Welcome

Welcome to my blog http://www.skegley.blogspot.com/ . CAVEAT LECTOR- Let the reader beware. This is a Christian Conservative blog. It is not meant to offend anyone. Please feel free to ignore this blog, but also feel free to browse and comment on my posts! You may also scroll down to respond to any post.

For Christian American readers of this blog:


I wish to incite all Christians to rise up and take back the United States of America with all of God's manifold blessings. We want the free allowance of the Bible and prayers allowed again in schools, halls of justice, and all governing bodies. We don't seek a theocracy until Jesus returns to earth because all men are weak and power corrupts the very best of them.
We want to be a kinder and gentler people without slavery or condescension to any.

The world seems to be in a time of discontent among the populace. Christians should not fear. God is Love, shown best through Jesus Christ. God is still in control. All Glory to our Creator and to our God!


A favorite quote from my good friend, Jack Plymale, which I appreciate:

"Wars are planned by old men,in council rooms apart. They plan for greater armament, they map the battle chart, but: where sightless eyes stare out, beyond life's vanished joys, I've noticed,somehow, all the dead and mamed are hardly more than boys(Grantland Rice per our mutual friend, Sarah Rapp)."

Thanks Jack!

I must admit that I do not check authenticity of my posts. If anyone can tell me of a non-biased arbitrator, I will attempt to do so more regularly. I know of no such arbitrator for the internet.











Friday, March 16, 2012

Harry Truman



Just as it was sent to me.



I am reading the book "Truman" now. it is very very interesting and really tells what a great Person this man was.



Thought you'd enjoy this!
It's one you want your Children and Grandchildren to read.
They won't believe this happened, but it DID.
Harry & Bess
(This seems unreal.)
Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 42 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri . His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952 his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year.

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale."

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."

As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale (cf. Illinois ).

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, "My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!

I say dig him up and clone him!

If you agree, forward it. If you don't, delete it. I don't want to know one way or the other. By me forwarding it, you know how I feel.

Enjoy life now -- it has an expiration date!
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. Groucho Marx





Hoiberg- Iowa State and 'transferred in' Roster

My wife, Jeanie, took me to our Urgent Care center in Westerville yesterday, not because I was deathly sick but because our doctor is out until Monday.  The good doctor Jennifer Messick, detected bronchitis, which is quite prevalent in Westerville and prescribed medicine.  The main intent is for us to make it to Atlanta for next weekend's  NCAA regional games, provided, of course, that our beloved Kentucky Wildcats make it.

We thought it still would be tough to beat Connecticut Saturday.  It turns out that won't be tough, but it will be tough to beat the Iowa State team, coached by maybe the most popular athlete and coach ever out of that state, Floyd Hoiberg. I read an ESPN article about the team he has gathered this year and they are players who have transferred in and are on the current roster. None are 'chopped liver' and the coach does know something about basketball.

 Google Hoiberg Wikipedia and be amazed at the fellows credentials.

I have deep concerns.

Government Value Engineering- DSCC consistently best!!

I am as proud of my experiences in the Value Engineering Department of  Defense Supply Center Columbus as I am of my military service ( a two year draftee during the Korean Conflict).  My main pride comes not just from our "Should Cost" groups' efforts.  Bill Thompson supervised a few engineers and technicians in selecting jobs and determining a cost analysis while allowing a fifteen per cent profit on top of all costs to each supplier's product.  Many dollars were provided to our buyers and they were able to negotiate great savings among competitors bidding for government contracts.  Even though a fellow engineer, Julius Gersi in another group, called us "The Should Cost But Don't" group.

But most of my pride comes from knowing and working projects with a former friend of yet another group.  Dan could see dollar savings where a lot of us may have worked at picking up dimes.  Dan was a reserve Air Force guy, 10 years my junior, who picked and solved projects with many millions, perhaps billions of  dollars, in savings which happened for real, but, I feel sure the savings, never trickled back to the American taxpayer.  The inertia of the federal government is immense !


This is an attempt to honor my friend, Dan, who recently dropped me from his email list because I gave him mention he didn't want.  That is why his name here is only Dan.  I hope the following doesn't bore you. VE is quasi- engineering, nonetheless valuable stuff!

Value Engineering and Value Management by SAMI
Value analysis and value improvement- Home of SAMIValue analysis and value management productsValue Engineering and value improvement table of contentsSearch for information on value engineeringContact SAMI for Value engineering and value improvement servicesValue improvement and value management at SAMI
Info on SAMI's value engineering servicesValue engineering defined
Value management and value analysis courses
Value management and value engineering program
Value improvement- COPRISAValue Management  and value engineering papersValue analysis web linksCertified value specialist- team leaderValue engineering classroom


Federal Value Engineering Requirements
Previous
Got a Federal or state value study to perform? We can help.
The Federal government created the name of Value Engineering (VE) to describe their application of the Value Method process. Due to the influence of the Federal sector, this is the most common name that is used to describe the process. The Federal government application was originally done voluntarily. They wanted to decrease cost requirements. But only a couple of organizations applied it fairly consistently. Those that consistently used it were very successful in reducing costs and billions of dollars were saved each year. But even with its audited and verified success, many agencies started and dropped its application with little thought. In 1995, less than 5-percent of all Federal activities were value studied.
Since the Federal Value Engineering application has helped many agencies save so much money, and few of us like the level of taxation we deal with for governmental services, a growing movement has been present to force agencies to use Value Engineering more. The purpose behind this is that Value Engineering helps the agency improve its performance of its mission and reduces the costs associated with its performance.

General Federal Law Requiring VE Application
Due to its success in private industry, and the limited amount that it has been applied in government, in February 1996 the US Congress passed a law that requires the "establishment of effective programs to apply the practice of Value Engineering" in all executive agencies. The requirement was buried in the 1996 funding authorization for the defense department. Here is a copy of the sections in that law that relate to Value Engineering:

Public Law 104-106, National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 1996
Page 110 STAT. 186
TITLE XLIII--ADDITIONAL REFORM PROVISIONS
Subtitle A--Additional Acquisition Reform Provisions
SEC. 4306. VALUE ENGINEERING FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES.
(a) Use of Value Engineering.--The Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 401 et seq.), as amended by section 4203, is further amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 36. VALUE ENGINEERING.''
``(a) In General.--Each executive agency shall establish and maintain cost-effective value engineering procedures and processes.
``(b) Definition.--As used in this section, the term `value engineering' means an analysis of the functions of a program, project, system, product, item of equipment, building, facility, service, or supply of an executive agency, performed by qualified agency or contractor personnel, directed at improving performance, reliability, quality, safety, and life cycle costs.''.

Page 110 STAT. 666
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for such Act, contained in section 1(b), is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``Sec. 36. Value engineering.''.

(c) Regulations.--Each Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section. Such regulations shall be prescribed in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (see the OMB regulation discussion below).
(Full text of this law is available from the House of Representatives Law Library Internet site.)

Other Federal Laws
Some other notable general legislation relating to the agencies and value engineering is its stipulation that it can be used as a "performance parameter." Some of the laws related to this are: "Budget Enforcement Act of 1990," "Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993," "Government Performance and Results Act of 1993," and the "Federal Acquisition Act of 1994."
Some specific activity types of legislation has been present for many years. For example, since the 1970's every water and waste water treatment plant to be issued a Federal grant of $10 million or more has had a requirement that Value Engineering be performed before funds could be released for the construction activity. This has helped many municipalities to discover the benefits of the Value Engineering process for their other activities.
The inclusion of a requirement for Federal grantees continues to gain momentum each year. In 1992, Congress directed the Federal Highway Administration to generate a policy regulation establishing value engineering for themselves and those that receive Federal funds. After several years with limited  movement, Congress bypassed what some members of Congress specified as agency dawdling by passing a law that stipulates that all grantees of Federal funds of $25 million or more from the highway fund perform Value Engineering on that project.

Notable Regulations
OMB Circular A-131
In an apparent effort to avoid passage of a law, since Reagan's time, every US President has issued executive orders and directives issued that specify that application of the Federal Value Engineering version of the Value Method is encouraged or required. The most notable of these is the Office of Management and Budget (a part of the executive office directly under the President) Circular A-131. First issued in 1988, it was last updated in 1993 and is due to be revised in 1998-1999. This directive has specific application and the establishment of a value program requirements to be addressed. This includes agency goals, performance standards, and responsibilities. In addition, it requires a summary report of the agency's performance in meeting those goals be forwarded to the OMB at end of each year and an independent Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audit of the results be performed every three to five years.
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FARs) are the Federal governments regulatory specification of how they plan to meet legislation requirements contained in laws passed by Congress. The Federal government procures massive amounts of services and materials. The FARs stipulate how they are to do it within the laws. The main series of FARs that related to Value Engineering is the Value Engineering Clause that is to be present in any contract over $100,000. This clause allows a contractor to submit a change to the contract that saves money for the government while  maintaining the performance characteristics. This is called a Value Engineering Change Proposal (VECP). To give everyone an incentive to go to the trouble, both the contractor and government share the savings. It is a true win-win. A more detailed discussion about this is available within this site on other web pages. 



Content © 1993-2006 by SAMI VE LLC http://www.value-engineering.com


Will I live to be 80? Thanks T & C!


Will I Live to see 80?


Here's something to think about.

I recently picked a new primary care doctor. After two visits and exhaustive Lab tests, he said I was doing ‘fairly well' for my age. (I just turned Seventy).

A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him, 'Do you think I'll live to be 80?'

He asked, 'Do you smoke tobacco, or drink beer, wine or hard liquor?'

'Oh no,' I replied. 'I'm not doing drugs, either!'

Then he asked, 'Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?'

'I said, 'Not much... my former doctor said that all red meat is very unhealthy!'

'Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, boating, sailing, hiking, or bicycling?'

'No, I don't,' I said.

He asked, 'Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have a lots of sex?'

'No,' I said...

He looked at me and said,..

'Then, why do you even give a shit?'
______________________________________________________
This is funny, T & C!

Coming to think like the 'old fogy' I am, it wouldn't seem there would be much else to live for, except that we know that we get vicarious joys in seeing the youngsters perform.  We have so much family and friend sharing that just transcends those wonderful pleasures of youth.  At least I think so, but I have been wrong a couple of times in my long life. 

Nevertheless, the story is funny!

Sam

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