John C Stark

Interesting chart. The Obama Economic Record http://goo.gl/44k2Y

2012-01-22T06:08:00.001-06:00

I suppose one could look at any chart to discover some sort of bias; however, the trend one sees in a chart like this paints a picture I'd rather not see.

I once naively considered the impact of the president on America a minor thing. My opinion changed soon after President Clinton was in office.

Looking back I realized that Ronald Reagan was president during the years I was first formalizing my political opinions. I laugh at myself when reflecting upon a government class in high school where I first started to determine whether my beliefs better aligned with republicans or democrats. Up until that time I hadn't really consider what party I felt more effinity for. My primary consideration at that time and even now is how those parties align with my own worldview.

Looking at the political landscape today I'm finding it increasingly difficult to strongly consider any particular candidate for president my ideal choice. However, one thing is clear. The leaders we choose to follow will take steps in a particular direction. The question for me now is whether or not the steps one particular leader takes will be those I would choose. The pessimist in me finds myself more concerned about the leader who'd take steps in which I would consider entirely the wrong direction.

It is becoming increasingly clear to me the steps President Obama are taking this country are in the wrong direction. While I'm sure his intentions make sense from his point of view, they don't make much sense to me. I don't place the entire state of things in American as the result of his leadership; however, he, serving as president, is responsible for the decisions he has made.

America has never been the perfect utopia. However, I still believe it to be one of the greatest countries ever to exist.

The trends in this chart concern me. It is clear that we need leadership in America that will take a different path. A path which would see most of the trends in this chart to reverse their course.

Interesting dynamic map of faiths in the USA. http://www.usatoday.com/news/graphics/pew-religion-08/flash.htm

2011-12-04T08:47:00.001-06:00

Wondering how I got to Whataburger with my daughter before @jayneastark and the boys...

2011-11-13T13:03:00.001-06:00

RIP Steve Jobs...

2011-10-05T19:11:00.001-05:00

A little hot today... after work car said it was 111 degrees outside.

2011-08-09T19:57:00.001-05:00

You are invited to view "John Stark's photo"

2011-08-09T19:52:00.001-05:00

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A little hot today... after work my car said it was 111 degrees outside.

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Grieving with my wife... a life-long friend of hers died today in Iowa. She left behind a husband and two kids. :-(

2011-07-23T17:41:00.001-05:00

Happy Mother's Day Jayne, Connie & Mary. Thankful for you!

2011-05-08T09:32:00.001-05:00

Remodeling in an Ivywood home looking good at Wayside.

2011-04-15T08:48:00.001-05:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

Reading user manuals can be a good idea!

2011-04-13T21:39:00.001-05:00

Over the past week I've seen new life from my aging laptop purchased in 2005. I reinstalled the original factory image from the recovery disc along with all the other software I use on a regular basis. (Note: I did back up all my user data prior to this!)

After reinstalling the factory image on the laptop, the original user manual reappeared on my desktop. Just for kicks I opened it up and started going through the entire users manual to see if there was anything about my laptop I didn't already know.

Yep... I didn't know everything. In fact, I found several helpful utilities that would have been helpful to me if I only knew! I also discovered things about my mouse/touchpad I didn't know about either.

Food for thought...

When you invest several hundred dollars in new technology it can pay to take a little time to skim those user manuals.

Now, where are all those other user manuals I've yet to read yet?!

The best wife and mom in our world is now finally home!

2011-04-12T19:13:00.001-05:00

Yes... dad can take care of the kids while mom enjoys a nice retreat.

2011-04-11T18:17:00.001-05:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

Posted via email from JohnCStark's posterous

I'm thankful for those who keep the lights on.

2009-11-24T12:42:00.001-06:00

Some major lines required some work for these to be touched. Here a worker is closing the circuits that was disconnected. All of the workers had their eyes glued to the guy holding the pole. Looks very dangerous. Several years ago a WOI worker was killed extending a tv remote van antenna into these same lines.

Posted via email from JohnCStark's posterous

Boys night out at MDs. The girls went to the Olive Garden for BDay party.

2009-11-13T19:29:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday Connie!

We also got two $1 movies at Blockbuster.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from JohnCStark's posterous

One step closer to Texas

2009-11-08T09:41:00.002-06:00

For the past two days my wife and I experienced the challenge of selling our home to an interested buyer. A wide range of emotions was evidenced: excitement, fear, disappointment, frustration, relief and peace. It is a significant decision. It is a real testing of faith.

We're thankful our home has sold and look forward to our remaining days in Des Moines.

This week we'll continue to take small steps that will ultimately lead us to Texas.

When God Calls

2009-10-11T14:45:00.004-05:00

Today in our weekly church newspaper I wrote the following note to begin informing everyone of some changes in my life and our family. In the coming weeks I'll share more here about the story behind all things changes.

Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:6 (NLT)
God has taught, equipped, matured, and developed me significantly here at FFC since 1980. After 13 years of serving on staff it has now become clear that God is calling me to serve Him beyond the walls of FFC and fi nish my formal education. Accepting this call was not easy for our family, but we know it is always best to follow God’s will. Starting in January our family will begin serving along with pastor Roger Poupart and Don Reece at Wayside Chapel in San Antonio, TX.
I am extremely thankful for the Federated family. It was here that I found and married my wife and shared the joy of a growing family. We have a lifetime of memories to cherish.
If you have any questions or would like to talk then feel free to email me@johncstark.com. Our family will be around through the holidays.

Keeping Things Simple

2009-07-04T13:08:00.000-05:00

When setting up a personal website, there are a lot of choices and decisions to make. Each decision will lead you down a path which will impact the time and energy you will invest in the future to maintain things.

My initial drive towards owning my own domain name was the result of several ISP changes I encountered in a short period of time. With each new ISP came a new email address that my family and friends would need to know in order to contact me. I wanted to have an email address that could follow me for the rest of my life. An email address that wasn't dependant on any ISP or company to provide. This doesn't mean I don't use other email addresses; however, I take advantage of every opportunity to make my primary address the one I use the most.

Once I obtained my domain name and set-up my email address, I then started to consider what type of website I'd want to create. Will it be about my family? My work? My interests? My passions? Or, some kind of mix? Since I was new to the world of blogging I decided just to start writing and then see where things took me.

Needless to say, I finally stopped blogging. It took me months to figure out which blogging tool to use, how to install it, and then find the time to write. The time and effort was not wasted for I learned a great deal; however, obtaining this knowledge kept me from taking time each day to actually post content. At this point, I figure I've spent more time upgrading and maintaining the blogging software than actually creating content. I need to keep it simple. I can do simple.

With the huge outbreak of social networking sites, it is now far easier to keep in touch with family and friends. I no longer need the blog to do this anymore.

So, my website/blog is experiencing a change. I'm not sure how it will end up, but I have a few ideas.

God has gifted me with a wide variety of talents and wired me with an extreme curiosity about a wide range of topics and issues. I love to figure things out and see how things interact with one another. So, a website that brings my life together in one spot would be interesting (at least to me!). A site that shows my twitter feed, a blog, and other views into my daily life through other widgets and rss feeds might be what I'm looking for.

Regardless of where I end up I want whatever I end up doing to be kept simple. I don't want to spend my time keeping my website maintained. I want to spend it making a contribution.

I don't have all the answers, but I look forward to the journey of discovering a few of them.

2008 Report of the Committee on Platform

2008-07-11T18:54:00.001-05:00

I don't think many people have ever seen or read the Republican Platform of Iowa. When I first saw it several months ago at our Polk County Convention I couldn't believe how conservative the platform actually was. There is a lot to this platform and tomorrow at the 2008 Iowa GOP State Convention it may be modified. I'm going to look for the Democrat Platform of Iowa sometime to compare the two. Update: Democrat Draft Platform

With trust in God, and in fidelity to generations past and generations to come, we respectfully submit this platform to the State Convention.

Preamble

As Republicans we continue to uphold the principles of individual responsibility and liberty, adherence to traditional moral standards, a strong national defense, a free enterprise system, and respect for the sanctity of human life. We believe in retaining the original intent of our Founding Fathers as embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We believe high moral character is a necessity of public servants. The highest standard of character should be embodied in both private and public life. We encourage the proliferation of these principles and their passage to future generations.

Planks

1. A Right to Life We believe life, from conception to natural death, is a sacred gift from the Creator and thus is an inalienable right as outlined in the Declaration of Independence. Therefore:

1.1. We affirm that every innocent person, including the unborn child, has the God-given and Constitutional right to life beginning at conception and ending at natural death

1.2. We reaffirm our support for an amendment to the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Iowa that protects innocent human life from conception to natural death.

1.3. We oppose using public revenues to fund abortions or organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, which advocate abortion.

1.4. We commend those who provide alternatives to abortion by meeting the needs of mothers and offering adoption services. We furthermore support their right to perform the services in a manner that does not violate their values.

1.5. We support a Woman's Right to Know Law whereby performers of abortions must provide complete factual information to the pregnant woman about the complications of abortion, the biological development of the unborn, fetal pain, and the availability of alternatives to abortion.

1.6. We support legislation requiring that upon completion of informed consent as outlined in Woman's Right to Know Law there shall be a three (3) day waiting period before any abortion services can be provided.

1.7. We support legislation requiring consent by a parent and/or legal guardian before a minor child receives an abortion or any other reproductive services and products. Such law should require proof of identity of the parent in order to protect children from continued abuse by sexual predators who pretend to be the parent taking their child for an abortion.

1.8. We support the reversal of Roe vs. Wade.

1.9. We support the use of non-embryonic stem cells to advance modern medical research. We oppose somatic cell nuclear transfer (human cloning), embryonic stem cell research, human fetal-tissue research from induced abortions, and the commercial use or sale of fetal parts.

1.10. We strongly urge that the 2002 Human Cloning Ban, which was repealed in the 2007 Iowa Legislature, be reinstated.

1.11. We believe euthanasia, assisted suicide, and infanticide are murder.

1.12. We support the ban of partial birth abortion.

1.13. We oppose the removal, by order of a court or state agency, of fluids or nourishment from those who are either acutely or terminally ill. We believe the decision should be left to the family or conservator.

1.14. Whereas DNA evidence is allowed in our Judicial system as proof of identity, we believe that DNA proves that a fetus upon conception, has DNA separate, from his parents, identifying him as a separate individual, with all the rights endowed him by the Constitution of the United States, that among these are the right to life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

1.15. We believe in conscience clause legislation so that no physician, pharmacist or other health care provider can be penalized for refusing to prescribe, dispense or participate in the procurement of abortion or anything contrary to the conscience of the health care provider.

1.16. We support the confidential statistical reporting of abortion procedures to the State Health Department by all doctors and facilities performing abortions in Iowa.

2. Agriculture

We believe that preservation of the family farm, primary producers of produce, crops and livestock, is vital to the economic condition of our communities, state and nation. Family farms should be allowed to operate as free, independent, responsible producers and not be encumbered by onerous regulations. Therefore:

2.1. We call for the abolition of the Federal Department of Agriculture, returning control back to the state and local governments.

2.2. We support limiting governmental regulations of agriculture that maintain quality products, value environmental safety, and allow for economic viability.

2.3. We believe Iowa's agricultural industry is vitally important to America's food supply, renewable fuels industry and the ability of our next generation to choose farming as a career.

2.4. We support voluntary programs at the state level that provide tax credits to install targeted conservation programs in order to achieve improved water quality in impaired watersheds.

2.5. We oppose a moratorium on new livestock farms.

2.6. We believe in state initiatives that will sustain the family farm.

2.7. We encourage the use of cost effective bio-fuels.

2.8. We oppose any and all federal agricultural subsidies. We support tax breaks and tax credits for bio-fuel technology and production.

2.9. We support local control of agricultural zoning practices.

2.10. We believe animal husbandry decisions and production practices should be decided by individual farmers, not the state or federal government.

2.11. We believe that all defendant parties (including but not limited to county governments and DNR) should be compensated by the losing complainant for all costs incurred in contesting invalid complaints relating to farming and animal feeding operations.

2.12. We believe that strict criminal and civil penalties should be imposed upon individuals or organizations that, under the guise of protection of animals, willfully destroy, vandalize or terrorize legitimate businesses, people or personal property.

2.13. We support a national policy to protect agricultural producers from unfair international market practices and that recognizes a farmer's right to form business relationships that can reduce financial risk and provide income opportunities for farm families.

2.14. We oppose the creation of a mandatory federal funding for National Premise I.D. registration and the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

2.15. We support the Country of Origin labeling on food products.ÊAll foods imported by the United States must be held to the same standards of enforcement as those foods produced in the United States.

2.16. We oppose the filing of nuisance lawsuits by anyone who knowingly moved into areas zoned as agricultural.

2.17. We oppose efforts to impose a sin tax on all forms of red meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products.

2.18. We support bio-technical agriculture and any effort to open worldwide markets to bio-technical products.

2.19. We support increased efforts to convert and incorporate farm products into value-added products.

2.20. We support the promotion, public awareness, and tolerance for standard farming practices, increased preservation of farmland, and efforts to preserve Iowa's agriculture industry.

2.21. We support maintaining the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture as an elected office and not as an appointed one.

2.22. We support environmental practices for the Missouri and Mississippi rivers that take into account the importance of their use in shipping raw materials and agricultural commodities.

3. Business and Economic Development

We believe that less government is better government. We support every reasonable effort on the part of all governments and taxpayers to limit taxing and spending. We believe that the purpose of taxation is to fund the constitutionally mandated functions of government, not to redistribute the wealth, or to fund ever increasing social programs. We believe social problems are best handled by private groups or benevolent organizations, not by the government. We should strive to have fewer government restrictions, fewer government employees and lower taxes. Therefore:

3.1. We believe environmental problems can be solved more efficiently with innovation and technology than with more litigation and more government regulation.

3.2. We believe that free enterprise and the encouragement of individual initiative are essential to economic opportunity, growth and prosperity.

3.3. We support Iowa's Right to Work law.

3.4. We support a concerted effort that encourages the development of small businesses in Iowa.

3.5. We call for the reduction of the corporate tax rate to encourage business development and growth in Iowa.

3.6. We call for the repeal of all mandatory minimum wage laws.

3.7. We affirm the right of the employer to hire and fire as they see fit.

3.8. The United States must do more to strengthen and balance our international trade policies and ensure its presence and competitiveness in the world market. We support the continuation of free trade and insist on fair trade.

3.9. We support the 1988 Supreme Court Beck decision prohibiting workers from being required to pay any part of their union dues or agency fees for political purposes or non-bargaining activities.

3.10. We support specific, finite periods for all programs at every level of government and tying government funding to periodic program evaluation.

3.11. We support the repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, which increases costs and reduces competition for federally financed construction.

3.12. We believe that the Federal Reserve System should be phased out and our currency then returned to the gold and/or silver standard.

3.13. We believe that landlords should have the same rights as other business owners. Non-payment of rents should be considered a theft of service.

4. Education

We believe parents, not the government, are responsible for and should be fully in charge of the education of their children. We believe that in order for our educational system to be successful, it must be accountable to the parents of the community. Therefore, parents should be afforded as many options as possible including private, home or alternative based education. We do not believe that more money ensures better education. We believe reimbursement is due families who choose non-government education since they pay taxes as well as tuition. Therefore:

4.1. We advocate choice in education and we support the parental right to choose public, private, home or alternate education for their children without government interference.

4.2. We oppose all legislation from any level of government, including ratification of international treaties that would interfere with or restrict educational choice.

4.3. We support equitable tax relief for families whose children do not attend government schools.

4.4. We support parental rights legislation stating that parents have the right to direct the upbringing and education of their children.

4.5. We believe the biblical account of Creation and the supporting scientific arguments should be presented to all students as part of a wellrounded curriculum.

4.6. We recommend that educators stress abstinence outside of marriage as the surest way to prevent pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and associated psychological problems. We oppose the distribution of condoms and other contraceptives in government schools.

4.7. We support voluntary prayer in government schools and the use of the Bible as a textbook.

4.8. We support displaying the Ten Commandments and the American flag along with the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in its entirety in government schools and classrooms.

4.9. We propose abolishing No Child Left Behind and returning control of education back to local communities.

4.10. We reject the mandate that there be a core curriculum enforced on all education systems.

4.11. We call for the abolition of the Federal Department of Education, and the removal of this position from the Cabinet. In addition, we support downsizing the Iowa Department of Education. We believe that control of education should be left to the parents, teachers and local school boards.

4.12. We believe that teachers' salaries should be based on performance rather than solely on tenure. We support programs that reward superior teachers and outline procedures to remove ineffective educators.

4.13. We oppose compulsory preschool and any proposal to change the age at which children are required to attend school.

4.14. We recommend that local school boards require all high school students to take a course in personal finance with emphasis on personal debt, savings and investments.

4.15. We oppose the promotion of homosexual life styles in government schools.

4.16. We oppose the teaching of sex education in any form, at any grade level without written parental consent.

4.17. We believe the goal of education is the development of knowledgeable and responsible individuals; therefore, we are committed to excellence in undergraduate education, and call for a priority emphasis on systematic intensive phonics, reading, writing, spelling, mathematics, objective science, and the true history of the United States of America.

4.18. We support English as the official language in the government education system.

4.19. We recommend that tax-funded libraries include creation science and religious texts and materials.

4.20. We support criminal background checks and periodic drug testing for teachers, administrators, staff and volunteers in government schools

4.21. We believe in equal access to payroll deduction for other government school collective bargaining units, such as Professional Educators of Iowa.

4.22. We believe government school textbooks, curriculum and guest speaker agendas must be made available to anyone requesting this information. Parents should have the right to have their children opt out of any special event or non-core class without negative impact on their child's class or academic standing.

4.23. We believe government schools and public libraries must control access to objectionable content (print, audio, or video) by minors in keeping with acceptable community standards.

4.24. We support fast-track teacher certification to allow competent professionals to teach in our schools.

4.25. We believe educators at all levels should be required to have comprehensive communication skills in English.

4.26. We support adding knowledge of illegal immigration status to the mandatory reporting requirements for educators at all levels.

5. Energy and Transportation

We believe a dependable, accessible and affordable supply of energy is essential to the economic strength and security of the United States. We believe access to an adequate transportation infrastructure is necessary for a free market economy to succeed. Therefore:

5.1. We support the goal of energy independence within the United States.

5.2. We support the development and production of domestic renewable fuels.

5.3. We support tax incentives to stimulate private research for alternative fuels.

5.4. We support exploration and drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the outer continental shelf.

5.5. We believe that, with appropriate safeguards to protect the environment, exploration for and utilization of oil in Alaska, the balance of the United States and offshore should be supported and encouraged rather than impeded or prevented in order to reduce our dependence on foreign source oil.

5.6. We support the deregulation of the building and operation of oil refineries to encourage expansion to meet our needs.

5.7. We support giving tax credits to homeowners and builders who incorporate alternative energy sources in their homes.

5.8. We support improving the rail system to meet the increasing need to move products, materials and passengers at a more efficient cost.

5.9. We support reasonable deregulation and expansion of nuclear energy.

5.10. We support the continued use and expansion of coal as a source of energy.

5.11. We call for the abolition of the Federal Department of Energy, returning the control to the state and local governments as it was prior to the Carter administration.

5.12. We oppose foreign ownership or control of toll roads, highways, public access roads or harbors.

5.13. We oppose the conversion of any existing Iowa interstates, highways and thoroughfares into toll roads.

6. Family Values

In keeping with the reality that we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that our nation's foundation and subsequent blessings flow from adherence to and respect for the Judeo-Christian ethic, we affirm the following:

6.1. Traditional, marriage-based (one male and one female) families are intrinsically procreative and thereby essential to a stable, thriving, and lasting civilization. Therefore, public policy must always be pro-family, encouraging marital and family commitment, while also supporting parental rights and responsibilities.

6.2. We support an amendment to the Iowa Constitution stating that To secure and preserve the benefits of marriage for our society and for future generations of children, marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.

6.3. We support an amendment to the United States Constitution stating that Only marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized in the United States, and that neither the Federal government, any state government, or the political subdivisions thereof may create or recognize a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals.

6.4. We encourage adoption of children by heterosexual married couples consisting of one man and one woman.

6.5. We oppose adoption by samesex couples.

6.6. We believe access to sexually explicit material, especially on the Internet, poses a serious threat to our families and children. Therefore we must strengthen and enforce our laws to protect our families and children.

6.7. We believe in the sanctity of marriage and call upon the Iowa Legislature to rescind no-fault divorce laws.

6.8. We believe that parents are responsible for their children and we support the rights of parents to discipline and protect their children.

6.9. We uphold the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance, with references to the Creator as presently written, and believe that it is constitutional and does not violate separation of Church and State, but ensures freedom of religion and not from religion.

6.10. We oppose any law, ordinance or policy that would approve the practice of homosexuality.

6.11. We strongly oppose the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

6.12. We call for the repeal of sexual orientation in the Iowa Civil Rights Code and we oppose any other legislation or executive order granting rights, privileges, or status for persons based on sexual orientation.

6.13. We believe the father of a child, born or unborn, has the same rights and responsibilities as the mother in all matters regarding the child.

7. Government

We believe the primary purpose of government is to protect the inalienable rights of life and liberty and, beyond its constitutional functions, there is nothing that can be done by government as efficiently as it is done by the people of this great Republic. We believe the people have the ability, the dignity and the right to make their own decisions and to determine their own destiny without encumbrance or interference from government. We call for a return to limited government at federal, state and local levels, allowing for maximum personal and economic freedom. Therefore:

7.1. We call for a dramatic reduction to the size and scope of government at all levels. We believe the federal government should be strictly limited to the eighteen enumerated powers in the United States Constitution and that all others should be left to the States and to the people in accordance with the Tenth Amendment.

7.2. We strongly oppose judicial legislation and call upon judges at all levels to adhere, strictly, to the original intent of the United States Constitution and their respective state constitutions. We further support the use of constitutional impeachment processes to remove those judges who do not uphold the United States Constitution or their respective state constitutions.

7.3. We call for the appointment of strict constructionist judges to the Supreme Court.

7.4. We call for the replacement of the current Social Security System with a new private and voluntary retirement investment program.

7.5. We support line item veto authority for the President of the United States.

7.6. We oppose government ownership of any gambling facility or activity including lotteries.

7.7. We believe In God We Trust should be on the face of all United States currency and coin.

7.8. We believe before voting on a bill, congressman and senators must first have a working knowledge of the full bill.

7.9. We believe candidates running as Republicans for any local or state office should be required to complete and return to the Republican Party of Iowa a signed questionnaire indicating whether the candidate agrees, Cont. from page 5 disagrees or is undecided about each plank of the current party platform.

7.10. We call for the repeal of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act.

7.11. We support the First Amendment rights of ministers and clergy. We oppose the civil and criminal prosecution of ministers exercising their First Amendment rights.

7.12. We support the repeal of the same day voter registration for all local, state, and federal elections.

7.13. We support proof of citizenship and residency as requirements for voter registration. We believe voters should be required to present a valid, State of Iowa approved picture I.D. before voting.

7.14. We oppose one world government and all world government imposed bodies.

7.15. We oppose foreign interests employing lobbyists to solicit the Congress or the President of the United States.

7.16. We call on our courts to interpret and apply the First Amendment as the framers intended. The First Amendment prohibits the establishment of a state religion and permits the exercise of religious freedom. Neither the courts nor government agencies should misuse or misunderstand the First Amendment so as to create a barrier to the free voluntary expression of religious belief.

7.17. We oppose statehood for the District of Columbia.

7.18. We believe prayer in public institutions should not be prohibited.

7.19. We believe that voluntary prayer shall be allowed on all public property.

7.20. We believe the Supreme Court should reject all foreign amicus briefs seeking to influence American law; should ignore foreign constitutions and laws in interpreting American law and the United States Constitution; should cease citing foreign court rulings for precedence when interpreting American law; and should protect our sovereignty.

7.21. We call for an end to all forms of affirmative action.

7.22. We believe the State of Iowa should immediately discontinue funding Vision Iowa projects.

7.23. We believe that all elected officials must be bound by and subject to the same laws, rules and regulations as the general public.

7.24. We believe that all entities spending public monies must be required to follow generally accepted accounting principles.

7.25. We believe that all mandated programs must be fully funded by the mandating government body.

7.26. We support sunset laws requiring all federal and Iowa agencies to expire automatically after a stated number of years unless renewed by law.

8. Health and Human Services

We believe that healthcare is best provided by the private sector, and that universal or government healthcare will reduce the quality and availability of care. Hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare providers should be accountable to patients' not to politicians, insurance bureaucrats or HMO Administrators. Further, we believe people are healthier, happier and more productive when they have the freedom and responsibility to provide for themselves and their families without government interference. Therefore:

8.1. We support consumer based/non-government solutions to our healthcare needs.

8.2. We support the privatization of Medicare and its prescription benefits.

8.3. We believe HIV/AIDS should be classified as a communicable disease, not a disability, and treated as such under current law.

8.4. We support felony prosecution of any HIV/AIDS carrier who willfully exposes another person.

8.5. We support mandatory reporting of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases by all infected healthcare professionals and support patient access to the results of those tests.

8.6. We support the right of all health care and mortician professionals to have knowledge of the AIDS/HIV status of patients prior to providing services.

8.7. We support the realignment of the allocation and reimbursement of Medicare. Reimbursements to Iowa should be fair.

8.8. We believe that to be eligible for social security retirement benefits one must have paid in, or be the spouse of one who has paid in, for a minimum of 40 quarters, and must be a legal citizen of the United States.

8.9. We encourage innovation in the treatment of diseases at the research and bedside levels, as well as encourage continued American investment in pioneering science that will result in better treatments to prevent and lessen the toll of chronic disease.

8.10. We believe our health care system should refocus on keeping people healthier through disease prevention and care management, and encourage self-management and prevention.

8.11. We believe health care providers should be able to offer reduced billing rates to the poor, uninsured or under-insured without facing sanctions for billing fraud from insurance companies or the government. Health insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid should not receive discounts that the uninsured private citizens are unable to access.

9. Immigration and Homeland Security

We believe that Congress should establish an immigration policy that furthers the cultural, social, and economic interests of the United States, and that a sound immigration policy coupled with vigorous enforcement of immigration laws is essential to securing our homeland.

9.1. We believe only United States citizens or legal immigrants are entitled to constitutional protections or government services.

9.2. We support empowering local and state governments in cooperation with federal agencies in identifying and processing illegal immigrants.

9.3. We call for English to be designated as the official language of the United States.

9.4. We believe English should be the official language of both the State of Iowa and the federal governments.

9.5. We propose heavy monetary fines against employers and businesses that willfully hire illegal immigrants. We propose criminal penalties for repeat offenders and willful non-compliance.

9.6. We support an increase in the number of visas for highly educated immigrants or those with special skills.

9.7. Illegal immigrants who commit felonies should be deported.

9.8. There should be a transient worker visa program making it easier for law enforcement to identify legal workers in the United States.

9.9. We insist that the Iowa Legislature follow the lead of the state of Oklahoma which adopted Oklahoma House Bill 1804 which addresses the illegal alien problems dealing with identity theft, terminates public assistance benefits to illegal aliens, empowers state and local police to enforce federal immigration laws, and punishes employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

9.10. We call on the Iowa Legislature to enact legislation similar to that of the Legal Arizona Workers' Act.

9.11. We support the use of the EVerify verification system to confirm immigration status.

9.12. We support building a fence to protect the United States' borders from illegal immigrants.

9.13. We call for the immediate pardon of border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean and any other border agents wrongly imprisoned while protecting our United States borders.

9.14. We assert that the Constitution of the United States grants birthright Citizenship only to those children born to a parent or parents who are citizens of the United States and not to those children of visiting foreigners, those here on work visas, or illegal aliens.

9.15. We are opposed to sanctuary cities and/or states, and they should not receive federal funding.

9.16. We believe the census at the end of each decade, which is used to determine representation according to population, should be used only for the reapportionment of current citizens and legal immigrants.

9.17. We believe there should be a death penalty for someone caught and convicted of carrying out a terrorist attack on U.S. soil where there was a death or the intent to cause death.

9.18. We support Section 287(g), Delegation of Immigration Authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a joint effort between local, state, and federal agencies to enforce existing laws.

9.19. We oppose driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

9.20. We oppose any and all nationally based I.D. systems and call for an immediate repeal of the Real I.D. Act.

9.21. We support a legal test case asserting an interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution that children born to illegal immigrants do not automatically become United States Citizens.

9.22. We support the continued use of Guantanamo Prison as long as needed.

10. Law and Justice

We believe justice is grounded in personal rights in balance with public safety. We believe the role of government is to uphold the law and maintain order, to protect the innocent, resolve disputes and punish crime. We support fundamental tort reform to reduce lawsuit abuse.

10.1. We assert that the Constitution of the United States of America is the highest law of the land and cannot be superceded by any international law, treaty or agreement.

10.2. We believe the language in the United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence is as relevant today as when it was penned. Any attempts to revise or deviate from the original intent of said documents must be vigorously opposed.

10.3. We support a parental rights amendment to the United States Constitution stating that parents have the right to direct the upbringing and education of their children.

10.4. We support the current wording of the Pledge of Allegiance.

10.5. Eminent domain should be used solely for public use with the burden of proof upon those attempting to take property; therefore we support legislation preventing the seizure of private property for economic development purposes.

10.6. We reject the efforts of the Iowa District Courts to redefine marriage in the state of Iowa by granting a divorce to two females who were granted a civil union in the state of Vermont. The court lacked authority to recognize such a relationship because Iowa Code Section 595.2(1) defines that only marriage between a male and a female is valid. We censure Judge Jeffrey Neary of the Woodbury County District Court for his attempt to legislate by judicial fiat.

10.7. We strongly believe in the Second Amendment, which guarantees individuals the right to keep and bear arms without government intervention.

10.8. We support right to carry laws and a shall issue permit system with national reciprocity among states to all legally qualified applicants.

10.9. We support the repeal of state and federal hate crimes legislation, since it is an attempt to criminalize the perceived thoughts and/or beliefs of persons rather than obtain justice based on action(s) alone.

10.10. We support reinstating the death penalty in Iowa.

10.11. We support federal legislation to make cyber terrorism a federal felony.

10.12. We support enforcement of existing federal, state and local obscenity and pornography laws.

10.13. We support more stringent sex offender laws.

10.14. Non-profit religious organizations should not be subject to the anti-bullying bill.

10.15. We strongly oppose Governor Culver's Bully Bill and will endeavor to reverse and eliminate this piece of legislation.

10.16. We support repealing Governor Vilsack's executive order allowing restoration of felons' right to vote without due process.

10.17. We support requiring individuals, including juveniles, to make restitution for their crimes.

10.18. We support tort reform and a cap on punitive damages.

10.19. We believe public school buildings should not restrict possession of firearms for those legally possessing a concealed carry permit.

11. National Defense/Foreign Policy

We believe in our Party's long standing commitment to a strong national defense and support the President's use of military force to protect and defend the United States and our allies against any enemy. We believe our foreign and domestic policies must be based upon our strategic national interests and must always jealously guard our nation's sovereignty.

11.1. We believe the best way to support our military men and women is to support the mission of the troops in the war on terror and the full prosecution of the war until our goals are achieved. We support achieving success in the war against terrorism and radical Islamic fascism.

11.2. We believe the United States should not and cannot negotiate with terrorist organizations.

11.3. We believe terrorism is a national security issue and not a law enforcement problem.

11.4. We urge continued economic and military support for our ally, Israel.

11.5. We believe the United States should never sacrifice its sovereignty or relinquish control of its soil to the United Nations or any other international body.

11.6. We call for the United States' immediate withdrawal from the United Nations and the removal of the United Nations from the United States.

11.7. We believe the United States must not participate in the formation of a North American Union.

11.8. We support international efforts to end genocide throughout the world.

11.9. We support the abolition of the Department of Homeland Security. We support the restructuring of federal agencies to ensure coordination on matters of international and domestic terrorism.

11.10. Congress shall pass no law or enter into any treaty that would infringe on the sovereignty of the United States. We are opposed to the NAFTA Super-Highway and the Law of the Sea Treaty.

11.11. We proudly commend our Veterans for their vital service to our nation. We further assert that their great sacrifices must never be forgotten.

11.12. We support better pay and benefits for our military, veterans, and their families.

11.13. Republicans honor the service and sacrifice of our current and past veterans. We also express support for our country's veterans and veteran's issues, including housing, access to health care services including mental health care, employment, emergency financial assistance and honoring the fallen. Further, we urge our city, county, state and federal governments, and veteran's service organizations to provide all possible assistance to our veterans. Specifically, there must be adequate funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs and other veterans initiatives.

11.14. We support the Terrorist Surveillance Program to intercept communications between terrorists in other countries and individuals in the United States.

11.15. We support the right of military recruiters to be free from harassment and harm. We support military recruiters having access to government schools and institutions.

11.16. We believe that securing our ports, transportation network, and infrastructure from terrorism must be a national security priority.

11.17. We believe the Medal of Honor recipients should be exempt from state and federal income taxes. They have paid their dues.

11.18. We support the State of Iowa in enforcing federal laws protecting former jobs for returning National Guard and reservists. The jobs would be at previous pay and seniority.

12. Natural Resources/Environment

We believe we must be responsible stewards of our national resources and environment. Our policies should reflect that stewardship and protect our national sovereignty and private property rights. We must adopt a common sense approach that takes into consideration the environmental and economic impact. We must continue to encourage waste reduction and recycling and encourage soil, water and wildlife conservation practices. Therefore:

12.1. We should maintain an environmental policy that protects the right of humans before all other species.

12.2. We support long term goals geared toward increasing the pheasant population and continued support for current fish and wildlife re-stocking programs.

12.3. We oppose attempts to eliminate hunting and trapping of wild game.

12.4. We encourage various methods of reducing the overpopulation of deer and turkey including longer seasons.

12.5. We believe the United States must make necessary changes to current existing laws, code, or regulations in order to allow responsible exploration, mining and production of domestic oil and coal resources.

12.6. We believe the United States should encourage development of alternative energy resources with the ultimate goal of becoming self-sufficient.

12.7. We oppose entering into any international environmental treaties.

12.8. Firearms training completed by any member of the United States Military shall be a suitable substitute for a hunter safety class and shall qualify any citizen for a hunter license.

12.9. We are highly skeptical of the scientific claims regarding Global Warming and demand that any government actions taken in regards to them must be based upon sound scientific evidence.

12.10. We support the preeminence of personal property, economic prosperity and freedom of property owners to manage their property above the protection of wildlife that is not endangered.

13. Taxes and Spending

We believe the purpose of taxation is to fund only the constitutionally authorized functions of government. We call for an end to all unconstitutional expenditures of public monies and for dramatic tax cuts at federal and state levels. Therefore:

13.1. We support a balanced budget at state and federal levels through significant cuts in spending and taxes.

13.2. We assert that significant spending and tax cuts will produce substantial economic growth and increased government revenue.

13.3. We call for the United States Congress to make permanent the Bush tax cuts and repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax.

13.4. We support the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the elimination of the IRS, and replacing all federal income taxes with a fairer tax system.

13.5. We call for the responsible phasing-out over a four-year period of all federal non-enumerated departments, programs, regulations, and expenditures that are not expressly authorized by the United States Constitution.

13.6. We support the ability of Iowans to fully deduct the amount they pay in federal income taxes on their Iowa Income Tax Return.

13.7. We support the passage of the Peoples' Right to Vote Amendment to the Iowa Constitution, which would require a vote of the people to ratify tax increases.

13.8. Tax and fee revenues collected for specific purpose must be used for the purposes for which collected.

13.9. We support zero base budgeting.

13.10. We support the elimination of taxation of social security and pension benefits.

13.11. We support the permanent elimination of the estate, gift, and inheritance taxes, while retaining the step-up in basis to fair market value on the assets in a descendant's estate.

13.12. We oppose governmental funding of advocacy groups such as Planned Parenthood, AARP, ACLU and other citizen groups.

13.13. We oppose government taxation of Internet commerce.

13.14. We believe that earmarks must be eliminated and a transparent system created for Federal spending in Congressional districts requiring a vote by the full Congress.

13.15. We support balancing the federal budget and paying down the national debt.

13.16. We oppose any tax increase on alcohol and cigarettes.

13.17. We believe commercial sports, entertainment, and the arts should be funded by users and voluntary donors, not by tax dollars.

13.18. We support the repeal of efforts to take away Iowans' right to vote on our local option sales tax (SILO) and replace it with a permanent statewide sales tax increase which puts school infrastructure funds at great risk of being raided by state government and expands taxation of Iowa small businesses.

14. Commendations

We, the Republican Party of Iowa, hereby commend the dedication and hard work of each of our Republican elected leaders:

14.1. President George W. Bush

14.2. Presidential Candidate, Senator John McCain

14.3. U.S. Senator Charles Grassley

14.4. U.S. Representative Steve King, Fifth Congressional District

14.5. U.S. Representative Tom Latham, Fourth Congressional District

14.6. Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture

14.7. David Vaudt, Iowa State Auditor

Source

2008 Iowa GOP State Convention Tabloid. PDF File on Republican Party of Iowa website

Church Website

2008-05-27T18:31:00.000-05:00

For almost a year I've been working with a team to update our church website. The biggest update we made was the move from static html pages to a full blow custom content management system built with Expression Engine. Needless to say, I'm REALLY excited about the site going live last weekend.

We still have some debugging to complete to call this version finished; however, I'm really happy with our EE designers at EjaeDesign in New York. They took our really rough ideas and made them come to life. This being our first website built upon a content management system took a lot of back and forth communications to get on the same page. It was worth the effort.

In addition to Expression Engine, we utilized several other tools in putting the website together.

Lighthouse | Simple hosted Issue tracking, bug tracking, and project management software.

Jumpchart | an online interactive sitemap creator

ConceptShare | Online Design Collaboration Made Easy

Project Management Extranet | Where we communicated milestones and exchanged information

SlideShowPro | a Flash photo gallery and slideshow component for the homepage

Wimpy Player | Streaming MP3 Audio and Streaming Video Players

del.icio.us | links to many church websites we researched

FeedBurner | media distribution and audience engagement services for blogs and RSS feeds

Scribd | a way to easily put your documents online

Adobe Creative Suite | Photo Editing and Optimization

We chose Expression Engine for our content management system due several reasons. The biggest was longevity and flexibility. EE does a wonderful job separating your content from the design (we can easily change our design in the future) and it is really affordable to use. I highly recommend the product and hiring an EE expert like EjaeDesign to get you started. While we could have programmed and designed the entire site ourselves in-house, EjaeDesign's experience building EE sites allowed us to focus on the content and functionality instead of the nuts and bolts of template and CSS coding.

You can read more about our updated website on the "About Site" page at www.FirstFederated.org.

Cloning Computers

2008-01-18T04:58:00.000-06:00

With a little help from CST (our IT support) and Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.0 we've are well on our way to setting up our 19 new computers. The 800+ page implementation guide for Ghost made the project seem more complicated that it really was.

Now that we've successfully created our master image, ran a trial clone, ran a multicast session to clone three additional computers, and did a simple name change and joining to our domain those new computers are all ready for their new homes. I'm looking forward to learning how to use this tool better in the future. It will make the rebuilding and deployment of the computers easier.

The next step is to make an image of the out of the box configuration from HP to have on hand. After that we can clone the remaining machines so they all are identical to one another.

I'm sure there are many ways to configure and push computer configurations out to new clients. For me, Symantec's Ghost Solution has made the process easier. It may be a costly solution to implement for most businesses but with charity licensing the option is very affordable for non-profits.

Tim Stevens "Pop Goes the Church" Book Review

2008-01-15T18:14:00.001-06:00

Today I got an email from Tim's assistant letting me know I was chosen today. It was a pretty exciting moment for me.

Tim has been working on this book now for several months and it was been interesting reading his progress on his blog. I'm amazed at his ability to write a book, goto to India, and somehow do everything else he must have on his plate at Granger Community Church.

I eagerly await the arrival of the manuscript tomorrow at work. I won't be able to share anything specific about the book or share it with anyone until it is officially released, but I will put together a review about my initial overall impressions when I've completed the work.

Thanks Tim for this wonderful opportunity to provide you input on your latest book. I hope whatever feedback I give you will be helpful. For me it is a great opportunity to give a little back to the one whose given me so much through your other books and blog.

Configuring New HP Computers

2008-01-15T17:50:00.001-06:00

Back in December a member of our congregation donated 19 new HP computers along with LCD monitors to replace our aging Dell machines our staff uses. Because of this unique opportunity to set-up all our machines from scratch, we obtained the latest version of Microsoft Office 2007 and Symantec Ghost Solution 2.0 for all the machines. With Symantec Ghost Solution 2.0 we'll be able to set-up one machine and clone it to all the others. Tomorrow we plan to see how it goes.
Our outsourced IT support is sending a guy over in the morning to help with getting things set-up and working. I'm hoping things go smoothly. A couple weekends ago a volunteer and I spent an afternoon loading up our master machine with software. Hopefully that work will payoff tomorrow.

Tonight I got all the machines started up and attached to our server. I was really amazed at how long it takes to simply unpack cables and hook 19 machines up. It does look impressive seeing it all at once.

I'm relatively new to IT work in an official capacity and know far more about the things I don't know than the things I do.

Change

2008-01-08T18:52:00.000-06:00

I've heard the word change tossed around all my life. This week it is everywhere. We want this to change. We want that to change. Changes means so many things to so many people I believe it is a matter of perception.
Heraclitus wrote over 2,000 years ago that:

Nothing endures but change.

The variant of this I grew up hearing all the time was:

The only constant in life is change.

Then again... I also remember that I've heard the opposite said many times as well.

Things will never change [but they typically do].

Life is all about change. The only thing I've ever known in life not to change is God. While my understanding of God has changed as I've grown up, God has been a rock on which I could depend upon. God doesn't flip-flop on the issues. He doesn't rewrite history to spin the truth of actual events. God just "is". Despite how the winds may blow from one day to the next I can rest assured that no matter what each day will brings he'll be with me each step of the way. How about you?

Fred Thompson Speech Following 9/11

2008-01-06T09:48:00.000-06:00

I came across this blog that had the speech Fred Thompson gave a few days following 9/11.

Fred speaks from the heart and shows a deep understanding about the issues of those days. His tune hasn't changed over the years since 9/11 regarding this war our country continues to fight.

If you haven't seen Fred speak or checked him out then this is a great example of the kind of statesman and leader his is.

Thanks JammieWearingFool for sharing this!

World-Class Service: The Greeting

2008-01-05T12:55:00.000-06:00

QAQNA: Whether you are an anonymous cog in the gears of a giant call center or you are self-employed working in your home office, it's important to answer your phone well. By the time you finish greeting the customer, he or she has already made a judgment about you, what kind of mood you're in, and how easy you'll be to work with.

If you want to up the level and quality of your interactions with people on the telephone then you need to check out what Tom Vamder WellÂ wrote.Â This simple bit of advice is so full of common since it is easy to forget.

Thanks Tom forÂ referencing this postÂ in your blog this week. This kind of advice goes along well with the other simple bit of advice I gained from a friend here at work... always greet people with a smile.Â Until she took the time to explain whyÂ smiling was importantÂ (similar to this post aboutÂ the reason for theÂ same ol' greeting) and encouraging me to do it (since I wasn't), IÂ didn't know any better. Now I do my best to always smile when meeting people (even in stores).Â It makes a huge difference like the simple things in life typically do.

About Tom: I now read all posts from Tom Vander Well's blogÂ QAQNA. Tom is partner and Vice-President of c wenger group, a consulting firm in Des Moines, Iowa that specializes in helping clients measure and improve customer service in their contact centers. I think he is pretty smart.

Thompson Sets Sights Beyond N.H.

2008-01-05T04:13:00.000-06:00

ABC News' Christine Byun reports: Fighting to stay in the GOP race, Fred Thompson pressed on with his campaign â€“- but will essentially forgo the next battleground of early voting: New Hampshire.

It makes a lot of sense that Fred Thompson is going to spend his time and resources where he'll be strong instead of where he is weak. All other presidential candidates do the same thing.

I find it pretty amazing that most people think any candidate has unlimited funds in which to actively campaign in every state in the country. The dramatic differences in airtime costs between some media markets than others goes understated in many cases.

The debates this weekend will be pivotal for all of the candidates. I'm glad Fred will there to give more Americans the chance to see him.

Why I Chose Fred

2008-01-04T16:11:00.000-06:00

Tonight I emailed over a dozen friends and family members about why I'm for Fred Thompson for President and to invite them to check him out themselves. The first email I sent was simply a form letter. The letter was so well written and said things so much like I would it didn't make sense to rewrite something myself. Instead, I followed up that email with the following. I thought I'd post it here to share it with the world (or those who take a peak at this corner of it).

<Friends & Family>

I just sent you a form letter from Fred08â€™s website. It really does speak well about my opinions about Fred, but I wanted to personally explain why Iâ€™m supporting Fred Thompson for President.

Last night I caucused for Fred. It wasnâ€™t until Wednesday night (the night before the caucus) that I really took the time to look into Fred Thompson. I was really undecided up until reading all the position papers and principles Fred outlined on his website.

Iâ€™ve become somewhat of a political junky as Iâ€™ve grown older. I listen to talk radio far more than music in my car, and I try to keep up on current events around the world. Over the last year Iâ€™ve had a hard time determining which candidate for president Iâ€™d be able to support. I frankly havenâ€™t been thrilled about any of the choices, but I also knew that shouldnâ€™t keep me from participating in the process. Someone will be elected as President in 2008 and sitting on the sidelines and just doing nothing doesnâ€™t sit right with me anymore.

Fred Thompson may not survive the coming weeks due to the lack of any media attention, but I do feel in the depths of my heart that those who do take the time to check Fred out will be surprised. If anyone the current line up is going to be labeled â€œlike Reaganâ€ then Fred Thompson is the guy. Fred may not be the best communicator in sound bits and those 30 second commercials but when I sat down and listened to his 16+ minute messages to Iowans on Wednesday night (on his website www.fred08.com) I knew Fred was the kind of man I needed to support.

I find it somewhat amazing that so much of my life is now spent doing the two most controversial things people can doâ€¦ religion and politics. I donâ€™t expect any of my friends or family members to be like me or even believe like me, but I do feel obligated to share with you those beliefs. What you do with them is your decision.

Well, in case you havenâ€™t read my blog in the last 24 hours, Iâ€™d ask that you check it out. www.johncstark.com. I stepped out on caucus night to do a couple things Iâ€™ve never dreamed of doing before. Iâ€™ve going to get involved more actively in politics on a local level. Iâ€™ve been looking for something to do outside of my life at work/church and this might be just the hobby (aside from reading!) that will enable me to interact with a lot of new people.

Well, Iâ€™ve said enough at this point. If you care to read more you can do so at www.johncstark.com. I just might post more of my thoughts and opinions in the days to come! Feel free to join in the conversation.

If you haven't taken the time to check Fred Thompson out for President I encourage you to do so today.

The Iowa Caucus

2008-01-03T19:58:00.000-06:00

Tonight I participated in my first Iowa Caucus. It was a pretty interesting experience.

The first thing I noticed tonight was that the turn out was far greater than anyone expected. When pulling up to caucus and seeing a long line of head lights I knew something special was going to happen. I ended up having to park about half a mile from the school and others had to park even further.

Note to the GOP and Democrats... don't have your caucus in the same location. Most schools don't have adequate parking for a lot of cars. In the future you might try and get many of the larger churches in town to open up their facilities and parking lots to host events like this. But... I'm really new to how the system works so it may not be that easy of a fix.

I stood around with over 500 others (only 200 were expected) waiting for the chance to put our name in the hat for our preference in the presidential race. The whole process was fairly informal and the precinct temporary caucus chair did a great job explaining the entire process to everyone.

After he explained everything, representatives from each of the candidates were given time to speak. Regretfully, no one from the Fred Thompson campaign was there to speak on his behalf. I almost stepped forward to say something but didn't know if it would have been proper or not. Following that everyone put their name in the hat and the rest of the evening proceeded accordingly to the agenda. I'd say 80% of those who came left after putting their candidates name in the hat.

I decided to hang around to see what the rest of the experience would be like and ended up stepping up to be one of the two people chosen to represent our precinct on the Polk County Republican Central Committee. Members on the committee form the backbone of the GOP volunteer force in Polk County. The term of office is two years. As a central committee member I'll be asked to serve on a subcommittee and to provide service to the party at events and for political projects. For me it will be an interesting experience and another opportunity to serve our community.

I'm also going to be one of 22 people participating at the Republican County Convention on March 8!

The results from the Iowa Caucus were not entirely surprising to me. I'm grateful that Fred Thompson came in third place so he'll continue his campaign to the White House. It is really amazing how little the press even mentions his name now that I'm paying more attention.
The coming days will be interesting.

Go Fred Go!

Fred Thompson for President

2008-01-02T20:16:00.000-06:00

With the Iowa Caucuses less than a day away I finally took some time to look into the GOP candidates for president. Later today I plan on participating in the Iowa Caucuses for the first time by supporting Fred Thompson for president.

Up until tonight I didn't have a clear idea of who I've be voting for until reading up on Fred Thompson. I know Fred doesn't show up high in the polls here in Iowa but in my opinion he most represents the kind of leader our country needs in the coming years. His positions on national security, immigration and social security reforms make a lot of sense and reflect the wisdom and experience of a man who knows the issues and how to address them.

A big part of me wishes Fred Thompson entered the race sooner in the process. When I first started researching the candidates running for president no official position information from Senator Fred Thompson was available. I regret that I didn't seek this information out when he finally announced his intentions to run.

If you happen to be undecided for how you should vote into tonight's Iowa Caucus then may I suggest you take a closer look at Fred Thompson. He posted a special 16+ minute message to Iowans which provides you more than a sound bit about the kind of man he is. After watching the message I really found myself disappointed in how Fred comes across in commercials.

Regardless of how Fred Thompson does tonight I hope he perseveres and continues his candidacy.

Please post more photos!

2007-12-18T07:30:00.000-06:00

John, I know you are a busy man, but our new photos need to be posted. I know that you will say I need to learn how to do this, so maybe it's time!

Love you, Jayne

Christmas Blog 2007

2007-12-18T07:22:00.000-06:00

This year we became a family of FIVE! John and I are officially outnumbered. Emma Jayne entered our life at 10:49am on October 30th, 2007. After about 5 hours of labor I delivered Emma without any drugs. This is the second birth without drugs and I still can't believe that I am alive. She is a cute little girl and we think that she has daddy's chin and mommy's eyes. This could change, but she has reddish brown hair! I hope this stays! I have always wanted a girl with John's hair. I can't wait for it to grow! The first few weeks with Emma were a transition. She likes to be held and cuddled, so we had to work on getting her to calm herself to sleep. Now at 6 weeks she is sleeping all night long. She will go about 10 hours at night! I hope this lasts. She is still very little, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I had a melt down two weeks ago. John was the recipient! Sorry honey! God must have known that I needed to sleep through the night again. Thank you Lord for putting your hand on Emma. I am a happier mom now! It's so fun to have PINK in the house. I love it! A girl is fun to dress. She has two Christmas dress and has worn them every other week to church this December. She has looked so cute. Ok, I will move on. We are so blessed now to have boys and aÂ girl. We have always wanted to have one of each. God is so good!

Ean, our first born, still is in love with all the "Cars" movie diecast cars. He likes going to Wal-mart and Target to look at them. We keep collecting them and thier stocking will be full with them again this year. Physically Ean has become a little boy. He is very lean and slender.Â All of his baby look is gone and he looks just like his dad. Aunt Jen can't believe the similarities. He also loves his dad to death. The other day he told me that Evan and I could leave and he would stay at home with HIS dad. I am glad that he favors his dad. He needs a maleÂ figure to watch and John is a wonderful one. We are still working on being nice to our brother. They are playing better together, but we have our moments. He has become very independent. He likes to do everything for himself. Keep us in your prayers as we raise a strong willed first born. This summer he took off on his bike. We can't keep up when we take walks. He used water wings in the pool this summer. He liked being able to "swim" by himself.

Evan is still our boy who loves to be hugged! He carries around his burp rag for comfort and his thumb still makes it into his mouth. Every morning he asks for "chocit juice, mommy?". Thank you dad. Chocolate milk is his favorite food. Yes, food. Physically he still has that baby/toddler look that mommy loves. He is a solid thick boy. He may be our football player! We may have an Uncle Joe in our future! Evan does follow Ean around and plays with what Ean plays with. He has become attached to a couple of "Hot-Wheels" cars, so that is different from his brother. HeÂ surprised mom and dad andÂ atÂ theÂ aquatic center thisÂ summer by goingÂ downÂ theÂ toddler waterÂ slide all by himself. He is a little more outgoing thanÂ his brother. Â As he grows it will be fun to see what he has intrest in. Right now being guided by his brother seems to take up a lot of his time.

Both boys were wonderful at welcoming their new baby sister. Hugs and kisses are always being given. We hope that Emma's eyesite comes in good, because they get right in her face all the time! She is a great trooper and most of their poks and pushes don't bother her at all. The first week home Ean said, "I love my new baby sister", "Emma, I love her." Evan calls her "baby" most of the time. "mema" has come out a few times. We are also working on getting him to say "Jen". Aunt Jen has been called Grandma a few times. I don't know if she likes that!

As John and I continue to both work and raise three kids, we just talked about how blessed we really are. We are very thankful for the family that the Lord has given us. We want to send everyone a MerryÂ Chirstmas and Happy New Year! And lets remember the ture meaning of the season. Ean's Bible Buddies verse says is best: "Today... a Savior has been born... He is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11.

Emma Jayne: Day 2

2007-10-31T15:12:00.000-05:00

Our family is growing!

Today was full of a lot of fun introducing Emma Jayne to her brothers, great-grandma, and a bunch of friends. She slept through most of the introductions but occasionally opened her eyes to check out the action.

Many thanks go to those of you who've reached out via emails, notes, and phone calls over the last couple days. We've really enjoyed sharing these precious moments in our family with you. (I've really enjoyed Judith's comments on various photos on Flickr.)

Our friends from Nashville, Josh and Julie Berry, happened to be town this week for a funeral so we were able to have a great visit with them at the hospital today. It was a lot of fun catching up with one another and sharing a lot of laughs. They get the prize for traveling the furtherest to see us at the hospital.

Tomorrow will be full of new experiences for us as we'll be taking Emma home for the very first time. (Dad needs to remember to bring the car seat to the hospital!) Checking out of the hospital is always an interesting experience for us. It always takes forever! Jayne is really looking forward to dressing Emma up in PINK for the very first time. It will be first of many new firsts as we take these next steps into the future with our first daughter.

Emma Jayne Stark

2007-10-30T10:03:00.000-05:00

Emma Jayne Stark was born this morning! We praise God for the blessings of this new child.

The stats:

Born:
Tuesday
October 30, 2007
10:49am

Weight:
6 lbs 12.8 oz.

Height:
20 inches

Everyone is heathly and doing great. A big thanks to Jennifer, my sister, who came over early this morning to watch the boys when we went to the hospital this morning. Grandma Mary and Grandma Connie are going to help us out a bunch this week as well (yeah!).

We'll keep uploading photos to our Flickr account so be sure to check it out!

99% Sure It's a...

2007-06-20T18:54:00.000-05:00

Today Jayne and I went to the doctor to have an ultrasound done to check out our baby due onÂ November 3. While we've never had a chance to find out the sex of our baby before it was born in the past, this time around we really wanted to know.

For weeks, months, people have asked both Jayne and I if we were going to find out the sex of the baby. Today, we found out.Â The doctor had to tell us twice before it really sunk in. With God blessing us already with two boys we both were hoping for a girl. On November 3 the doctor is 99% sure we'll be having a girl.

Today she weighed 13 oz (don't ask me how they can determine that). In a few months she'll be a lot bigger.

I've already had several people asking me if we'll be naming our next child with a vowel again. I'm pretty sure we won't be telling anyone in advance what we are naming her until she arrives, but I can tell you that it probably will be with a vowel. We already had some girl names picked out in the past so now we can dust those names off and consider a bunch more.

I think Jayne deserves to have a pink party sometime. She is pretty excited and so am I. If you get a chance be sure to drop a line to Jayne to congratulate her. I don't think she'll tire of talking about this particular bit of news.

Motor Fest '07

2007-06-18T07:24:00.000-05:00

The boys had a good ol time at the Motor Fest rally at First Federated Church on Sunday. The rally involved a lot of cars, motorcycles, a couple tractors, a boat, and a drag car.

Jayne said Evan could wait to get into the bounce house. Both boys really enjoyed jumping around.

Dad was busy taking photos of the rally and making sure things were running smoothly. If you look at all the photos you'll see a few where dad was given a card and a present (the book "The Bourne Ultimatum" by Robert Ludlum).

Being the father of two boysÂ is still pretty new to me. Less than eight years ago I was single! It is a challange living up to the standard my boys deserve in a father. Perhaps on this Father's Day and in Father's Days to come I'll use that day to spur me on to being a better dad.

New Baby Stark

2007-04-21T07:09:00.000-05:00

At Evan's birthday party on Friday, April 20, we annouced to the family that a new baby Stark is expected to arrive on November 4, 2007.

We had Evan open up a present with this doll inside. We attached a little note to the dollÂ annoucing the news. Not only was everyone excited about the news, we caught everyone by surprise. We really had hoped Joe and Jennifer could have been at the party to hear the news with everyone else.

We've known for over a month this particular bit of news; however, we waited until our families were together at the party to break the news.

Evan's 2nd Birthday

2007-04-21T06:58:00.000-05:00

Our family celebrated Evan's second birthday last night. His birthday is actually April 18th; however, we couldn't schedule the party until Friday, April 20.

Traditionally, we've invited our immediate families to the birthday parties. This time around only our parents and Justine were able to make it. Aunt Judith, Aunt Joann, and Uncle James all live out of town. No one knew for sure where uncle Joe was. Aunt Jennifer was at a conference, but she came by the house on Thursday night to see the boys.

Both of the boys really get excited for birthdays now. Ean just couldn't contain his enthusiasm. I think Evan will be that way next year.

If you click on the photo (or here) you'll be able to see all the photos we took along with some commentary. Enjoy!

Easter 2007

2007-04-12T14:41:00.000-05:00

The boys had a lot of fun celebrating Easter this year. Not only did they learn about the resurrection of Jesus they also spent time with their extended family.

This year the day started off at church with a special fellowship time where the boys got to see some puppets, eat some yummy donuts, and see a lot of people. We then had a great lunch at grandma Mary and grandpa Terry's place. My mom made my favorite meal (noodles, mash potatos, green peas, sliced ham, and biscuts) and the boys were entertained by learning how to find easter eggs, getting an easter basket, a new car movie, some new toys and a bunch of candy.

Later in the afternoon we drove to Winterset to visit Jayne's extended family at the Frey farm. Jayne's entire family (except her dad) was their including her grandpa, aunt, and cousin Tim. We all did the tradition easter egg hunt outdoors. The eggs not only have candy inside but some of that really fun stuff called "money."

You can check out all the photos on Flickr.

Judith Leinen's Junior Recital

2007-04-02T15:00:00.000-05:00

Jayne's sister Judith had her Junior Recital on April 1, 2007 in Sioux City, IA at Morningside College. Our whole family took the three hour trip to see her play the violin.

Judy has gotton pretty talented playing this particular instrument so it was fun hearing her play a wide variety of song. One song she even did memorized which seemed to be pretty complicated to me.

Following the recital Judith held a reception with really cool food which seemed to be a huge hit with everyone. I was the official photographer so I didn't get much of a chance to make a list of the food items.

Following the reception we all went to the Olive Garden which opened in the last year in Sioux City.

The boys behaved great on the entire trip. All of us were a little tired when we finally got home late that night.

The only bad thing about the entire trip was the high pollen count that weekend which really got my allergies reacting in full swing. I recovered a couple days later.

You can check out all the photos I took from the event on Flickr. We also video taped the recital for Judith who now has a pretty cool DVD made to remember the occasion. Ask Judy to play it for you sometime (if you know her!).

Pool Table For Sale

2007-03-19T18:51:00.000-05:00

If anyone has been to our place in Ankeny then you know we don't have room for our nice pool table. Friends of ours had it set-up in their basement until they recently decided to remodel. The table is now in storage.

We don't anticipate buying a new home anytime in the near future so if someone is willing to pay $2200 for all the pool table stuff (including the ping pong top and a bunch of accessories) then we'd let it go. If we don't get any good offers we may end up keeping everything. We really liked having the pool table around. Plus, we know our boys would love it when they get a little older.

You can get more information about the table either at:

Craigslist | Pool Table

If you are interested... send me an email.

Federated Family Christmas

2006-12-21T13:44:00.000-06:00

My parents and sister sang a special number at the Federated Family Christmas last Sunday, December 17.

The program also included songs by children, bell choir, band, and the choir.

If you click on the photo then it will take you to a bunch of photos that were taken that night. Be sure to check out the other sets on the site.

Federated Family Christmas
Rehearsal Photos

Ean sang for the first time in our church during the service in the morning. While the photos we took at the rehearsal don't show Ean having a good time. If you had seen him during the service then you'd have seen him dancing next to his buddy Carter.

Christmas Ingathering & Fellowship

Seasonal Crime Prevention Tips

2006-12-12T18:52:00.000-06:00

I got the following information emailed to me today from the Beaverdale Neighborhood Association. It was so full of great information that I couldn't resist sharing it with others. We spend a lot of time thinking about the great things surrounding Christmas but seldom think about the darker side lingering in the shadows.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

John Stark

Happy Holidays from The Des Moines Police Department!

During the year-end holidays, people are often busy, excited and sometimes a little bit careless. The following holiday crime prevention tips should be shared with others:

At Home:

Be extra cautious about locking doors and windows when you leave your house or apartment, even for a few minutes.

Lock garage doors and windows.

Donâ€™t display holiday gifts where they can be seen from a window or doorway. Store gifts before you go away on a holiday

If you go out, turn on lights and a radio or television so the house or apartment appears occupied.

If you are leaving for an extended period of time have some interior lights and a radio activated by a timer. Have a neighbor or family member watch your house, shovel new snow, pick up the mail, and newspaper and park a vehicle in your driveway from time to time.

Mark your property with a unique identification number and keep a home inventory list of major personal possessions including respective serial numbers.

Be wary of strangers soliciting for charitable donations. They may attempt to take advantage of peopleâ€™s generosity during the holidays. Ask for identification, how donated funds are used, and if contributions are tax deductible. Check with the Iowa Attorney Generalâ€™s Office, Consumer Protection Division, before giving. If you are not satisfied with the answers donâ€™t give.

After the holidays donâ€™t forget to add any new possessions to your home inventory.

Test your smoke detectors.

Use only fire resistant ornaments on holiday decorations, make sure lights are in good working order and keep live trees watered. Donâ€™t leave holiday lights on all continuously or when you are away from home.

Avoid leaving boxes from purchases out on the curb, in plain site, for trash pick up (especially TVs, computers, and other new electronic items).

Shopping:

Shop before dark, if possible. Possibly coordinate shopping trips with a friend. Never park in an unlit lot or area, no matter how convenient it is.

Lock your purchases in your trunk in order to keep them out of plain site, if possible. Keep your doors locked and windows closed.

Avoid carrying large amounts of cash. Pay for purchases with a check, credit card, or debit card whenever possible.

To discourage purse-snatchers, donâ€™t overburden yourself with packages.

Be extra careful with purses and wallets. Carry a purse under your arm. Keep a wallet in an inside jacket pocket, not a back trouser pocket.

Teach children to go to a store clerk or security guard and ask for help if they become separated from the adult they are with. Children should never go into a parking lot to look for the adult they are separated from.

Holiday Parties:

Have non-alcoholic beverages available for party guests.

Donâ€™t let guests drink and drive.

Scam Artists:

In addition to these crime prevention tips, be aware of a scam artist coming to your doors or approaching you asking for money. Again this year, we have received complaints of a black male in his 50s, with his two front teeth missing, knocking on doors asking for a loan. He tells individuals that his car is broke down or his wife is pregnant and needs a ride to the hospital. Don't fall prey to these scams. We would encourage you to call DMPD at 283.4811. He is known by the police and has been working the East side but is known to travel throughout the city.

Sergeant Larry Davey
Senior Police Officer Larry D. Rogers
Senior Police Officer Kelly Fisher
Neighborhood Area Resource Coordinator's Office
Des Moines Police Department

Updating Website Today

2006-12-10T19:34:00.000-06:00

Today I finally got around to doing a little maintenance on this website. It has been several weeks since I event posted another entry but I regularly visit the homepage for access to the sidebar links.

I'm still using Wordpress to manage the website so keeping the software up-to-date requires some attention every couples months as enhancement and security issues are addressed. I've gotten pretty comfortable with upgrading the software which Wordpress has made pretty simple. It also has become the time I back everything up off the server in case something goes wrong with the upgrade.

Today I also worked on implementing a plug-in which will automatically update my sidebar links from a RSS feed coming from my del.icio.us account. While it took a bit of work to organize the links into del.icio.us, keeping the links updated will be a lot easier since they are directly tied into del.icio.us. Basically, whenever I bookmark a webpage with a specific tag that link will automatically show up on the sidebar.

I also added a plugin to create a sitemap specifically designed to work with Google. I registered the website with Google and provided them the link to the sitemap for them to utilize when indexing my website. It was interesting to look at the information Google provides to those who register their site with them. If you maintain your website then I'd highly recommend you check it out.

There were other things I checked out today. I learned that I can automatically publish to this blog from Google's document editor after configuring it properly.

Anyway, the worldwide web is pretty amazing. I'm continually amazed how far technology has come since the late 70s when I first played with one of those early Apple IIe machines.

Thank You!

2006-11-08T14:31:00.000-06:00

I recieved many cards and notes from the congregation at First Federated Church during the month of October for Pastor Appreciation. On October 29th I also recieved a custom gift package with a popcorn popper, popcorn seasonings, fancy popcorn to use, Almond Joys, and Herseys candy bars. These were all things I enjoy to eat and do.

I've used the popcorn popper twice since it was given to me and it works pretty good. Someday I hope to figure out how to make my own version of kettle popcorn at home. Yum, Yum.

The following people sent me a note or card:

Edna Dade and family

Darrell & Marlene Ferguson

Scott & Marie Johnson

Jack & Sheila Kamerick and family

Helen Storey

Paul & Peg Olson

Sybil Bockert

LaMar & Priscilla Myers

Vic & Judy Lundy

Bob & Marilee York

Pat & Will Wray

Randy Maurer

Bill & Clarice Green

Jeane Jennings

Chuck & Edith Underwood

I also had several people stop me in the halls in October to thank me for my ministry as well. I'm very grateful for the many opportunities the Lord has given me to serve this local church and continue to hope and pray he'll bless our family in the years to come.

I'm honored to be appeciated in this manner.

Federated Fall Fun Night

2006-10-28T07:32:00.000-05:00

On Friday, October 27, First Federated Church hosted another Fall Fun Night for preschool and elementary children.

There was free games, activities, candy and a whole lot of fun for everyone.

It took a huge team of volunteers to make the night possible. Jeni Baugher did a great job as the director of the event this year. She even joined in the fun by being part of the action in a horse costume.
Last I heard, we had over 850 guests plus a whole lot of volunteers. I know my kids had a lot of fun and I saw a lot of other happy faces too.

The coolest thing at the Fall Fun Night this year was the giant slide. If the line wasn't so long throughout the night I might have given it a try myself.

Click a photo see all the photos I took.

Ean turns 3!

2006-10-28T07:12:00.000-05:00

Ean turned three this month. He had a lot of fun at his birthday party opening presents, blowing out the candles on his cupcake, and being the center of attention.

This year the theme behind all the gifts were trains.

He got a pretty big train table, lots of track, more trains, and a bunch of things to unwrap. Ean is now old enough to get really excited about presents and his enthusiasm was contagious.

Click on the photo to see more photos taken in October of our family.

Pastor Mike Rose begins ministry at FFC.

2006-10-15T17:37:00.000-05:00

Today Pastor Mike Rose officiallyÂ began his ministry at First Federated Church. His message to the congregation was all about "A New Beginning". Over the next four weeks he'll be sharing in greater detail the four foundational priniciples First Federated which will guide our efforts in the future: Truth, Grace, Transparancy, and Grace.

You can listen to the message at FirstFederated.org.

Beaverdale Fall Festival Parade

2006-09-27T05:40:00.000-05:00

First Federated Church participated in the 2006 Beaverdale Fall Festival Parade. A lot of great volunteersÂ served to make the church's float in the parade such a great success on Saturday, September 23.

Todd Pierce and a crewÂ designed and built the float.Â Kay Pierce and her crew organized the walkers and the items distributed (candy, etc.). Nancy Jones and Womens AssociationÂ served refreshments in our parking lot where the parade forms up. Bob Heemsbergen provided the truck and hayrack. Many played a part in making this one of the biggest parades in Iowa with over 105 entries.

Click on the photo to see photos taken at the parade.

Men's Retreat

2006-09-24T04:00:00.000-05:00

The men of First Federated Church spent the weekend of September 22-24 at the Des Moines YMCA near Boone, IA for a fall retreat. Through teaching, activites, games, and team challenges the men discovered they are not alone in their journey through life.

Thomas the Tank Engine

2006-09-16T18:47:00.000-05:00

The family went and saw Thomas the Tank Engine today. The boys had a lot of fun.

The had a lot of activities for the kids to do while waiting for Thomas. The actual train ride was less than 30 minutes, but it was long enough. The expressions on the boys faces was precious when the train first started to move. Their eyes got really big as the train slowly moved away from the train station.

There were a lot of other families to visit Thomas as well. We ran into two other boys named "Ean" which really surprised mom. The weather was pretty great too.

If you ever get the chance you'll need to ask Jayne about what Ean said when he first saw Thomas pulling up into the train station. It was pretty cute.

Neighborhood Picnic

2006-09-12T15:38:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday the boys had a lot of fun at the Neighborhood Picnic our church held September 10. Even though it rained and moved everything indoors everyone had a great time.

Ean was brave enough to give the bounce house a try with mom. He loved it.

I took a bunch of other photos and put them on Flickr. I made some of them public. To see them all you need to be one of my friends or family member.

del.icio.us links for 2006-08-16

2006-08-15T18:26:00.000-05:00

Jim Collins | Good to Great & Social Sectors

Got this link from Josh Berry.

(tags: business management leadership)

New Song Christian Fellowship - Brentwood, TN - New Song Christian Fellowship

Josh & Julie Berry attend this church. Jayne and I visited it with them once when we were in town. I really liked a lot of things I've learned about this ministry.

(tags: church website design)

Lead Like Jesus

If you are going to lead by your influence (and we all do for either good or not) then you will want to lead the right way! Lead Like Jesus believes that good leadership starts on the inside â€“ with your heart! You must first have a â€œheart attackâ€ an

(tags: leadership church)

Photoshop for video with Final Cut Pro

(tags: tutorial video photoshop finalcutpro)

Siegel Display Products

One Stop Shopping for Trade Show Displays, Brochure Holders, Literature Display Stands, Magazine Racks & POP Displays.

(tags: shopping displays marketing)

Litex Media | Audio Converters

WMA to MP3 converter with WMA, MP3, OGG, WAV conversions supported.

(tags: MP3 Music audio av utility software)

Tag Clinic v4.2

A full-featured tag editor and file renamer for digital audio files.
Supporting AAC, APE, FLAC, M4A, MP3, MP4, MPC, OGG, VQF, and WMA tags.

(tags: mp3 tag-editor utility software audio)

Josh and Julie Berry start a Blog

2006-08-14T18:33:00.000-05:00

Our friends who just had their first baby boy, Conrad, started up their own blog this week. Even though several hundred miles separate us from each other we love them dearly.

It is really exciting to see how God has blessed them with a wonderful son.

Kudos on starting up a blog Josh!

Alissa Gardner | Hi

2006-08-10T20:05:00.000-05:00

Alissa loves to read about herself online so I thought I'd give her a little something from me.

It can be a little embarrasing to know that the whole world could potientially see whatever is posted on the internet. The reality of the internet is the fact that most websites have few if any visits. Who knows... maybe someday my blog will be read by someone other than my wife.

Alissa is finally became an official aunt this week. Not only does she have two boys but also a brand new nephew to think about. Becoming an aunt is a pretty big responsibility. I'm sure Alissa will be a good aunt even though it means you're getting older. I'm not even an uncle yet and I'm 9 years older than her.

Well, I think I've written enough tonight to embarass Alissa a bit. Perhaps I should have edited this photo to show some rosey checks.

Tomorrow I may write about another friend of mine whose now the proud father of his first son.

Me and del.icio.us

2006-08-09T17:39:00.000-05:00

Today I visited with two friends in my office about del.icio.us. The first had never heard of it, the other is using it like me. In the near future I hope to grow my del.icio.us network with other friends who like to bookmark and tag interesting sites they visit.

A lot of people probably have no idea what del.icio.us is. Until I started using it I didn't either. I still don't think I know everything there is to know about it, but I do know enough to know how useful it can be in keeping track of various sites I find of interest. There are all kinds of services that provide similar features but this one has been really easy for me to use.

Del.icio.us takes advantage of two different methods of remembering any webpages you find of interest. It functions a little like the favorites/bookmarks your internet browser provides to remember your favorite websites however it has one additional feature... tags. If you don't know much about tags then I'd highly recommend you learn about them. They provide a highly user friendly method of organizing and catagorizing the items you want to remember.

My first exposure to tags was in Adobe Album several years ago. The photo organizing software allowed me to create individual tags for individual family members, places, events, which I was able to associate with specific photos I imported into the software. While it does take a little time to tag each photograph it definitely saves a lot of time when trying to find photos with specific people in them. One additional feature about the tags was how Adobe Album (now part of Adode Elements) stores this tagging information in the actual photograph file. So now, when I upload photos to one of our Flickr accounts those tags are recongized by Flickr to help find specific photos online.

My first exposure to tags on the internet was LibraryThing. LibraryThing is where I'm now keeping a catalog of all the books I have in my library or find myself reading for one reason or another. I'm able to tag each book with as many different tags as I want, with any name I can image, so I can later find it. While I am unable to physically organize my books with multiple tags I can organize my book catalog in a wide variety of ways. I've keep the number of tags I actually use down to as few as possible, but I do end up using one to three tags for each book I enter into my LibraryThing. LibraryThing was also the first place I ever saw a tag cloud. It is a really neat way to view the number and quantity of your tags.

Now, I'm starting to see tags in a lot of different places on the internet. I think tags are going to be the new thing in website design. Future websites will have to enable the end user to utilize tags in sorting, searching and organizing the data they find and end up looking for. i personally have only been exposed to the tip of the iceburg of tags but already I'm a strong believer in using them. Tags are extremely end user friendly.

I'm hoping to add more of my friends to my del.icio.us network of friends. I want to discover and learn about the sites they have found of interest because I just might find them of interest as well.

First Federated Church Splash Party

2006-07-23T20:34:00.000-05:00

Last night was the second Splash Party held by First Federated Church at the Clive Aquatic Center. I took a bunch a photos which are now posted on a special Flickr account I set-up for photos taken at church events. This photo here links to the the website.

You need to be one of my friends (eg. someone I know) with a Flickr account in order to see all the photos taken tonight. I'm not comfortable making all the photos I take available to the public at large without obtaining permission from those in the photos. I tend to make the photos that don't show anyone in particular public so some of the photos are available.

The events was attended by a lot of people. I was amazed at how many people I didn't really recognize (which is a good thing.)

It was a fun event which I probably should have enjoyed myself a little more. I ended up taking a lot of photos of other people having fun while following my son Ean around the park. He wasn't extremely thrilled with getting into the water, but he did love exploring the entire place.

Church informed of special congregational meeting August 13

2006-07-23T08:16:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, August 13, Mike Rose will visit First Federated again to speak in the morning service. In the evening a special congregational meeting is scheduled at 6:00pm for the congregation to vote whether or not to call Mike Rose as the next Senior Pastor of First Federated Church.

This morning following the worship service Bob Sorensen, Official Board chairman, informed the congregation that Mike would be returning. He also informed the congregation about the current status in the youth pastor search. Currently the youth pastor search committee is looking at three different individuals from around the country for the position. Bob also let everyone know that our transistion between Senior Pastors is influencing who actually will consider the position.

Based upon the applause that I heard following these announcements I believe the church is excited for the future.

del.icio.us links for 2006-07-22

2006-07-21T18:29:00.000-05:00

Jason Powell - Church IT and other musings

Jason is pretty on top of IT issues in the church. His involvement with the high intensity Granger Community Church represents a great testimony as to how technology can make a difference in the church. I really need to read this blog more frequently. Ver

(tags: church blogs IT)

LeadingSmart | Tim Stevens | Granger Community Church

(tags: blog church leadership)

Church asks Mike Rose to candidate for the position of Senior Pastor at FFC.

2006-07-21T07:37:00.000-05:00

Wednesday night, July 19, the official board gathered along with the staff and senior pastor search committee to decide whether or not to call Mike Rose to candidate for the position of Senior Pastor at First Federated Church. The vote at the end pretty much reflected the direction of the dialogue... all the board members voted to extend the call with one person abstaining from the vote.

As far as I know, the next steps in the process included announcing to the congregation three different times that a candidate has been selected and when a vote of the congregation is to take place. Mike will come back to Des Moines to speak again at another service, possibly have a town hall meeting in the afternoon for people to ask questions of Mike, with a vote of the congregation in the evening whether or not to call Mike Rose as the next Senior Pastor of FFC. These are pretty much the last steps in a pretty difficult and extended process.

I personally doubt that the congregation won't call Mike Rose to be our next Senior Pastor. The only thing that would keep this from happening is to discover some terrible bit of information that has yet to be discovered by anyone. I've never remembered a vote of the congregation going against the recommendations of the Official Board... at least in the last decade. Yes, you always have a handful of people who vote no for some reason but 98% of the people always tend to agree with the board.

I keep praying that the right decisions are made by the leaders of the church. For all I've seen and heard about Mike heÂ appears to be a great fit for the church. The months ahead will be full of change regardless of what the outcome may be in a few weeks. New leaders always bring change. Some only those in leadership really will notice and other the congregation may notice as well. Regardless of what may come I must remain faithful in trusting the Lord with all my heart and leaning on him for understanding. He has always proven Himself worthy of my hope, trust and faith. I may not always understand His purposes but His ways are definitely higher than mine. He cares for me and knows me by my name.

del.icio.us links for 2006-07-21

2006-07-20T18:37:00.000-05:00

Hickory Park Restaurant Co.

(tags: restaurant local ames iowa)
The family ate here on Thursday night. Even though it seems like Ames would be pretty far to drive to eat, it takes a little less time to get there than it does to go to West Des Moines. The prices are pretty reasonable for the quantity and quality of the food. Evan eat everything... Ean picked at his food. Mom and Dad almost cleared our plates. Hickory Park also serves a whole lot of ice cream. We just could leave without sharing a dish.

Albany Baptist Church | Pastor Mike Rose
(tags: work church)

del.icio.us links for 2006-07-20

2006-07-19T18:31:00.000-05:00

I've been gathering up all the places to submit events to local community calendars.

Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau - Add Event

(tags: work event calendar)

http://www.dmjuice.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/JUICE/50627013

(tags: event work calendar)

KCCI.com - Community Calendar

(tags: event work calendar community)

Blackout at Target

2006-07-17T17:18:00.000-05:00

Tonight the family went to Target for some shelves Jayne wanted for the boys rooms. We didn't plan for it to be a long trip to the store; however, we did up there for over an hour because the lights went out.

The power in the entire store went out just as we were heading towards the checkout line. It was the first time any of us had been in a store without any power. We weren't in the dark for long. Target must have a pretty big back-up generator because a bunch of lights in the check-out area and throughout the store came on within a minute of the power outage.

We later found out that the entire neighborhood was experiencing a power outage. On our way home we thought the power at our home might be out as well. Thankfully, our lights were still on.

I don't know what caused the power outage for sure. It was probably demand and heat related. All weekend the heat and humidity were pretty high compared to how it has been for most of the summer. We just wanted to stay indoors with the air conditioning on.

It was pretty interesting to see how Target reacted to the power outage. It took them about 10 minutes to get their registers up and running so people could check-out and leave the store. They had a few bugs to work out; however, I was surprised you could check-out at all. I even saw one family use a gift card. The cashier had to make a phone call to determine the balance on the card. It took a little longer than usualÂ but she made it happen.

The other interest thing to note about the experience was some of the attitudes customers had. Some people just have no respect or common sense when things don't run as smoothly as they expect. Blaming Target and their employeesÂ for a power outage is pretty pathetic. Yes, Target conspired with the power utility to turn off the power so people would have to stay a little longer in the store.

I guess I should have taken a few photos with my phone. How many times have you seen a department store without all the lights turned on?

del.icio.us links for 2006-07-17

2006-07-16T18:18:00.000-05:00

These are the favorites we had on our home computer. Some we haven't used for quite a while.

EMCO Network Inventory 4.5

EMCO Network Inventory 4.5 is a new version of Network Inventory 3.0 with lots of new features. EMCO Network Inventory 4.5 is a powerful tool for hardware and software inventory and audits on networks.

(tags: networking inventory Software)

DRUDGE REPORT 2006Â®

(tags: conservative politics Daily News)

Gardner Family Home Page

Terry Lienen's Cousin

(tags: StarkJayneAnn family)

Homepage of Joe & Amy Stover

Jayne's Cousin

(tags: StarkJayneAnn family)

Old Country Roses and Royal Albert Dinnerware

This is the style of dishes Jayne got us for the family.

(tags: StarkJayneAnn home china)

Tickle: Tests, Matchmaking and Social Networking

John took several tests on this site a while ago. It was interesting; however, paying for a monthly subscription for access to better test wasn't desired.

(tags: tests IQ psychology software)

Trinity College | Theological Seminary - The Leader in Theological Distance Education

John took a few classes here. Regretfully, allowed a lot of things to keep him from finishing any of them.

(tags: education seminary StarkJohnChristopher)

Welcome to Dahl's

A grocery store we use frequently.

(tags: shopping local desmoines iowa)

AOL.com - Welcome to AOL

This was the initial homepage our HP computer default the internet browser to. I don't think we used it more than once.

(tags: computer)

Chanticleer: An Orchestra of Voices

Our friend Thomas McCargar was a part of this group for about a year (2005/06)

(tags: friend music artist)

The Winds of Change Bipolar Disorder Online Support Group

(tags: psychology)

Kirdendall Public Library | Ankeny, IA

Our local public library. has wi-fi.

(tags: library reference books)

Juno Internet Service- Value-priced Internet Service Provider - ISP - Free, low-cost and fast Internet Access

Jayne has a Juno account she still occasionally uses.

(tags: email ISP Free StarkJayneAnn)

Twin Lakes Christian Center - A peaceful place of simple beauty...

Our friend Scott (Jane) Larsen now is the director of this camp.

(tags: friend camp christian iowa)

Paid Surveys - Take Free Paid Surveys Online

Jayne looked into this.

(tags: StarkJayneAnn home business)

Science Center of Iowa: IMAXÂ® dome theater, attractions, Des Moines

(tags: iowa local education)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

(tags: news business financial)

Hollywood and Vine : Capitol Records

(tags: music)

Carmike Cinemas - All Across America

a place to watch expensive movies. locally they've gone DLP.

(tags: movies local)

Cinemark - Showtimes

never been to this theatre; however, it is about the same distance as other theatres in Des Moines to where we live.

(tags: movies local iowa)

CNET News.com -- Technology news and business reports

(tags: technews tech News)

CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News

(tags: news tv world)

dmJuice.com :: Juice

local paper targeted to those 20-40

(tags: iowa news local desmoines)

Disney Online - The Official Home Page of The Walt Disney Company!

(tags: entertainment movies)

GO.com - Official Home Page

(tags: news entertainment)

FOX Sports - Sports News, Standings, Stats and more

(tags: sports tv)

Movie Trailers :: Hollywood.com

(tags: Movies entertainment)

Mediacom Today

(tags: local ISP desmoines iowa)

MSN.com

(tags: news ISP)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

(tags: News National tv)

Yahoo! Music Videos

(tags: video entertainment Music)

SCREEN IT! ENTERTAINMENT REVIEWS FOR PARENTS

(tags: reviews movies entertainment)

The Civic Center of Greater Des Moines: Bringing the Arts to Life!

(tags: local entertainment desmoines iowa)

TV Guide

(tags: tv entertainment reference)

Universal Studios

(tags: entertainment movie)

Warner Bros. Online: Hip Clips

(tags: entertainment clips music)

WORLD Magazine | Weekly News, Christian Views

(tags: christian news reviews conservative worldview)

The Wall Street Journal Online

(tags: news business Media)

Springwood 9 in Ankeny Iowa

The theatre closest to where we live.

(tags: local iowa movies entertainment)

Allied Insurance Customer Center Online

(tags: financial insurance)

Capital One Auto Finance Online Account Services: Login

(tags: financial)

Capital One: Credit Cards, Auto Finance, Loans, and Savings Accounts

(tags: financial)

Equity Accelerator - Home

home mortgage payments

(tags: financial)

H&R Block | Taxes, Online Tax Preparation, Tax Software, Filing Advice, Help & Tax Return Information

(tags: financial)

ING Retirement Plans

(tags: financial)

Iowa Department of Revenue Home Page - Iowa Taxes

(tags: financial iowa)

New Vehicle Advice - MSN Autos

(tags: financial)

Car information, new car prices, used car values, used car reviews, new car reviews - MSN Autos

(tags: auto reviews)

MyADT - Home

(tags: home security)

MyCheckFree.com

(tags: Financial)

Polk/Des Moines Assessor IA

(tags: local financial home)

Regions Mortgage Login

(tags: financial home)

DWS Scudder | Employees

(tags: financial)

Mortgage calculators-Mortgage rates-Compare today's interest rates for home loans in your state. Interest.com

(tags: financial)

T-Mobile

(tags: financial phone)

Welcome to EMC National Life

(tags: financial insurance)

Wells Fargo Home Page

(tags: financial)

Office Depot Worklife Rewards Program

(tags: shopping financial)

Citi Credit Cards | Choose from a variety of Rewards Credit Cards, Student Credit Cards, Small Business Credit Cards, and Value Credit Cards.

(tags: financial)

TiVo.com | The TiVo Homepage

(tags: tv entertainment electronics)

Wellmark Members & Consumers

(tags: home insurance)

Web Hosting by iPowerWeb

(tags: ISP email webhosting)

WinGuides Network for Windows

(tags: windows software)

Zone Labs: Zone Labs, Internet security products, online safety, software, protection

(tags: software security)

Baby Zone | Baby Names

(tags: names parenting family)

Bravado! Designs

(tags: shopping StarkJayneAnn parenting)

First Names and What They Mean | origins meanings and popularity first names

(tags: names reference parenting)

Majamas, Inc.

(tags: shopping parenting)

Preschool Children's Music Class - Kindermusik

(tags: music parenting Education)

AlltheWeb.com

(tags: searchengine)

Yellow Pages, White Pages, Maps, and more - Switchboard

(tags: reference directory search)

USPS - ZIP Code Lookup - Find All Cities in a ZIP Code

(tags: reference tools)

National Weather Service Zone Forecast

(tags: local desmoines reference weather)

The Suites of 800 Locust Hotel & Spa

(tags: StarkJayneAnn leisure hotel)

Wells Bed & Breakfast Home Page

(tags: hotel StarkJayneAnn leisure)

http://www.planetpdf.com/index.asp

(tags: ebooks free books)

http://movies.aol.com/showtimes/closesttheaters.adp?setGeodata=417236+%2d935830+ZIP+%7b%7d+ANKENY+%7b%7d+50021+POLK+US+CST6CDT+DM+%2eankeny+national

(tags: movies entertainment local desmoines)

Argali White & Yellow - the most complete and reliable phone directories search on the Internet

(tags: reference tools directory)

del.icio.us links for 2006-07-16

2006-07-16T10:10:00.000-05:00

I've been trying out del.icio.us as a place to bookmark the places I visit. It is pretty cool.

John & Jayne Stark Family

(tags: StarkEanJoesph StarkJayneAnn StarkJohnChristopher StarkEvanChristopher website family work)

Flickr: Your tags

(tags: flickr)

theory.isthereason Â» From Del.icio.us to WordPress: How to automatically post daily links

(tags: wordpress del.icio.us howto blog)

First Federated Church - Des Moines, Iowa

(tags: church FirstFederated work)

John Stark - Director of Media Ministries

(tags: StarkJohnChristopher work)

ACCESS - Wilshire Baptist Church : Home

(tags: acs cms work)

Borders - Home

(tags: books shopping)

Conlin Properties, Inc. - Des Moines, Iowa apartments, commercial properties, and real estate management

Conlin Properties offers a wide range of services including property management, homeowners association management, real estate development, consulting, leasing, brokerage, and asset management.

(tags: home property)

craigslist: des moines classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events

(tags: local desmoines shopping)

I-235 Construction - Iowa Department of Transportation

(tags: desmoines traffic)

Des Moines area tripGuide

(tags: traffic desmoines)

The Design of Sites

(tags: books website design)

Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau

This is the website of the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau. Here you'll find everything you need to plan an exciting weekend getaway, productive meeting, or memorable vacation in Greater Des Moines. Be sure to stop back frequently to kee

(tags: desmoines calendar business visitor)

Dogpile Web Search Home Page

(tags: SearchEngines search)

Google Help : Cheat Sheet

(tags: google tips cheatsheet help reference search)

American Computech :: Computer Superstore

(tags: computer shopping work)

Blue Jeans Cable--Quality Cables at Reasonable Prices

(tags: cables av shopping video)

Web Based Church Software by CCB

(tags: church cms website)

http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/

(tags: marketing church blog design christian website reference)

The greater DES MOINES Partnership - formerly the Chamber of Commerce for Des Moines, Iowa

(tags: desmoines business)

DexOnline.com:Yellow Pages - Online Phone Book

(tags: business local phone reference search)

DotNetNuke - Web Application Framework > Home ( DNN 4.3.2 )

(tags: cms website Asp.Net OpenSource)

Digital Camera Reviews and News: Digital Photography Review: Forums, Glossary, FAQ

Where you'll find all the latest in digital photography and imaging news, reviews of the latest digital cameras and accessories, the most active discussion forums, a large selection of sample images, a digital camera buyers guide, side-by-side comparisons

(tags: photography reviews digital cameras)

A Guide to Developing Your Own Congregation Web Site

(tags: church website design)

Content management solutions: Customer Carewords: Gerry McGovern

At Gerry McGovern, we develop content management solutions that help you maximize the value from your website. Our particular focus is words. Our unique Customer Carewords solution is about helping you find out the most important words of your customers.

(tags: usability content website business cms)

Glenn Beck Program

(tags: Radio news politics conservative daily)

Google

(tags: search SearchEngines)

Joomla! - Main

(tags: cms opensource php website)

jux2 Meta Search Engine â€“ Compare Search Engines

(tags: search SearchEngines)

KCCI.com - Home

(tags: news local)

Komando.com, Website for The Kim Komando Radio ShowÂ®

(tags: computer radio news software tips)

LibraryThing | Catalog your books online

Enter what you're reading or your whole libraryâ€”it's an easy, library-quality catalog. Because everyone else is doing it too, LibraryThing connects you with people who read the same things.

(tags: books catalog reference social library)

http://www.markertek.com/

(tags: shopping av electronics video catalog cables audio)

McKenzie Study Center

McKenzie Study Center is a ministry devoted to the study of the Bible and the promotion of a Christian worldview.

(tags: christian daily worldview)

www.myspace.com/johncstark

(tags: social StarkJohnChristopher blog)

Lower prices on computers, servers, computer parts and electronics than anywhere else! Pricewatch.com

(tags: shopping computer hardware electronics)

Stage Rigging and Rigging Supplies

"For Professional Riggers Only"
Your convenient online source for
Stage Rigging Hardware:Â

Aircraft Cable - Chain - Tools

Shackles - Turnbuckles - Eyebolts
Steel Slings - Spansets - Beam Clamps
Stage Rigging Hardware and Accessories

(tags: stage work rigging hardware safety)

SurveyMonkey.com - Powerful tool for creating web surveys. Online survey software made easy!

Intelligent survey software for serious primates of all species. SurveyMonkey has a single purpose: to enable anyone to create professional online surveys quickly and easily.

(tags: surveys software reference website content marketing)

The official US time

(tags: time reference)

Tom's Hardware

(tags: hardware computer reviews shopping)

TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows XP/2000 and Linux

(tags: security opensource encryption howto cryptography software)

Websort Â» Web-based card sorting

(tags: usability cardsorting tools software)

http://www.whotv.com/

(tags: news local desmoines iowa)

Willow Creek Association

(tags: church conference work)

Space Bag â€“ Vacuum Seal Storage Bags

Triple your CLOSET Space! No more Messy Closets, the New Hanging Space Bag will give you an entire Closet Makeover

(tags: shopping)

iowa.com | Iowa Events Calendar: Search and Post Iowa Events

Welcome to iowa.com -- Iowa's events calendar!
Looking for something to do in Iowa? Just select a menu option above, an enhanced listing below, or use the search tools to the left to find the Iowa events that interest you!

(tags: desmoines iowa local calendar work)

John C Stark LiveJournal blog

(tags: StarkJohnChristopher blog)

Express - Visual Web Developer - Easy to Use

(tags: software asp.net website tools)

Homeschool Curriculum Excellence - Robinson Self-Teaching Homeschool Curriculum

Teaches your children to think, solve problems, and assimilate the knowledge out of books.

(tags: homeschool education curriculum)

Welcome to Trans Tech Services, Inc.

Trans Tech Services, Inc., where documenting patient care accurately and expediently is a priority.

(tags: work StarkJayneAnn)

Website Tips And Resources

(tags: design website reference content)

http://www.paymyinsurance.com/

This is the site of your free electronic bill presentment and payment option, offered exclusively from West Bend Mutual Insurance Co.

(tags: insurance auto financial)

Newsradio 1040 WHO

(tags: local news media desmoines iowa)

UrbanGiraffe Â» Dissection of a WordPress theme: Part 1

Life as a WordPress blogger has become remarkably easy. If you can hold a mouse and follow instructions then youâ€™re most of the way towards carving out your own niche on the internet. A fresh installation gives you a powerful and attractive system with

(tags: wordpress design howto blog themes tutorial)

http://www.983wowfm.com/

Glen Beck, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, The Bob & Tom Show

(tags: local desmoines iowa media radio)

Real Debt Help - Get out of debt with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Plan.

(tags: christian radio budget financial)

Welcome to NASCO - International Mid-Continent Trade Corridor.

(tags: politics)

Joomla! Developer Network - Joomla Template Tutorial

(tags: cms website)

1ComputerBargains.com - Your online source for quality pricing and customer

We are Committed to the Nonprofit Sector!
We are proud to have created the standard for charity pricing and to be the first national reseller to work exclusively with nonprofit organizations.Â

Founded in 1991, CCB has taken the initiative to make t

(tags: shopping church work computer software nonprofit)

Beaverdale Neighborhood Association

Well-built, distinctive brick homes, tree-lined streets, and community
spirit characterize Beaverdale, one of Des Moines'
finest neighborhoods since the early 1920's.

(tags: local desmoines iowa calendar work)

Christian Media Association :: Video Clips :: Seasonal

Capturing the media for Jesus Christ

(tags: church video work stockfootage)

http://www.churchartworks.com/

clip art, stock images, t-shirts

(tags: design christian church)

ChurchArt Online

Top-quality illustrations for every conceivable church event, activity, theme and season in the life of your congregation.

(tags: clipart church work design stockimages)

Download Fonts - 1001 Free Fonts

(tags: Fonts Free design graphics)

Dynamic Church | A demo church powered by Fellowship Technologies

(tags: cms church software)

Web-based Church Management Software :: Fellowship Technologies

(tags: church software cms Management christian Ministry)

gethuman - advocacy for high quality customer service for consumers

Our goal is to improve the quality of customer service and phone support in the US. This free website is run by volunteers and is powered by over one million consumers who demand high quality phone support from the companies that they use.

(tags: phone reference customerservice)

Fire Ready - Wildfire Resistant Landscaping Across the West

a friend of mine ran a francise of this company for a while.

(tags: friend)

Free Sound Effects: Destruction, Demolition, Crash, Impact

(tags: audio Free clips fx)

Furman Sound, LLC.

(tags: audio hardware power av)

Granger Community Church

(tags: church design website)

:::::INO/M2.0 Records Media Pages::::::

(tags: work photos publicity)

interactivetools.com - Web Content Management Software Systems

We make easy to use, private label software for updating and enhancing websites. Whether you resell our software to your clients, or use it on your own website, our products will save you time, save you money, and give you a competitive edge.

(tags: cms software website work)

Download fonts from classic to cool - Linotype.com

The source of the Originals

(tags: fonts typography design)

Master Track Productions

Welcome to Master Track, your source for corporate video production, CD replication, DVD replication, small-run CD duplication and DVD duplication. Master Track can also handle your media packaging from graphic design, to adding bar codes, to final shri

(tags: shopping av tape duplication)

Mounts and More - Free Shipping on TV Mounts, Plasma Mounts, LCD Mounts and Mount Accessories

We pride ourselves on having the largest AV Mounts selection available. We only carry top
manufacturers and sell to you at a great discount!

(tags: shopping lcd electronics screens mounts)

One Way Out Fonts â€¢ Extraordinary Typefaces

(tags: Typography Fonts design)

http://www.onscreenimpact.com/

creative content for ministry

(tags: clips video work church stockfootage stockimages)

PhotoMission Inc - A Worldwide Community of Christian Photographers

(tags: photography photos church christian)

Powerstrut Unistrut Gripstrut Floor Grating Beams Channels Claps Grating

The Power-Strut metal framing system can be regarded as a basic building material. Our metal framing system is an erector set concept,using channel and fittings to solve many mechanical applications,including HVAC,plumbing and fire protection. Versatile m

(tags: electrical rigging shopping work)

Projector People

We buy direct from the manufacturers and stock more projectors than any other online reseller. You get pricing advantages and fast delivery of your order. Best of all, we back your projector purchase with the most knowledgeable support, and secure, relia

(tags: Projectors av screens mounts)

rackmountmart.com Synergy Global

We provide quality Rackmount Chassis, Rackmount LCD Monitor Keyboard Drawer & KVM Keyboard Drawer, Disk Array, Barebone Server, Server Rack, Mobile Rack, Raid Backplane, Single Board Computer, Raid Tower, Server Case, PC Case, Power Supply and Chassis

(tags: av rack equipment work)

RoboForm: Password Manager, Form Filler, Password Generator, Fill & Save Forms

Roboform is the top-rated Password Manager and Web Form Filler that completely automates password entering and form filling.

(tags: software security password)

Welcome to SECOA providing stage rigging to the performing arts industry

SECOA is a manufacturer and installer of a full line of Stage Rigging Equipment, Orchestra Shells, and Portable Staging Products.

(tags: rigging stage lighting)

Scheduling Software, Calendar Software, Ticket Sales Software

(tags: software calendar)

CCLI | encouraging the spirit of worship

serving the church by providing legal, affordable solutions to the copyright issues surrounding congregational worship services.

(tags: christian subscription license church)

SpamAssassin

The Powerful #1 Open-Source Spam Filter

(tags: spam opensource software security email)

StrengthsFinder Now, Discover Your Strengths Web site

(tags: personality psychology Gallup strengths)

The Tape Company

providers of blank media

(tags: shopping duplication dvd cd tape batteries)

Videx - Access Control and Data Collection

Videx manufactures access control products and data collection terminals.

(tags: locks security facility)

Whirlwind / US Audio Products

(tags: audio av cables manufacturer)

Windows XP Setup and Maintenance Tips

(tags: windows computer)

X1 Desktop Search Engine

secure desktop search for business

(tags: search DesktopSearch Software)

Adobe InDesign Tips and Techniques, Best Resources, Tutorials, Tips for Learning Adobe InDesign CS and InDesign CS2

(tags: design software tutorial)

Category 5 / 5E & Cat 6 Cabling Tutorial and FAQ's - the best source for information on Cat 5 / 5e / 6 cable!

(tags: networking cabling cables)

Joomla | Flash Tutorial Center

(tags: Joomla cms howto tutorial)

Komododigital

The Windows NT platform gives IT Professionals excellent remote administration flexibility. While many competitors rely exclusively on software agents requiring time-consuming deployment, NEWT Professional uses sophisticated on-demand gathering techniques

(tags: software networking tools windows)

Network inventory software

(tags: networking inventory windows)

EMCO Network Inventory 4.5

EMCO Network Inventory 4.5 is a new version of Network Inventory 3.0 with lots of new features. EMCO Network Inventory 4.5 is a powerful tool for hardware and software inventory and audits on networks.

(tags: networking inventory Software)

DRUDGE REPORT 2006Â®

(tags: conservative politics Daily News)

First Federated leadership meets with Mike Rose

2006-07-15T09:34:00.000-05:00

This morning the church leadership of First Federated Church met with Mike Rose, a possible candiate for the vacate position of Senior Pastor. For three hours Mike fielded questions on many topics that the church leadership had to ask him. Mike was not alone in answering questions since his wife answered a few as well.

Tomorrow, Mike will be bringing a special message to the church in the morning worship service. People will also get the opportunity to meet him and his wife following the service.

It was just last week that our church said good-bye to our former Senior Pastor Roger Poupart. Good-byes are particularily tough for me and this occassion was no different.

The next person to become the Senior Pastor of First Federated Church will be the fourth pastor to serve at the church since I first started attending with my family in 1979/80. I knew each of the former pastors pretty well during their years of ministry at the church. They each brought unique and different attributes to the position. In the process of seeking a new leader it is extremely difficult not to reflect upon those years in formulating an opinion on a prefered future.

I was asked today, and I'm sure to be asked several times in the coming week what I think about Mike Rose becoming the Senior Pastor of First Federated Church. At this time, I honestly don't have a strong leading in any particular direction. I'm not even sure what additional questions Mike could even answer for me to come to any specific kind of conclusion. Thankfully, the decision is not mine to make. It would be nice to think my opinion in the matter would make a significant difference in the process; however, I'm more inclined to sit on the fence unless God calls me to specific action. Don't take this to mean I don't care; however, in this particular case I don't have enough information to make or discern what my position should be.

In the end, I know God can to do great things when we look to Him for guidance. After all, the church is not about who the Senior Pastor happens to be; it is made up of those individuals God has joined together in community. So far, I think Mike would fit into our church pretty well; I will have to work along side of him for a while to know how well that fit will actually be.

The American Flag

2006-07-12T18:10:00.000-05:00

I don't have all the answers to this question, but I do know it is a tough one. Does the American flag have a place in the Sanctuary of a church?

This is a question the staff at our church considered for several minutes today. Opinions were shared. Our thoughts considered. Further contemplation definitely required.

In seminary one of my professors definitely had the opinion that the symbols given any space in a worship service must be carefully considered. He didn't believe flags were appropriate.

I'm not sure where I really land on the topic myself. Yes, there is a big part of me that thinks the flag should be seen in the church. Just about every church I've regularily attended had one on stage. I've also visited other churches where no flag could be seen anywhere.

One of the concluding remarks today at our meeting was to be careful not to make this an issue more than it needed to be. When we gather together on Sundays to worship we don't come to look at the flag but to cast our eyes upon the Lord. It is sortta one of those don't lose sight of the forest by getting to close to the tree kind of thing.

I suppose if my passions are enflamed over this issue it probably has more to do with the church buying into the lie that the church and state should remain separate than whether or not the American flag needs to be visible in the Sanctuary of our church.

Last Sunday in our Connections ABF we were studing the relationship between our God and our country. As you really look into the founding of America you'll see such a strong God honoring and Biblical foundation that America was built upon. While this cross in California can be taken down from public land... it makes you wonder when the other extremely overtly Christian symbols embeded in the walls and monuments will be covered up.

Americans from my generation for the most part have no clue what they've got by living in America. More people from my generation have been killed in the womb than killed in one conflict or another America has been apart of. In fact, I know a whole lot more babies have never seen the light of day than have been killed or wounded since 9/11 by surving in the military. If you look at the numbers... your chances of being wounded or killed in Iraq are far less then simply living in America. The biggest difference is in how. Some ununiformed terrorist oversees vs. some drunk American driving under the influence.

I don't know why I've always had this interest in the military. I've seen a lot of the war movies made from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and other types of wars. I've read a lot of books that talk about the military both fictional and non-fictional. I suppose this exposure to this genre has given me a greater appreciation for our country and the American flag. Just remember that seen in "The Patriot" where Mel Gibson picks the flag up from a fallen soldier to rally his fellow men to go back into battle. His character in the movie did a lot to avoid entering the fight... but once he did those reasons were for more than selfish ambition.

A lot of blood has been shed in history in wars for one reason or another. The world hasn't known peace for a very long time. In the garden between Adam and Eve (before the fruit), possibly for a few months and years while God flooded the earth and Noah's family repopulated it. Yet, death and destruction always follow people around.

History doesn't have that many examples of countries established on the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Rights given by God... not by the government or the people. America is unique.

I don't know if my generation will ever understand how blessed we are by the sacrifices of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. I hope my children will understand. I hope I never forget.

I tell most people that the only way to truly know how blessed they are to live in America is to spend some time outside our borders. Go visit the places where 80% of the world lives in poverty. I spent more money on lunch today than most of the world will earn in a month.

God has truly blessed this nation. I think we can honor the Lord by respecting the American flag. A day may come when the American flag will no longer bring any honor to the Lord, but I don't think I'll be among the living when that happens.

My Wife

2006-07-11T20:20:00.000-05:00

My wife wrote a really nice blog for our wedding anniversary this year. I think she was trying to embarrase me a little with a few of the things she was saying.

After seven years of marriage I can hardly believe all that has happened between us. It really doesn't seem that long ago that we first started making "eyes" towards one another. We still do. Sometimes the eyes speak nicely; other times they say something entirely different.

Jayne is a pretty special lady. It really does go without saying that I don't deserve her. But, I think it is pretty cool that we have each other.

She does a lot to make my life easier. Big things. Little things. Things I don't see or recognize.

She also is willing to undergo the stresses of change. Big change. Little change. Changes both known and unknown.

Life doesn't really stand still long enough to completely get a handle on everything. Change is constant, but I think those changes are made easier when you have someone equally committed to you as you are them. While I can not say our heart, mind, soul, and spirit are always aligned with that, I know in my heart our vows to one another remain true.

Living with me isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to do. I should know. I'm with myself all the time. I know I've driving people crazy before by the things I do and say... and the things I don't do or say. It is nice to know someone loves me anyway.

Before marrying Jayne I wasted a lot of time and energy on things that now seem petty and shortsighted. I wondered if my life was meant to be shared with someone or if being single was something destined for my life. After seven years of marriage I'm really starting to understand how much marriage means to me.

Being married isn't always the easiest thing in the world; however, I know from experience that being single isn't always easy either. I much prefer being married.

Life is also a lot different now with two sons. How in the world I'd live without them now seems impossible. They both have the same parents but they are so obviously two unique and precious individuals. Jayne mentioned how they both seem to really long to connect with me lately whenever I'm around. Their devotion to me and mom just seems impossible for me to comprehend. They just love us.

I really have no idea what the future holds for our family. My trust in the Lord gives me the comfort to know He is watching over us. God has proven Himself faithful in the past for me; I know He is worthy of my continued faith in His provision and care.

Today I was talking with Joe Lightfoot about how similar the world and church appear to be to one another. Christians who have put their faith and trust in God should have marriages and relationships significantly different from those who don't. The tragedy is how caught up in the world many of us Christians end up being. I'm not proposing we should lock ourselves up and isolate ourselves from the world... I think having Jesus in your heart should make a significant difference in who you are.

I'll be the first to admit that I continually fall short of the example of Jesus when showing love to my wife. It is many times easier to express my love to her in ways that don't always connect with her in a language she understands. Fortunately, she continues to grow in her understanding and knowledge of me. It is one thing to know and understand how God loves me this way... another to know and understand this from parents... but from someone who isn't related by blood is something different all together.

Jayne didn't need to say "I do" seven years ago and neither did I. However, seven years ago we did say those words to each other before our friends, family, and God. I know a lot of special years have passed us by since that day; however, something deep within tells me we have a lot more special years to look forward to.

Seven years of marriage to John Christopher Stark

2006-07-10T06:30:00.000-05:00

Well, John has wanted me to blog for a few day now. I said that my first one would be on our 7th Anniversary and that it would be sappy. This moring when I got up a card was waiting for me with 7 Take 5 candy bars. They are my favorite right now! (if you have not had one yet, they are awesome!!!) I must say that I was impressed that I got my card right away in the moring because I get them most of the time at 11pm at night. He thought of me before hand and that means a lot to me!

Where do I begin: As your card said, you love the things and life that we have made together. I must agree! I love the times when you talk to me about our future and what you see for us and the boys. To know that you care and want the best for us means more to me than I can put into words. The now three home we have worked on and built together have each been special in their own way. The first one you carried me into. The second one we carried two little boys home to. And the third everything had to be carried twice just to get us here. What memories. Some of the few I remember are: After our wedding you told me that you loved me and were proud of me. It was hard for you to share me with everyone, but you loved the day. Getting to see and talk to all those people who had come just for the two of us was pretty incredible. When Ean came into the world one the first things you said as they were trying to get him to cry was "hello son, I am your father". You kept on saying it! I had to tell you to stop! Those sweet words made me cry and still do today. When Evan came, our surprise and very fast delivery, the doctor said "it's a boy" and you said "all right, another son!" To hear that you were just as excited with the second as the first made me feel safe and comforted. I did not know if I could be a mother to two so soon, but with you helping hands I knew I would be ok. Speaking about your helping hands, that is one of the things that I appreciate about you most. You help with the kitchen and house duties when you can tell I am tired. You play with the boys when I need a break. Thank you for serving us and working for us so that we can have a home to feel safe in each day.

I also love the way that our boys have come to want to be and play with you more than me right now. It gives me so much joy to see them run to you when you come home or reach for you when they need a hug. The love and trust they have in you is so special. I can't wait to watch it grow over the next several years! I am going to have to move on now. I can't see the computor screen very well any more. The tears are running freely now!
I love you, honey. I can't wait to see what the next 7 years and more bring to our lives.

Your wife, Jayne

I want Jayne to blog with her account.

2006-07-06T17:56:00.000-05:00

Someday Jayne might write a few things on our website. I hope she will. I think it is pretty cool.

Urbandale Fireworks with the Family

2006-07-06T17:34:00.000-05:00

This fourth of July we once again headed towards the Longstreets' place. I'm not sure how many years we've been going there on the fourth but I think it has been close to 15 years now.

For the first 8-10 years I was a single white male... then I went a few years as a married guy... and now I'm going with two boys! This year it seemed like once of the things to do was to keep an eye on the boys.

This year, like last, we watched the fireworks from my parents house now on Meredith. This year Urbandale shot the fireworks off at the middle school instead of the high school. It didn't make much difference since my parents kindda live between the two schools.

Ean spent most of the time inside because he didn't like the booms. Evan spent most of his time on my dad's lap having a great ol time.

Before the fireworks I also found myself helping my mom with a project on the computer she needed help with. She was pretty happy for the help. It helped pass the time away while waiting for the fireworks to start... which was at 10pm this year.

The most depressing part of the whole day was at the end when I realized that in the morning work needed to be done at the church. While going to work wasn't a bad thing, I did find myself needing just one more day to recup from all the activity of the holiday weekend.

One more thing... this was the first time I've ever taking photos of actual fireworks before. I experimented with the shutter speed a lot. A few of the photos turned out okay; however, I definately need to do some learning on how the pros do it. With a digital camera it was good being able to see the immediate results of the photos I took... with my film camera it would have taken days to get the same kind of feedback.

If you haven't signed up to check out ALL our photos on Flickr I'd highly recommend that you do so. We love it, and I think you would too. Click on any of the photos on this blog to check it out.

Ean loves to see Carter

2006-07-05T16:41:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday the family spent the evening at the Clarks. Ean had a really fun time playing with Carter.
It is pretty neat seeing him getting to know other boys his age and observing how they interact.

If you look closely at this photo you'll see the new haircut Ean's grandma gave him a few nights before. She used clippers for the first time with Ean's hair and it came out pretty good. I heard Jayne saying later that night that after the haircut Ean really looked like his dad. It probably had a lot to do with them giving him a similar haircut to mine.

Ean is definitely growing up. When you are growing up with him it is hard to see the changes without taking some time to reflect, ponder, and consider the progress he has made. Just tonight I was amazed at his increased vocabulary and quickness to learn new words.

Pretty cool!

Evan makes his father proud

2006-07-05T07:04:00.000-05:00

Evan is now about 14.5 months old now. He is just about to the point of walking on his two feet instead of crawing to go from point to point. He is saying new words that weâ€™ve never heard him say before. He loves any attention you give him.
In the last week, Jayne and I have noticed that Evan now wants me whenever Iâ€™m around. He wants me to hold him.

This morning Jayne set him down on our bed and as I was walking around the room about to leave he wanted me to pick him up instead of mom. It was kindda funny. A week ago he wouldnâ€™t have cared who picked him up as long as he was by someone.

Evan definitely needs physical touch on a regular basis. Ean likes hugs and kisses before going to bed, but he doesnâ€™t crave physical touch like Evan does. Our boys are really different in this particular area.

The other funny thing weâ€™ve noticed lately is how Evan always wants to do what Ean does. If Ean is eating something, then Evan wants some too. (It would be nice if Ean would be the same way! He might eat more kinds of foods.)

It still amazes me that I have two boys. Three years ago I didnâ€™t have any children. Raising two boys can be a lot of work. It is a huge responsibility along with being a great character builder.

Moved everything to WordPress

2006-07-03T19:24:00.000-05:00

Today after some consideration over the weekend I rebuilt my personal website with Word Press blog software. Up until today I was using Joomla, a CMS (Content Management System). Why the switch?

The simple reason was for simplicity.

I spent several months working with Joomla in order to learn more about CMS. It is a great way to manage a site with lots of content and different users. While I hope to have lots of content on my site, I won't be having a lot of users providing content. I also was working with Joomla for work.

I work at a church that has a static website design. We manually create and update each page with content. There is a very limited number of people able to update the content. In fact, up until a few months ago I never knew how to update anything myself. I felt very handicapped.

In addition, I've been dreaming about moving the church to a CMS type of site. In order to maintain a dynamic site we really need to enable the end users to submit and maintain content along with editorial controls. These kinds of systems can become pretty complex to set-up; however, they are realitively easy to maintain. This weekend I felt my time learning Joomla had reached an end.

Before moving things to Word Press I did look briefly into drupal, another CMS. I didn't even try to load it on my current webhost. Unlike Joomla, drupal didn't have anyone making tutorials showing me how to install drupal on my webhost's server. I probably could have figured out how to install it, but I also ran across some comments that indicated I would probably run into problems down the road with my account. So, I moved on.

My webhost (ipowerweb.com) has an automatic script that installed Word Press automatically for me on my site. It didn't take long at all. In fact, it was so fast you almost wonder if it is too good to be true.

In addition to moving from Joomla to WordPress I gathered all my blog posts from other sites and put them here. As I write I realized I have a few more blog entries to gather from a few other sites. I know quite a few people in high school and college who do a lot with social networking sites. I set myself up on several different sites to see what they were like and to see how many people I know might be using them. After several weeks learning about those different sites, I learned some interesting things.

No social networking site has a corner on the market. Some may be big; however, it doesn't matter if most of your friends who you really want to keep connected with don't use the site.

Most social networks don't allow you to easily exchange blog postings from each other. Wouldn't it just be great if you could blog one entry and post on several different sites? Well, there definitely would be some issues with centralizing all the comments people might make, but all your friends could be kept in the loop better.

For the next few weeks I'm going to run my own blog for a while. I'm going to use it to centralize all the blog entries I write along with links to all the other people I occassionally like to keep tabs on. If others want to post entries on my blog that will be just fine; however, I'm primarily doing it for my own edification. Like I've seen written before... once you try all the blog services available on the internet you eventually will want a blog you can fully control. It will be a little more work to maintain; however, having a central point from which to manage my connections to the rest of the world will be very handy.

Ean gets a tricycle

2006-06-28T15:20:00.000-05:00

Yep, dad though the ol son needed to get behind the wheel. A friend of ours gave us a really small bike but Ean just couldn't figure it out. So, I thought maybe something a little closer to the ground would help.

He actually was able to steer and make himself go a little the night we got it. I haven't had a chance to work with him since.

He's at that age where you either want to put him in his room for a little disciple or shake your head in amazement at how much he is learning.

Dad is starting to wonder he can start teaching him some phonics. The world will only open up the day he starts to read. I sure wish I started reading a lot earlier in life.

Oh well... just one life to live before heaven.

Upgraded Joomla and Removed Community Builder

2006-06-21T14:02:00.000-05:00

I upgraded Joomla tonight. Other than following the instructions I think everything is working okay.

I also uninstalled Community Builder. It just isn't a feature I'm going to be utilzing at all for a while. Instead, I just need to focus on getting some content that anyone can see up and running.

I've had a lot of fun working with Flickr, so I might see if I can get johncstark.com to automatically show the photo feed from our Flickr account.

This site really is a learning experience for me. I don't anticipate anyone looking at it very often. There is hardly anything here.

See our photos on Flickr.com

2006-06-20T13:59:00.000-05:00

This weekend we started using Flickr to make our photos available online for our friends and family. Yes, it may be a pain for some because they have to set-up their own account to view the photos. However, long-term, Flickr will be a lot easier for us to manage. In addition, they'll store all my photos forever at a pretty reasonable price. Most online back-up services cost a whole lot more than Flickr.

It will take several months to eventually upload all the photos we currently have on our harddrive at home. We have over 12,000 photos cataloged in Adobe Elements.

We've been using Adobe Elements for organizing our photos since it is pretty easy to use. Plus, the standard editor is pretty great when I get around to need to adjust and modify the photos. We tried Google's gallary for about a month (it is free) but Jayne just couldn't get used to it.

The great thing about Flickr and Adobe Elements is how easy it is for us to organize our photos. We import, tag, and organize the photos in Adobe Elements. Once all that is done I export all the files to a new folder on the harddrive which I eventually upload to Flickr. It would be seriously wonderful if Adobe and Flickr would work together on linking up.
This weekend John started organizing the photos at home. He actually deleted photos and further organized the photos. In the future, we'll endeavor to do more of this filtering as we download the photos.

We lost a lot of our tagging information when we tried Google's Picassa so we have a lot of tagging to do. We have tags set-up for each individual member of our immediate families. Right now we just group all the extended families by either Stark Extended Family or Leinen Extended Family. We also just group all our friends together as another tag as well. If someone not apart of our family gets in more than 50 photos we'll probably give them a unique tag as well (probably for anyone with that last name).

For all the friends and family members who got that invitation to join Flickr to see our photos John apologizes for the email Flickr sent you. He just found out that it automatically creates an account for you. In the future we'll just send out a personal email with information on how to view our photos. You'll still need to sign-up to see our private photos, but I think it is a small price to pay.

As we continue to organize the photos before uploading them to Flickr we'll do our best to either tag or include the names of people in the photos so they can be found easier. We'll keep these photos private to just our friends and family members. John figures many of you would like to see photos of yourself. He'd like to make that easy for you.

Get in touch with John if you have any questions about Flickr.

A day of rest | Re-reading a book

2006-06-17T15:13:00.000-05:00

I had a great day resting. I avoided anything remotely connected with work... it has been nice.

I began re-reading "Conquistador" by SM Stirling again. There is something about that alternative history and relationship to current times that interests me. In addition, this particular book has some interesting insights into privacy issues I think are going to be true sooner than anyone thinks.

The family went swimming this morning... my mom sold most of the items we gave her for the garage sale she had today. Getting rid of the stuff that doesn't fit in our home feels kindda good. The garage now has more room for the cars!

I got a busy day at work tomorrow.

Checking out the xanga thing...

2006-06-15T18:59:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine has a Xanga account, so I thought I'd sign up and check it out myself.

In the last month I've been looking into a lot of the social networking sites to decide where I should hang my hat. Not a whole lot of people I know are into the social network thing at this point in their lives.

Someday I'll land myself into one zone... if you check-out my website you'll find the links to the current spots you can find me.

At this point in my life I'm just trying to hook up and stay in touch with old friends. Technology has made this a whole more feasible since snail mail.

A day with the family

2006-06-12T14:15:00.000-05:00

Today I spent the entire day with the family. Actually, I did sleep in a while...

We took my oldest son to "Cars" today. It was his first experience in a movie theatre. He did pretty good. It was occassionally too loud for him and a couple times he had to be held by his mom or dad. In time I think he'll come to like the movie a lot more than me.

We also went to a park tonight. It is kindda weird having a kid doing things I remember doing growing up. How time flies.

Tomorrow night we are going to the Glen Beck show at the Civic Center. I have no idea what the show will be like. His radio show is funny so I anticipate him giving a few laughs. We shall see.

At work I'm going to try and tackle a few projects I've been waiting to do for several months. At this point I think the project will end up being hard to start than to finish.

One Busy Day at Work

2006-06-07T17:02:00.000-05:00

After a twelve hour day I'm sitting here wondering where the day went. Wednesdays are typically busy; however, today was kindda weird. I was able to spend a few minutes with the family. They stopped by for a Summer Family Fun night we had at church tonight. Even though the boys are a bit too young to enjoy outdoor games, they had fun being outside.

I worked on expanding the church drawing in the CAD today. We needed to create a map for an upcoming activity that is happening outside. So, I took the ol blueprints and started to add sidewalks, parking lots, and streets to the drawing we've been updating over the years. The nice thing about drawing in a CAD program is the flexibility in keeping it up-to-date and drawing it life sized.

This weekend I'll be providing some media support for a home school conference. The work will keep me busy, but it won't be overly difficult. I'm mainly there in case something happens to keep things running smoothly.

In the coming week I've also got get some proposals put together to implement some new software modules we use. I'm not used to journaling much anymore, so I better quit before I fall alseep.

Checking out the LiveJournal

2006-06-05T17:45:00.000-05:00

I was updating my LibraryThing tonight with a new book and ran across a link to this site. I'm kindda into the journaling thing; however, I haven't done much of it intentionall for quite a while.

The one thing I like so far about this site is the ability to enter both private and public entries.

I explored setting up my own blog on my personal website; however, I wasn't that crazy about installing the software, learning how to use it, and keeping it updated and working all the time. It would also be limited to just me.

If LiveJournal is anything like the LibraryThing I will like it. Using tags is pretty neat for organizing things...
Anyway, I'm not sure if I know anyone else whose using LiveJournal. If it turns out I like using this service I'll recommend it to some of my friends. It isn't quite like a MySpace account... or another kind of blogging site.
We'll have to see how it goes.

My Gallery

2006-06-04T14:00:00.000-05:00

For several months I've thought about adding a gallery to johncstark.com. On several different occasions I looked at the extensions on Joomla for integrating a gallery into my Joomla CMS.

I tried installing a couple different galleries; however, I ended upÂ choosing Gallery2. There is a bridge that integrates Gallery2 with Joomla which simiplifies some of the administration of the site. Installing Gallery2 wasn't extremely easy; however, I've been learning a lot in the process of working on johncstark.com which helped.

Right now the gallery is up and running but I've made it available only to those with a valid user name and password. I still have a lot of things to learn about incorporating a gallery into my CMS website. I also need to do some work on learning how to modify CMS templates.

See John on MySpace

2006-06-02T14:01:00.000-05:00

This week John signed up for a MySpace account. Quite a few million people have got a spot of MySpace, so John thought he'd join the crowd. He already has a few friends and wouldn't mind finding a few more.

Check his page out atÂ Â myspace.com/johncstarkÂ

ACS Technologies Conference in Orlando, Florida

2006-06-01T07:08:00.000-05:00

I've been in Orlando Florida this week at a conference. I've been attending about six, hour and a half, classes each day. I'm learning a lot, but I'm getting really tired! [so why in the world am I up so late writing in this blog?!!]

ACS is the software my church uses to manage information about our congregation and bookkeeping stuff. They also have other products I've been learning about this week that might be a benefit for us to start using in the future. The system has a lot of different modules and features to help churches manage information. The biggest challange most users of the software face is integrating the whole system as a church.

While in town, I've had dinner with Derrick a couple times. He has been living in Florida now for 5 years after moving from Des Moines. It has been great having the chance to hang out with him. [He's also saved me a bunch of money by picking me up from the airport and driving me around town.]

Oh yea, I forgot. I stayed my first two nights in Orlando at the Disney Dolphin Resort. Dolphin was entirely booked for my last night in Orlando so right now I'm at another Disney resort (Port Orleans Riverside). Yeah, I took the boat ride to downtown Disney today/yesterday. It was busy. I'm not much into buying stuff but if you are... downtown Disney is the place for you to visit with a huge pocket of money.

I saw Mickey Mouse on Tuesday morning at the Dolphin resort. I was sitting at my table in the convention room and Mickey walked by and patted me on the shoulders. He wasn't very talkative, but I know he was very glad to meet me. :) I didn't have a camera with me so I don't have any photos to remember the occasion.

Well, I've got a class to attend in about 5 hours so I better go. I got a long day ahead of me. Hopefully, I don't miss my flight back to Des Moines tonight and get back safely. It would be terrible to be stuck in Florida for another day or two.

MySpace

2006-05-28T18:53:00.000-05:00

Well, I heard on the news last week that quite a few million people have a place on MySpace.com. I'm adding myself to that number.

I'm not exactly sure how active I'll be on MySpace. It will greatly depend on how many of my friends will use the site. (And how many of my friends will accept my friend requests). (I know Derek loves his MySpace.)

If you are an old aquantance checking out my profile it would be nice to hear from you. If you are an old friend I spent any time with in my ever expanding past then I'd REALLY like you to touch base.

It truly is a small world after all.

Evan turns one

2006-04-18T18:03:00.000-05:00

Jayne did a lot of work preparing for Evan's first birthday. She sent out invitations, got a cake and some balloons, and wrapped quite a few presents. She even worked with both Ean and Evan on blowing out candles in the weeks prior to Evan's party.
The evening was a lot of fun and I took a huge amount of photos of the event. Evan had a good time, but I think Ean couldn't contain his enthusiasm. Watching Evan eat his cake was pretty funny too. Mom let him get really messy.

Joomla

2006-04-09T17:01:00.000-05:00

Doug Applebee, an old friend of mine, pointed me toward Joomla the other night as a possible content management system to look at for work. Well, I decided to give it a try at home. To my complete and utter amazement I was able to download and install Joomla without any problems.

Ive been searching for a template to use. For now Im just looking for freebee options; however, if I end up sticking with Joomla for a while I might look into customizing something.

In addition to loading Joomla, Ive installed the wordpress blog compentent. Im still pretty new to the blog thing so it will take some time for me to get used to how things work. There are several blogs Ive come across in the last few months Id like to link to.

I'm not exactly sure what the ultimate purpose of our family website will be. The biggest reason we obtained the domain was for getting a static email address. We can switch internet providers and still keep the same email address. In addition, Im also able to create unique email addresses for a lot of the business we deal with at home. (Companies beware, I know whose giving my email address away.)

Another reason for working on a personal website is to learn. Ive done a lot of work over the years learning how to work with video, print, and visual graphics; however, working with the web is still new to me. Designing for the web is a little more difficult for me to get my thoughts around. There is a learning curve involved and Im working my up the mountain. I dont think Ill ever have an interest in mastering the underlaying programming behind the creation of webpages; however, I do want to learn enough to understand the broad ideas of how things work.

Goodbye Scott and Jane!

2006-04-09T14:02:00.000-05:00

Tonight our F.E.D. Group, a small group of First Federated Church, celebrated the friendship and love we have for Scott and Jane Larsen. Scott is now the director of Twin Lakes Christian Center. The entire family will move to Twin Lakes in the near future. We will miss them. Our camp themed get together included snacks, music, and elements typically found in a camp environment. Many thanks to the Sheltons who hosted our get together.

A Day of Dialogue

2006-01-12T16:02:00.000-06:00

Today I participated in an all-day staff retreat to go over the upcoming ministry calendar and the next budget for 2006/2007. It was a long day. How well it was spent will be determined by the outcomes of our planning.

Throughout the day the most significant moments for me were those in which the dialogue moved beyond the details of event planning to those unlying priniciples which guide our decisions. Ive increasingly found myself dissatisified with anything not done with intention. If you are going to do something, then really do it. If you dont have the capacity to do something with significance, then focus your efforts on those things which you can.

As the media director at my church, Im continually presented with information in which to communicate to the masses. It is amazing how much of my communication theory background and formal education keeps coming back to my awareness. The entire communication process from them sender to the reciever is truly an amazing thing. Today, the act of communication has only been complicated in the last decade by the increasing number of channels in which one can use to communicate a message.

Several months ago I gave the staff a quick and broad picture of the various channels of communication available to transmit a message to others. Youve got print, video, television, email, websites, flyers, posters, billboards, direct-mail, press releases, t-shirts, buttons, pens, etc., (add others that come to your mind), and the king of them all word of mouth. Im not sure Ive ever seen any organization able to afford to transmit a message through every possible channel. Would it even be possible? In a non-profit organization I believe our best and most effective channel of communication is through the network of individuals which makes up our organization. The challange is to get that network of people to communicate the message you want transmitted to those who need to hear.

One strategy Ive encourage the staff to use is to intentionally communicate one message, through multiple channels, in a short duration of time. If we can communicate a message 3-5 different ways on a Sunday morning, then I believe that message will have a greater chance of successful transmission. Relying on only one avenue of communication is always a recipe for disappointment.

I do have all sort of ideas related to this issue, but I think those can be left for another day. Ive done quite a bit of thinking today already.

My First Blog

2006-01-11T16:04:00.000-06:00

Just loaded by first piece of blog software onto my website last night. So far things seem to be working.

The last several months Ive been thinking about how to add information to our website to keep our friends and family in the loop. Weve got two young boys who are growing like crazy. I think it would be neat to share some of that.

I did a little searching for WordPress plugins last night. Being able to easily add photos to my blog would be pretty neat. I may experiment with adding gallary to my website but the blog may be easier for me to implement at first.

I probably should start thinking about what catagories to use in my blog. There will be stuff from home to talk about, probably work related items, and I might even venture into a little politics. Im sortta a talk radio junkie. I dont listen to it at work, but whenever Im in the car that is typically what Im listening to.

For several years I used to journal quite a bit so my blog may end up being my place to keep all my thoughts together in one place. I may have to censor some of the ideas between the ears, but Im fairly honest. I dont keep that many secrets nor do I try to keep a tight lid on whats going on in my heart. My wife would probably like me to verbalize it a bit more. But that is for another day.

Im pretty new to this blog thing. So if you have any comments or suggestions Im wide open. It might be nice to know someone out there is checking in on me from time to time.

For a while I am sure blog of mine will be my little corner in the world few if any will know about.