Happy Halloween?

I’ve outgrown Halloween. Used to be a fan but not much anymore. Kids are adults with their own kids, even ones growing up enough now to think lesser of the tricks and treats. Still fun for them, but not for us olders!

So back to more serious stuff. The elections, naturally!

Got this off the internet a week or so ago:

“If President Obama cured cancer Republicans would attack him for cutting oncology jobs.

If President Obama solved world hunger Republicans would call him a socialist, and say he’s aiding our enemies.

If President Obama cured AIDS Republicans would say he’s Nazi and accuse him of waging a war on pharmaceutical scientists.

If President Obama eliminated our dependence on foreign oil Republicans would say he hates our allies and accuse him of damaging foreign relations.

If President Obama fixed our economic problems Republicans would credit their own failed policies.

If President Obama attempted to do any of these things though, Republicans would block him and then blame him for failing to do anything.

Isn’t it time we stop pretending that Republicans care about working with Obama?

Republicans hate President Obama more than they love America and they’ve been proving it since he was sworn in.

This November don’t just vote to re-elect President Obama. Vote to remove the people who refuse to work with him.”

                                                ~Facebook.me/beingliberal.org

This is a good summary of the situation these past four years. Mess up the economy, foreign relations and start two wars. Then leave the mess for someone else to clean up, but badger that group of people unmercifully and then claim he was ineffective.

Actually he has been remarkably effective through thick and thin. As a nation we could have done better but that takes cooperation and caring from both sides of the aisle. That wasn't to be so now it is transparent what the Republicans have been doing. It’s time to slap their hands and return them to a quiet corner in the room while the grown ups roll up their sleeves and do the heavy lifting.

If we wish to keep Halloween a fun date on the calendar year after year, then let’s at least get serious about what matters on our adult calendars. Vote responsibly and return people to government roles who care enough to collaborate and cooperate for the good of the American people.

Thank you for tending to this serious business.

The Chicago Tribune has found it necessary and advisable to endorse President Obama. That’s a rare step for them. You’d have to live in this region for 50 years to know how rare!

My support for Obama does not come from a hollow ideology. It comes from the basic belief that he is a good and decent man dedicated to working with everyone who is willing to work for the well being of America and world peace. He has accomplished much and has the trust and backing of many peoples around the globe, nations who have partnered with him in supporting peace in a world filled with hate and chaotic religions fighting each other. Competing national interests in both hegemony and oil/energy issues drive so much rancor. Yet those are borne on wings of envy and weakness of spirit.

We must do better. It takes a leader like Obama to gently help others work on a team to achieve understanding and cooperation. Syria, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Libya, Egypt and others in that region will eventually have to work together; or they will surely die together in a heap of misery and economic nihilism. Egos are poor leadership models. Feeling, compassion and empathy fuels progress much better suited for the suite of problems of the Middle East. Religion and ammunition provide hot heads that destroy.

It is time to get back to work and stop the spin. Politics can be dangerous and they are during election season. Ought not to be, but they are. You can help defuse this tension by asking people to stop spinning, stop blaming, and start providing answers to problems. Romney claims to have done that but he hasn't. He claims Obama hasn't but he has; read all of his position papers following the Democratic Convention that nominated him. His positions are well documented and have been available before if you were interested enough in it.

Romney tears down others and then claims their positions are his when the vote gets close. Isn’t that a shame? We really cannot use someone like that in a key leadership role of our nation. Keep the experience and keep the road map the same.

Re-elect President Obama.

October 31, 2012

Feeling My Way

Moving along down the road. Meandering a little if you know what I mean. Just doin’ it. Feelin’ it. Flowin’ it.

Not my normal vibe. But a good one just the same. The air flows over my face, maybe through the hair; calm and placid for once. Letting things just happen.

What caused this turn? Reminders that basic topics matter more than the ones we think matter. Health. Happiness. Good family and friends, the kind that stick around and laugh with you through thick and thin. Something needs to be done, we see it, note it, and arrange for a fix. Gets done. No longer an issue. But no big deal either. Other things are.

Hurricane Sandy on its way up from the Caribbean to off east coast Florida. But the trajectory is worrisome for the Virginia/DC coastal region northward to Long Island, Connecticut and Rhode Island, New Jersey and inland New York and Massachusetts. Big storm. Forecasted rains, wind and tidal surges. Inland disruption with power outages. Billions of property values at stake.

Yes. These are things to worry about. Safety and health of people. Property and other stuff a concern but they are replaceable. Infrastructure another matter; we need these usually hidden treasures to function smoothly and reliably in good times and bad. Emergency times especially. So there is cause to worry.

Halloween not a worry. Just a civilian/cultural fun day with little significance. Fun only. So it can get bumped or swallowed up one year because of major weather.

Elections being upset by the storm. Maybe but there’s time to get back on track and open the polls. If not, adjustments will be made. Elections are important. But health and safety of people comes first. That’s part of what we are voting for in the first place. Keep the machinery running for the well being of the most people. That’s a good and proper role for government!

Maybe you don’t think so. Or maybe you agree. It’s OK. I believe government is OK if you pay attention. It is a trustworthy function we rely on. I don’t fear it unless the wrong people get into the seat of power and mess it up. Don’t know who those people might be, but hope communications during campaigns makes it clear to us who deserves our trust and vote.

Storms come and go. So do power regimes and ideologies. Guess we have to trust that the unwanted or negative consequences that could happen will be repaired and we all just keep goin’ down the road. Feelin’ the vibe. Don’t cha know?

For those who may be upset by the outcome of the elections, take a deep breath and know that the end of the world is not near! This too shall pass and maybe it won’t be as bad as you thought it would be. Deep breath. That’s right; just like that. Breathe – one – two – three; breathe – one – two……..

October 30, 2012

Winding Down?

As we approach election day 2012 things are winding down; or are they? Depends on your point of view of course. But there are a few feelings I have that I wish to share with my readers.

First, it continues to amaze me how our nation treats elections as sport rather than serious process. It is not sport. It is about serious issues that need our input so we can move forward into the future with eyes open and spirits aerated by fact.

Second, lack of truth telling in campaign ads exposes the bankruptcy of the advertising. That it can make a difference spouting nonsense says more about the consumer than the politician. Maybe Jack Nicholson was correct, “You can’t handle the truth.” Remember that line in his movie about the killing of an innocent in an Army barrack? That iconic line may be true. Many of our fellow citizens simply cannot handle the reality of truth, fact. It holds them back and they make decisions on emotions, mostly fear: that which they cannot understand.

Third, laziness of citizens. Many don’t vote at all. They do not even accept the challenge of their responsibility to do their duty as a free, democratic citizen of a very worthy nation. Their laziness is supported by the unwillingness to read and think about the issues that matter. They are complex and hard to understand at times. But these voters won’t even scratch the surface.

Fourth, because of the above, schlock politicos take advantage of the electorate’s lowest common denominators among us. Name calling and uncivil messages and behavior is rewarded by votes. Sara Palin’s antics serve as an excellent example here.

Fifth, news organizations that do not subscribe to the American Truth Ideal in reporting. Journalism is about reporting facts and historical bases of fact. Journalism is about ferreting out the truth about Cause – Effect – Result. That is clearly not being done by CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS or FOX News. Especially Fox. A recent internet note reads:

“Fox News Banned in Canada: Canada’s Radio Act requires that ‘a licenser may not broadcast…any false or misleading news.’ The provision has kept Fox News and right-wing talk radio out of Canada and helped make Canada a model for liberal democracy and freedom.” Especially highlighted was Sean Hannity who was quoted as responding: “OK…so I make stuff up…so sue me!”

           

We’ve done better Sean; we ignore you.

           

Sixth, candidates make up statements to put themselves into a better spotlight position. Romney recently claimed this election is about the American Family. Really? The home foreclosures, lack of mortgage reform, unemployment within the middle class, war hawk foreign policy, unified Republican resistance to Jobs Bill, Mortgage Reform Act, Assistance Bill for State and Local police, fire and teacher jobs, and many more acts of interim repair to the economy…all worsened the plight of American families. Especially the middle class which is the engine for can-do talent and employment, the earners who drive the consumer economy of our land, and who have the brains and education to understand what has been happening to them. Shame on you Mitt for such as travesty of truth.

Seventh, use of fear in politics and how it disadvantages truth. Have you ever noticed that Republicans routinely make statements portending enormous calamity is about to appear if they lose the election? Any election? John McCain used it. Newt used it. Nearly every Republican presidential primary candidate used it; now Romney is using it.  You know why? Because the tactic seems to work. Normally intelligent voters vote against fear. That means the other side of the discussion is killed off without thinking it through.

Eighth, losing political campaigns fight their opposition by claiming large false claims because it is nearly impossible to defend against such unless the truth has been broadly distributed and understood. The falseness then has a chance to be disposed of out of hand. BUT, has the truth been well enough distributed for such understanding to be readily accepted? If the audience is not tuned in, there is a real chance that the message has not been received.

Ninth, CEOs of major corporations are demanding deficit action in a Wall Street Journal front page story published October 25^th. Trouble is the deficit was created almost entirely by the actions of Republicans in the White House and in Congress over the 8 years of George W. Bush. Lest readers forget, Afghanistan and Iraq wars were waged off the budget pages until Obama entered the White House. He insisted on non-voodoo accounting and promptly placed the war expenses on budget so we could track financial reports sensibly. He has reduced expenses steadily and raised some revenues. The result? The smallest deficit in the last 11 years. How’s that for deficit action, CEO’s? In spite of opposition by Republicans!

Tenth, uncivil language begets uncivil language and behavior. After the election it is nearly impossible to heal the hurts created during such campaigns. And when did this begin? During the George H.W. Bush campaign pitted against Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. The Bush campaign sank to new lows in their rhetoric. This caused more problems for them as Ross Perot’s campaign picked up the disenchanted Bush-ites. The result? Bill Clinton won.

But Republicans unhesitatingly bullied and battered Clinton from the election on through both of his terms and past his end of term. They hounded him and Hillary mercilessly for 10 years and forced him into debt for legal defenses amounting to more than $16 million. Luckily, they made him so popular with Americans that his books more than handily covered all of the debt!

But the mold was cast for future campaigns and they turned dirty and nasty. We are still in this mode. Birthers. Racists. Liars. Yarn spinners. Hideous stories and outright rot. Nothing seems to shame the conservatives, the evangelicals and republican fear mongers.

At some point one wonders who is getting hurt the most. Well the message for me is: ALL OF US! Young people are embarrassed by this behavior and avoid campaigns. Old people are confused by the bombast and pull away from their public duty. Well meaning citizens feel dirty and pull away from the shenanigans. The result skews election results and makes for very poor cooperation in any politicized setting: Congress, Senate, state legislatures, you name it.

Pity that! So much lost for no or little gain. It is a poison in our society and it needs to be removed. How? When so many otherwise good people are led so far astray?

If it sounds negative, it is. Stop listening, speak up, or silence your own wagging tongue!

Vote responsibly or don’t vote at all, please. Know the issues and take responsibility for them. It is up to you. Each of you.

October 29, 2012

Of Mission

Yesterday’s blog focused on ‘the story of place’. Today I want to simply focus on mission, or purpose. What is my purpose for living? What is yours? Is it merely to survive? Or are their other missions we are called to do? To be happy? To populate our communities? To build family and meaningful relationships which become resources to build mission-oriented communities?

Is our purpose all about career? Earning a living? Amassing wealth? Building institutions that serve the needs of the community and of individuals in need?

Purpose and mission. For now I will use those terms interchangeably.

The journey of each of our lives from birth to death, is the story of the in-between passage of time.  How we transit through that time has interest and value. Or should. Because the challenges of the journey make unique our personal experiences, each journey is a tale unto itself. You have a journey. There are others connected with your journey, usually the early years of childhood. And of nurture and family building of your own – romance, marriage and child rearing of your own generation. And their generations.

Cross referencing adjacent journeys tells the story of community and neighborhood and society.  It all depends on the size and complexity of the settlement. Big fish in small pond, or a large fish in a very large lake. The journeys differ from time to time and place to place.

And so does the mission change. It is called to be relevant in some fashion.

How is that for you? Is your mission clear? Is your relevance known and healthy? Where are you on your journey. And how many ‘others’ find space in our story?

October 27, 2012

PS: Tuesday I received my first treatment for a herniated disk in my lower spine. An injection of steroids directly into the nerves and disk were designed to curb swelling and restore nerve function.  Oddly the treatment worked quietly. By the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday, my sleep was interrupted by lack of pain and enhanced free movement of hips and legs.

That freedom opened other thoughts and the last two days of blogs wrote themselves! You might have found my ideas on the cosmos a little out of place at first, but now you know how they came about. The basics are important, don’t you think?

GS

Story of Place

Home is place. A place may be a home, or not. What makes that so?

And for how long? Is it temporary like a campsite that gives comfort from the weather and pause for re-energizing strength for the journey to continue? Does that site represent ‘home’ for a day, a night, a week, or longer? Depends on the circumstances, right?

Where the place is makes a difference. When also dictates some parameters. Resources also make a difference. Rivers, mountains, fish and game, oceans, ports, soil for farming, slope for drainage, amount of seasonal moisture or precipitation – so many resources or assets of place that are important to the value or attraction of the site.

And so it has been for recorded history.

I lived in Syracuse, New York for a few years prior to and during college years. I learned that Syracuse was a historic site in the late 1400’s and early 1500’s for the French Canadians and native Indians as they trapped for fur. They discovered salt deposits there. That commodity became a lucrative trading item that built more trade traffic and the city of Syracuse began from such humble origins.

Chicago was settled by Indians in a marshy area adjacent to a river and Lake Michigan. Connectors to other great lakes were identified. Native Indians created the settlements and trade routes for early American settlers. The rest is history, the story of a place named Chicago.

What we do with a place defines it. But its utility in the lives of some and then many cause an explosion of function and growth. Complex societies build on that base and prosper if the people share vision and purpose.

Place has a story. That story usually has logical simple beginnings. What comes in time often obscures the story of origin. It would be helpful to reconnect with it from time to time. It defines our roots whether we are newcomer to the region or one of the long term residents.

I sat in church one day and contemplated that place. I wondered what the church was like when it was new, even as it was first organized and built. I thought about the plat of land the building sat upon. My mind traveled back in time to wonder how the soil was used last, before the church, perhaps before any other building that might have had a place in that exact spot.

I further thought about what was done on that land 100 years earlier, or 200 years, or 300….  You see this was the site of an early Illinois prairie inhabited by native American Indians. And as a result of European settlers that came to the shores of the New World in the late 1400’s and early 1500’s, their burgeoning acculturation of what became America took over a land mass once settled as home by native Indians. The natives were pushed aside and they migrated.

From the east coast and from the northern forests they moved southerly and westerly across the eastern mountain ranges, around the great lakes and down through the flats and marshes of the Midwest, what is now Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota. Down they came to the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Through the area we know today as Chicago.

The migration was a trickle and unwanted at first. But later ‘American’ government policy forced relocation of most Indians, certainly to reservations – a few in their old region, but mostly in far western territories. By 1850 the relocation was so complete that stragglers had to hurry lest they be slaughtered by unfriendly ‘immigrants’.

So, in our place of today’s church building, what human life transpired on this spot? Might it have contained a portion of the story of temporary place for Indians? Most assuredly it was. Pottery shards and arrowheads attest to this. But remember this was marshy land later drained for American agricultural purpose. So hard-land settlement finds are few. What remains of their culture has been destroyed or lost over the centuries.

What else happened here? The story of place continues to tell its story. Millennia happened here. Lush growth of botanicals happened here. So did nature ignited prairie fires to cleanse the soil and allow new growth. Rivers formed here. So did lakes and ponds. Fish and other wildlife happened, too.

More millennia occurred and the raging climate shifted and worsened and eased and worsened again. An endless cycle of climatic change, including the end of the Ice Age. Where our church sits today, ice once suffocated the land more than a mile thick. 5200 feet of ice. The weight. It made the prairie. It made the soil. It crushed the rock to soil. It deposited water and aquifers. It made possible our place.

The story of place. It is ours for now. What seconds or minutes of time are ours in the pantheon of time? What will we do with our time here? Will it be of lasting value for others to build on? And a proud value?

Our place. Our home. Our time. Are we doing well with it?

October 26, 2012

Stuff...?

We have things in our living space. Many items are art pieces collected over the years. Some are creations of Rocky’s fertile mind and vision. Others are art works that spoke to us at one time or another and we bought them. Lugged them home. Found a place for them.

What do they do? What is their function? They help us think. They help form a healthy mindset in which to think and value items often ignored. Big things and little. Ideas that upset the emotions, other ideas that calm us. They are part of our environment. We sometimes think we ignore them, but we really don’t. Their presence is part of our surrounding which reminds us of who we are.

As couple of years ago my sister and her partner visited us at long last. They didn’t comment on any of our art, and like a fool, I begged the question one day after they had been here for 3 or 4 days. My sister’s comment was simple: “It’s just stuff.” And waved it off as inconsequential.

One wonders if she is so blasé but comments she makes or doesn’t make when visiting her friends’ homes.

Well, to her our stuff may just be meaningless stuff to her. But they represent far more for us. They are not things. They are ideas. They are feelings. They remind us in some symbolic way who and what we are. That is not inconsequential. No sir!

And we will have a challenge finding a new home to accommodate our walls of thought!

Another idea pops to mind: what do our bookshelves say about who and what we are? We have more books than shelf space. We box some and store them while loading every shelf down with double rows of books. Once a year or so we move the books in the back to the front of the shelf! Just so we don’t forget we have them.,

Not only have we read these books – all of them, but we also read them a second time. Some I’ve read three times and get more enjoyment out of each reading than the past one. And no, we do not suffer from Alzheimer’s!!

Books contain ideas, relationships, logic, history and environment. The very things we need to think about when ordering our own lives. Useful they are in our lives. Like wall art displayed around our walls, our library represents our environment, too.

It is not easy to know what goes on in the life of another, or his/her brain. Nor is it easy for them to know what goes on inside of us. This quote from a Facebook page named Followyourdreamstoachieve is appropriate here:

            “Just because I laugh a lot, doesn’t mean my life is easy.

             Just because I have a smile on my face everyday, doesn’t mean

                        That something is not bothering me.

             I just choose to move on, and not dwell on all the negatives in my life.

             Every new moment give me the chance to renew anew.

             I choose to be that.”

What is important to me is mine; what is important to you is yours. I think most people get this. Of course there will always others who don’t. They remain rooted in some inner place that remains uninformed by the lives and strivings of others.

Rejoice in sharing. Each other. Ideas. Feelings. All are good. They make a huge difference when we share them. For me and for the others out there!

October 25, 2012

On Beauty and Future

I could wallow in gloom and doom as the gorgeous summer and fall weather steadily marches toward winter. Cold, wind, sleet, ice and snow; those are the iconic symbols of winter. Yet as awful as they seem to us right this moment, when we encounter them they bring another vista to mind: pure, cold, calm and serene. The winter is a time of pause and recollection. It is a time of some inconvenience, too, especially for commuting and getting around on errands. But such times are also a reminder that we do not control the cosmos. Mother Nature has more to say about that than we!

We have to live through it. It toughens us. It gives us strength. If we can smile through this we are stronger for the struggle.

“Nothing is more beautiful than a real smile

 that has struggled through tears…”

                                                                        ~Anonymous

As our trees and shrubs are mostly leafless now, we ready for the cold of winter and warmth of our nests indoors. Cozy time is what we called it years ago. A time to nest with family and friends indoors where we focus on closer matters of life. A time to spend together and reacquaint us with family needs and relationships. Perhaps that is why Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays are so welcome. They remind us of what matters; and it is not weather!

There are other things this season that may lead to doom and gloom: moving from a home of 18+ years. Selling the home in a sick real estate market. Losing the home, actually. Rental housing for the future yet undetermined. Health issues that continue to annoy, not threaten. Just living differently at a time when the old routines were most comfortable.

Yet living differently also offers hope for something better, more focused, and of more value in some way. What will the new circumstance demand of us and how will we respond? Will we complain and regret the losses or will we see a way to live more openly, simply and honestly? I like the challenge of that. I see something of value crashing into our lives within that prospect of change.

Rocky found this anonymous gem on the internet the other day:

            “Three things in life you should never lose:

             Hope.    Peace.   Honesty.”

I can endorse this enthusiastically! 

Over the years I’ve loved being a member of organizations, especially the boards of those groups. The purpose of the organization is much clearer on the board, or should be. If it isn’t then that is a purpose for me to work toward for them. That very idea is what got me interested in long-term strategic planning, a profession I worked at for over 35 years. Who are we? Why do we exist? What is it that we do? These are the critical questions each organization needs to ask and fervently answer if they are to be successful. Their very relevance depends on it. And with that the energy and commitment of every person on the board and within the membership.

The same is true of our individual lives. We need to ask our self those same questions.

I once had an elderly woman claim I was a dreamer. At first she didn’t say this with a kind face or expression. But she later clarified her statement; she meant to call me a visionary. And she also stated for the record, that few are such, but each is needed wherever encountered! I felt very good about that!

An apt quote from John Lennon is this:

            “You may say I’m a dreamer,

             But I’m not the only one.

             I hope some day you’ll join us,

             And the world can live as one.

Powerful that! One thought that we can all live well by.

Dare to dream, friends. Dare to dream.

October 24, 2012

Getting to Know You

Rocky found something on the internet the other day that has haunted me. It is another of those anonymous quotes, you know the kind…they are quite good and you wonder why no one takes credit for them?  Well here’s one from that category:

            “When you don’t talk there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.”

This is accompanied by a photo of gnarled roots growing above the soil of a very large tree. The image and the quotation are well suited to one another. Together they impelled me to sit quietly and think. On many occasions.

I’ve stared at a lot of sunrises lately thinking on those words and image. Other favorite focal points are trees with vibrant colors still glowing in the sunlight. Ideas are well sorted by such views. Conclusions, though, come in spurts and not ones that have lasting lives!

Not talking leads to two obvious results: a hiding from spoken regrets or apologies that need to be shared with the rightful person. This leads to a clearing of your mind at least, and proffers a fresh start for the relationship that might be damaged otherwise. Of course there is no guarantee that the other person will accept your regrets, but that is his/her choice, not yours. You still have the green light to proceed with or without the other person.

The second result from not speaking your mind is a growing apart of two individuals. Without speaking fully of what is on your mind the other is left in the dark and cannot fathom what’s on your mind. And vice versa if you are both not speaking fully. One begets the other as well.

Sharing your full being with the other allows the two to know each other better. The two get to know each other so well that their lives are also shared and mysteries of misunderstandings become known over time. Those mysteries solved become the riches of the relationship. Upon them even more riches are discovered and pave the way to a life fully lived.

So far, that’s what the quote has meant to me. Perhaps your pondering has or will lead to a different conclusion. If so please share it with us?

Rocky found another quote that fits our discussion today:

            “Good friends are like stars;

             You don’t always see them,

             But you know they are always there.”

They add sparkle to my life – both stars and friends! Clouds may obscure seeing them from night to night but I still know they are there. Reassuring thought, that. I hope they feel the same knowing I am in their corner as well.

Before closing today, I want to comment briefly on the passing of George McGovern. I did not view him as a liberal ideologue. No; I saw him as a voice of reason during tumultuous times. Remember he was adamantly for peace and stopping the Viet Nam War. A war without a clear beginning and no clear end in sight. A war that pitted a giant against a puny David. In the end McGovern was right. David won and we, the giant, lost. The war was futile. Might against ‘whatever’ does not make a war that has justice or virtue a pressing force that builds toward victory.

McGovern understood that war is the last best hope to be used in dire need. Not for political or geopolitical statement. That remains true today witness our war in Iraq. It is also not the reason to go to war for the Middle East under current circumstances. Too many skirmishes yet to be talked out before being shot out! Let the diplomacy of cool minds prevail lest the heat of battle be waged for little gain.

I saw McGovern as a symbol of hope. He lost to a society’s fear, not logic. And America had continuing war based on fear and loss of face. How hollow that victory!

As it is today we Americans continue to struggle between Hope and Fear. Which will rule us for another four years?

Talk it out. Relish your friends. Both are symbols of hope. Together they will give you sparkle and wisdom. May it be so for you.

October 23, 2012

Headline Shenanigans

“Will there be another 1929 Crash?” “Is the American Economy Unfixable?”

“Will Americans Ever Really Retire?”

You’ve read these and similar headlines. Most are found on the internet as lures to news articles; you know the ones, not really ‘news’ but opinion packaged as news. And the articles are on ad-studded spaces where traffic counts are important for someone to earn some points and dollars for that traffic. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What are news organizations about these days? Is it all about traffic counts? Network ratings? Ad rates?

Maybe. But something else is happening at the same time: weakening of credibility of the very institutions we all have come to rely on for facts and figures that matter. Perhaps no more.

Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News sits pretty on the set and offers a practiced visage so we can believe his utterances. Trouble is the utterances ring hollow more often and we begin to turn away toward other sources which give us the facts. Analysis is my job; so is it yours. You don’t need me or anyone else to tell you what the facts mean. You can do that yourself. It takes a little work, but you’ll be glad you did.

The economy is weak and struggling, that is if you count the world’s largest economy as weak. Of course we can measure it and learn it is still in some doldrums, but not as bad as it once was during the period from 2007 to the present. Things are better today and getting stronger. Some progress slips from month to month, but the base is repairing. More jobs in the private sector are steadily being created. Government sector jobs continue to be weak and form the primary base of job losses over the past 3 years. Guess the Republicans got what they wished for; governments across the land are shrinking! Trouble is the local governments are ones which do a lot of our needed public work we so often ignore. Policemen, Firemen, Teachers, Streets and Sanitation. Do you do this work? Do private companies do this work? No. These are the tasks and careers of civil servants. Like the military, too. And NASA workers, and so many other government jobs. All in danger because some ideologues think government should not be in that business. Private employers should be.

I guess like the private military helpers in Afghanistan and Iraq, huh? You know the ones, they did nasty security jobs the military didn’t. They had embarrassments over there that nearly took down the global image of America! They were the mercenaries who warped the good name of the USA, but private profits of those companies soared didn’t they? Contractors of the American government.

The American economy is doing much better. Of course it would have rebuilt faster if the Republicans would have cooperated, but they were noisily absent because they did not want Obama to get any credit for an improving economy.

Well, the economy is improving. But guess what? There are other reasons the economy hasn’t improved magically as fast as we would want it to. Here are some reasons:

First, our economy had run its course on then current technology and basic industries. New industries and technologies were begging to be unleashed. New futures are being born!

Second, when we deny this fact, we get very slow formation of economic equilibria.

Third, if we pull back from embracing the new, we thwart capital formation for new investment to make the new futures take root and succeed.

Are we a nation falling prey to negative campaigning? Do we really believe the best is behind us and the rest is mediocre survivalism?  If you believe that, then shame on you! Your future is dreary.

But America for me is much more than its past. It is about building new futures, leading the way, discovering, expanding and pushing limits. Like it always has been.

We need new energy to run the nation. We need to invent it not drill for it. We need to harness physics to create energy that is portable, flexible and powerful, yet safe and nurturing of a sustaining planet. Not oil!

We need to dump a lot of old educational methods and processes and find new ways of unleashing the human power within each student no matter how old or young, how able or not, how culturally different from the norms. We can do this. We must continue to find ways for people to live their lives productively and satisfyingly.

We must find ways to build justice into our culture so women, immigrants, people with different abilities and cultures are treated with equality and dignity always.

We must find ways in which the religious are nurtured and sustained while not disempowering the non-religious or differently religious. Ours is the land of the free and the home of the brave where religious beliefs are allowed unfettered in the land as long as you don’t cram it down unwilling throats.

We need transportation that fits our land and lifestyles without polluting both.

We must treasure and protect water to sustain life not waste or contaminate it. Same with the air and soil!

We must learn new investment strategies as a nation to ensure infrastructure is available and maintained so that all can use it reliably for life and business.

I do not fear government because we can control it. It is not my parent but our partner. It will not run away with the power because we vote and monitor its functioning. And we participate in it and imbue it with necessary authority, but clip its wings when needed to keep it in check.

I trust that partnership. I do not fear it. I sometimes wonder and sadden when I witness impractical or ineffective government. But then I see the imbalances that made that happen. And that is what needs to be fixed. Not the government per se.

Yes the challenges are large. But so are we as a nation. And our abilities. We can meet those challenges and have a ball doing it! Don’t we even want to try? Or are we so busy feeling defeated that we won’t lift a finger to do what we do best?

Come on, sleeping giant! You can do it. For all of our sake, and for the world’s; we need to do this.

October 22, 2012

Sailing the Stormy Seas

I can remember facing key career decisions alone. No spouse. No family near. Green and wet behind the ears. Feeling my way into the adult world.

We’ll forget the near poverty, the lack of household goods, and the task of building a wardrobe suitable for the workplace. I’ll let lapse the queasiness felt often as I filled time I had alone and knew not what to do with it.

Eventually this resolved in marriage and family building. The career took its many turns but satisfaction with task and career futures made life fun and exciting. Someone was there to share it with. Friends and family gathered, too, to share the many life moments.

Aloneness came again via divorce. Broad explorations of possibilities followed but still very much alone. To be sure, family was near, and so, too, friends and colleagues. The career became like a companion. It provided peace and some tranquility of spirit. But not complete.

Later when Rocky and I met and formed a lasting relationship, life made sense again. The stormy seas, not always at bay, upset me alone but rarely together. So, I leave you with this golden find on the Internet. It sums up what I’ve been writing about here.  Enjoy!

            “Find someone who will:

           

            Never get tired of kissing you everyday.

            Hug you when you’re jealous.

            Understandingly keep silent when you’re mad.

            Squeeze your hand when you’re not in the mood.

            Plan and imagine the future with you in it.

            And when you find that someone…Never let go!

Allow those thoughts to guide your weekend. If you have that someone, ponder the richness of that relationship. If you do not have that someone, focus on finding him or her. Meanwhile, Peace and Justice!

October 20, 2012

Stepping Up

I was thinking the other day about what I could do to make a lasting impression on the world. That’s a heady thought! What can one person do? Haven’t I already done a lot of things that would add up to some lasting good if they were all taken together? Perhaps so. But not likely.

Philosophical statements can provide inspiration for this sort of thinking. So I began reading a lot of material. Collected a lot. All of it pretty good. But then I couldn’t decide which was the best to follow.

Kept on looking. Stared at my list of ideas but couldn’t come up with anything with strong focus. Then, Rocky sent me this:

“An anthropologist proposed a game to children of an African Tribe. He put a basket of fruit near a tree and told the kids that the first one to reach the fruit would win them all. When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying the fruits. When asked why they ran like that, as one could have taken all the fruit for oneself, they said, ‘Ubuntu, how can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?’ Ubuntu is a philosophy of African tribes that can be summed up as ‘I am because we are.’”

                                                            ~facebook.com/TheGreatSpirit.God

Group in place of one. Group working together for the benefit of all. Many hands make light work of large tasks. Rising tides lift all ships. Sharing good ideas makes for one great idea.

All those statements are true. All are worthy of our attention and support. But we do not follow through most of the time. A fire burns down a neighbor’s home. The neighbors band together and help the burned out family with clothing, alternate housing, meals and help in rebuilding their lives. The community comes together in churches and clubs and raises funds for medical help and permanent housing solutions. Amazing work gets done through the acts of many. And it warms our hearts that we can do this together. It gives shape and value to our lives.

Ubuntu. We are here together, not alone. We were born through the actions of two people. But the family and village sustained us, nurtured us. Ubuntu. I am because we are. A good philosophy!

Americans have difficulty with this in the main. We yearn for the togetherness, sure; but we also compete to build lives of success and plenty. Doesn’t that describe the capitalist system, and the open market ideology? Trouble is, none of that works without the Ubuntu. Think about it. That’s where peace comes from. That’s where justice is done. That’s the place of community and group accomplishment. It is society. It is the workings of many people to make good things happen.

It is not socialism. It is not communism. Although there are ideologues among us who would like to make that claim! Sad for them. Not for us. We need to deal with our common business to strengthen our lives together.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said it well:

“When we look at modern man, we have to face the fact that modern man suffers from a kind of poverty of the spirit, which stands in glaring contrast with a scientific and technological abundance.

We’ve learned to fly the air as birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas as fish, yet we haven’t learned to walk the Earth as brothers and sisters.”

In times of crisis we do walk together. We do yearn to fill the void from poverty of spirit. Our instincts are there but our competitive nature tends to divide our efforts, not unite them.

Our current economic plight is a crisis. There are plentiful answers but they have to be chosen carefully and implemented with common hopes and aspirations. Doing several things that oppose each other at the same time only muddies the waters and outcomes. We must choose wisely. We can only do that by working together.

A quote from www.facebook.com/WeLoveToIrritateHatefulRepublicans provides this thought:

“I’m voting for Democrats because our country IS better off today than when Bush left office. It’s also obvious that Republicans HAVE tried to keep times hard on Americans so they could falsely blame the President. Let’s face it, Republicans haven’t acted patriotically and THEY’VE failed America.”

I readily admit this is an intemperate statement. But it rings true. Senate and House leaders on the Republican side of the aisle have openly stated their one objective is to make Obama a one term president. They have thwarted every move by the White House to turn our economy around. And then they say ‘his failed policies’ are to blame. No, they are not. Congress’ indecision and divisiveness are what failed America. And it is the voters’ duty to make that point when they vote on November 6^th.

Stepping up to the plate of responsibility, both Democrats and Republicans need to do the right thing. Keep Obama in office, and instruct Congress to work together to solve our common problems. Ubuntu!

October 19, 2012

Wealth vs Wealth

It has been said over and over again that America is the richest nation ever. And I believe that is true. Great wealth so far has accumulated where? In the hands of individuals, or the lives of every one of America’s citizens?

That is not easily answered. Well, maybe a little easier these days after governments were required to value their assets for accounting reasons. You see, if there is an asset (a bridge, roadway, sewer pumping station, whatever) those are items that will need to be replaced at some time or other, and their depreciation needs to be accounted for as well as the future obligation to spend dollars to replace or rehabilitate those very same assets. You see the principle involved, here, don’t you?

There is value accumulated in the name of the American people. Most of us don’t think much about it until some of the assets don’t function properly and need to be repaired. Pot holes, crumbling bridge, dam near collapse. Now I know you see the point clearly!

Who paid for these ‘assets’? We all did. You and I; and companies and businesses to be sure. But we are all taxpayers and we paid for the items whether from use taxes, fees and fares, tolls and property taxes, sales taxes or income taxes. One way or the other we paid to make these things come into being. So in a very real sense we own them all.

What do we do with these assets? Why,…we use them: to live, to accomplish our daily routines, to earn a living, to ‘do’ commerce. These assets are of value in many ways. Utility value to be sure, but also investment for quality of life, as well as capital goods that actually help create business capital and wealth from net income from business operations.

We must have bridges so school buses can get kids to schools. Both the bus and the school are public assets as well. The bus is a capital good which a company earned profit from in the building and selling of it. Same with the school; a construction company built the school and made a profit, hired a lot of skilled labor and paid their wages to build the school. And maintaining the school is yet another business enterprise. Running the school for educational purposes is a public cost, of course, but it is an investment enterprise in the worth and ability of our younger generation so they may take on our national interests eventually and do so with smarts and savvy so it might advance in later years. And earn them a good income and quality of life as well!

The roadways allow employees to get to work on time and safely. Traffic signals are a component of this function as well. Each and every item is a public asset, and each earned someone cash to make and sell and the taxpayer to pay for. Enterprise. It exists everywhere we look and many other places we don’t even think of looking.

Yet there are those who espouse that wealth getting should be left to the entrepreneur. That the risk taker should earn and keep the spoils of his efforts. Trouble is, whose risk is being taken? The customer? The taxpayers at large? The business person? Totally? Really? You mean these assets we have talked about are ghosts that wouldn’t be there unless a private business didn’t take the risk to make them?

I don’t think so. Having been in a government position, I remember contract negotiations wherein the specifications of the jobs and equipment were well spelled out, by both the government entity and the business partner. That was to protect both sides of the deal. They knew what to expect. And what contingencies might arise that would imperil the project. But cost set asides were developed to protect both parties so the project had a good prospect of completion. Whose risk are we trying to inventory here?

It seems to me that business and government do a good job of protecting each other. Always have. Even in military business lines; oh Hell! Especially in military business lines. My father spent most of his career in that industry and how it worked was pretty transparent. Government and industry in those instances were very much a partnership. That means the public took on the risk. 100% of it.

Education. The public takes on that risk, too. We pay for building the institutions that educate and prepare professional personnel to teach, to doctor, to lawyer, to engineer, to administer businesses, ad infinitum. You know we do. And we have the gall to ask the student to pay tuition for all of this while most of it benefits the businesses and institutions and nation at large? Oh we need to get the student to take on some of the risk of his/her decision to study what they might. But in the long run their work and risk benefits all of us.

Healthcare. This is not a private enterprise deal. Hospitals are non-profit but high revenue businesses. They pay little taxes because they serve the public good. Yet many people make enormous incomes administering the hospitals, designing and building them, staffing them and all the rest. Doctors are not impoverished although their prospects are lower today than in many a decade! The insurance companies continue to make tons of money. Finance markets continue to earn huge profits on this industry. But the risk? That’s taken on by the taxpayer. At all levels: federal, state and local. Regarding the last item, how much public expense do you really think municipalities have to eat in the name of supporting hospitals? Non profits don’t pay property taxes like the rest of us. They sometimes make goodwill donations for fire and police protection. They pay for water and sewer that is metered as a utility. But the rest of the government support is left high and dry in most cases. Research that little fact and you may be surprised!

What is my point in this posting? Simply this:

Wealth is in all of our hands whether we realize it or not. It does not accrue to private hands except in those cases where ownership rights allows such wealth to accumulate. That is right and OK; to a point. But controlling all wealth based on that tenet is not correct. We are all risk takers.

           

The late and great US Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis had this to say on this very subject:

“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”

Justice Brandeis served on the court from 1916 to 1939 and has long been considered one of the greatest jurists of our national history. He sensed the danger in unrestricted wealth control and power. Just like President Dwight Eisenhower warned us back in the 1950’s: Beware the Military/Industrial Complex; they are wanton in their seeking of power and wealth!

In this election of 2012 please remember this as you vote. Do we want private wealthy citizens to own our government? Or large industries to lay ownership claims on our citizens. That is what is happening.

I’d much rather that you and I as voting citizens have those rights of ownership. After all, we are the risk takers in the final analysis, and we are the beneficiaries of those risks taken. In the name of all of us, do not let the few rich take what  belongs to each of us.

October 18, 2012

Political Season Debunked

Mark Twain made many statements. Most were pithy and funny. But most were also heavily tinged with ageless truth. They served the American public back in his day and still do today.  Here’s one:

            “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.”

Sound familiar? Is it apt today? The ideologues among us want us to believe their spin but offer no logical sequence of facts to support their message. That’s political science don’t you know: the art of getting people to act on your opinion against their own interests. Sad reality and maybe cynical. But cynical doesn’t mean wrong, does it? It is often the truth.

Bernie Sanders is the Independent Senator from Vermont. He offers many good ideas to think on. Here’s one:

“They talk about class warfare – the fact of the matter is there has been class warfare for the last 30 years. It’s a handful of billionaires taking on the entire middle-class and working-class of this country.

           

And the result is you now have in America the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on Earth and the worst inequality in America since 1928. How could anybody defend the top 400 richest people in this country owning more wealth than the bottom half of America, 150 million people?”

More than the 400 billionaires are the ideologues who have lesser wealth but dream of obtaining more at the cost of the many. So the 400 have help by many millions of other wannabes.

Anonymous from the Internet gives us another political thought to think about:

            “If the sanctity of marriage is so important,

 where are the people protesting cheating and divorce?”

            As John Lennon said,

“It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love; it matters only that you love.”

He made that statement in the context of accepting people’s love whether gay or straight and whether in holy matrimony or not. Rather we love and live than live a loveless life. The latter is problematical for the rest of us no matter what. It’s time that imbalance was corrected, don’t you think?

Rocky came upon the following quote. It appears to summarize well our thoughts on several points being discussed this political season:

            “Just to set the record straight:

            I don’t want free healthcare; I want affordable healthcare.

            I don’t want money for nothing; I want the opportunity for a good job.

I don’t expect every election to bring the result I want; I just want my vote to count.

           

I don’t want businesses to be unprofitable; I want them out of the regulatory and political processes.

I don’t want the wealthiest Americans to pay for everything; I want them to pay their share.

           

            Reject the propaganda, embrace the truth.”

I add, make those points evident on election day.

Bill Clinton provides this guidance:

“The Republicans have been really very straightforward in what they want to do. It’s not just repeal health care. They want to repeal the student loan reform. They want to repeal the financial oversight. They want to move toward privatizing Social Security and Medicare. They want to do, in short, what they’ve wanted to do for 30 years.”

Don’t let them do that.

October 17, 2012

In the Midst of Things

Busy lives keep us in relationships with people – known and unknown, and things and places and events. Bumping up against so many ideas and circumstances as we go about our routines for job, home, family and community. Sometimes we feel connected and fulfilled. Other times there is a gnawing loneliness that often leaves us puzzled.

Kim Culbertson provides this statement that gives perspective to this feeling:

“People think being alone makes you lonely, but I don’t think that’s true. Being surrounded by the wrong people is the loneliest thing in the world.”

Good thought, that! If the loneliness begins to get to you then there’s some work to do. Remove yourself from the wrong people for starters, of course. Another possibility is to try and convert them, but that will likely lead to more loneliness – both because they will seem more wrong to you or they will leave you physically alone as well!

Searching for an alternative plan is like preparing a plan A and plan B. Just remember, the alphabet has 24 more letters to use!  Stay cool.

A reminder in all of this is a quote we've used here before:

            “Judging a person does not define who they are.

  It defines who you are.”

If you wish to be defined by the good things earlier posited, then keep working at it!

When it comes right down to it, “counting other people’s sins does not make you a saint.” Or me either. But try telling that to the righteous among us.

In the midst of a new week, I’ll leave you with these thoughts. Perhaps they will come in handy.

October 16, 2012

Thinking Big?

From BoDora.com comes this interesting thought:

            The Black Cat Analogy

            PHILOSOPHY is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat.

            METAPHYSICS is like being in a dark room and looking for a black

           Cat  that isn’t there.

            THEOLOGY is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat

            that isn’t there and shouting ‘I found it!’

            SCIENCE is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat using

            a flashlight.”

Philosophy is a search for meaning. Metaphysics is looking for a larger world of meaning that gives all other meaning meaning (if you catch my drift!). Theology is the struggle to deal with meaning with missing pieces of the jigsaw. Science, of course, deals with the real world and searches for the facts, where they find them, their position in reality, and what it means for everything else while still searching for the missing pieces.

Taking any one of these four disciplines alone sort of defeats their function, eh?

Now, for the greatest of oxymorons, add Political in front of each of the four terms. That would give us these terms:

            Political Philosophy

            Political Metaphysics

            Political Theology

            Political Science

Of course, the last term creates the earlier three terms. And that’s where we are locked in space and time today, October 2012. Such a pity.

October 15, 2012

Found Courage

Rocky found this on the internet the other day, anonymous of course! But I think it has just the right ‘voice’ for a short blog today:

            “Having a rough morning?

             Place your hand over your heart.

             Feel that? That’s called purpose.

             You’re alive for a reason.

             Don’t give up.”

Some mornings are like that, right? Hard to breathe. Body aches. Even some muscles sting with pain. Let’s not even mention the bones that hurt!

Pull the self from bed. Stretch a bit; don’t over do it! Pull in a full breath of air. Feel it as you exhale slowly. Life-giving oxygen. Already you are feeling a little better, right?

Then, if you are the type who arises after the sun has risen, you will see the full bloom of the sun on your face as you look to the east. And the trees and lawns drink in that same sun power as you. There is a perk to the day already!

If you are the type who arises in the dark (that’s me!), then you have the hope and promise of the deep purple sky brightening to a bare glow of light on the horizon; followed by the creeping pink and orange light as the sun breaks the horizon and begins its daily ascent.

Of course you could live in the Midwest or some other clime of brooding clouds. But those days, you surely have come to realize make the sunny ones all the more heavenly.

The heart beats a tattoo of life. The veins course with vitality of you. The day is present for your enjoyment. Breathe it in. Swallow that cup of tea or coffee that primes your mood. Think upon the world and its needs. Its peoples and their needs. Keep thinking on these. Here is a reason to be alive. They need you in their lives.

            October 13, 2012