Consider the Egg

I awoke this morning thinking about eggs. The breakfast kind. Sunny side up kind. White firmly cooked but yolk still runny. A dash of salt, a light sprinkle of fresh ground pepper, and four of them staring up at me from a plate. Hot. Cooked in butter somewhat slowly so the bottom side is not singed.

Accompanying the eggs is an English muffin well toasted and slathered in butter. The butter melts and pools in the crisply toasted craters, their edges crinkled and toasty.

Now I pick up one half of the muffin and approach the eggs. The fork cuts the eggs completely so the yolks are running throughout the mixture of butter, whites and yolks. One big mess on the plate. Aromas escaping toward my nostrils enticing the very first bite.

And then – it happens – the bite, long anticipated and scrumptious. In all its flavor the eggs, butter, salt and pepper come to full flavorful fruition! Follow the first savory mouthful with a juicy bite of muffin ala butter! And the second wave of delirium and flavor floods the taste buds. Wow!

One should say – Zowie!  In fact I just did!

Is there anything better than this? Oh yes; there is: many more mouthfuls until the entire plate is wiped clean of its goodness. The little bits of yolk streaks on the plate will soon disappear with the wiping of the plate by juicy bits of bacon strips. Less than a minute later the plate is as clean as it was when it came out of the dishwasher. Not one iota of eggs/butter/bacon/salt/pepper/English muffin remains. All of the flavor is now safely inside me.

What a treat. Then to sit and recall the flavors. All that remains of this incredible breakfast is the room temperature orange juice. Piquant sips of juice slowly awaken another set of taste buds and soon the breakfast is finally over and done.  All that is left is clearing the near clean dishes to the dishwasher. Soon enough that is done.

Wow. Consider the egg. Consider this breakfast. We visit it twice each week – Wednesday morning and Sunday after church services.

Why so few times per week? I really don’t know. Perhaps the fervor would lessen and the flavors, too? I tremble at that prospect.

I think I will leave well enough alone. Only four more days until Sunday’s breakfast. And then visiting hours with the eggs welcomes me to the table.

Blessings!

May 31, 2016

Alas Politics!

The Potpourri of modern politics takes one’s breath away. Just think of it! A business executive without any government experience, no public policy credentials, no foreign affairs involvement, and very little diplomatic skills being considered for the presidency. Stunning.

Pitted against such a candidate is a woman – the very first woman to run for President if she gets the party’s nomination – who was an 8-year First Lady, and effective attorney, a governor’s First Lady, a US Senator, a 5-year Secretary of State, and a builder of women’s leadership skills on a global basis. A leader. An academic. A doer and a person of public accomplishment. She understands government and its workings. She also understands public policy.

Also pitted against these two candidates is a 74 year old independent US Senator who has attached himself to a political party in name only so he can run in its primaries. An independent party run is out of the question; it is too difficult and has no solid precedence of success. So, he carves out his place in the campaign insulting everyone and everything. His brashness gets attention of young people and their support. He champions them for himself and alienates them from the other two candidates. He has effectively built a wedge campaign against the other two making this a three person race.

But the system will support only two candidates. So although the third candidate will lose the party nomination (Bernie), he will have effectively damaged the other candidate's vote gathering due to party alienation politics. Hillary will lose her natural advantage against Trump.

Now Trump. Think on this a bit. His brashness and independence got him his raucous following. Those followers do not respect anyone else, that’s part of why they are raucous and independent and supporters of Trump. They see in Trump a model of success that is an allure to them.  I think I understand that, but I also understand that their take on this is a serious delusion.

Consider these facts: Trump is not a self made anything. He started life in a wealthy family and was kick started in his career with $1 million from his father. He toyed with this money and managed to lose some and earn yet more. Eventually he was able to leverage his money and family reputation into one or two small scale real estate developments. Upon those successes he pyramided more developments and managed to amass assets in high numbers.

Trouble is – those high asset numbers were mostly offset by debt loads that acquired them in the first place. This is what is meant by leverage. And Trump got good at it. He took risks with other people’s money, decidedly not his own, sort of like what politicians do with public funds. And he proposes to do the same if elected president.

Along the way Trump lost developments. Outright failures. He was bankrupted by them. But wait! He didn’t lose much of his own funds, but he did lose other people’s money at risk in the development deals. Yes, he bankrupted at least four major projects losing hundreds of millions of dollars. Of other people’s money.

Did the projects that succeeded work out? For the most part yes. But then, let’s examine what that means.  New jobs were created as the projects were under construction. These are temporary jobs in the main. Not permanent jobs. The latter jobs are middle to low paying hourly jobs. Very few management jobs or technical jobs were created by Trump. He didn’t manufacture anything, and he didn’t even use much union labor. He avoided those expenses by hiring immigrants, illegal immigrants, and temporary low-skilled workers. Those jobs disappeared when the projects were finished or went bankrupt. Those workers gained little or nothing. They even lost some of their wages and a lot of their benefits if these were even provided for!

So Trump’s claim that he is a successful businessman is a fable. And whatever success he has garnered has been mostly for himself. Very few others have benefited from his career.

Let’s also examine his scurrilous attack on Bill Clinton's shenanigans. Bill toyed with other women and got caught. He owned up and settled down to save his marriage, and a very successful one at that. In contrast, Trump has been married at least 4 times (maybe 5?) and each ended in his philandering and playing house with an assortment of bimbos – some of whom he actually married. And then divorced. I’m not getting the idea that Mr. Trump respects women very much. Likes them a lot, evidently, but not respectful. You can do the analysis on your own. It is not difficult at all.

Bill Clinton in time will receive history’s credit for being a very effective President via his incredible ability to assemble and recall facts and keep focus on strategic goals of high value. Then he compromised through the halls of congress and won bill after bill until his public policies amassed to phenomenal value. That’s the kind of man Bill is and Trump is not.

And what Bill is does not reflect poorly on Hillary. If anything she gains respect for surviving some very tough times while in the White House and coming out an effective world leader in spite of it all. Maybe because of it?  It toughened her and she remains a woman of remarkable ability and talent. And a sense of humor and humanity.

Comparing Trump and Hillary is like no comparison at all. I’d much rather have Hillary in the White House and in the West Wing as President than despoil its rich history with a person of Trump’s ilk.

Oh Please America! Do not shatter my esteem for the highest position in our land! Do not despoil this with trumped down values. Please!

Get it right and get with Hillary!

May 30, 2016

Memorial Day Weekend

It’s here! Memorial Day Weekend. This is the time of year we get to wear white shoes, white pants and slacks, and other, colorful summery attire! Or at least that was the custom to follow. I remember mom tsk-tsk-ing over seeing someone wearing white before Memorial Day or well after Labor Day. It simply was not done. Polite people, you know!

Well, I’m not sure such customs are observed these days but Memorial Day and Labor Day are the book end dates for Summer time. And the living is easy!

A ‘not so fond look back at winter’ is on the agenda this weekend. Always is. And then hopes and dreams for balmy weather and life giving breezes are given freedom. And freedom itself to sleep in, travel, eat foods otherwise avoided throughout the year, freedom to camp, to follow pathways and narrow lanes into the woods or out onto the prairie. It is a time to explore one’s world in a more physical sense. The rest of the year we are entrenched in exploring a different world of possibility and academic facts. We create work, do jobs, build products and services, deliver same and help others do the same for our organizations. We are busy and productive.

But in summer life takes on a casual nature. This is the reward we get for slogging through winter and endless meetings and toil. We can finally celebrate the weekend and mean it. No longer is Friday ‘Thank God it’s Friday’, but ‘Thank God it’s the long weekend.’ And that’s the whole point of this weekend.

Didn’t use to be. No. Originally Memorial Day weekend is the time we set aside to honor and remember all of those people who gave their very lives in military service so that we could live free and prosper in a kinder world. In some regards summer is the kinder world, and it does allow us freedom of movement and expression. But battles were fought so we could live free and we really ought to remember this fact.

We can enjoy this weekend only because others gave their lives so that we could enjoy the weekend, and countless others!

It should be a time of thanks and reflection. We each sacrifice parts of our lives to build a better tomorrow. So in some small way we each own this weekend in our own sense of memorial. But do expand that point of view to include the millions of our countrymen and allies the world over who have fought side by side to win rights and freedom for the rest of us.

Inclusion is a big word. So is non-discrimination. And welcome to all who would join us within our borders to continue building the American experiment well into the future. That includes our brothers and sisters of many different nationalities and cultures and religions. We are The Nation of immigrants. So proudly we hail! May it be ever thus.

So now, go forth and be grateful, eat hearty, drink responsibly, and celebrate your personal freedom on this weekend guaranteed by past actions of the brave.

May this be ever so!

May 27, 2016

Peace Search

Pakistan complains that American drones are deployed to hunt down, spy on and kill Taliban members hiding in Pakistan. Actually, not hiding, living in plain view of all the world. That’s why and how the US military is able to find, track and shoot dead evil Taliban leaders. Because they are safe and sound in Pakistan. The host nation is very aware of their role. And Americans are aware of it as well.

Pakistan is supposedly a friendly nation to the USA. But they do not live that friendliness. They take our money, arms and other largesse and provide cooperation to us in matters we need from them. But they do this not gladly. They do this out of a sense of necessity.

When America partnered with Pakistan at the beginning of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, many of us winced. We knew the true colors of Pakistan’s loyalty were not to the United States. They were uncomfortable bed partners. That sums it up neatly.

Pakistan is an enemy of India. The two nations skirmish constantly and rattle their nuclear capabilities to one another. Incipient civil unrest and near civil war resides in Pakistan among its own people. Class warfare and cultural warfare, too. It makes for a very unreliable partner in international affairs.

I can say this because I am an American citizen with the right to free speech. Were I a citizen of Pakistan, no such freedom exists and I would be punished if not outright killed for my comments today. Yet we continue to pour billions of dollars into Pakistan so we have air and land route rights to Afghanistan. That is the nation that has been center stage for such travail for so long one wonders why and how it still exists.

Afghanistan – a wondrous place of stealth, disloyalty, civil unrest and infidelity. Horrible crimes are committed in Afghanistan daily and yet we continue to prop up the regimes with torrid amounts of money, materiel and personnel with the hopes that one day the right spark will ignite freedom and effective self governance there. Russia had the same hopes and those were dashed. So too many other nations who attempted to help Afghani's.

And now it is America’s time to realize that the nation is lost to its own perverted sense of self that is truly unmanageable. We should have destroyed the entire opium crop when we had the chance and ended the heroin and cocaine capital operations long ago. It is still the evil that finances the Taliban and the corruption of the nation. Until that is gone the people will have no good reason to build other sustainable behaviors that will construct a worthy economy. Standards of living will not prosper until the drugs are absent from their culture. We know that. So does the world know it. But Afghani's? They probably know it, but their leaders aren’t paid from or for good intentions.

Why are we still there? What is the strategic value of this land to the USA? And to the world? I think it is time we answered that question and took appropriate action.

Meanwhile, let’s get the hell out of the Middle East and leave the mess to those nations to find peace that has been absent for millennia. This is there culture. This is their life. It is theirs to repair. Or suffer their own local consequences. America should have no continuing part in this.

If we had no stake in their oil production we would see this. The rest of us see it. So why not change our policy and leave it to them to solve?

We can maintain our own energy policies in our own land and learn to be self sufficient on our own energy production that is clean, renewable and abundant.

It’s about time we did.

And the largest dividend from this search will be peace. With America out of the Middle East AND Afghanistan, they will find peace. I think this strategy should be attempted. After all, what do we or they have to lose? Or gain?

May 26, 2016

Keeping Busy – Doing What?

I’m getting the hang of this retired life. It took a while, maybe five or six years. Then I experimented with various projects, of course the medical-routines (!), then volunteer activities, church, Chamber of Commerce, art groups, and so on.

Today I probably work 20 to 30 hours per week on volunteer involvements. SCORE is the biggest part of that, at times all of it! Medical stuff is receding finally, but then church life picks up, family gatherings, too, and finally cleaning the house. Well, the latter not so much. That’s not a volunteer duty; it is a reviled chore!

Still I remain busy. Oh, I also work with the teen addicts (now weekly) and AA. Alcoholics Anonymous (I guess we can abandon the anonymous part from time to time) has been with me for 10 years now. More than 10 years. And it is how I became connected with the teen addicts work. I attend two AA meetings per week and that leads to a lot of service work done ad hoc.

People still ask what SCORE is, so I will say it again: Service Corps of Retired Executives. Although not all of the 12,000 volunteers are retired, certainly over half are. Our mission is to help people form their own small business and then work with them later to get over natural obstacles and build a trajectory of success for their small business enterprise. We also work with existing small businesses who need a hand up through tough times and challenges.

This work creates about 48,000 jobs nationally. How many jobs saved is yet another statistic but I doubt anyone actually knows that number.

SCORE is a non-profit, all-volunteer entity sponsored by the Small Business Administration, an agency within the US Commerce Department in Washington DC. SBA and SCORE embrace some of the most dedicated people I’ve ever met. They are dead serious about sharing the promise of American enterprise with everyone. They are believers in entrepreneurial pursuits. They are believers in the ability of people of all types. And we encourage inclusion and diversity throughout our work.

It is a refreshing group of people to work with. They are doers and enablers of good things happening! It is fun and rewarding to work with them. I truly feel at home in this work.

It is no wonder that these people keep themselves busy with SCORE work. Many times I pinch myself and remind myself that I am actually retired! When you see the faces of entrepreneurs broaden from scowls to smiles you realize that an idea has grown wings and legs and will open soon as a new business. Or product. Or service. This is how it is done, one idea at a time, one person at a time, one business at a time.

All large corporations in America likely started this way. And we are just present at the birthing of such futures. It is heady stuff. And fun!!

I started today’s post wondering about keeping myself busy in retirement but wondering if what I was doing is worthwhile? Well, I know the answer to that, and so do you. I’m busy doing what I want to do and that’s reward enough.

On slow days, when I have a chance to shop for food, gas and pharmaceuticals, I sometimes wonder how I can do more things to keep busy. Then my mind pops to things I’m wrestling with at SCORE or at AA or Church or with the Teens, and I realize I am witness to amazing things. Human growth and understanding is the subject matter here and never is it boring. Never.

So, doing what is answered. And actually doing it is a given – witness my calendar!

Yes I’m retired but I am busy doing good work that is needed to be done. And I am happy in the role. Very happy!

Retired, yes. Dead, no! And still relishing every morning!

May 25, 2016

It’s a Good Day!

The sun is up. The sky is blue. Not a cloud to be seen. The lawns are green and so are the trees as they fill out to their full billowiness in preparation for summer. The birds sing. The early morning air is still a little crisp. Dew is present on low lying landscapes. And it is quiet.

A Monday morning but still early so it is quiet. Peaceful. Beautiful. It is a good day and it will remain so!

The SCORE conference is over. Thirteen small businesses in formative stages competed in the ‘pitch’ contest. Three were declared winners. Two of those were SCORE mentored firms. And the winner? A SCORE coached start-up to help cancer survivors obtain wigs to cover bald pates resulting from chemo treatments. She won the $5000 award money, too!

During the day 12 workshops catered to the needs of two tracks of interest: start-up firms and existing firms. Topics on marketing, organizational structure, legal issues, licensing, hiring and much more were covered. Four panels provided expertise on several topics including Intellectual Property protection and the like.

Networking was a great side bar to the entire event. People in academia and business mingled and discussed points of interest and mutual need. College students and business people merged with 150 colleagues. Men and women, young and old, and people of many cultural and ethnic backgrounds shared a day and a mindset that focused on building organizations of purpose and promise.

All in all a good day was lived by all who attended.

Partnering with SCORE this year was North Central College who used the event as the launch pad of their new Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Their facilities were opened to the event and played host exceptionally well. The partnership of business and academics is a good one wherever it is ventured. And that we do well in the Midwest!

If you want to be a part of this sort of thing – welcome! SCORE is available on-line: www.SCORE.org and www.SCOREFoxValley.org . If you Google colleges and entrepreneur together you will discover 28 institutions in Illinois, mostly in northeastern Illinois. Contact SCORE. And then there are the incubators for developing business ideas and technologies. Those you will have to find on your own. They go by many names but are essential to helping start-ups gain footing and success.

Saturday’s Ideas to Profits conference (May 21, 2016 at North Central College) was like a party event. A celebration. You can get in on it for the future. Just ask for directions!

May 24, 2016

The Anti Party – Hut!

Now republicans want to be known as the party of Trump and the party of anti gay rights.

The Trump data is reported from poll results conducted the week of May 16^th. The Anti gay issue occurred in full view of the American people on Thursday, May 19^th in the House of Representatives in Washington DC. Live on camera. With shouts of ‘Shame!’ At least we had the shouts.

So going forward republicans have to deal with both discrimination AND with Trump.

How on earth did they get into such a pickle? And now the NRA, too?

Let’s see how they got here. Later we can ask the question: “Is this their final destination or just a rest stop?”

From what I can tell the self promotion model Trump employs is simple: determine what is popular to hate within our culture, then spout an extreme solution, or better yet, complain loudly about the problem but don’t offer any solution to the problem.

Example: Illegal immigration. Throw ‘em out. Send ‘em back! Build a wall. Make them pay for it.

It isn’t that simple. We all know it. If it were we would have done it by now. No. The fact of the matter is small government people say ‘protect me’ but you can’t move 12 million illegals without budget, buses, international law support, etc. To get all of that will take even more money. And money is the tool of big government people, so no, small government people block access to the solutions.

Bill Clinton tried a compromise approach; denied. George W. Bush tried a compromise approach with lots of project management support from John McCain; also denied by congress which was republican at the time and on a roll. Obama at the beginning of his presidency invited bi-partisan ideas to solve the problem. Only Democrats replied; republicans shrugged their shoulders and turned their back. I guess they were saying at that early hour – “No way are we going to help Obama accomplish anything.” And they stuck to that mantra.

Now I know this makes Obama look weak. But there is a boomerang fact: In the American democracy of fame and fortune, it takes a trilateral government of checks and balances to get anything done. It does not fall on one person. Or one party. It requires engagement by all parties to do the work that benefits the American nation and its people for the long term.

And that’s the failure. Right there. The blame does not stick to Obama. He has tried every manner of strategy and compromise to entice the republicans out of hiding and into engagement to manage the nation’s issues. All to no avail.

At that point the blame does shift and stick: to the republicans, their elected representatives and their leaders. In fact their very ideology is on the line. This isn’t about big or small government, or conservative versus liberal ideology, either. It is simply about getting the right things done for the good of the American people. If that work is not getting done, then the barrier people are at fault and it’s time to call them out on it.

Trump is a symptom and result. He is not the cause. Blind ideology and Not In My Backyard ideology is to blame.

So, what to do at this late date?

I have an idea: stop talking about people and candidates. Start talking about problems and issues that matter. And begin the arduous task of figuring out solutions for the short and long term. It will take years to get us out of the mess we are in. But I believe we can do this if we do it together.

Usually that stratagem works only if threatened by an external enemy. Well this time, the enemy is us and it is a powerful one! To slay the beast we have to step outside of ourselves for the good of all of us, and get to work fixing things.

Let’s start with education both local and national. Then let’s work on international affairs. Fixing roads, bridges, infrastructure would put a lot of people to work and build a base upon which business and industry and continue to work and compete on the world stage. Rebuilding our energy structure including both electrical and natural gas, would re-position us away from oil and toward renewable energy resources. That's four big projects to focus on. Easy! So let's get with it.

If we set our people free to create and work hard I have faith that we will move mountains. If we only take the time to talk to young people, talk to drug addicts, talk with fresh entrepreneurs, women breaking free of age-old stereotypes and all the other creative folk in our midst, I think you would come away with an ebullient and positive mindset. We can do this. We are a great nation. We have been idling while the world has marched on. It is time we got in stride and marched to our own cadence.

Hut – two – three – Hut – three – four – Hut – four – five – Hut!!

Now we’re getting somewhere!

May 23, 2016

Tomorrow is Conference Day

Yes, Saturday, May 21, 2016 is the SCORE Fox Valley Small Business Forum conference. Held as a joint project with North Central College, the event will be held in Wentz Hall on the NCC campus in Naperville, Illinois.

Doors will open at 7:30 AM and close at 4:30 PM. In between are a key note talk, four panel discussions, and 12 workshops. One track of workshops is designed for start up businesses. Another track is devoted to existing small businesses seeking a boost in handling special challenges.

A special feature is the Ideas to Profits small business Pitch Contest in which small firms or start ups vie for prize money. Three winners will be announced at the end of the day.

Also in between will be ample refreshments for attendees for continental breakfast, lunch and break times.

Over 200 guests and attendees are expected at the event.

We are excited with the prospects for the event. Many people will learn about SCORE for the first time, while others will help SCORE continue its 52 year history of service to starting up small businesses and helping existing small businesses succeed through thick and thin. A corps of executives from all backgrounds volunteer their time with the help of the Small Business Administration to mentor, coach and support entrepreneurs on their journey. Mentors are both retired professionals and pre-retirement talent.

North Central College is using this event to exhibit their new Center for Entrepreneurial Study. What a great partnership they have with SCORE in this event! And with each other.

I share this information with my readers because you are invited to attend the event, too. If you don’t, at least you are aware of the kinds of activities that are available for budding entrepreneurs needing help to launch their dreams. Community colleges, four-year colleges and universities have academic programs to help businesses form and prosper throughout our nation. The SBA fosters Women’s Business Development Centers, Small Business Development Centers, SCORE and other programs that focus on making small businesses happen.

SCORE has 12,000 mentors nationally doing this work, alone. Last year SCORE helped create 48,000 jobs nationally, all in small businesses. And that does not account for jobs saved in small firms saved from closure. Although these are national statistics, local statistics exist as well. The beauty of that data is the local focus to develop our own economies near at hand.

The volunteers in SCORE gain much experience from their work. They also feel the rewards of doing this. The truth is that many other organizations exist to help businesses succeed and prosper.

This is all good for one and all. If you’d like a special view of this work in progress, drop into the conference tomorrow at North Central College, Chicago Avenue, just east of Washington Street downtown Naperville.

See you there?

May 20, 2016

Civility, Again

I’m going to write about this topic again. Civility. Among us all. Most of all, among political candidates. That would be a wonderful gift from our ‘leaders’.

Incivility usually begets the same. Toss a negative statement in the direction of your political opponent and you will most likely get something similar in response. We see it everyday on the elementary school playground. And in our neighborhoods as well. Certainly we observe it while driving a car and we watch as road rage begins and builds.

Same is true in political circles. There is a difference, however. And it is this: political incivility is intended, strategized, and planned carefully.

It is calculated to draw out the opponent for all to witness their incivility. After a while it doesn’t seem to matter who started it. The welter of statements and accusations creates a smokescreen that handily obscures the facts and timelines of the skirmish. That is the sign of a well planned attack!

Meanwhile the important matters facing the nation and its voters is ignored why the contretemps of the principals are given free sway by the media.

There is an answer to this, however. And it is simply this: candidates, please stick to the issues and engage the public in a serious discussion of the facts of problems, and your suggestions as to how to handle those problems, the priorities you feel are appropriate in selecting which problems to handle first, and so on. This is the subject matter that interests voters the most.

The nasty fighting and insults of the current campaigns are attractive to the baser instincts of people. And last time I checked voters are people. It is only natural that they get caught up in the nuttiness of campaign rhetoric.

More mature people, however, will attend to the issues of importance. And we truly need to understand what our leaders intend to do about the problems we all face.

For instance, it is not enough for a candidate to walk into an arena and understand the mood of the crowd and speak only to the emotional issues they are most likely to respond to. That’s cheap politics and unproductive. Use the setting to learn which issues are the most important to those present. Some of those issues are no-brainers, of course. We all know what masses of people will respond to which emotional issues first. But it is honesty and principle we need to follow if our society is to survive the baser elements of politics.

I believe the American people are smarter than they are given credit for being, and I also think they think longer term about issues than the immediate short term benefits. Americans understand it takes a lifetime to learn about life and live it fully. Education is a vital investment in people that pays huge dividends years later as those students navigate the many paths through life. And they are likely to be more successful for themselves and society at the same time.

Getting along with people is an international benefit long term. Helping people be all they can be is worthwhile domestically AND internationally. It is the way we build trust and caring among peoples of different races and nationalities. We are all the same in so many ways. Only cultures provide the divides that are manipulated by others to keep people apart. But when we explore those cultures we find they are primarily composed of similar parts. Again, there is more that connects us to one another than divides us.

So it matters that we invest in international affairs to help people, level playing fields of education and investment so peoples around the globe feel secure and welcome everywhere. The payoff is huge! And issues connected here should be a high priority of any national leader.

Trump may be a misogynist. Let everyone see it for themselves. Meanwhile Hillary should focus on education, international affairs and economic development issues. Let Trump bury himself in the picky, negative, insulting personal attacks. In the end the American people will gravitate toward the leader with ideas and commitment to serve.

In this way I feel certain Trump will trump himself.

So let it be!

May 19, 2016

Losing a Pastor

Saturday’s mail included a letter from our church pastor announcing her decision to retire effective mid June. One month away. After that she will be gone! Gone!

We have attended this church for 10 years. This is the first time I’ve had a woman pastor. This experience has been magical. She is down to earth, fully human, humble and fully able to express herself honestly to all who will listen.

Her faith and theology is accessible and she doesn’t judge others in their faith journey either. She knows each of us slogs the path at different paces and with varying results of intellectual analysis and acceptance. I’m stuck in a rudimentary stage and that’s OK with her. She respects each of our journeys. She is there – or has been there – to assist us as we encounter rocks and ditches along the path.

And laughter has been rich and frequent. Nothing soothes the way as well as a good laugh.

Pastor came to her calling and seminary late in life. She was ordained at 50, came to our church at 53 and has served us for 12 years. That makes her 65 later this year and as she contemplated downsizing her home and buying a small condo until she wrestled with her retirement plans, someone came through the door and bought her house quickly.

So she had to either buy or rent another place or make the break and retire now.

She is at a natural point in life to make this decision and opted for retirement. After a few months of rest and relaxation – and meditation – she will decide on whether to re-engage the ministry part time, or be a temporary pastor for other churches while they are searching for a new minister. Most likely she will be a visitation pastor part time ministering to shut ins, elderly and the sick. Those are the quiet folk of each congregation who require a lot of time and energy from church staff. How our minister has done all of that, managed the church, and served as officiate and preacher on Sundays is a mystery to me.

I’ve heard people complain about her absence on some Sundays thinking she is resting or taking a vacation. No; she was attending to family business, taking church youth on a retreat, traveling with the confirmation class on a mission trip, or at a conference/retreat that trained her to better handle our congregational needs. I’ve never observed a more demanding job as hers. 24/7/365 is fully defined by today’s modern pastorship. How anyone can survive the onslaught of need of others is a marvel to me. Exhausting, truly. Rewarding, very.

She is someone you love very much for just who she is. A person of love and caring that sometimes takes your breath away. Meaning, depth, insight, caring. All wrapped up in one package. What a delight. I’ve actually looked forward to church meetings knowing she would be there. And that just got me more involved in the church and its work.

Funny thing is the work wasn’t work; the effort was not labored; the laughter and sense of forward progress was real and refreshing.

I know she ministered to our needs acutely. I just wonder if we ministered to hers?

I hope so. Even so, I miss her already and wonder how we will cope. Her time with us surely has trained us to cope with her absence. And maybe it is our time to learn that truth and relish in it. For her ministry to us has been successful. I think we are up to her standards of truth, caring, and serving each other. So I know we shall manage this critical change very well. She has taught us well to do so!

Shalom Pastor Wende. Shalom!

May 17, 2016

More Current Events Commentary

Ohio Massacres Drug Related: Drugs sold, traded, consumed, ripped off and detained. Manufactured in makeshift labs in homes, basements, garages and barns. In cities and in towns and villages and rural areas. Everywhere. In our schools, neighborhoods and at the local malls.

Kids are making drugs. Kids are trafficking the drugs. Our police nab the kids, track down their suppliers and arrest the minor king pins. Rarely are the major king pins caught and prosecuted. Meanwhile the jails and prisons are filling up with young people caught in the web of drugomania. They got into it without much forethought. Now they have time to think the thoughts they didn’t take the time to do before now.

The war on drugs is underway. Has been for decades. And the aftermath is not after anything. It is still in process. We still don’t have answers. We just have victims, dead bodies, patients in hospitals, lock down rehab sites and open doors to ongoing aftercare facilities scattered throughout our neighborhoods and communities. Parents and grand parents don’t understand. Neither do the kids caught in the spiral.

All we know is it is lethal business.

The Ohio family murders east of Cincinnati all are drug related. We thought it was mass murder, or terrorism, or something else. Well the else won. It is drugs. Skirmishes among the drug heads supplying others. Turf wars. Revenge against family members. But many of the family members were production and sales agents for the drugs in production. Even the kids. It is tawdry. It is simple. It is deadly.

When will we come to grips with this and do something creative and effective? Time is running out, folks. We need leadership on this not platitudes and muscle mania or even Trumpmania. That doesn’t work any better than the War on Drugs.

Think of something better this time?

Putin’s Military War of Words: Well, well, well. Russia’s Putin is putting on his serious face about NATO defense installations at what once was the USSR’s military posts. Putin says this is provocation by the West, NATO and mostly the US.

What do you think, Putin? Do you really think we don’t get Sochi Olympics? The sweet talk you gave the world while hosting the Olympics, all the while you were drugging your athletes so they would win Gold. And while we were all focusing on those shenanigans you were invading Crimea and taking it over?

Then you implemented your sloppy takeover of eastern Ukraine? You think we don’t notice these things? Don’t be foolish.

We know all about that. We were on to you long ago. And now you fly planes over lands of peace, invade their air space, shoot up Syria’s landscape showing your biceps and bravado while daring other nations trying to keep peace from doing their jobs.

We get what you are about. You have a populace that thinks you are wonderful so they give you power for life. But the rest of the world community understands exactly what’s up. You are at your wits end. You have drained Russia of its assets and safeguarded them elsewhere for your personal future use. You are one of the wealthiest men on the planet. And all from stealing it. While the Russian people have the wool pulled from their eyes, you do your dirty work. And you are trying to make it look like Russia is under siege by false enemies while you stir up the ruckus.

You are a school yard bully, Putin. We know what they look like. And they are you. Wake up and join the world community and build peace for the good of your own people and culture.

Sheriff Arpaio Again!: 83 years of age and still in an elected sheriff’s position. He’s an old hand at his job and has exercised his freedom of action for years. Now the courts have cited him for contempt. And it’s not the only time Sheriff Arpaio has been reprimanded for overstepping his authority. But hey, he’s a conservative republican who doesn’t believe in government, or at least big government. He thinks elected officials should take the reins and make cutting edge decisions that get things done quickly with no fanfare.

Trouble is he is the king of fanfare. He rarely doesn’t do anything he doesn’t seek publicity for. He has an over-inflated opinion of himself and has for decades. Yet the voters continue to return him to office again and again.

Maybe the courts will finally cure the Phoenix area of their recalcitrant egotist sheriff and remove him from office. Yeah, I hope that’s what happens. Obviously the sheriff thinks he is so good that no one can afford not to have him in this sheriff-for-life position.

Hmmmm. He’s embarrassed the community for decades. I wonder if they will finally get the message and remove him from office? Time will tell. But such moves take initiative and hard work. That’s something the Phoenix voters are not willing to do for themselves, so I suspect Arpaio will remain in office until he dies.

Disappearing Middle Class: Salaries and wages have stagnated for those in the middle class demographic. Regardless of their years of service to the same employer, or their massive accumulation of experience in their jobs, or their education and advanced degrees, employers continue to hold wages and salaries pretty much unchanged. And they have reduced benefits and increased employee contributions to help pay for those benefits.

Caught in the midst of raising kids parents still labor to put the kids through college. All savings, investments and disposable income are focused on that one goal. And if they are short the kids seek education loans and mortgage their own futures for years to come.

This means the middle class will not be able to consume goods and services as they once did until the kids are out of school. And the kids, once graduated, are restricted in the cars, apartments or houses they will obtain. Their purchasing power is restricted by their school loans.

You see the downside effect of stagnated household incomes? That’s what’s been happening for a dozen years. That’s not an Obama thing; he’s been working hard to fix it. No, this was the recession of denial caused and birthed in full during the Bush years.

Economics is not all striving. It is mostly systemic. And if that system is unbalanced by hook or crook or pure gravity, a price is paid. By whom? This time around it was the middle class. Trouble is the effects go on and on with a host of missed opportunities and upset plans.

For example, empty nesters and pre retirement people have a few years to recover from paying for their kids’ educations. But actually not; you see they used their 401k’s for tuition and fees and they didn’t up their savings for retirement while they were paying for college. So retirement funding has been shorted and the middle class is less able to fulfill their original plans to fund their retirement years.

That’s how it works. So the housing demand is shorted, so is the auto market, frills, vacations and clothing. And eating out? Once the staple behavior of the middle class that is now a receding behavior in favor of paying utility bills. The disappearing middle class is still present but without funds; that’s what’s disappearing and the means for others to dream of becoming middle class? That’s up in smoke, too.

Yet the 1% keep thinking there’s more blood in that turnip. Wait until they see that isn’t true!

Golf Course Recession: See ‘Disappearing Middle Class’, above. Enough said!

May 17, 2016

Bits and Pieces: Part 3

Zimmerman’s Gun: I scratch my head. Gun auctions on the one hand. Ammo and gun paraphernalia on the other hand. NRA and lobbying groups. Politics, decision making, public policy. Deaths. Lots of gun deaths. Repulsion by more than half of the American people against uncontrolled gun access and mayhem from guns.

And yet nothing gets done. Attempts to reduce gun deaths are made in legislatures and congress nearly every year. Sometimes multiple times during the year. But here we are again looking back at the carnage done with a gun in hand. Each and every day.

And instead of being horrified all over again what do we get? Why the voracious appetite of Americans to purchase the very gun used by George Zimmerman to kill Treyvon Martin. Some love affair with guns!

I was chatting about gun rights the other day with friends. Everyone agreed how stupid this issue is. No one denied the Second Amendment. But all agreed the Constitution did not intend each and every person had the right or the need to go out and purchase a store of weaponry. There are limits to such things. And the type of guns, as well. Who needs an AK-47? And why? They are not sporting equipment.

And the membership of the NRA? They number about 3 million I thought. Even if that number is too low, there are 320 million Americans at last count. A majority equals 161 million. How can the NRA membership tilt elections enough to make elected officials afraid of the NRA?  Its time to call NRA’s bluff and vote major limits on guns. There is no need for 300 million guns or more in our nation.

Ours is the laughing stock of the world for allowing guns to overrun our land. Nuts to the gun nuts. They don’t run our country nor should they. Down with the NRA.

Bathroom Rights: I accept I am a male and need to use men’s restrooms when needed. I will not use a Ladies room. I would scare them or at least upset them if I did use their facilities. No; I’m much more comfortable using the Men’s room. Now recall the fact that I’m gay; normally this would be uncomfortable for the other gents if they new my gender orientation. But they don’t because such is not a label worn on the outside of my attire. So, I’m admitted to the Men’s room without notice or prejudice.

In the case of transgendered persons, however, they grew up feeling ill at ease in their birth gender cocoon. They solved the problem by switching genders through a lengthy process. They now dress and live the part of the gender comfortable to them. So it may be a man who is now living as a woman and thus she now uses the Ladies Room. It would be more upsetting if she used the Men’s Room. Upsetting to her and to them! The logic is irrefutable.

So why are southern states fighting this fight? Because they can and want the notoriety. Their fight has nothing to do with gender. It has everything to do with political nonsense, states’ rights, conservatism, republicans and conformity or lack of conformity. 

In actuality it is human rights, civil rights and rights. The national law has it correct. The individual states have allowed this matter to be settled by congress and thus it is now a federal matter not a states’ rights matter. Period. It is settled. Therefore, states now are fighting this fight are too late. Conform with the national laws or pay the penalties. Last I heard each state receives countless billions of dollars in subsidies for their state programs including education. So, discriminating against anyone covered by a federal civil rights law is illegal and the states should lose their federal dollars.

End of story. Go it alone Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. And Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, if you have a mind to join this tom foolery, count on losing a pile of money. The other states will gladly use those dollars to repair their roads, schools and sagging economies. You can figure all of that out on your own dimes.

Media and Politics: the media has been losing a lot of money in recent years as the Internet replaces news programs, print journalism and even trade journals. The 2016 US Presidential Election, however, is a mother lode of revenue for TV and radio news media. They are pulling in ad money as well as audience ratings by hawking the idiocy which passes as political news these days.

Remember that Trump has bought very little air time for ads. No, he hasn’t had the need. You see all he does is open his mouth and let loose a well intended verbal missile and the media comes running and makes the story happen for him. He needs no advertising.

Now, if they would just ignore him, Trump would go away. And very quietly, too. Unless, that is he buys air time to fabricate the message he now gets for free.

Yes, the media would hate to see Trump disappear. They have never made as much money before Trump appeared on the political scene. And we thought politicians were dumb, dumber and dumbest. Guess we had another lesson to learn!

Damn!

Death of Prince: The man had a problem with pain. He got hooked on pain killers that turned into a health problem for him. He most likely had medical people who abetted his addiction although unknowingly. Prince bore the responsibility for this problem. No one else. If we are to believe news reports, Prince finally owned up to his problem and sought help to beat the addiction. The doctor involved near the end did not kill Prince. Prince died of an accidental overdose in all likelihood. And he administered it to himself with no help from anyone. Last I heard Narcon is available over the counter at pharmacies these days to avoid unnecessary drug overdose deaths. That’s all Prince needed to do.

Let’s not allow ignorance among criminal justice professionals to ruin yet another doctor’s life by blaming him for a celebrity’s death. They are responsible for their own death and that score is already settled.

May 16, 2016

Bits and Pieces: Part 2

Drought in Western States: I was born in southern California. On my 11^th birthday my family moved to New England, but those first 11 years were formative ones. We respected water as the greatest natural resource other than air. Smog was an issue for us. I had serious asthma as a child and smog conditions worsened it. In time California came to clean its air but it still has major issues with smog and air pollution. Accompanying air quality is water supply. So much national treasure has been focused on supplying California and the southwestern states with adequate water supplies. But drought still beckons as it always has. It is the nature of the place. But for Heavens Sake, why does the region do so little to conserve water and fail to acquire more water from desalinization?

Look everywhere in California and you will find an astounding number of private swimming pools. It is almost viewed as an inalienable right in the state. Oh, you live in California; how big is your pool? And so the stories go, along with green lawns, lush gardens and water gulping houses with three and four bathrooms and two if not three kitchens. All fully equipped with water guzzling appliances.

You want to manage drought? Use less water! You need more water? Desalinize sea water at your front door. And please, do not come begging to the rest of the 50 states to bail you out of your profligacy. We are managing our water and air supplies with our own resources and disciplines right here in Illinois. So please do so on your own, too.

Making for War Not Peace: Count the nations rattling sabers – Russia; China; North Korea; Trump (well he’s a person not a country!). OK; we have three nations practicing their war skills in public as a threatening gesture, not a training exercise. NATO exercises don’t count because that’s what military allies do; they practice coordinated maneuvers because their commands are housed in different national hierarchies. Practice is necessary. But flying jets over passenger flights (Russian antics) and buzzing US naval ships by Russian fighter jets, and building islands so they can defend them in ever larger sweeps of the China Sea (China), are all acts of provocation. Creating chillier interactions regarding movement of naval ships (China to US) only cements the intents. And then we have North Korea. Of course you laugh. So do I. If – and it is a really big if – North Korean has the capability to launch a killer nuclear attack on the US, then the world is at peril, not just the US. So it is in the interests of all nations to curb North Korea, perhaps even to neutralize them so their population can be ‘saved’ from starvation and horrible living conditions. Because China and Russia do not stand up and speak on this issue means they are part of the problem and it is intentional on the part of all three of these nations to disrupt the peaceful yearnings of the globe.

You would think we all would be tired of war. It does no good other than defense, but then you have to have an aggressor to be defensive. And that’s the reason behind China, Russia and North Korea’s actions. They wish to provoke a skirmish even if it is labeled an accident. That way they can claim they were only defending themselves. Do they truly believe anyone believes such nonsense?  Hmmm. Well maybe they do; their own people obviously believe it or else they wouldn’t allow such antics to occur. But then that supposes a representative and democratically elected government is in place in each of those three nations. Not even close. Well, now we can sense the larger picture. China’s economy is in freefall with their cash reserves vanishing. Russia’s economy is in shatters and the noose is tightening ever more so. North Korea has nothing whatever to lose no matter how much they play act.

The people of the earth have wasted so much energy, treasure and life on war. And the mindset seems never to change for the better. Only temporarily for that. Only temporarily. More’s the pity.

The VP Tango:  Interesting to watch defeated republican presidential candidates now be considered for the vice presidential nomination. I always thought this was a significant move and valued it. Not so this time around. It appears the VP slot will be given only to those who will make the most peace within the party. Chris Christie doesn’t want the job because he yearns to have more impact. So he is currying favor in the Trump party so he can get an appointment on the cabinet team later on. That’s if Trump wins the election, not a likely prospect at this time. But even rumors abound that Hillary will ask Bernie to be her running mate. Perhaps this peace offering will calm the waters of her party and prepare the way for a unified campaign against Trump?

May 13, 2016

Bits and Pieces – Current Events: Part One

Email Mysteries – Hoax? Well it is a puzzle that the republican party insists on making a huge deal out of emails made and received by Hillary Clinton while she served as Secretary of State. They focus not one second on any email histories attending to republican public servants, but such exist. The technology of electronic communications has been rapidly changing for years and a marvel of productivity on many levels. Security concerns are always running behind and attempting to catch up with usage.

Was America at risk under such circumstances? Yes, most probably. Was it intended? No. Was it criminal? No. Were safeguards developed and installed over time? Yes. What about specific threats unveiled? None. So why all the buzz? Because it is an election year and the republicans insist on defeating Hillary Clinton for whatever reason. It is their ‘thing’.

And Hillary is only a target for two reasons: she is a woman and everyone in the conservative camp feels the presidency is out of bounds for a woman; evidently they believe this. The other reason is she is married to Bill Clinton. And conservatives have always fancied to bring Bill down by whatever means. They nearly did, too, but law and order defeated those fancies. Of course the legal maneuvers cost the Clintons a combined $16 million in legal expense, but what the hell; the political foes were only protecting the nation, right?  

Wrong. They were up to no good and never have has history corrected the score in their favor after all of these years. Bill is OK. He has a penis and used it; so does half the population. And presidents have used their sexuality in the past many times. It is part of our history but in the old days privacy matters preserved family life in the White House. Today there is no such thing as privacy or civility. All things are open to debate and distortion. And so they are distorted. No facts. No reality. Just innuendo and gossip with a snicker.

Hillary survived those years and went on to a very productive life of service to our nation, and to the arts, culture, medical health issues, ecology issues, civil rights, governance, voter rights, and the whole gamut. She is a woman of all seasons and ages. And she has earned the right to lead this country. If there were ever a person groomed and prepared for the Presidency it is Hillary Clinton. She is not your mother. She is not your spouse. She is a statesman and a leader. Now get over it and drop the damn email inquisition. Your ignorance is showing on this issue almost as much as your insistence that Benghazi was some kind of intended happening. It wasn’t and you haven’t proved that yet, either. And you won’t.

Get over it.

Making Peace with Muslims: Not all Christians are nice people. They say they are but their actions speak louder than their words. They are judgmental people who excoriate others for their views on abortion, gay rights, civil rights, states rights, conservative versus liberal values, and a host of other issues. As Christians they apparently feel it is their right per the US Constitution to do and say anything they wish as long as it is a following of their religious beliefs. So hands off! 

Not so fast, buddy.

Christians, especially those in America, do not have it right in the main. They are wrong. They have trouble with Jews and with Muslims, and with atheists, and non-church goers, Hindus, Buddhists, and any other belief system they don’t ascribe to, don’t know about, or simply don’t understand. That’s their religious freedom: to be ignorant as hell about everyone else!

Well, that’s not true. Ignorance is not a religion hard as they might try to make it so. No, they do damage to themselves and their beliefs through their ignorance and bigotry.

And so it goes. Is it no wonder that Muslims have a hard time in the US because of this kind of thinking?  I’ve said in my blog before, the three main religious credos are related and share many core beliefs. They are not disrespectful of each other, either. The people might be disrespectful out of ignorance, but their religions are not disrespectful. Just the opposite.

With this truth there is no reason whatever to distrust or isolate our Muslim brethren. Period. So hug a Muslim, smile, and do something nice for them. They’ve suffered enough due to American frailty. You might be amazed at their reaction. Is there a mosque near you can visit? Make a date for that visit today. And enjoy!

May 12, 2016

Creativity as Career

I got push back from some people on the concept of creativity building new careers. They were upset because new careers push others out of their jobs if they didn’t accommodate change and creativity in their industries. Specifically mentioned was the banking industry not pursuing cashless transactions in our economic system more vigorously. Displacing employment of those assigned to tasks doomed for elimination is not the concern of the creative types.

No; it is not their concern. That concern belongs to the rest of us.

If my industry is not keeping up with technology and cultural norms, it will become outdated and need to close its doors or be part of the new creatively arranged industry. Simple as that. We change or we lose our jobs.

The challenge is to help each organization – for profit or not for profit – be as creative and forward looking as possible. This takes attitudes of adaptability for all concerned. If this is too scary for some folks, it’s OK. We can find them tasks to do but they will be boring and most likely unrewarding. They also will lead to obsolescence. Those are the facts of life.

These are the realities of change. This is the reality of creativity which brings change.

Our job, then, is twofold. First to embrace change and help make it happen, and second to help those unwilling to cope with change, to develop new skills and careers.

Our job is NOT to stop change for the sake of the others. We have a job to do for and with the others, however. We must care what happens to them and press them into education and development processes that will give them the tools to move forward with the least damage to them and others.

For the rest of us careers will evolve topsy turvy using our skills and interests as creatively as possible. We will create new services, products, processes and cultures. We are living the change and propelling it. We know it and sense it and do it.

So, bankers beware. You are either the processors of transactions and the short term accumulators of wealth deposits, or not. If not, then you will need to find a new home for your career interests. I hope you find something palatable. In the meantime you must get out of the way of progress and allow it to happen. Hell, it’s going to happen anyway. So either be a part of it or go away and fiddle with something else.

Creativity is required from all of us to deal with inevitable change. Each bit of change prepares us for the next change. And so on until revolutionary inventions are fully adopted and propel society onward to new places in history.

This is not just an American story. It is the story of each nation on the globe. Some are better prepared than others. Some are behind the learning curve so far one wonders if they will ever join the rest of the cultural revolution taking place.

I have faith that mankind’s creative energy and grasp of reality will work it all out. Some will be lost along the way, but others will be engaged let loose on an upward trajectory of exploration and discovery. And accomplishment.

For the laggards only disappointment and defeat portends.

For them I have pity. But not for long; there’s work to be done and others to save!

May 11, 2016

Realities of Change

I don’t know why people have so much trouble dealing with change. From the time we take our first breath until the last one is gasped, we encounter change. Always. On-going. It is the process of life itself. Without change we do not grow. We do not feel or sense the differences of sensations. Only change allows us the comparison to denote what has happened – what is happening – what is most likely to happen.

We are born and begin to grow. We change shape. We acquire abilities of muscle, of logic, of thinking and of feeling. We learn how to pee and poop in clothing. We learn that is not pleasant eventually and learn to use external facilities for the functions. We keep that sensibility for our lifetime until we lose health, capacities and revert to peeing and pooping in our pants. The cycle of life is complete. It is done.

Well now, so is learning about the world. We denote its presence. We begin to interact with it and see it react to me and me to it. In time we develop skills on dealing with the world around us. You know, listening to the radio, watching TV and wondering what it all means. We engage with our family members and they become the very definition of our universe in early years, but when we enter schooling our universe suddenly expands.

That expansion goes on and on as we encounter more education and development cycles. We are early childhood entities one moment, and elementary students in another, and then middle school and high school. If I have the ability and interest I continue on in college and may have graduate education and professional schooling. All of this encapsulates development resulting in enlargement of the universe. I have changed in so many ways by this time in my development. But then we note the changes going on all around us. Each person is changing, too, just like I did and am still doing.

We then notice that all sorts of things are changing as well. The weather changes hour by hour and week by week and season by season. Over the decades we learn that weather is shifting slowly in different patterns with different consequences. We learn to live in minutely managed changes accordingly.

Just as we learned to creep, then walk, then run, we learn to ride a bicycle and then drive a car. Those cars have changed greatly from 1945 to 2016! They are not at all alike when viewed by the polar extremes of that time spectrum. They mostly have four wheels, but their shapes, size and styles have changed enormously. So too has their locomotion methods. And the exciting part? The future holds vastly different sorts of transportation options for each of us.

Our understanding of the world is different as well. Now we understand chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, medicine and math. So much to understand. Some very well and others not so well – our understanding that is! But we are capable of realizing that so much depends on so many other factors in this complicated universe. We feel whole in ourselves but as we observe the world we come to know that we are not whole. The universe is but it does not have a sense of itself. Only we human beings have that sense. And we are so different from each other. So we see the universe differently and we manage our lives differently within that universe.

So do other nations and their people within. And then we learn to deal with other nations, cultures, peoples, religions and histories. We each have our own national history and culture. Some things we share historically and tangentially, but we have lived our lives somewhat apart and so we gather a gestalt of it all in our very own way. My way, the American way, the North American Continent way, etc. But so too do all other people in their gestalts.

We are not to disrespect each others’ gestalts. They are whole ‘beings’ and have life and value separate from the others. And so do our own. That’s why respect and tolerance of difference is required to get along in the world.

Those differences were built on change. And the adaptation to change. And the acceptance of change. And the acculturation of change.  

These are the realities of change. Those who do not learn to live with change work too hard denying change in the first place. These are the people who are trapped in unreality and social paralysis. How do they know for certain that change will be bad for them? Why don’t they embrace change and get from it the excitement and sense of new possibilities from it?

This is not a conservative or liberal or middle of the road thing. This is not ideological. It is psychological, I think.

Some of us deal with change realistically and creatively. Some of us simply cannot face change. The reality of our governance structures must deal with this vast array of difference. It is not accomplished by dictatorship. No; it is accomplished via caring, process, education and being nice to each other.

Then, when they aren’t looking, we adapt!  Shezam!!

Think we can get away with this? It’s worth a try. If not I see Trumpmobiles in our future.

May 10, 2016

Donald Trump & Three Party Reality

With the apparent ascendancy of Donald Trump as its presidential nominee, the Republican Party is in the midst of an obvious makeover. The party elders and leaders do not want Trump involved in their party, let alone their headliner candidate! But they are in this situation because they allowed it to happen.

On so many levels this is true. The problem for them: the process has been happening for over 30 years. They lost sight of this makeover while it was happening under their very noses. There are those who predicted this in one fashion or another. Those comments, however, fell on deaf ears. Until 2016 such were ignored. Now the results are in and here is how it is likely to play out.

First, there is still a possibility that the Republican Convention in Cleveland later this summer will be contested, rules changed, and a coup staged by party leaders to remove Trump from the ballot and 

replace him with someone more palatable. But here’s the probable outcome of that move: anarchy within the party worse than is now imagined. The likely result will be a schism and the party splitting into two factions. Those will most likely move on to two separate political parties.

One party will be what the party elders envision – The Conservative Party of America. The second party will be the Republican Party as envisioned by Abraham Lincoln – a party of, for and by the people. This party will be led in name only by Trump or maybe not. 

This Republican Party will lose elections until it regains a sense of middle of the road politics. Then it will begin to win elections and gain footing within the American electoral process. All after Trump leaves the scene.

Meanwhile the Conservative Party of America will carom about the American cultural experience and make major miscalculations on the temper of the American people. While this is going on (remember the Republican Party is still gaining a foothold and losing elections) the Democrats will be winning elections. This is the nature of a political system comprised of three or more parties. It is a parliamentary political structure. Two parties may displace the third if they agree and compromise the sharing of power; if not, the third party wins elections. And America is not familiar with this type of politics so Democrats will win until the Conservative and Republican Parties figure it out.

Here’s the primary point to remember in all of this: there are conservative, liberal and middle of the road ideologies at work in America. It is best to remember each of those divides and understand them. There are not two ideologies. Three. Get it? Somehow the republicans of old forgot that maxim and became confused and muddled.

This type of non-leadership and intellectual dullness has created the Donald Trump phenomenon. Yes; it is a disaster. No; he will not win the White House.

It is only a guess what Congress will do in this situation as it transitions to the future. It can choose to remain stuck in two-party mode or adopt the three-party reality and move on.

Best they lay their plans now. Our nation can ill afford another 8 years of congressional obstruction. The military deserves better than that. So do our international allies. So does the economy, the Federal Reserve, and the people of this great nation.

We are a great nation. We just have trouble adapting to change in spite of our self proclaimed leadership of change. How did we get to this point? By ignoring major facts and reality. We pretended things were better than they were and that definitions of old terms meant something other than what they were.

Lazy thinking and assuming someone else will do your work for you will lead to where we are. The problems reside throughout our society and in all political corners of both parties – er, now three.

We will get through this mess. 2017 will dawn and a new Democratic President will be inaugurated. Then four years will follow in which all political leaders will learn to cope with a new reality. A world of compromise lies ahead. May we be up to this heady task!

May 9, 2016

Creativity and Prosperity

Listening to a news program the other day I heard a young person claiming there is no limit on the creativity of people, especially Americans. He was born and raised mainly in Ireland before venturing with his brother to America for college educations. Each brother attended a prestigious school – Harvard for one and MIT for the other. I’m not sure if either completed schooling but the MIT student quit and never returned.

Instead they were curious about how Americans transact financial transactions. They learned that credit cards, debit cards and on-line phone apps are displacing cash as a medium of exchange. So they began studying how they could advance that adaption and found that some institutions in America are so far behind the times technologically that the future is open to anyone with the creativity and energy to press forward.

They soon learned that cooperating with banks was out of the question. The banks insisted they file lengthy applications, explain exactly what they planned to do and in every way constipated their progress forward (choice of terms intended!). So the two brothers forged ahead doing everything their own way and now the banks are sitting ducks and without any control whatever over the transactions that are plowing through their institutions. They could have been part of it, perhaps even partners. Lack of cooperation, however, sealed their fate on this so far.

Banks are now responding that such operating entities need far more regulation. That’s cute. Banks don’t want any regulations on their operations but now they are screaming for regs on others that have impact on their business’ bottom line.

Maybe the banks asking for detailed applications from the two brothers was their way to gain an understanding of something they simply didn’t understand. Seems they still don’t. All they understand is creativity has entered their world from another player and reducing their revenue flows.

These two young men learned a vital lesson, especially in America. If you have an idea, own it and work it to the point of using it in the open market. You might find yourself operating your own business with astounding volume possibilities. With a fraction of a penny earned per transaction the two young fellows are drawing in a lot of money.

This is a lesson for every American. Change creates vacuums into which your creative mind can engage ideas that make money. So what if your old job disappeared because technology made it obsolete? That happening gave you the time and space in which to create your own opportunity. Learn something new and adapt it to the real world. See if you can earn a fresh living from that activity. Chances are you will find what you are looking for.

A level playing field of employment, pricing and global competition has dislocated a lot of jobs from America to foreign lands. In the short term this discourages people as they experience job loss, stagnating incomes and loss of some benefits. What they don’t seem to understand is the gift unemployment provides.

It may not seem like a gift at the time but unemployed people have the choice of fighting their way back to a new career doing something different and more suited to their interests. They may actually create their own business, or find exciting new companies to work for.

Being on the cutting edge of change is refreshing and empowering. You are never too old to learn something new and become the master of your own world.

Reading internet news and reports of social change and new discoveries is the very food chain of new thinking. We all need such challenges. It keeps us fresh and creative. Actually doing something about it is more difficult. But at least let us all open our minds to what is possible!

Such is staring us in the face. Cars no longer look or operate the way they once did. Good thing. They are safer, more functional, and more reliable, take up less space and use fewer raw materials in their manufacture. They also waste less energy and pollute our planet less. All good results from automotive changes.

Houses are changing too. They are shrinking in size and lessening our work load to maintain. They also use less raw materials and are designed to use much lower levels of energy. As such modern homes are more affordable. Home values still are fluctuating as they attempt to regain old values prior to the recession. Most homes, however, are nowhere near where they once were in value. That may seem like a bad thing but in time we will realize this makes housing cheaper overall. And that is very fortunate.

Communication is much more direct and fast. And cheaper. It requires new technology to realize the gains, however. And that means we have to learn new things to be able to use new things.

I know this because I have done it as a senior citizen. Believe me, if I can do it so can anyone!

Here’s to the new economy as we discover fresh new horizons to explore and use in making a living!

May 6, 2016

Innovation as Future

Positive mental attitude is not automatic for a lot of people. The exact opposite is much more probable. Living life each day follows routines, of course, but we encounter opportunities to expand our experience and understanding of broader issues. In fact such opportunities abound. They are there to see, feel, some to taste, but all to experience and see how they fit into our lives.

I recall when debit cards were first available. It took a while for me to adopt using a debit card, but once I did I realized my check book was with me at all times in the form of a plastic card. I could visit any gas station convenient to me and fill up with the secure knowledge my card would be accepted at the pump. The sense of freedom was huge.

I later learned to use the card in place of credit cards as often as I could. Restaurants, point of sale purchases. Drug store, grocery store, the whole lot of consumer outlets! I was free from ever having exact change again in most places. And the transactions were not on my credit card churning out interest charges.

The only drawback was balancing the check book!

Anyway, debit cards to me were a quality of life improvement. But not for everyone. There were then and still remain huge numbers of people who refuse to use debit cards. They live without the excitement of the convenience.

4G and 5G cell phones are another advancement. Sure a gazillion people are using them globally but we all know people who refuse to adopt the technology. I was one of them until recently.

With my old phone balking at seemingly simple uses and Rocky’s phone requiring frequent rebootings, he examined alternative offers and came across a service offering us two 4G phones with unlimited data and minutes. The price was surprisingly the exact same as our two old bills combined. The family plan played very well into our budget. Better service, more service, no increase in price.

So then I had to learn to use my phone. Making calls and receiving them was simpler and faster. Surpassing that surprise I learned how to read my emails while not at home. I was even able to answer them on the spot! Communications improved exponentially with this one improvement. Then I discovered texting, something I had truly resisted. But now it was simple, fast and direct. Another exponential improvement in communication behavior. Also, applications multiplied and now I have the ability to find myself when lost, pull myself our of the wrong building and get on the pathway to find the correct one! I even know where Rocky is and he knows where I am.

I came home the other day after a meeting late. I had told him I was going to get new business cards printed. When I walked in the door he exclaimed, “You had to go to three print shops to find one to help you?”  Yep, surprised I asked him how he knew of my adventure. He pointed to the phone and said it pinged each time I left the car. He tracked my progress around the western suburbs in search of a printer who would take my order. I found myself back and my old print shop who has always served me well. They found the electronic graphic designs online and made up my cards in less than 24 hours. Fab!

I also learned how to build a calendar on my computer and share it with my phone. And now I can make appointments, alter them as well, from my phone and my computer. One transaction takes care of it all wherever I am. I had watched others do this for a few years and marveled at their convenience. Now I am doing the same.

This is not innovation. This is me adapting to innovation.

Now, the innovation may be real and available but it is also not used by a lot of people. And that is the point of this post. Innovation unused is no innovation at all.

As we survey the landscape of our economy and note vast numbers of people out of jobs and looking fruitlessly for new employment, we wonder why they cannot find a good paying job. I have concluded that most often these good people have failed themselves by not participating in the burgeoning innovations all around them. These advancements are not fads in the main. They are quality of life improvements and productivity gains, too. Employers expect each of us to be productive and adaptable to new experiences. Shirking innovation is not the way ahead in any career.

We have entire new industries that are going unobserved by millions of people. And those same people wonder why they are not getting ahead.

Look, I have trouble with modern technology. I understand the barriers. But the true barrier is within the person and the way they think. Modern technology draws us outside of our selves and into the world. This is how the world lives. And we must engage it. It is not just a behavior.

It is a life skill.

And so it goes. Adapt and change how your brain works in seeing and processing ideas. It is nothing short of revolutionary. We live lives of change. Always have. The only difference today is the pace of change. The pace is fast. Sometimes instantaneous.

That is the challenge our society must navigate: adapt quickly and learn the advantages of change. Then take it and use it to make your own changes for your life and for others.

Think better. Adapt. And prosper.

Now say we all Amen!

May 5, 2016