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Bits and Pieces . . .
By George Schmok, Publisher
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Another Media Leap for LASN and LC/DBM . . .
Ok . . . We get it . . . We do send quite a bit of email information from LASN and LC/DBM. . . SOOOOO . . . We’ve changed the weekly newsletter, LandscapeOnline Weekly (LOWeekly) to include most all of our other promotions and have made major changes to its design and interactivity. That means you will get fewer emails from LASN and LC/DBM, but more detailed and inclusive information once a week in LOWeekly.
For instance, now all of the articles are displayed in full screen snapshots, providing you with larger graphics and greater information before you click to the full article.
We are also providing advertisers with larger areas to promote their industry specific products.
In addition, you’ll now find every LASN and LC/DBM advertiser listed by product category with links to expanded company and product profiles. There are about 500+ companies, linked to about 5,000 easy-to-view, standardized product profiles in every LOWeekly issue.
You will also find targeted articles and messages depending on your demographic and/or geographic profile. For instance if you are a Landscape Contractor you will find calls for LASN and LC/DBM editorial, requests to take surveys, event promotions and other action items within LandscapeOnline Weekly.
In a nutshell, LOWeekly now has more news, more features, more events, more companies, more links and more opportunities for you to learn and gain knowledge about the profession.
If you haven’t yet, let us know your email and we’ll add you to the list. Remember, we will only use your email to send you the E-Newsletter and landscape specific messages matching your geographic and/or demographic profile.
About the Election . . .
With the elections right around the corner, it is important for everyone to be involved, no matter at what level. I have purposefully stayed away from political commentary for the past few years, hoping that hope and change would be hopeful change. Here is my opinion . . .
If you receive LandscapeOnline Weekly there is an 80% chance that you are a business owner.
I can’t imagine too many of you going through all of the hard work and headaches of owning a business and not wanting to be as successful as possible . . . Willing to pay federal taxes, but not necessarily for things that should be handled at a more local level. If you get all of your work from the federal government (or from some states), then maybe you disagree with that concept. However, if you are getting your projects from local entities, or if you work in the private sector then you are looking at more closely managed funding.
The difference in this election is the difference between a democracy and a republic. Everyone who ever said the Pledge of Allegiance, knows that the United States is a republic (“ . . . and to the Republic for which it stands . . .”). In a democracy the focus is on the equality of the masses and centralized government, while in a republic the focus is on the rights of the individual and decentralized government. That’s why every person gets a vote, has freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and freedom of religion. It is why we have individual state, county and municipal governments. It is why everyone is free to own personal and real property and why you can start a business of virtually any nature.
Today almost every business owner we encounter is hoping the United States moves back towards the republic and away from the centralized government. The federal government is good at building roads, providing a strong military and protecting the rights of its citizens. The further it gets away from those basic tasks, the worse it gets.
I certainly cannot tell you who to vote for in your city, your state or even at the national level. All I ask is that you consider the above in making your choices . . .
God Bless . . .
George Schmok, Publisher
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Give us your feedback.
| Comments | | | | Name: Jeffrey Gordon | Wrote in with correction comment | Comment: Regarding your LOL Opinion piece:
It has long been obvious to me that both sides of the aisle continue to grow government. They can\'t help themselves. As the world gets smaller and the issues get bigger, the big things need to be handled federally, while the local issues can be handled locally. It really depends on your view of the role of government.
When the Gulf states want the federal government to leave them alone with oil drilling and exploration, they are the first to cry for help when there is a spill. Some things are just too big to be handled locally. But if you want help, you have to follow guidelines of the one from whom you seek help. Granted, reasonable regulations would simplify lending and advance building and job growth. But who determines what is reasonable? When one political party holds the other hostage to gain favor at the expense on the population, everyone loses. Pardon my cynicism, but I think the haves complain about the have-nots, and vice versa. A change in administration only changes the polarity, not the issues. |
| | Name: Mark Canney | Wrote in with general comment | | Comment: I am offended by the open editorial regarding the election. There is a clear preference and direction given in the commentary - based on false information. I am uncomfortable with the notion that someone this poorly education on the political realm is telling people what to do. Based on this I am frightened to imagine the amount of incorrect and biased information in the rest of the publication. |
| | Name: Jeff Oesterling, L.A. | Wrote in with general comment | | Comment: George, I have appreciated your comments for some years now. I, too, am concerned about the election since I am not sure if I am retired or just unemployed. Since I specialize in the small golf course industry I have seen my business dry up completely in the last 3 years. Money for recreation always goes away first in a recession. But in the last few weeks my phone has started ringing again from small courses desiring upgrades to be designed over the winter and begun come spring. They all add the caveat, however, that it all depends on the election whether they will spend the money at this time. |
| | Name: Ginny Hyes | Wrote in with comment | | Comment: I disagree with your definitions and your meaning of democracy. Please consider what is good for your business and what is your business when you write these articles. |
| | Name: Linda Fretts | Wrote in with general comment | | Comment: Regarding your LOL opinion peice. I am very disapointed to see a politically oriented article in your publication. I don't need any one pointing out the differences between the two parties, and when there is a clear bias in one direction, I feel the boundaries have been over-stepped in what I thought was a politics-free publication. I have worked in both the public, and private sector, and am currently starting up my own business. While I have issues with the Democratic party, I will always lean in that direction as long as the Republican party maintains an 'Every Man For Himself' policy. |
| | Name: Lisa Cox | Wrote in with correction comment | | Comment: Bad decision to post this editorial....not the right forum, and I found it misguided. |
| | Name: Greg Elliot | Wrote in with general comment | | Comment: George,
I wanted to compliment you on your tactful commentary regarding the November election. I was especially impressed that you got your point across without using the names of the candidates. I am one of 17 owners of a 200+ employee engineering and architecture firm in Pennsylvania and Maryland. I could not agree more with your October commentary. I would estimate that 15 of our 17 owners also concur. |
| | Name: Scott Bennett | Wrote in with general comment | | Comment: George, I will replace Mark\'s membership since he wants to cancel. Your comments are correct and need to be expressed. |
| | Name: Harvey Mabry | Wrote in with general comment | | Comment: Really, the comment is to the Democracy & Republic Commentary.
I have already cast my vote for the Democracy as I feel that it interferes less with my business and my personal life. The Democracy seems to want to do right by the Collective.
It was my choice not to vote for the Republic as they always want to provide advantages to groups, associations or interests and none to me. The Republic dictates rights that my four daughters ought to decide on their own, wants to deny them health benefits that are an unalienable right, tells individuals who they can or cannot marry and lastly wants to put more god into government. The so called Republic really does not want to recognize my god and my rights of worshiping said god.
Yep, I really like the Democracy! |
| | Name: Stan Thurgood | Wrote in with general comment | | Comment: Good call on the election article |
| | Name: Mary Lemirande | Wrote in with general comment | Comment: George,
Brilliant commentary.
I preach the differences of 'democracy' and 'republic' constantly!!
If I hear one more politician say we are a democracy, I'm going to scream!
We are a Representative Republic!!! Amen!!
Best Regards,
Mary
Woodlawn Cemtery
Green Bay, WI |
| | Name: WJ Keach | Wrote in with general comment | Comment:
Mr Schmok:
You need to confine yourself to being publisher of a magazine with no paid subscribers (we get what we pay for), that\'s ninety percent advertising and which attempts to fool readers by copying the cover type style of the actual journal valued by real landscape architects and leave the sophomoric civics lectures (Oct 2012) off your publisher page.
With little effort I can think of a dozen roles a federal government does better than the states beside building roads and raising armies.
Let\'s start with something in the news – Hurricane Sandy. Six million people without power, the state of New Jersey (I have lots of family there) devastated, Staten Island devastated, flooding from Delaware to Ohio, blizzards in West Virginia … and what would be YOUR response to all this? Let each state deal with its own problems. See how that idea flies with the residents of those states, even the ones who up until they needed help were against FEMA. Bet they\'ve changed their tune now. All of a sudden Big Government isn\'t so bad. Maybe California should be our first experiment in state emergency response when the 8.5 hits Orange County. What do you think? You\'d be among the first wailing for help if your house or business was destroyed.
How about clean air? Does polluted air stop at state borders? Or water? I guess in your world rivers don\'t cross state or international borders. Pollutants dumped into the Mississippi in Tennessee never reach Louisiana. Right? Let each state -- or better yet, each city -- deal with its water pollution problems.
Food inspection. Cattle raised in Texas makes its way to tables in Ohio. Should Ohio and every other state have their own food inspectors with their own food standards? That makes sense to no one except for the other flat-earthers like yourself who preach the same moronic sermon for years on end, most especially not the cattle growers who\'d have to satisfy 50 different inspection regimes.
How about strawberries flown in from Chile? Let\'s have them inspected when they land in Miami by Florida inspectors and then re-inspected by each state they enter when they\'re driven cross country by truck. That makes sense.
As for how much better state and local governments are at dealing with local issues: I\'ve worked for more than thirty years in land development in many states with projects of different scales of every kind including residential, commercial, industrial and heavy industrial. The impact of federal regulations on those projects is miniscule compared with the myriad complexities of city, county and state regulations. Anyone who had actual experience in the field they presume to write about on a monthly basis would know that. Oh, and by the way, satisfying those rules is very profitable for landscape architects. Try writing a column advocating repealing the xeriscape ordinances in Los Angeles that need a landscape architect\'s stamp and see what kind of response you get from landscape architects who work there.
Finally, as to your tax obsession: the vast majority of landscape architects with their own firms have taxable incomes well below $250,000, the level above which taxes will most likely increase. The USA is the least taxed country of all the industrialized nations. Next time you want to complain about taxes tell us in detail how you will offset the tax reductions. What are you gonna cut and by how much? That\'s what we want to know. Anytime I hear a politician of either party (or a trade publisher) tell me they\'re gonna cut taxes I\'m immediately on guard. Everybody wants their taxes lowered, but nobody wants their sacred cows gored. You\'re big on biblical references, look this up: Render unto Caesar, etc …
WJ Keach
landscape architect
Ca RLA #2744 |
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May 24, 2013, 9:17 pm EST
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