Jason Monastra

My life and thoughts out on the web

I cannot imagine seeing, reading or even hearing another article or commentary on the subject.  The only reason I am even writing this is to discuss the fact that now I am reading articles about how the epidemic has now hit Mexico and they need to address the issue.  Has anyone not made a connection between the lives we live, the things we place into our body and the resulting fact of fatness.  I see all the commentaries on how we need to legislate the food companies, we should ban McDonald’s, clear trans-fats and all of the other things.  What kills me is the lack of individual self control and accountability.  We have lost it, and it is spreading everywhere.

There used to be consequences when you did something.  No matter good or bad, the results were dictated by what you did and how you handled yourself.  Now everyone is a winner or has an excuse.  The idea that losing is so bad, or actually being told that you did something wrong would destroy someone has become more the commonplace.  This behavior is what drives the obesity factor as it effects more than what people place into their body, but also how they view themselves, others and how they live their lives. 

Alright, we all know that you cannot eat fast food everyday and expect to have a six pack.  Basic chemistry there with the way fat produces and stores in the body.  But what about the kids….do we really need to blame the idea on fast food super size and seditionary lifestyles of ultra-convenience that make kids burn less calories than ever before.  Ooooohhhh, lets start with a sticky subject.  Parents.  No one wants to take the accountability - but parents are a huge part of the problem.  Monitoring the kids meals, making sure they are outside and playing, limiting TV and video games.  Yes, parents this does mean you need to be involved.  So let us point the finger at one of the major culprits and that is the parents.  Parents are scared to say anything.  If you kid is fat, tell them!  I know it sounds harsh in this day of all winners but that is not life and people need to know early on how their decisions effect their lives.

Second, KIDS get off your rear end and do something.  When I was a kid, sitting around was a relaxation cause I had been playing all day outside or working in the yard.  Now, it is more common for kids to want to stay inside as the production of TV and video games allures kids to do less physically.  Kids need to understand that these things are okay to do, in moderation.  They need to be balanced, living an active lifestyle and enjoying relaxing games/TV when time is not available outside.  Self control and taking guidance of your own life is important and required.  It begins with your parents, however needs to be handed over and maintained with the children, especially as they get older.

Call a spade a spade.  If you kid is fat, make sure he/she understands all of the negatives to the current situation and get him/her to change.  If they are going down the wrong path but have not seen the effects yet, let them know and begin moderating the lifestyle.  If they are doing well, encourage and make sure they understand why they are doing such a good job.  Get active siblings to bring about change in less active siblings.  Make it a family affair and before long, the kids and the parents will be living a better way of life.

Relocation is a major decision when looking at a new role or position.  Relocation occurs not only when looking outside of your company, but possibly internally within the company when looking at a promotion or movement into another area of business.  When considering relocation, they key is to research and understand all of the aspects of the move - what it means for you, your family, your career and the company.

Lets take a look at some of the major factors when considering a move outside of your company that requires a move to a new area.

Relocation.  Major move that can bring some people to places they never thought possible.  New opportunities.  Challenges.  Look at both sides and understand that there are pros-cons to it all.  How you research and understand that will determine the decision to move.  When the decision is made, and if the decision is to go - be prepared and make a plan.  Talk about it with others that are close to you.  Be open to yourself, letting out the fear and be realistic in your expectations.  That way when you get there, things are handled better and with a more stable mind.  Things never happen 100% to the plan, but if you can get a picture in your mind and know you made the right decision with the best process, sticking it out when things are tough is much easier.

Happy moving!

The ever increasing costs of additional education are continuous source of headaches for parents looking to place their children in college.  Both private and public universities have continued to raise tuition and overall costs over the last decade, to the tune of 30 and 50% respectively.  With the outrageous cost and the inability for most people to pay, our educational system is a tumultuous time.  However does it need to be or is this a self driven mistake that we ourselves have helped fuel?

The cost of any good or service is risen by basic economic factors including availability and the overall cost to produce the good or service.  However, college has seemed to transcend these basic factors and added a hype factor similar to that of the .com boom of the late 90s and early 2000.  The hype factor as I have seen it is where customers are flocking to colleges and universities where the cost of going to school is the highest.  There has been an evolution where there is link between the cost of going to school and the respective result of the education.  How can that be?  Lets take a look.  It has been documented that one of the way to increase the applications coming into a school is to increase your tuition.  Though it sounds odd, there is a sense of exclusivity that is involved and it works.  Take for example Ursinus College in PA.  They were actively bouncing ideas on how to increase the overall student population.  In return they raised tuition costs resulting in an increase of more than 200 applications and within 4 yrs, the school’s freshman class size has grown by more than 35%.  Hype - nothing more.

Take out the hype and you still have increasing costs due to greed and other human factors.  I have read numerous articles and accounts where the frame of mind is too charge as much as possible, not reflective on increased cost of doing business, but simply to see what they can get away with and to see what people will pay.  Frankly the idea is insane.  There are universities out there that cost in the area of 6-10k annually and offering stronger higher education benefits.  However, those schools are wiped under the rug by the media with the focus on the large schools that take advantage of their status to milk applicants and their families of life savings.  How do we stop it?

Honestly, one person at a time.  People need to evaluate the cost of going to school and the result for their career.  There are some schools that no matter how you graduate, as long as you do, will offer better opportunities to the appeared class of person that comes from the institution.  But for the most part, that is not the case.  The difference between a 25k and a 6k education might be nothing.  It might be something.  It might be something that means nothing for your career tract or interests.  The key is to look at what is important to you, evaluate the small and large, private and public alike, and make the best decision possible.  Consider tuition when making the decision.  As a large tuition and overall cost could strap you down after college with debt that you otherwise would not have.  Be smart and do not follow the crowd.  Understand your goals, decide for yourself, and forget the hype.

The traditional family, that horrible word - that trend that impedes the successful women of the world from making their mark.  Women’s rights I thought squashed this terrible ideology where woman stay home, take care of children and run the home.  Ahhhh…..but the idea is making a large come back and I am happy to see that people are seeing the benefits of the traditional family.  Working less, more balance and taking control and responsibility for their children in a country monopolized with fast food, instant dinners, and nannies that take the role of mothers.

Lets look at the statistics and see what is happening.  According to the Bureua of Labor Statistics, the trend is dropping.  Working mothers are slowly declining.  According to the professional stats, the trend began its decline in 1998 when it hit the peek where 58 percent of working mothers were active in the work force.  Since then, it has fallen, and continues to fall.  It hit an all time low in 2005.

Why is this happening?  Well, there are numerous factors that are behind the decline.  Economic factors are playing a large play in the decline.  In 2001, as the major recession hit the US - there were less roles available for the work force.  Women tend to have lower seniority in the work place.  Therefore, rather than working for lower pay or doing more work, the trend was to leave the work place till the landscape looked better.  In addition, there was an influx of women with younger children that looked over their family matters and began staying home at the younger stages of their childrens’ lives.  Those would return to the workforce when their children would get to school age.

The decision to return to the traditional family has many impacts, some micro and some macro offering opportunities and challenges for the economy and the family to deal with the shift.  First, income is reduced causing concessions and reductions in overall spending.  Decisions must be made on where to live and how to compete with dual income houses that vie for the best areas to live.  Secondly, the stigma - some people see the working mother as not the proper way for the family to operate.  While others revel in the opportunity grasping at the opportunity to climb the corporate ladder.  Third, the economic factors for the country is large.  Impact to overall company productivity and staff are huge.  Companies loose critical talent and struggle to find and train others to take their place.  It is has been a major force in the telecommuting boom and the rise in flex hours, making it possible for mothers to handle both work and home life responsibilities.

In all, the trend is moving and it has been shifting more towards the traditional family over the last decade.  What the data says, I think more than not - people are tired of selling their lives for a larger house, a better car, or to say they live in a specific area.  People want to be happy, live with the family - see their family, and enjoy time where not every minute is managed by someone else.  People want to be people.  That is more important than money and a lot more important than work.

I have been attempting to watch VT football since my departure in 1997 and it continually gets harder and harder to stomach.  Are we so blind that we have not evolved with the game.  Do not get me wrong, I follow each game and enjoy the school.  I believe that we have unlimited potential but have gotten away from the well rounded basics that make our football team great.

Yes, we are young this year but it does not account for the many years previous where our team has been set up for failure by the press and coaching staff.  Frank Beamer, love him.  Great guy and great coach.  Down to earth and really a strong anchor for the school.  However, we need to look at the offense and its supportive staff from the coaching perspective.  VT defense is always good.  VT special teams - they speak for themselves.  But the offense.  Where is it?  We have had teams that have had more firepower than others, but none has exalted themselves as a scoring machine that brings fear into the hearts of opposing defense.  Look at what we have today.  Tyrod Taylor - great athlete….average QB.  There is no one that does not know this kid cannot throw down field.  He can run, so they stack the box and ask you, nearly beg us to beat them throwing the ball.  How can you do that when you have someone that cannot throw farther than 10 yds accurately.

Recruiting and more recruiting.  Look at the athletes we get.  Defense are great.  I think Frank could turn anyone into a great special teams player.  But the offense - where do we go from here?  Recruit from outside of the state.  Look how many people we have that come from VA, specifically the Tidewater area of VA.  Tons.  Major programs gather talent from all of the US, bringing people sometimes cross country to play for them in hopes of winning a title.  We need to look outside the area and bring talent that would not normally look at us otherwise.

Recruiting and schedule go hand in hand.  Since we began this turn around and started going to bowl games in 1993, the program has been consistent with setting non-conference games with some of the weakest teams available.  WHY?  Who is that helping?  Face it, the ACC has no real strong teams.  We are one of the weakest conferences and cannot hold a candle to the SEC or some of the Midwest divisions.  Start setting team schedules that play those larger programs in an effort to not only develop the team, but better assist recruiting letting them know that they are playing the major teams which get the major TV time.

Lastly, beg the AP and every other ranking system to keep us low and out of the spotlight.  Annually they rank us higher than we are capable of playing, only to be ripped from the ranking in an embarrassing loss to some unranked team that we should have beat.  This happens every year.  Reason being, we are not a Top 10 team.  We should be in the 20-25 range most of the years…peaking into the teens occasionally.  Play better talent, develop the players and let the team understand what it takes to get to the top.  But as long as we keep playing Western KY and Akron, and floating in the ACC - we will never develop into a national program that is feared when it comes on the field.

We are entering one of the more tragic times in the history of our country.  When the country was formed, we were focused on the development of business and the running of commerce from a private sector perspective with little government interference and no inclination of government ever owning any of the enterprises that would develop our country into the greatest economic landscape of the world. 

But now the landscape has changed.  Businesses are failing, people are floundering, and the governement is putting out their hand.  What is that?  Goverment controlled business is a socialist characteristic that other countries do, but not the US.  Right?  What has changed that we must feel that the federal stooges must place their hands in the private sector to keep the economy afloat.  Simply - fear.  There are certain economic principles that are concrete, ones that allow for viable companies to survive and others to fail.  Certain companies that have become so leveraged and so critical to the overall sector that we have forgotten what it is like to run without them.  Bottom line, we can run without them.  Will be leaders - of course not.  More like the one legged guy that just came out of the accident who is learning how to walk with again.  But walk he shall. 

The private sector has made some major mistakes, ones that have caused people their homes, their savings, their lives in some cases.  But the thinning of the pack, the death of icons, etc allows for the innovative change that keeps this country ahead of the curve.  It is an effect and an event that should have been welcomed, unleashing a new order that would allow non followers to look at the issues and solve them.  Instead, we sit back and allow the passing of a bill that will place us deeper in debt and band aid one of the worlds fastest failing financial systems.  Who exactly is that helping?

The Washington Post reported that was an evolution of the capitalism.  That the government has always played a role in the development and financial success of private companies and this is the latest of many interventions that they have made.  I disagree.  If the government manages the overall infrastructure development of the country and outsources the labor of those intiatives to private company - how can that be compared to the bailout of the recent months?  Economist Robert Shiller said that this country has never been a true beacon of unfettered market principles.  No where does it state the the government cannot align the betterment of the country and enrich those private companies that are willing to place their assets in place to help deliver for the country’s mission.  So his play on words and his poor judgement is yet another step in the favored direction of all the liberal media - Robin Hood.  Steal from the rich, give to the poor, stifle innovation, ruin the currency, and bring everyone into the middle class as they so define.  Oh, by the way while keeping the democratic leadership rich.

As a born again Christian and Republican, I find myself in one of the hardest political times of my brief life.  Currently, we are in one of the most turbulent economic times since the 1980s, and if you believe the liberal media hype we are on our way to another Depression.  I do not see soup lines and a jobless rate above 25% so someone needs to tell me about the depression.  So where does this leave us since over the last 8 yrs we have been led by a conservative President and a disabled Congress that has been so fervent in their efforts to lead us astray, that they have not only led us the wrong way but alienated us from the entire world at the same time.

I read this past week that the approval rating of our Congress was less than the President.  Is that possible?  I did not think anyone approved of the President, but it appears some people do.  However, there are 18% of the US people that think that the people in DC are doing a good job.  Can anyone that is reading this believe that? 

In any case let us look at the most recent flood of ridiculous behavior by our great elected folks on the hill.  The secretary decides that it is time for us to bail out the financial system, a monumental move and something of a nightmare if you are a member of the capitalist system that we were founded on.  But without that, no matter….let us focus on the debacle.  So the people decide that this is the direction we are going and we cannot get Congress to move on it.  Our good friend Nancy Pelosi gives one of our partisan speeches and turns up the heat so the crowd decided that going cross isle would not be helpful.  Better yet, let us remain paralyzed, do nothing, make the country look even more unprepared and confused to the world, and continue down the path of being ruined.  So we do nothing, only a week later to produce a similar bill with nearly no differences except some pork, and lookie lookie - it gets passed.  Ridiculous.

So where does the good ol President fit into all of this.  You know as much as I do on that.  I have seen little of him lately, as the news is dominated with the current Presidential race and there appears to be no leadership from our current administration.  So with that being the case, can anyone not understand why the approval ratings are so poor?  It appears to not be too difficult for me to see it and I would love to be hooping and hollering over some Republican win…however there is none to be had.  Better yet, it has done such a good job just the appearance of loyalty to the current President has made John McCains race all the more uphill. 

Where does this leave us…who knows?  With leadership a thing of the past, no current administration in place, and a huge lack of future possibilities - it appears that we have little to be hopeful for.  I rest my head on the pillow at night knowing that God is in control, and that no matter the leaders or lack their of, that we continue to pray and He will remain in control offering us the only true hope there is for the future, and that is Jesus Christ.

It is not starting well for the good ol girl.  Palin comes out and asks if she is allowed to call him “Joe”?  What is that?  I am a Republican at heart, moral standards and all - anti-abortion, etc. etc.  But could we not pick a better candidate here.  This is not going well.  Then to offer a prelude to how things would go….Joe answers with a brief, direct, and highly programmed answer detailing specifics for the state of the economy and next steps reference the bailout and economic policy.  Palin runs to the soccer moms.  This is not looking good.

Are you kidding me?  The Senate just after the rejection of the bill that was supposed to be the ultimate bailout, has now surfaced with yet another bill to curb the growing financial crisis of the US.  The core issue with this bill is the same as the last.  The government (and yes that would be your tax dollars) are purchasing bad debt instruments to the tune of 700B dollars.  Does anyone else see an issue with this?

Oh and I love the description of this new plan.  One with SWEETNERS so as to better attract the people that blocked the first one.  If those people are so easily swayed, all of them should be removed and we need to start over with a national election for every post.  Look at some of the sweeteners - tax breaks for solar energy, extended tax breaks for taxes being removed on federal return, and my personal favorite which is relief from the AMT.  I am sitting here flabbergasted by the mere idea that so many people think this is ok.  The Senate just passed this garbage to the tune of 74-25.  And now headed to the house where they hit roadblocks earlier.

The house should veto this thing so fast it should make their head spin.  To simply replace the same language but offer so “bribes” so as to make the bill more attractive for those 10 or 12 people they need with zero conscious.  It is horrible.  Our system has broken down.  Morals have lost their value and our leaders need to be held accountable.