights. Society will become more and more hostile to traditional beliefs about marriage and family. Over time, greater acceptance of nontraditional marriage will be demanded of all people. This could impact the ability of any religion to teach and practice its beliefs. Including adoption agencies.

A YES vote will not hurt gays. In California, the law provides for marriage-related benefits to be given to civil unions and domestic partnerships. Proposition 8 does not diminish these benefits.

For your information:

On Friday, October 10th, 2008 a first-grade class took a field trip to witness a lesbian wedding in California. Click Here for the article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

A father in Massachusetts was frustrated when his twin kindergartners were taught about homosexuality at school by the teachers. He insisted he be notified in the future before such things were discussed so he could pull his boys out of school.He was taken to jail. Click Here for the story.

A Catholic adoption agency In the UK closed their doors because of the Government’s new homosexual equality laws. The Equality Act forbids discrimination in the provision of goods and services on the basis of sexual orientation. The law was forced through Parliament last year despite past Prime Minister Tony Blair’s recommendation that Catholic adoption agencies be exempted from the rules. Click Here for more info.

Earlier this month judges in Conneticut overturned the state law (just as the judges in California did) to legalized gay marriage. This is not just an issue in California. We voted years ago to keep traditional marriage as the only marriage recognized in the state of California, 4 judges overturned our vote…and we need to fight back. That is what this Proposition is about. This is happening everywhere and the leaders of the church and others have warned that the outcome of California’s vote will affect the way the other states vote. So PLEASE…even if you don’t live in California, put this on your blog or email this on. The internet knows no state line. You know contacts in California that I don’t…and so do your friends. Please pass this on as it could eventually have an effect on everyone!

“Occasionally discouragement may darken our pathway; frustration may be a constant companion. In our ears there may sound the sophistry of Satan as he whispers, “You cannot save the world; your small efforts are meaningless. You haven’t time to be concerned for others.” Trusting in the Lord, let us turn our heads from such falsehoods and make certain our feet are firmly planted in the path of service and
our hearts and souls dedicated to follow the example of the Lord.” –Thomas S. Monson

Click Here for excerpts from the Broadcast given by Elders M. Russell Ballard, Quentin L. Cook and L. Whitney Clayton.

A good resource mentioned in the broadcast: www.preservingmarriage.org

October 20th: Last day to apply for an absentee ballot if voting out of state. Click Here to get one.

October 27th: Last day to apply for “Vote by Mail” Click Here for info.

November 4th: Election day. Polls close at 8:00pm. Vote by mail must be received by this time and can be hand delivered if necessary.

YOU’VE BEEN TAGGED…Here’s what you do:

In the broadcast we were asked to “go viral on our blogs, etc” by Elder Ballard. This is my way of going viral. If you feel this is an important issue I ask that you copy and paste this post…and post it on your blog. PLEASE keep it at the top of your blog through November 4th. which you can adjust each time you post under the “edit post” option. The internet knows NO STATE LINE. You know contacts in California that I do not…as do your friends and their friends…and so on. Please do this. If not for your own children and the effect it could have on them some day…for mine! After you have posted this…email this to your contacts and TAG all your blogging buddies to do the same. THANK YOU!


Benjamin Patron Villegas
801.472.0065
ibpatronv@yahoo.com
ibpatronv@byu.edu

Stick to your task till it sticks to you;
Beginners are many, but enders are few.
Honour, power, place, and praise
Will come, in time, to the one who stays.

Stick to your task till it stick to you;
Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it too;
For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile
Will come life’s victories, after awhile.
-Anonymous

—————-My Response ————————————–

Ben,

I think I found your links - although the story seems to be a bit different than the one in the story this guy was sent to jail over a book about homosexuality in a book titled “Who’s in a Family?” http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45594 - here is another link about how the supreme court failed to hear the case:
Massachusetts court case: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54420
Supreme court: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77373

And here are some links on the field trip to the wedding:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,436961,00.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/11/MNFG13F1VG.DTL

Helping Poverty - Blog Action Day

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Today is Blog action day.  I can’t remember if I signed up or not, but as I did last year, I figured I’d shoot out a quick post about this year’s topic - Poverty.  There are lots of ways that we can help overcome poverty in the world today.

One of the first thoughts I had was a site that I’ve visited a few times, but have yet to try.  It is Kiva.org.  Kiva allows you to make a “Loan” to an entrepreneur in a 3rd world country.  You pick a specific person to loan to, and the loan amount and they pay you back when they succeed.  If you invested even $25 (the smallest amount allowed) every quarter, or even every month, my thought is that if/when you get paid back, you can then reinvest that money back to someone else who could use it and that same money would build over time as you invest in more people and you could help a whole bunch of people - and you can see their businesses grow!

Another way to help out poverty in your own area is to do something that we just did recently here at work.  A food drive.  Its not a new idea but if you can get a group of people to donate a few dollars worth of food you can make a big difference.  I know that here in Utah they are needing way more food than they recently anticipated due to the hard economic times.  If you are time pressed, the Utah food bank even has a virtual shopping experience where you can donate food or money without even going to the store.

In the Doctrine and Covenants section 104 verses 17 and 84 read:

17 For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.

84 Inasmuch as you obtain a chance to loan money by hundreds, or thousands, even until you shall loan enough to deliver yourself from bondage, it is your privilege.

Take a few minutes today and see what you can do to help poverty.  Even just a few dollars can go a long way.