I’ve got another post up over at Group 3 Solutions, this one discussing Joomla video plugins. First plugin up for discussion is EasierTube. The post gives some background on the problem of using video in Joomla posts and provides an overview of EasierTube’s features and issues. Enjoy!

I’m so satisfied with, and proud of ,our representative (former Kansas City Mayor) Emanuel Cleaver II, Democrat from Kansas City, Missouri. Can’t say enough good things about him. We are very lucky. =)

Got this recently, regarding the recently-past health care reform legislation. It’s an attempt to clear up the misinformation spread by those opposed to the law.

Dear Brad:

Over the last few months I have received countless calls and emails from people across the Kansas City area eager to share their opinions on health care reform. Unfortunately, this issue has been polarized so much that it is hardly recognizable. Misinformation on the health care bill is abundant. To help clear up some of the confusion that currently exists about the health care bill, H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, I have provided the following information:

Myth: The cost of health care reform will add to the deficit.

Reality: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) report has found that the bill will reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the first ten years, and $1.2 trillion in the second ten. The bill accomplishes these great savings by eliminating systemic waste and ultimately lowering the cost of health care.

Myth: The bill institutes socialized Government run health care.

Reality: The health care reform bill increases competition by expanding private health insurance. Claims that the bill has a single payer system, similar to the health care system in Canada are inaccurate. The bill does not have single payer, nor does it include a public option.

Myth: The bill will be paid for by raising taxes on the middle class.

Reality: For the vast majority of Americans, taxes will not increase. A new tax will be levied on families making over $250,000 a year. However, the bill provides affordability credits for families at 400% of the poverty level. For example, a family at 275% of the poverty level ($60,640 income) would save 47% on premiums compared to current law. Further, a family with an income of $38,590 would see an 85% premium reduction.

Myth: The bill will hurt small businesses.

Reality: Without reform, small businesses will continue to experience increasing insurance costs, as they have by 129 percent since 2000 according to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Less than half of small businesses can currently afford to offer health care benefits. This bill includes $50 billion in tax credits to help small business provide assistance to employers and to provide coverage and the quality of care that larger businesses do. Further, the vast majority of small businesses, 96% will be exempt from the shared responsibility requirement.

Myth: Premiums will rise as a result of reform.

Reality: The CBO actually estimates that premiums for current health insurance plans will go down. Given the new array of options brought on by competition, one might chose a new, more comprehensive insurance plan and pay slightly higher premiums for that extra coverage.

Myth: The bill publically funds and encourages abortions.

Reality: The bill includes specific provisions to ensure a strict separation between public funds and private premiums. Abortion funding will never be required in health care plans, and states will retain final authority over abortion policies within their exchange program.

Myth: You will not be able to keep your existing insurance.

Reality: If you are happy with your current insurance, you will be able to keep it. This reform bill aims to provide more affordable options with a higher quality of care and will not eliminate your existing insurance plan.

Thank you again for taking the time to educate yourself about what health care reform really means. I encourage you to view the bill and its summary online, at http://thomas.loc.gov and the CBO cost estimate at http://www.cbo.gov/. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I may be of further assistance. Also, I encourage you to visit my website at http://www.house.gov/cleaver, where you can sign up for my electronic newsletter and receive updates on my latest activities as your Representative.

Sincerely,

Emanuel Cleaver, II
Member of Congress

Great little tutorial over at phpRiot on how to set up an intelligent custom 404 error page in PHP. However, if you’re using a stock Joomla 1.5 install with mod_rewrite enabled (e.g. SEO-friendly URLs) then you can just forget about doing this with an Apache directive. Joomla has control (though looking at the .htaccess file I’m not sure why), so you’ll need an altogether different great little tutorial. Lo and behold, the Joomla documentation comes to the resuce!

Check out how to build a custom 404 error handler into your Joomla template here.

Handy Flash banner ad clickTAG tutorial for anyone who doesn’t do this often enough to remember the technique off the top of their heads. This sort of thing is for use in ad syndication services like Google AdWords. Also, some good stuff at the Adobe site.

Each ad network uses different case sensitivity rules for the clickTAG variable (groan), so check into your network’s requirements. Google AdWords has a help page on clickTAG coding here.

We recently celebrated Duncan’s 5th birthday, and here’s the reel! =)

We recently celebrated Sheri’s 40th birthday with a big surprise party at V’s Italiano Ristorante. Great place, great people, and a great time (at least I had a great time!). Check it out here…

I’ve got another post up over at Group 3 Solutions. We’ve turned our attention away from WordPress Plugins over to Joomla Plugins this time around. First up is Joomla Tabs & Slides. The post gives some background on tabs as a concept and then shows how to easily implement them in Joomla using this plugin. Enjoy!

Here’s video from some of the seasonal events we’ve been to and also Halloween night itself. Enjoy!

Great article over at Vandelay Design for anyone interested in hacking WordPress categories. Really helpful.

Just a heads-up announcing a benefit concert for the March of Dimes that will be Friday, August 28th at 7pm at Coffee Break near UMKC. Here’s a map and directions or visit the Coffee Break Facebook page!

Coffee Break is providing space for us to have kids’ music and entertainment from Dino O’Dell and Dennis Porter and try to spread the word about the March of Dimes’ mission. In addition to great drinks, Coffee Break also offers great sandwiches and snacks.

A small donation is asked for at the door to help the March of Dimes fight for every baby to be born healthy.