You may think, “To-do lists? Those are for forgetful people and for people buying groceries for their grandmothers. I can remember everything I have to do.” Yet, if you stop for a few moments and think of how many individual tasks you have to do today, over the next week, or in the span of a month, you’ll probably realize you have more things to do than you thought. At some point, you had forgotten tasks, which means you could use a to-do list.

Even if you are good at remembering things (or just have very few things to do), and can recall all of your tasks instantly, to-do lists are a great way to decide which order and priority your tasks can take. Trying to juggle all of the day’s activities may lead you to plan more things into your day than 24 hours permit. The seeming immediacy of one task may lead you to forget that another task was more important. To-do lists can help eliminate these problems that have no business being in your busy schedule.

There are many forms of the pen and paper to-do list. I respect the desire to have a tangible form of the list that controls life. However, I’m forgetful enough to need a to-do list; I’m really not going to remember to carry around a physical list (even if I write that as a task within the list). I’ve found it more convenient storing my to-do list on the internet. Of all the things that I can lose or forget, there is no way that I can somehow lose or forget the internet somewhere. Like many students, I own a smart phone, so if my to-do list is online, I can pull it up at anytime.

After trying a couple online to-do list services, my favorite has become Remember the Milk. Remember the Milk (RTM) has features that allow users to include various details in creating tasks (locations, dates, notes, and people involved), but is simple enough to use for those who want to write down a list of tasks, and nothing more. RTM is very accessible, and includes a mobile site accessible from many mobile browsers. Users can also input tasks into RTM via email, SMS messages, and Twitter posts. RTM has integration with Gmail, Google Calendar, and iGoogle. RTM apps are available for the iPhone and for Android based phones. If you want to try it out, RTM has a guide for getting started.

Another easy to use to-do application is Google Tasks. Google Tasks does not standalone, but is integrated with Gmail, Google Calendar, and iGoogle. Gmail users can turn emails into tasks with a few simple clicks and tasks automatically show up in Google Calendar on the specified due dates. Google Tasks lacks many of the features RTM has, but is incredibly easy to use. If you already have a Google account, and if you’re intimidated by new websites, Google Tasks is already set up. Look for the Tasks link on the left side of Gmail and Google Calendar.

Aside from web-based applications, I have tried several apps for my Android phone. My favorite by far has been Astrid. It’s simple, it provides snide reminders (“Got a minute?”), it creates entries into Google Calendar, and unlike many Android apps, it rarely crashes. Best of all, it syncs with Remember the Milk.

If applications are just too complex for your preferences, there are other ways to ditch paper. Simple methods I’ve seen for keeping track of tasks is the self addressed text message or email. Type up a message with the day’s activities and send it to yourself. Now you have a list that’s hard to lose and easy to check.

Do you have other helpful ways to keep track of multitudes of tasks? Submit a comment in the field below.

“The Fed is the single most pervasive problem affecting every American, every age, race, and every socioeconomic status in the same way. It burdens us with tyrannical excesses of a small, elite class of people who view themselves as superior and intend to rule rather than serve,” said Matt Sistrunk, organizer of the group protesting in front of the El Paso branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Sistrunk, a West Point graduate and former Army Captain with 11 years of service, said he started questioning certain “status quo belief systems” in 1996, and has been active in working to enlighten the masses and to mobilize them to bring America back to the people by restraining government with constitutional rule of law ever since.

Although the Federal Reserve has been around for almost a century, Sistrunk, the other protestors, and those involved with the End the Fed movement do not think the Fed is necessary for economic stability. “That’s a lie. They create the crisis they claim they’re protecting us against. It’s an example of creation-reaction-solution. They create a problem, get a reaction, and install a prepared solution. They create slavery through the control of money supply. The government gives them the power to counterfeit money, something that if you and me did, we would go to jail.” The sentiment that the Federal Reserve has an ulterior agenda seems to be a unifying concern for members of the “End the Fed” movement. The introduction to a magazine posted on endthefed.us as educational material to be redistributed by group members says that “the Federal Reserve Bank and its owners are bringing to a conclusion the planned implosion of the financial economy of the United States.”

Despite all of the provocative language, Saturday’s protest was very peaceful. Federal Reserve security commended End the Fed’s orderliness and cooperation. “Oh yeah, the leader, he’s really good at keeping everything calm and in order.”

“This is completely peaceful,” iterated Sistrunk, “We want to achieve heightened awareness. We want to mobilize action. We want to equip people with the informational tools needed to affect their spheres of influence.”

End the Fed wants to abolish the Federal Reserve, but they think it will take several steps to get there, starting with an audit of the Federal Reserve’s records. “That’s the first step, auditing the fed. That falls under HR1207 which currently has [55] cosponsors. This audit will give a detailed look at the Fed, and it will uncover all of their secrets. Americans will no longer tolerate the Fed’s presence. The Fed is absolutely criminal.”

Besides their nationally based goals, the El Paso Campaign for Liberty Meetup Group has some plans locally as well. “We want to build a political machine made of people who support the constitution. We don’t want to fall into the typical paradigm of divisive politics,” Sistrunk said enthusiastically “We want anyone who loves our constitution. We’re looking into electing a few guys into city council and maybe a sheriff in 3 and a half years.”

During the drafting of our constitution, there arose a question of how direct our democratic representation should be. How much power should each citizen directly receive? The literacy rate of Americans was relatively low at the time, so there were those that were skeptical as to the ability of the average person to rule intelligently and responsible. The general public was thought to be uninformed, unreasonable, and uninterested. Such citizens could not be granted with the power to govern themselves. This attitude was obvious in the way that voting rights were granted. Not only did a person have to be white, male, and older than 21, but they also had to own land, just to assure their responsibility. Luckily for us, not everyone felt that all Americans were ignorant and uninterested and voting rights were extended to all ethnicities, sexes, and income levels. The optimists and visionaries who had faith in every woman and man and everything in between succeeded. Weighing in at 19 years young, I’m especially glad that people had enough faith in the youth of the country.

Sadly we failed them.

It has been widely accepted that in order to be responsible citizens, we need to stay informed on the issues that our countries face. It is impossible to develop reasonable ideas and solutions to problems if we do not know what the problems are in the first place. It’s great to have an opinion, but it should be an educated opinion if it is to have validity. I recently heard an argument between two individuals regarding the economic crisis that we hear so much of. One individual was arguing that it was wrong of the government to give General Motors 700 billion dollars. Small businesses needed that money more. The other said that it was smart of the government because if General Motors didn’t survive, then Toyota would become the biggest car company and all the jobs would follow Toyota to its home country, China. You do the fact check. It seemed to me that the issues the two were trying to discuss had some intellectual girth: the recession, manufacturing, innovation, off shoring, or globalization are all topics worth a conversation or two. It’s just hard to take an argument seriously when it’s based in misinformation.

It isn’t only the national issues that are important. Why did ASARCO close? What is the situation in Mexico, and more specifically, Juarez? How close is UTEP to reaching the coveted Tier 1 status in the UT system? Although they may not be as attention engrossing as national news, issues such as these often affect each of us more directly and immediately than the woes of Detroit and D.C.

So what should I care that two people can’t get their facts straight? Thanks to the well wishers mentioned earlier, those people were citizens, taxpayers, and voters. They, along with you and me, help govern our country. Don’t get me wrong. I am very thankful that we all have the right to vote. If it wasn’t for the dreamers, I may not have the right to vote either. I just wish we were all knowledgeable about what was going on in our country. I almost feel embarrassed when people don’t know what the credit crisis is. Those two misinformed persons are my countrymen. They should know better.

You may think that it’s hard to stay up to date on a regular basis (daily, not monthly), but there really is never an excuse. You don’t have cable to watch CNN on? CNN has on demand video at their site. The Wall Street Journal is too expensive? If you’re a student, then it may be more inexpensive than you think. You don’t like clicking link after link after link just to find something of interest or particular importance? Instead of spending precious time scouring the internet for relevant news, you can use sites like Google Reader to help you get all of the news in just one place; despite its apparent complexity, Reader is way easier to use than you may think, and it is feature heavy for those who want a more refined experience.

The point is that staying on top of the news is easier than ever. We have the internet now. And it’s more important than ever to stay connected to the world. Changes in businesses and in policy happen minute by minute, not day by day. The older folks call this the information age for a reason; they say that they get overwhelmed with the amount of information younger people expose themselves to everyday. They still read print for some inexplicable reason. It’s a pitiful of our more tech savvy youth to be less informed then their parents. The older folks call this the information age; they also say that the youth doesn’t keep itself informed. For our sake, and for theirs, please don’t prove them right.

Links

• The Newspaper Tree
• The El Paso Times
• El Diario de El Paso
• The Prospector

It is no news that the economy has slowed. Unemployment is on the rise. Although El Paso has yet to see thousands laid off, the city is not unaffected by the crisis. Many people have already lost their jobs and others anticipate losing their jobs in the near future. Is it really proper to celebrate the departure of what could have been more jobs for El Pasoan’s that are already feeling the crunch?

Speaking solely on the potential Asarco had to create jobs, it may not be inappropriate to celebrate at all.

According to the Asarco website, Asarco “could provide 300 well-paying hourly jobs and approximately 80 salaried positions” here in El Paso. Imagining a fantastical situation where EPA standards did not exist and Asarco was allowed to continue its operations as usual, 380 jobs would hardly put a dent in the current level of unemployment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminarily placed El Paso’s unemployed at 21,138 in December of 2008. It would not be a stretch to assume that the number has only risen since. Had Asarco continued operations, it would only employ about 1.8% of El Paso’s unemployed, a relatively small percentage when taken in context of the recession as a whole. Again referencing the BLS, El Paso’s workforce consists of about 302,000 people. To put the numbers in another perspective, Asarco would have only been directly responsible for .13% of El Paso’s entire labor force.

Aside from the individuals Asarco would directly employ, it was projected by an independent contractor that Asarco would indirectly create about 1,800 jobs, a much less meager figure than 380 employed. Again, there are two sides to everything. A January 2009 report by the BLS stated that “Manufacturing employment fell by 207,000 in January, the largest 1-month decline since October 1982. In January, durable goods manufacturing lost 157,000 jobs, with notable decreases in fabricated metal products (-37,000), motor vehicles and parts (-31,000), and machinery (-22,000). Employment in nondurable goods manufacturing declined by 50,000 over the month.” A national decrease in employment in fabricated metal products would have likely affected employment at El Paso’s Asarco. Even the most optimistic figures would have seen a decline in today’s market. For all the jobs that the company may have created, it would not have helped the city’s current plight as much as many may think.

Historically, Asarco wielded a great amount of economical influence over the city. It seems though, that given the peculiarity of present times, Asarco would have been less of a powerhouse had it continued operations as usual. After the smelter discontinued operations in 1999, there was not a sharp increase in unemployment. It must have been hard for some families, but El Paso as a whole was not consumed in flame and swallowed into the ground. If the smelter reopened, the contrary would probably not occur either.

For all the what-ifs and the maybes, one thing remains true as of February 2009. Asarco is gone. Hate it or love it, things in town have changed. All the city can do is look forward and vie with the present troubles. What will happen to the undoubtedly historic site? That’s another conversation best saved for another day.

If you’re not technologically savvy, you may find it hard to place your content in a nice looking, dependable, respectable location on the internet. For those who get intimidated by the prospect of web design or graphic design or network design, it’s actually easier to publish than you think. Look around for a few minutes and you’ll find a handful of places that’ll fit your information disseminating needs. If you’re reading this, you may have already found a solution.

It is undoubtedly a pity when many of the few who do take the time to say something do so without showing responsibility for what they publish. Like 16 year olds receiving their licenses to drive, writers who gain any amount public exposure need to be careful not to grow overzealous with their new found power. It is important not to mislead your audience. There’s nothing wrong with fiction as long as it’s not disguised as fact. Not to say that everything you write requires an MLA format citation. One of the perks of blogging is the relatively relaxed attitude that the blogging community follows. It is always necessary to give credit where credit is due, but sometimes, that can be as simple as including a link.

So who are you to have your product available for the world to see? You may not think your thoughts or opinions are worth much. There are 1.4 billion people online; each individual is a drop likely to get lost in a sea of content. The converse is also true. If 1.4 billion have access to your content, more than a few are likely to at least stumble onto your work. If your work is any good, you may have repeat visitors.

With the launch of the online Regional Identity magazine, I hope to see more people from the community creating and contributing quality work. Quality doesn’t mean necessarily Nobel winning work; as long as people can provide something insightful, educational, funny, unique, or relatively interesting, they will more than likely have a home.