My name is James Hogan, I'm a software engineer from Long Branch New Jersey and I've never run for, or held, a public office before, so I decided to start high and run for US Congress ( http://www.hoganforcongress.com/ ) against a 20 year politician here in New Jersey.
What you posted is what, no exaggeration, 75% of the people I've talked to have said. Each year, they find themselves more and more distanced from politics and, like myself, reference "them" and "us". It's interesting though because these people claim to want a change in government and they claim to not want politicians ruining the county. I'm only 27 and I certainly don't look "congressional", and I probably don't stand a chance of winning either because I'm knocking on people's doors asking for their vote and I've noticed two things:
1) A LOT of people want something in the mail. What the heck??? I'm the guy! I'm the one running for office and I'm at YOUR DOOR. Let's talk! I can't afford to send you something in the mail, that's why I'm AT YOUR DOOR. And still these people don't get it - "I'm sorry, I'll wait for something in the mail".. and I give them an "ok, thanks" and move on. Sad.
2) A LOT of people have told me "No thanks, I'm a democrat" or "I'll vote for you, I'm a republican" - how about the issues? Don't vote for me because I'll be in the R column, vote for me because you know who I am and what I stand for. Don't vote for Pallone (again) because he's a D, vote for him because he stands for an issue you care about and you know his background. I'd rather someone not vote for me because they find my position(s) to be opposite their own instead of not voting for me because I'm in the R column. If I don't win the primary, or if I don't win the general election - and to be honest - maybe even if I do - I'll be switching back to "unaffiliated". The founding fathers, including Ben Franklin, spoke against political parties - the party system is broken. I owe no "political debt" to any party - I've gotten myself on the ballot through my own time and money - if I lose the primary in June - it will be because another career politician who has paid into the party, has taken the party's money to get elected and now he owes "political debt" - he'll get the call "hey remember that time we raised $s for you... yeah.... can you do this for us?" and so the system continues. But again, explain that to someone and they look at you funny.
I don't know you personally, I'm hoping that if you are indeed losing your faith in politics that you are at least taking the time to research all of the people on the ballot - I bet I'm not the only average working guy who is trying to make a difference and represent average working class people. Some of those working people might be Rs and some might be Ds, but don't just vote for an R or a D, find out who they are and where they stand. I'll be honest, if the D party wants to find this post and publish it as a smear against me so be it - BUT I don't even know what a congressman does! It shouldn't be a problem, the founding fathers didn't intend to have career politicians running this country - they themselves were self educated farmers and laborers - they themselves had to figure it out as they went along - they expected farmers, blacksmiths, bankers, ship builders, lumberjacks, etc to be the representatives - and yet I've had people ask me how being a software engineer qualifies for congress, my response is always the same "because a large percentage of people in this district are IT workers or otherwise work in a cube from 9 to 5, and I know what it's like to work in a cubicle for a boss just like most other people do, it's hard to be any more representative of the people than me".
Anyhow, my point is just that if you find yourself losing faith in politics, just be sure that when some random guy comes knocking on your door asking for your vote, give him (or her) a minute - don't just assume the guy with the clipboard in a suit is trying to sell you something or convert your
As a blatant self-promotion post...
I'm a computer science graduate of Rutger's University and I'm running for a seat in the House of Representatives in NJ's 6th Congressional District. I'm not a politician and have never run for a public office before. I'm a software engineer currently working in the shipping industry writing VB code (I also write in perl, php and used to do some C++ programming for Intel/Dialogic based computer telephony systems but it's been many years) for a desktop application that manages containers and shipping routes. I'm 27 years old so I hope that if I could win an election, I'll not only bring a younger perspective to the House, but a more tech savvy perspective as well, in addition to the perspective of a working Joe rather than the perspective of another career politician.
My website isn't yet complete but there is some information available at:
http://www.hoganforcongress.com/
Be gentle, I don't have a ton of bandwidth or a very powerful server. Thanks.
I wouldn't agree that wikipedia is worthless. Go back just a short 10 years ago, maybe even just 5 for that matter, and the "easy" way to get information about some topic was to ask your drunk uncle, or some other old fart at the family picnic. Want to know about WWII the easy way? Ask grandma/pa, want to know about Vietnam or JFK, ask mom and dad, or your uncle. Sure, you could have gone to a library, searched for some books that are hundreds of pages long, mostly filler, to get the 5 sentences of information you're looking for or you could have flipped open your dated set of encyclopedias and read what the "historians" said, which lacks the quick and easy references to related topics and in book form means that you still need to go the library to lookup the references and get any real details.
In other words, I like to consider wikipedia my non-kid touching, molestation free drunk uncle of information, maybe, or maybe not, more accurate, but at least I can get quick answers on a lot of topics and I can see how topics are related and then just search google for more information or confirmation of the information I've found, and best of all, it doesn't even cost me a 6-pack.
Do we really need another commission adding to the cost of the government?
I think it's relatively safe to say that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has failed to stop dangerous china made products from entering the markets, and if a commission can't audit and successfully background check and test products that come in a container, and they only need to test one of each, not every single product, am I to believe that Homeland Security can audit and background check humans coming in on ships, planes, cars, foot, etc by the thousands, if not millions, where every person has to be checked?
Depending on your perspective, you can say that the 911 Commission has failed in that their report suggestions haven't been implemented or followed and the few suggestions that have been followed have been either for political reasons or just been detrimental to American citizens.
I'm sure someone who pays attention can find plenty of other commissions that haven't done a thing other than cost money to the taxpayer.
I work for a company that uses the Intersystems Cache database and I have to say that I imagine that Cache is a large part of the problem. The amount of good documentation for Cache lies between very little and none and my company has been on a nationwide search for people experienced with Cache and they too seem few and far between. Of course, I don't know that Cache really is a "worse" or "better" database that Oracle, SQL Server or MySQL for that matter, however, what I do know that is when it comes to experience, common tasks, documentation, examples and just getting things done, Cache lags far behind the others, not to mention Universities are still teaching relational db theory, not object db theory, at least when I graduated Rutgers a few short years ago.
I suspect that given the task of merging databases, even large databases, there are plenty of experienced and knowledge SQL Server, Oracle, mySQL guys out on Monster or some other job site that know how to get the job done, efficiently and correctly, and have done the job a few times before. Based on our current and past searches for people capable of even easier tasks within Cache, there aren't many people out there with any Cache experience, never mind good people with Cache experience, and it's easy to fudge a task when you aren't given much good documentation, examples or experience.
In a past career, I worked for a healthcare company that used SQL server for electronic medical records (EMRs) and the system worked rather well. There might have been better ways to design the database, stored procs or application code, however, we never had a problem hiring good staff that understood the database design, SQL queries, T-SQL/stored procs and as i said, I can't say the same about trying to hire good people who know and understand Mumps ("M" the language, not the disease) or Cache ObjectScript or find the Cache tools to be easy and intuitive.
Just my $.02, and I don't mean to start a DB debate, just stating that it might just also be time for the VA's to move on from MUMPS/Cache to a more widely used and documented database and programming language, find some new blood.
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My name is James Hogan, I'm a software engineer from Long Branch New Jersey and I've never run for, or held, a public office before, so I decided to start high and run for US Congress ( http://www.hoganforcongress.com/ ) against a 20 year politician here in New Jersey. What you posted is what, no exaggeration, 75% of the people I've talked to have said. Each year, they find themselves more and more distanced from politics and, like myself, reference "them" and "us". It's interesting though because these people claim to want a change in government and they claim to not want politicians ruining the county. I'm only 27 and I certainly don't look "congressional", and I probably don't stand a chance of winning either because I'm knocking on people's doors asking for their vote and I've noticed two things: 1) A LOT of people want something in the mail. What the heck??? I'm the guy! I'm the one running for office and I'm at YOUR DOOR. Let's talk! I can't afford to send you something in the mail, that's why I'm AT YOUR DOOR. And still these people don't get it - "I'm sorry, I'll wait for something in the mail".. and I give them an "ok, thanks" and move on. Sad. 2) A LOT of people have told me "No thanks, I'm a democrat" or "I'll vote for you, I'm a republican" - how about the issues? Don't vote for me because I'll be in the R column, vote for me because you know who I am and what I stand for. Don't vote for Pallone (again) because he's a D, vote for him because he stands for an issue you care about and you know his background. I'd rather someone not vote for me because they find my position(s) to be opposite their own instead of not voting for me because I'm in the R column. If I don't win the primary, or if I don't win the general election - and to be honest - maybe even if I do - I'll be switching back to "unaffiliated". The founding fathers, including Ben Franklin, spoke against political parties - the party system is broken. I owe no "political debt" to any party - I've gotten myself on the ballot through my own time and money - if I lose the primary in June - it will be because another career politician who has paid into the party, has taken the party's money to get elected and now he owes "political debt" - he'll get the call "hey remember that time we raised $s for you... yeah.... can you do this for us?" and so the system continues. But again, explain that to someone and they look at you funny. I don't know you personally, I'm hoping that if you are indeed losing your faith in politics that you are at least taking the time to research all of the people on the ballot - I bet I'm not the only average working guy who is trying to make a difference and represent average working class people. Some of those working people might be Rs and some might be Ds, but don't just vote for an R or a D, find out who they are and where they stand. I'll be honest, if the D party wants to find this post and publish it as a smear against me so be it - BUT I don't even know what a congressman does! It shouldn't be a problem, the founding fathers didn't intend to have career politicians running this country - they themselves were self educated farmers and laborers - they themselves had to figure it out as they went along - they expected farmers, blacksmiths, bankers, ship builders, lumberjacks, etc to be the representatives - and yet I've had people ask me how being a software engineer qualifies for congress, my response is always the same "because a large percentage of people in this district are IT workers or otherwise work in a cube from 9 to 5, and I know what it's like to work in a cubicle for a boss just like most other people do, it's hard to be any more representative of the people than me". Anyhow, my point is just that if you find yourself losing faith in politics, just be sure that when some random guy comes knocking on your door asking for your vote, give him (or her) a minute - don't just assume the guy with the clipboard in a suit is trying to sell you something or convert your
As a blatant self-promotion post... I'm a computer science graduate of Rutger's University and I'm running for a seat in the House of Representatives in NJ's 6th Congressional District. I'm not a politician and have never run for a public office before. I'm a software engineer currently working in the shipping industry writing VB code (I also write in perl, php and used to do some C++ programming for Intel/Dialogic based computer telephony systems but it's been many years) for a desktop application that manages containers and shipping routes. I'm 27 years old so I hope that if I could win an election, I'll not only bring a younger perspective to the House, but a more tech savvy perspective as well, in addition to the perspective of a working Joe rather than the perspective of another career politician. My website isn't yet complete but there is some information available at: http://www.hoganforcongress.com/ Be gentle, I don't have a ton of bandwidth or a very powerful server. Thanks.
I wouldn't agree that wikipedia is worthless. Go back just a short 10 years ago, maybe even just 5 for that matter, and the "easy" way to get information about some topic was to ask your drunk uncle, or some other old fart at the family picnic. Want to know about WWII the easy way? Ask grandma/pa, want to know about Vietnam or JFK, ask mom and dad, or your uncle. Sure, you could have gone to a library, searched for some books that are hundreds of pages long, mostly filler, to get the 5 sentences of information you're looking for or you could have flipped open your dated set of encyclopedias and read what the "historians" said, which lacks the quick and easy references to related topics and in book form means that you still need to go the library to lookup the references and get any real details.
In other words, I like to consider wikipedia my non-kid touching, molestation free drunk uncle of information, maybe, or maybe not, more accurate, but at least I can get quick answers on a lot of topics and I can see how topics are related and then just search google for more information or confirmation of the information I've found, and best of all, it doesn't even cost me a 6-pack.
Do we really need another commission adding to the cost of the government?
I think it's relatively safe to say that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has failed to stop dangerous china made products from entering the markets, and if a commission can't audit and successfully background check and test products that come in a container, and they only need to test one of each, not every single product, am I to believe that Homeland Security can audit and background check humans coming in on ships, planes, cars, foot, etc by the thousands, if not millions, where every person has to be checked?
Depending on your perspective, you can say that the 911 Commission has failed in that their report suggestions haven't been implemented or followed and the few suggestions that have been followed have been either for political reasons or just been detrimental to American citizens.
I'm sure someone who pays attention can find plenty of other commissions that haven't done a thing other than cost money to the taxpayer.
I work for a company that uses the Intersystems Cache database and I have to say that I imagine that Cache is a large part of the problem. The amount of good documentation for Cache lies between very little and none and my company has been on a nationwide search for people experienced with Cache and they too seem few and far between. Of course, I don't know that Cache really is a "worse" or "better" database that Oracle, SQL Server or MySQL for that matter, however, what I do know that is when it comes to experience, common tasks, documentation, examples and just getting things done, Cache lags far behind the others, not to mention Universities are still teaching relational db theory, not object db theory, at least when I graduated Rutgers a few short years ago. I suspect that given the task of merging databases, even large databases, there are plenty of experienced and knowledge SQL Server, Oracle, mySQL guys out on Monster or some other job site that know how to get the job done, efficiently and correctly, and have done the job a few times before. Based on our current and past searches for people capable of even easier tasks within Cache, there aren't many people out there with any Cache experience, never mind good people with Cache experience, and it's easy to fudge a task when you aren't given much good documentation, examples or experience. In a past career, I worked for a healthcare company that used SQL server for electronic medical records (EMRs) and the system worked rather well. There might have been better ways to design the database, stored procs or application code, however, we never had a problem hiring good staff that understood the database design, SQL queries, T-SQL/stored procs and as i said, I can't say the same about trying to hire good people who know and understand Mumps ("M" the language, not the disease) or Cache ObjectScript or find the Cache tools to be easy and intuitive. Just my $.02, and I don't mean to start a DB debate, just stating that it might just also be time for the VA's to move on from MUMPS/Cache to a more widely used and documented database and programming language, find some new blood.
Is it really just Hollywood has forgotten? Go to your local Toys-R-Us, look at where GI Joe is made. The Real American Hero, made in China. yuck.