Flada Name
The Flada Blog is written and maintained by Ed Snyder. Ed served in the United States Navy during Operations Desert Shield and Storm. While not onboard the USS Eisenhower, he was found maintaining H3 helicopters in Jacksonville, Florida. Five years in the south caused him to develop a very slight accent.
After leaving the service, Ed returned to his hometown in Wisconsin where he was ribbed about his southern pronunciation of the name of the state where he had been stationed. Thus was born the name Flada.
For the purposes of this blog, an acronym was coined from the word Flada: Freedom, Liberty, and Democracy Argumentation. It is Ed’s intent to write articles primarily of a political nature. Most of these will be from the viewpoint of a libertarian. Some entries will most likely have little to do with politics, however. Ed is a father of both a 20 year old and a 1 year old–there’s also another on the way. He is a husband, electronics technician, instructor, student, builder, pet fancier. These and many other diverse interests will undoubtedly find their way into blog entries.
More about Ed Snyder
The way to learn the most about me, is to read my blog entries. Every entry that I write is a piece of me and contains insight into my mind, heart, and (if you believe in such things) soul. For those who want an easier way, I’ll say a bit here.
I am a 38 year old, very happily married man. My wife of three years is a hospital corpsman in the US Navy. Years ago, I served as an aviation electronics technician in the Navy. After leaving the service, I worked in industrial electronics and mechanics for many years including field service where I traveled to 38 of the 50 united States and a handful of other countries. There are few machines that I can’t fix. After 9-11, I rejoined the Navy as a Reservist where I was an instructor who taught new recruits all about the Navy and how to be good sailors.
While I was in 11th grade, I became a father. My daughter is now a married 20-year-old who has recently made me a grandfather. My wife and I have a son who was born in late 2005, and we will be having another son in June 2007. We intend to homeschool our sons.
My principles revolve around freedom. When people are free, they can accomplish anything. My experience has shown me that if a helping hand is far removed then the helpers don’t have any personal interest in those who need help. That is why individuals, families, and communities are far better at solving problems than a central government.
I hope to hear from all of my readers whether they agree or not, because we all still have room to grow.
About the Tent Lady
As well as having Ed’s Blog entries, there will be a section of entries written by his mother, herein respectfully called The Tent Lady. Her liberal tendencies should help add balance to the politics. She is 66 years old and is currently living on unimproved land somewhere in the Ozarks with several dogs. About 10 years ago, she walked across the country from Rockford, Illinois to Niagara Falls, New York and then from New York to Florida. Her many experiences along the way will add a unique perspective to her writings.
Reader submissions
There will be occasional entries that will be submitted by readers. To submit your entry, simply register with the Flada Blog and write an entry through the “Dashboard.” After you save your entry, I will review it to see if it fits one of my blog categories. Minor editing may be applied (for spelling, punctuation, etc.), and then if it fits it will be posted.
Reader comments
All entries currently allow for comments, but the comments will go through an approval process before appearing on the site. In the future, depending on how much work this proves to be, the comments may be eliminated and commenting will then be restricted to the boards which are located at forum.flada.com.
Paying my bills
Currently, this blog is not monetized. However, I am an affiliate of Mountain Rose Herbs which is a great source of any cooking or health herbs which are completely organic. I love their organic teas and herbal infusions. The other affiliation found on the right sidebar is Amazon. As well as my required/recommended reading list, searches through the Amazon bar that lead to a purchase will credit my Amazon affiliate account. My Ebay Store has some items that I personally have available for sale, and my Cafepress store has t-shirts and other merchandise. Finally, I accept donations of any size through the right sidebar link to my Paypal account. All told, I have brought in less than $2 with all of these links, but since the blog is only a few weeks old, I consider that to be pretty good.
If you really like the Flada Blog, please use the various links to support my efforts. Just be sure to return to the Flada Blog to read more. I know the ads can be a little annoying, but when people purchase from my sponsors, I get paid which is what allows me to continue to maintain this blog and bring you content that (I hope) has value to you. Thank you.