Going into Fall

This is a lovely time of year. The end of summer and the beginning of fall. The kids are going back to school, commuting patterns are returning to normal, school buses replace families traveling hither and yon throughout the summer days of sun and freedom.

The heat of summer is mostly over; some hot days remain and they sometimes surprise us with their fury. But their grip on us is shortened. Cooler breezes are felt from time to time during the day. And the sun’s rays seem to have less sting.

Then we spot the leaves on trees being a bit less green. Not quite as vivid and deep a green as they were just a week or so ago. A tinge of yellow has brightened their skin and soon we know much more yellow will magically appear.

Suddenly blotches of orange and red will pop into view. That’s when we know for sure that autumn is coming. But not yet.

No, for now the days are slowly shifting into soft warm air that embraces rather than buffets. Humidity levels fall a bit more. The air is not dry but not damp either. It is caring and balmy against the skin. Gentle, too. The temperatures drop from the spiking 90’s into the tolerable 80’s. More and more the 70’s are evident and they keep us comfortable and yearning for the soothing days.

Leaning into fall is the way I like to think of it. Tipping our expectations toward cooler weather that is easier to prosper in. Harshness is not an adjective associated with fall. As winter approaches autumn’s adieu we expect frosts and sharp breezes anticipating icy mornings. But not yet. No, we are still in summer and its waning evidence. Now toward fall and its blessings.

At it’s end fall presents us with a landscape cleared of leaves and flowers. Instead we have the promise of quiet still nights with cold air, shifting weather fronts and the possibility of pure white snow. And Thanksgiving and the build up to Christmas. Fall is not all bad.

It used to be a sad time for me. I loved spring with its promise of new life and fresh green meadows. Summer was the time of warmth and freedom of travel and warm sun basking the skin. So enjoyable was summer that fall was a threat to happiness.

With leaves drying up, curling and falling to the ground, fall represented death of all that is green and filled with life. Fall was the foreboding of winter’s icy grip and discomfort. Later in life I came to appreciate the changing of the seasons. It is not of hope and expectations. Now it is a time of reflection and understanding. A time to rejoice difference and variety. A time to embrace all the things we have in life that are good.

The bad in life always gets its voice. It is heard and felt. But with an armory of good feelings and gratitude for the good things in life, the bad are snuffed out.

A strong argument for balance in life. Time brings that into view. Experience, too. We appreciate the little things so much more. The big have been in our lives. Now it is the smaller things that have their due.

Like life waning into yet a newer chapter we realize the value of what was so that we can now capture the value of what is.

And we are grateful for that.

August 30, 2016

What the World Needs Now

I could begin singing Love, Sweet Love! But that would be more than a little corny. On the other hand the lyrics to that song make more sense to us today than they did long ago when the song first appeared on the list of hit songs.

The world really does need love and lots of it.

Think of Syria and its civil war. It’s president has gone to war against his own people with more than one enemy opposing him. His tactics have been so cruel and obscene that hospitals have been moved underground to protect their patients. Still patients are bombed out of existence in those places of refuge.

Russia has lent a hand to help Assad and his embattled nation. They say they are fighting ISIL for Assad but they really are fighting both ISIL and the rebels that are defeating Assad’s troops. Now Turkey is in the fight, first to defeat Assad, then ISIL, and now they are morphing into some kind of international rogue nation working with Russia to defeat ISIL but somehow doing what with Assad and Syria? Who knows? The lines of strange bedfellow arrangements are surely blurred!!

More than love is needed to straighten out this perplexing situation. And more love is needed to cool the jets of Israel and her age-old enemies. Both the enemies and Israel have ramped up their distrust and hate to destabilize the region. One thinks often this is just what both sides want – instability. Why? Because they can leverage that condition for more support from friendly nations without taxing their own citizens for the expense of costly wars.

Just why wars are the favored status is still beyond me. I know it is complex. I get it. But when will the combatants tire of this incessant bloodshed and horror and just get along? Love, people. Love. One another and each other. It takes both kinds to calm the ruffled emotions and find peace.

Don’t like violence and war? Think of peace and what it is like and how it can be maintained. So much better than the current situation. Why not give it a chance to happen?

And then North Korea. What is the world to do with such a wayward child nation? So impudent, such purposelessness. So dangerous nonetheless. They have played this game long enough to gain money and favor just to calm them down. No more. I say love them enough to wall them off from the rest of the global community so they stew in their own juices. Citizens have rights. But they also have responsibilities to require their governments to behave. If they don’t then they are responsible for what they get. And what they have in North Korea is insanity cubed. Time to overthrow their own government and connect with the rest of the world. Disarm them. De-nuke them. Then help them when the citizens step forward to make the country a partner of peace with the rest of the global community.

Global business. Global community. World peace. That is the business we should be about. America spends $700 billion annually on military/war/peace machinery. Wouldn’t that go a long way toward funding peace all the way around the world? And the same expenditures from the rest of the world’s nations for the same? We are talking trillions of dollars worth of living standards and peace.

Peace is a goal not an ideology. Practicality is a tactic not a strategy. Cooperation and collaboration is a strategy not force of weapons or economic blackmail.

We should try it some day to see if it works. I think we give up on these strategies too soon before learning if persistence will work. Goals. Not tactics. Long term goals.

Let’s aim for that and see what we reap.

August 30, 2016

Rocky & Doctors

Friday, August 26 we visited an otolaryngologist surgeon. That’s a specialist who operates in the area of the neck and all of the complex functions that take place there. In Rocky’s case a tumor the size of an adult’s thumb to the first knuckle, has grown within the right lobe of his thyroid gland. That tumor is pressing on a nerve that controls the function of the right vocal chord. The chord has been paralyzed for at least 14 weeks, maybe longer.

CT scans and ultra sound images led to a needle biopsy of the growth. The results were inconclusive as to its cancerous status but the surgeon was called into the case to remove the tumor to relieve pressure on the impacted nerve.

It was explained to us that the right lobe will be removed along with its tumor. Within five days tests on the tissue will determine whether it is malignant. If it is, then a second operation will be performed to remove the rest of the thyroid gland.

In cases like these cancer is most commonly not the case. If it is, however, it almost always is contained within the thyroid. Full removal of the gland removes all of the cancer with it. Metastasizing outside of the thyroid would be very rare.

So we do this in two steps: removal of the thyroid lobe with the tumor; if indicated removal of the rest of the gland. Most likely the tumor will be benign and nothing much needs to be done. No thyroid pills, no radiation, no nothing. The opposite is true if cancer is discovered. Not likely.

So, we two old guys drove into Chicago to Northwestern Hospital. We hadn’t driven into the city for several months and certainly not during rush hour in years. We left home at 7:50 am and got to the doctor’s office at 9:30. Our appointment was for 10 am. They processed us into their system and we were in the waiting room within 5 minutes and then into an examination room minutes later. Pretty efficient staff!

The traffic was a horror on the expressway. I once drove this route daily during my career, and also did it for many more years by train. Never was the traffic this dense or slow! Once in the city the traffic was at a crawl as were the pedestrians crossing intersections. Dense presence of cars, trucks, buses and pedestrians in constant motion. Slow motion at that, but amazingly dense. When did all of these people move to Chicago?

Slowly we found the hospital and then the garage. More slowly we found the garage entrance and then proceeded up the ramp – the long, long ramp, past the ticket dispenser, around the many curves until we found a parking spot the size of a postage stamp. And evidently no one – and I mean no one – parks within their slot’s lines. Getting out of the car was the next puzzle to solve, then down the ramp to the elevators.

We memorized our location to follow in reverse after our appointment. We looked longingly at all the handicapped parking spots filled to the brim. These we were able to use with our handicapped placard but nary a spot was available.

We walked and we walked toward the elevated walkway bridge into the hospital hi-rise. There we asked for directions and found our bank of elevators to the 15^th floor. Thence we found our way to registration and were whisked to our waiting room. Once called we walked the long corridors to two different examining rooms including one with electronic gadgets that showed Rocky’s vocal chords in operation – well, in truth, faulty operation. That’s when it was explained what was going on and what they recommended as a solution.

We agreed and started the process for making a surgical appointment and reservation in the hospital. The pre-op visit will occur on September 2; the surgery will be performed on September 13. By September 19 we will know if another surgery is required. A post op visit was arranged for September 23. We were finished for the day.

We retraced our steps out of the hospital and into the parking garage. We navigated the ATM-like parking payment machine, paid the fee, and boarded the elevator to our car on level 6. Once at the car – another long walk – we found our car sandwiched in between two hulking SUVs. I couldn’t get into the driver’s seat, so got in the passenger side and climbed over the console and finally behind the steering wheel.

A Laurel and Hardy comedic routine would have done us justice at that moment. Watching two 70+ year old men past their prime crawling and twisting into their car must have been hilarious. To us it was exhausting work and we marveled that we actually accomplished it!

Then down the tortuous parking ramp to the exit mechanism. Inserting the parking card receipt the arm rose on command, we drove forward back into the maelstrom of people on the sidewalks and streets of Chicago. We managed to crawl out of the city and back onto the expressways and finally home.

Elapsed time was 5 hours. We ate a hurried lunch of fried eggs and hash brown potatoes. Then we fell into our chairs and slept for 90 minutes. We had survived the day! And now to build strength for the adventure ahead of us.

In all, Rocky is very confident and positive about what lies ahead. We have nothing to worry about because we are in the best of hands. Both spiritually and medically. And we have family supporting those two strengths.

All is well at this moment! Stay tuned for more.

August 30, 2016

The Power of Yes (More of Meg’s Story)

Most people think their efforts don’t matter. They don’t like thinking that, of course, but they do. Their rhetorical question is – ‘whatever I do doesn’t make a blip of difference, so why should I care?’  There are variations on this theme of course, and what they all lead to is a general avowal of ‘no’ when asked to do something. No. An answer heard all too frequently in our world today.  Why me? Indeed!

Why not? I suggest the alternative: Try the power of yes.

And that is what Meg has learned about herself. In her early 70’s she wasn’t very busy doing anything but puttering around her home and yard. Neighbors chatted with her from time to time and block parties were arranged once or twice during the year. But normally Meg had to find projects to busy her at church.

Lately, Meg was asked by her pastor to take on a new project. Meg was interested in the concept but wondered if she really had the skills to do what he was asking of her. So she demurred and went home to think about it.

She also talked about it with her friends at church and in the neighborhood. They wondered why she didn’t just say no and be done with it. But Meg thought some more about the project and began mulling what it all meant.

With her son and family in California and very busy with PTA and boy and girl scouts, and her Ohio daughter’s family busy with winter sports and school events, she didn’t have to worry about them. They were doing just fine and didn’t need any interference from her. They needed their independence and freedom to discover life on their own terms. What they didn’t need is a meddling mother, or mother in law!

That’s when Meg began to notice something about her volunteer activities. Each asked Meg to stretch her skills and experience a bit. And she did. More deeply involved Meg also came to understand how organizations worked; very similar to one another. Human nature was the common link to all of them. And then she realized experience with one group gave her a better ability to work with another group. In fact there were common themes that connected most the groups in one way or another.

Skill development was not what Meg expected to learn from all of this. Yes, she balanced her own check book and managed her own finances and household. She had learned to plan her expenses based on expected revenues and the timing of those. When asked to be treasurer of one of her groups she shuddered and said yes. In time Meg learned how to be a good treasurer and concluded it wasn’t much different from handling her own household books.

Around the house Meg also learned how to fix a run-on toilet, a leaking faucet and how to change the filters on the furnace and air conditioning equipment. At first these tasks seemed daunting but do-it-yourself magazine articles told her exactly how to do each of these chores. In time she became good at it. She only called a handyman or repairman when she actually needed it.

In organizational life she learned to form questions the group needed to focus on and find answers as well. She became a good board member for some of those groups. And in time Meg concluded that volunteer work stretched her abilities and talents. They were always there, of course, just in need of exercise to develop into full skill sets. Just like life and career, right?

So, there it is. Meg realized that doing volunteer work was good for the intended parties, but also very good for her. She was happy being busy. She was happy sharing what she could with others. And then she called the pastor and said yes to the new project. Of course she did!

Meg also learned something else about life while thinking over all of the above. It is simply this: life is not about who you are or what you have. Rather, it is about what you do with your time. Is it focused on others? Is it focused on problems and solutions? Or is it focused mainly on the self?

Meg knows how to answer that question. Do you?

August 26, 2016

Back to Meg!

Let us fill out Meg’s profile some more.

At 80 years of age Meg has filled her life with doing things for other people, and doing things with other people. She does not wait for them to come to her. She sees a need and jumps right in. She also seeks guidance on these activities so she knows she is not reinventing a wheel already in existence, and she gladly helps existing organizations work better and smarter.

She hasn’t always been like this, of course. She grew into this pattern of life as she aged. It began in her early 70’s. Her family was living well in their own regions, raising their children, educated and prosperous in their careers. They were invested in their communities, too; church on a minor level, girl and boy scouts for the kids; hobby groups and school activities, too. PTA and outdoor activities for the California son’s family. Winter sports for the Ohio daughter’s family. Two regions with very different lifestyles.

Meg understood this dichotomy well. She didn’t judge, either. Both families were doing well and self directed. They didn’t need interference from her. Nor did she need their coddling presence. She was doing just fine on her own, thank you! And she treasured her independence.

That independence gave Meg freedom to explore life in all of its dimensions. Well, as many dimensions as Meg had interest for or ability and stamina to spend on such interests. Once Meg thought of travel during her golden years but now she realizes walking on uneven surfaces is not only tiring, it poses tripping dangers. No need to travel for fun and interest all the while worrying about life, limb and injury far from home. No, Meg found other interests to pursue that replaced her yen for travel.

For one she read about various religious beliefs and how they formed over the thousands of years throughout the globe. She recognized the yearning for answers to complex questions that only the wisest of sages could answer. And even then those answers were philosophical enigmas that seemed to placate the unease of unknowing, yet wrap such thoughts in continuing mysteries. No answers really. Just as she thought would be the case.

No, Meg was satisfied with her journey of religious reading because it supported her theory that she was on this quest pretty much alone. Others had preceded her but in the final analysis each of us is alone with their life and their end. The mystery is not existence or death. It is not even about the why we are alive. Rather, Meg discovered it is about the what we do with our time and talents.

What do we do with life? Why does this matter? Who do we touch and how do they affect us? Or me? That is the essence of life, isn’t it? We live, love and learn. We touch other people’s lives. Other people touch our lives. For an instant or for a lifetime we intermingle our life resources and create unknown results rippling out for generations unseen. Just like the generations that came before us and made great impacts unknown and undefined from which we benefit.

Quite a mystery, really. Meg knew this eventually. Instinctively, too. She didn’t need anyone to tell her so. It was obvious. Comforting as well. We are here to be and make the best of it. In that is great comfort and ease.

All that was left for Meg was to discern where and how she could touch other lives. It was no longer a question of when. It is Now.

August 25, 2016

Centrist Political Concerns

I will attempt here to list the issues most centrists are concerned with. Each of these items helps define what a centrist is as well. Note their dedication to solving problems. Also note their steadfast belief in possibility. Centrists believe that logic, science and heart will solve many problems and make the world a better place in which to live.

1. Education is key to fulfilling human potential
2. Economics can be used to improve the standard of living of everyone living on the planet
3. International economics requires us to be good stewards of our resources and also to collaborate with other nations to earn the rewards of rising standards of living
4. Life-long learning is an investment in our people; this leads to adaptability to change and economic sustainability
5. Infrastructure used by all should be paid for by all; this includes citizens and companies who actually gain economic benefits from public infrastructure
6. Corporations are not legally citizens with the right to vote. They therefore do not have the right to donate funds for political campaigns; election finance reform should remove corporate funds from politics
7. Ecology focuses on the natural health of our planet and its atmosphere. Centrists believe in supporting the planet’s health and protecting it from economic manipulation
8. Common decency dictates justice for all. Civil rights are for all. Discrimination of any form debases each of us
9. Human genius will solve most problems if we let it. Care must be taken to protect us from genius run amok!
10. Lobbying is a form of education and valuable to legislators at every level. Lobbying should not include financial donations or involvement
11. Access to adequate medical care is a civil right. Models exist that deliver on this promise much less expensively than the American system. We must move toward better, more inclusive models at public expense.
12. Access to education should not be abridged by economic status. Each person should have access to the highest level of education they are capable of achieving and have interest in.
13. International peace and prosperity relies solely on the goodwill and open collaboration of all nations in the global community. The sooner we understand this and support it the sooner we will achieve lasting global peace.
14. All of life is a journey made at different paces by each person throughout their development and life story. Perfection of the global community will thus be imperfect throughout its experience but the goal is worthy of our steadfast support and effort. 

I know these may seem apparent. They are not. They force us to rethink a lot of what we believe in. Conservatives would keep much of the above free of public financial support and insist that each person invest their own effort and resources to achieving their needs and goals. Liberals would most likely take over the entire program structure and insist on public funding as well as public standards of each program. Neither of these approaches works very well. The Haves continues to Get. The Have Nots continue to Lose.  Liberals do not shine a very good light on one size fits all solutions. Besides it is enormously expensive and needs to consider alternatives that are more practical.

Ah, there’s the point of all of this – practicality.

Centrists tend to think first of problem definition; next category of importance; then speed of finding a solution. Finally, centrists consider alternative solutions for the most workable and budget friendly. Centrists will settle for temporary improvements as long as long term solutions are kept in focus for the issue. Perfection from the start is not the objective. Attention on problems and their solutions are the objective. In time better solutions will evolve if we are serious about proper management of important issues in the first place.

Centrists are inventive and caring people. They place people first and resources second. Not a bad way to live life, eh?

August 24, 2016

Global Initiatives

A funny thing is happening. Just as the world community gets a fresh dose of energy and spirit to solve global problems, a counter dose of political skullduggery questions if this is a worthy aim. All you have to do is observe two messages in recent days from the US campaign for president.

First is the ‘America First’ banner held high by the Trump campaign. Second is the questioning by Trump of Hillary’s ties to the Bill and Hillary Clinton Foundation.

In the first instance all we need do to refute America First-ism is to remember the folly of the First World War, and the slow entry of America to the Second World War. Both cost precious lives, time, materiel and money. Treasure all. Wasted because we as a nation put forth the argument that Europe was not America and they needed to fight their own wars. What was America doing getting involved in such skirmishes?

We learned that lesson well I had thought. But now the Trump supporters are questioning those lessons of history all over again!  Good Lord!

Second, the Clinton Foundation has been all about Global Initiatives from the start. Bill and Hillary claimed long ago that America’s business is not separate from the world community. If we prosper and the world doesn’t, America loses. In fact if such were the case America would be constantly at risk from external factors and become weakened by it.

The Clinton Foundation has always preached global issues should lead to global solutions so that all mankind prospers in peace and prosperity. Gathering donations from every corner of the world to fund research and program development in health, education, and economics, the Clinton Foundation’s success is found in its ability to attract peoples of the world community to work together on broad based issues affecting the globe’s population.

To detract from this success is sheer nonsense. Of course Hillary will need to maintain arm’s distance from the foundation should she win the White House. But the world’s problems will remain and need international attention if they are to be properly managed and solved. The Foundation will be needed even more.

The Clinton Foundation has carved a unique role for itself steering around government programs, United Nations authority and sensitive cultural issues that separate nation from nation. Now is not the time to dismantle the Foundation or its work. It must proceed.

And the Clinton’s must be trusted to keep that mission moving forward as well. In fact, the Clinton’s demonstrate exactly what our nation and the world need most – collaboration and inclusion. I doubt the Donald has that as his mission. Oh really! He doesn’t even have this as a work model or talent. His mode is singularity of purpose; mostly self and money. These are the elements that have propelled world issues to the brink before. They remain primary causes of this threat today as well.

It is time for all of us to understand these basics:

1. The world is our environment in which to live and prosper; we cannot escape it
2. Living with the peoples of the planet requires inclusion and the understanding that engenders
3. Solving global problems is done best by collaborating with all the stakeholders
4. If we help others to live well we live well as a result 

Perhaps someone with influence could take Donald Trump by the hand and lead him off into a corner where these things can be discussed and explained to him?

Yeah sure! And the Easter Bunny is real!!

August 23, 2016

Bits and Pieces

Olympic Embarrassment

What more can be said? Lochte and pals acted like teenager delinquents and tried to cover it up. They got caught and are now embarrassed. For Lochte his swimming career is over, and his sponsor contracts are in huge doubt. I suspect he just traded his future for a childish prank. Too bad he dragged some innocents along for the bad ride. And our national reputation along with it!

Sorry, Rio. This is not how Americans behave for the most part. And we usually provide our hosts with a better experience.

Gun Control and Celebs

Funny thing happens when gun rights mentality and celebrities combine. They usually speak the popular and political script for more fan support. But when one of their own family members experiences gun violence they change their minds in a hurry. Better late than never, I suppose. But it would have been much more valuable to the rest of us if they had supported commonsense gun regulations to contain gun violence early on. Nothing teaches us better than the actual living of life!

Political Claims vs Facts

So does she or doesn’t she? Have a brain tumor, dementia or other disease of the aging? Well, no, she doesn’t. That doesn’t stop political hacks from making claims to the contrary for their own gain. It provides confusion and distraction from the real facts. Until, of course, the real medical facts are shared and the original accusations and claims are reduced to dust. Trouble is more misdirection has already occurred and the press is tied up with that.

The Trump campaign continues to mislead, misstate and plod through its campaign regardless of truth, facts, policy or program ideas. Just misdirection and dishonesty.  Shameful!

Sears & K-Mart Folly

When K-Mart was purchased by the young investor brat, it was not for the retail operations at all. No, urban/suburban real estate prices had soared and K-Mart was worth more for its land and building holdings than for its retail operations. The thought at the time was to sell off the properties one at a time and make a killing. The funds so garnered would be used in other investments.

And if this strategy was pure gold, then buying another large land-based retailer might yield even better results. That’s when Sears was purchased by the same young investor brat. I call him a brat because he only trades in surface values on paper, not real value where people live, work and create value. He comes in with enough money to buy that created value, subverts it and then sells it off. Everyone else be damned. The workers in K-Mart are without upward mobility. Their retail operations are in shambles and the only reason they remain in business is so the brat investor can make marginal revenues to pay the overhead on the remaining business sites until he can sell them.

Same with Sears, once a mighty and proud retailer to the entire nation, even those in rural areas where the Sears Catalog held retail pre-eminence for decades. Working at Sears, however, was more rewarding but only because their history was larger and career opportunities remained for awhile. Now they don’t.

And here’s why the investor brat’s strategy didn’t work. The real estate bubble became visible (it was there all along but the blind could not see it until it was too late) and property values plummeted. That is still the case for retail properties. And the reason for that is twofold. First, in the time investor brat did his dirty work, retail operations nationwide changed into a different model. So now the sites for Sears and K-Mart were no longer needed for other real estate developers. The age of Amazon had arrived and retail big box stores are shrinking and disappearing. Small stores are also disappearing. A revolution in retail operations has occurred and it is yet unfinished.

Meanwhile, investor brat sits upon his throne of diminished value. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

The second reason his portfolio value has shrunk is the American economic model is changing in fundamental ways no one saw coming. The result is a delay in how real estate property will be used in the future. I think the malls of yesterday and today will become communities in which people live on premises (high rise condos and apartments), hotels, office employment nearby in similar high-rise developments, mall shops for services and merchandise, and plentiful entertainment and hospitality venues. Small cities contained within the mall’s embrace. This will re-value the property significantly but it will also take major new investment to transform the malls to the new model.

I doubt investor brat can hold on that long. Best he sell quickly and reinvest in something that might actually create value. What a concept!

August 22, 2016

Poisoned Journalism

We have a problem. We have reactionary journalists working among us. These are writers and news organizations (I use the term loosely) who are seeking followers and readership. Proven readership numbers are the data ad buyers look for. They want to know their message is getting exposed to large numbers.  So they follow those statistics carefully, then buy ad space accordingly.

This translates as operating revenue for the ‘news organizations’. Of course the authors who pen well-read pieces are sought after to write still more. And the secret of those wordsmith pieces is the central topic and a catchy headline.

How many scans of your internet web pages yield articles of interest based solely on their headline power? Curiosity pricked is an article opened and read; and the Google metric analysis machine goes into full operation. That’s how it works, folks.

So, in recent months I’ve noted the places that focus more on headline craft than article content. Here are a few:  Wall Street Journal; MarketWatch; CNN.com; MSN.com; ESPN.com; and many more.

I have finally come to the point that if I’m attracted by a headline I look for the news organization distributing it. If it is on my list of unreliables, I ignore the item. If not on the list, then I look for the writer. In time I will classify writers as reliable or not and that will guide my future readership.

People have asked how I get my news. I tell them I scan the internet. A couple of years ago I would not have answered that way. I was still rooted in print news and read three newspapers daily. But then those went the way of headline seekers and volumetrics. I avoided them enough to realize I was not getting enough out of my paper. So the subscription was cancelled. I began scanning proven authors on the Web, and then publications on the web I knew had a news gathering or sharing network sound enough to rely on their outputs.

In time I learned how to ‘read’ the internet better and better. Some items could be cross-referenced with other authors and organizations for proofing of content facts. That skill set has continued to build. Now I have confidence I’m getting good material. It is all about resonance of the ‘whole story’.

Still it is a gamble. Some headlines are just too attractive to ignore. But soon I see the fault lines, the glib retorts, and personalized fabrications of personalities being reported on.

Manipulation of material for read-worthiness is rampant today. All the more reason to dump entire news organizations from the reading list. They either earn your trust or they don’t. The same with authors. That is why reputation earned through process, diligence and honesty is so important to build and maintain. The slippery slope of failure is easily gained and quickly dispenses the writer and the organization to nothingness.

So, onward to my daily reading and disciplined discernment. Not easily accomplished but slogging through this mountain of stuff does hone the mind keener each day by little bits.

Try this method for yourself. Flood your eyes with news item headlines; note which are more attractive and why. Read the article associated with the headline; did it satisfy your interest and was the content cogently tied to the headline? Or was it a sop to get you to read the item? Enough failures and you will begin to note the distribution organization and cross it off your list of acceptable resources. Same with authors but that takes a lot more time to perfect!  So many of them!

If enough of us do this the news organizations that are not good will disappear. The ones that are professional and reliable will grow in stature. And we may finally get back to a reliable 4 or 5 we can base our knowledge and decision base on. Like the good old days of Walter Cronkite and NBS News. Today’s news and personalities are nothing like that at all.  Time will hopefully witness a repair.

August 19, 2016

Building On Meg’s Story

We last left Meg when the Mendeles’ were sharing her home with her. That chapter lasted just six months. Emilio secured a job in a small manufacturing plant three miles away. His job used his past skills very well, and the plant hired other Central American immigrants. He was quickly promoted to foreman and his salary grew well to support his family in their own apartment located within four blocks of his work.

As Emilio, Juanita and Juan moved to their own home, Juanita was able to remain a stay-at-home mom until Juan was safely enrolled in elementary school and after-school day care. That was yet a few years off but Juanita planned on working outside the home to build a strong financial future with her family. Things were working out pretty well for them!

Now, back to Meg.

Alone once again, Meg missed the 24/7 presence of people living with her. She spent more time outside of her home, now, mostly in church and programs that gathered people of similar social interests. Meg began volunteer work with a city agency working to welcome and settle immigrant families. From there she learned about food pantries and the huge need in the city for gathering, sorting, packaging and distributing food to needy families throughout the city.

Meg thought about that a lot. Why was there so much need in a country of so much plenty? Meg still ponders that question. She has no answers. But she feels a need to respond. So she talked with her pastor at church and soon found there were other families working with a Lutheran relief agency. And Meg joined them in their work.

So, once each month Meg joins a group of 6 families at a city processing center where they sort and assemble meals for families. Meals, daily rations, for families of two, or three or four. Then packaged into cartons and carefully labeled. These are soon on their way to a designated list of families throughout Chicago.

Two local food pantries operate nearby and Meg lends her time to them as well. So food is something Meg thinks about and does something about. She knows the need is much greater, but she does what she can.

Sewing, food, housing. These are the common elements so many families take for granted. Not Meg. She sees a need and steps forward. If only more would do the same.

Let’s see, food, clothing, shelter are basic necessities. Like the hierarchy of needs in every society, these are the necessities required by each of us to survive. What are the others? Healthcare, education and safety surely must be involved, Meg thinks. And so she returns to her pastor at church to ask more questions.

She learns the city and county have agencies to address needs for safety and healthcare. She also learns her church denomination provides some services in healthcare and education for low income families. But safety has Meg stumped until, in her sewing circle, she talks about how families could be kept safer in the city.

She hears many opinions on this but Meg finally comes to the conclusion, that except for police patrols and 911 calls for assistance, the safety of most people depends on where their homes are located. Low income neighborhoods seem plagued by more crime and violence, especially directed against people of their own kind. She wonders why this is, but then knows one basic answer to her quest for safety: move people to homes in safer neighborhoods.

So back to the pastor! What can the local church do to help people acquire homes in safer areas? Like helping the Mendeles, the church found them a temporary home, Meg provided them six months more in her own home, and that year was what the family needed to make the transition to self reliance and success. How can we do the same for other families?

And so Meg had found a new mission. Pastor put her in contact with others in the congregation to help, and together that band of hardy souls connected with other agencies within the city that would augment their efforts and build programs to address the need.

Hierarchy of needs, indeed! Meg was on the path of yet another personal crusade. We will watch how well this effort goes.

August 18, 2016

America's Political Primer

We have been talking about many issues these past several years. Most are very important to all of us. Work these issues to their perfection, or solve the problems they represent to us, and life will be much better. At least that is what we feel; and think, too. But I wonder.

I wonder if we threw out keywords one at a time in brainstorm fashion, what we would come up with. What would these words be? Would they have a connection? Any connection at all? Would they point out a direction we could pursue to push the issues forward to another plateau of possibility, evolution, synergistic genius that would forever change how the peoples of the world live? In peace? In comfort? In health?

If this were true, what would we the people of the world do with it?

I suspect we would find ways to fight over it. Like kids in the playground. Like adults in the sports arena. Like human beings tinkering with a machine until it can operate and win power over someone else. Is that what we face for all eternity? 

I listen to the rhetoric of American politics and shudder. I hear the childish name calling and watch the dirty tricks. I hear accusations of wrong doing without any factual basis. Just say whatever comes into your mind and cast aspersions on your opponent. Nevermind the statement is totally false. The speaker wants the statement to be true even if it isn’t. And maybe if he says it earnestly and craftily enough, you will believe him. And that makes it true in effect, doesn’t it? Bizarre. Totally fictional and bizarre.

Scary even. So I guess I need to start talking basics. What is it people want in today’s political arena? Is it power? Money? Bragging rights? Or is it authority within the governing circles with which to craft a changed society?

I think the latter may be the closest to the mark. But then we urgently wonder what are the desired changes these people want? I will attempt to answer that question here. Let’s see how far I get!

If the issue is control over changing society in some manner, what outcome is desired? I can think of three models in America that have historical significance and currency. Among the three are endless variations which some wordsmiths will attempt to create into several more model names, but I doubt they are anything other than variations of scope of the three models I will identify.

Here are the three models. Very basic:

1. Conservative governance
2. Liberal governance
3. Middle of the Road governance 

Some definitions:

1. Conservative governance philosophy has as its core thought the minimalist role of government, thus keeping power from gathering in the hands of elected elites from interfering with the individual freedoms of the citizens. Under this minimalist ideology government would work to accomplish these basic few things and no more: 

a.       Public order: vehicular traffic, pedestrian and movement of goods and services all affecting the public good and safety. Also public behavior, the police function to maintain standards of behavior and to provide the adjudicatory framework in which justice is processed.

b.      Defense of the national borders against any and all unwanted external incursions by unfriendly powers from other nations. Military strength in personnel, materiel and weaponry designed to defend the nation would be the sole function of this area of endeavor.

c.       Public education of the people of the nation so that they are prepared to do the work necessary to support the nation’s survival and prosperity. This includes research, intellectual development and scientific discovery that maintains basic standards of living.

d.      Public infrastructure necessary for controlling the following:

·         Control of storm water flooding affected by population shifts and land development

·         Quality of water supplies and their distribution to all elements of society

·         Collection of sanitary wastes and safe disposal of same to guarantee the health and safety of the population. 

·         Provision systems of roads, highways and streets to assist the efficient movement of people supporting the overall public good

·         Provide efficient integration of utilities to support the public good: electric, oil, natural gas and other energy sources; also electronic communications of all sorts

e.       A system that protects public health and access to healthcare as efficiently as possible. 

2. Liberal governance philosophy believes in the worth of the individual and the concurrent need that standards of life quality should be guaranteed at some level to maintain decency of human life within out society. This decency extends protections toward people who have been challenged by differences of ability to live fully independent lives or who, by the accident of birth, need a helping hand to achieve their full potential. This ideology includes the basic governance elements of the Conservative ideology and extends it in this manner: 

1. Education
2. Health
3. Food and Drug Safety
4. National Energy Policy and Programs
5. National Transportation Policy and Programs
6. Economic Management and Development
7. National Housing Police and Programs
8. Veterans Affairs Programs
9. Programs for Aging and Disabled
10. Civil Rights and Social Justice
11. Other 

The ‘other’ included above might better be stated as “Perfecting the Social Contract”. This concept extends governance in many ways to include quality of life initiatives in an attempt to provide the realization of each citizen’s full potential.

3. Middle of the Road governance is a political ideology that accepts much from both the conservative and liberal ideologies but focuses on the more practical side of life – What can we reasonably expect to accomplish with the resources available? Many subscribers to the middle of the road philosophy feel their approach to governance is a more perfect blend of both of the other ideologies. Here’s a basic brief on this position: 

First, centrists believe true conservatism is too severe and not caring enough for the welfare of individual citizens. Although conservatives believe that charitable organizations, churches and individuals will make up for what the government does not provide centrists feel too many needs go unaddressed with this liaissez faire attitude.

Second, centrists believe liberalism goes too far and manages or controls life quality where individual initiative should be nurtured. Centrists also believe the liberal approach is too costly and takes too much of society’s resources, thus restricting individual investment and economic development.

A question of balance is constantly in motion within the centrist ideology. Thus a frank questioning and research of most points under discussion is supported in order to discover practical priorities and decision making.

This primer will do for now. We will revisit each from time to time before the election to determine how these three political ideologies compete for votes. As a primer the reader is cautioned: there has been much written on all three ideologies. Ours is but a tiny view of the basics to begin a discussion.

Other ideologies exist as well but they are far from the mainstream and are currently footnotes to a broader discussion.

August 17, 2016

More on Meg

What’s can an 80-year old single woman expect in her golden years in the year 2016? And living alone in the city of Chicago – nearly 3 million strong, encased in an urban megalopolis of 8 million plus? Well there are a number of things she can look forward to or, of course, fear! The latter we will defer for awhile. Let’s look at the more positive elements here.

First, Meg has her home. It is comfortable, in good condition and reliable. Utilities are strong and steady, air conditioning is a little old but still works well; so does the furnace. Appliances are of varying ages but all in good condition. Meg takes good care of them just as her mother taught her.

Meg has cooked for her family and now her single self for decades. She is sure of the kitchen routines and does them gladly as daily homage to living a good life. Good diet, meals on time, healthy for a person of her age. And Meg’s health exhibits this fact: she is of good and stable health. For 80 she demonstrates health of a 60 year old! Shoveling her own sidewalks and mowing her own lawn has been good for her!

Meg watches some TV but dislikes the violence, the ever present sexual content and news that really doesn’t seem much like news. More of celebrities, opinions and politicians than anything else. What’s happening in the world, Meg asks, and she reads one daily newspaper (can’t break the habit), reads some Better Homes and Gardens and a few special interest journals about gardening and basic home maintenance (written especially for single women above the age of 45!).

Meg also sews to maintain her wardrobe but that’s pretty much it. She does some needle craft but donates all of those efforts to a church group that creates prayer shawls, cancer hats, and bandage pads for various missions overseas. She keeps her hands busy, but often does this work in a group setting at church where she truly treasurers the camaraderie and sharing of the group.

Neighbors talk frequently in the neighborhood. Their lives are interlaced with sidewalk chatter and unplanned meet-ups, bumping into one another while shopping and doing errands. And of course they entertain each other for teas, dessert, and some grander meals. Meg enjoys these involvements. They share their age differences well and even celebrate the different cultures and life stories that span generations. She senses the rich culture that has built Chicago and continues to keep it fresh and ever-changing.

Meg is engaged in her community. Once, a neighbor came to her and told the story of a young immigrant family who was having a hard time getting settled. The husband had finally found a low paying job but was working hard at it. The wife was home caring for an 18-month old baby. And their small apartment was found for them by a local church. Other churches in the neighborhood were helping with meals brought in, finding ample clothing for them, and day care for the baby while the mother looked for part time work to supplement the family’s income.

Meg immediately helped out. When the young family’s apartment rent came due after the church’s prepaid period, Meg opened her home to the couple and baby. After six months they found their own apartment, but this young family made a lasting friend in Meg. And the bond was returned.

Meg learned a lot from the experience. First, she learned that language barriers were temporary. If you tried hard enough you either learned enough of their language, or they did so as well, or you all invented other symbols that helped smooth daily life in the household.

With only a powder room on the second floor, Meg shared her bath tub and shower with the small family. But it all worked out. Kitchen and household chores were generously shared and the work made light. Even better, multicultural recipes grew into favorites and even blended cuisines!

The young family came to America because their nation was not safe in which to raise a baby. Food and medical support were rare and unreliable. Jobs were practically absent. There was no future. And roving gangs of thugs preyed on everyone less strong than they. So the only avenue forward was escape!

Escape they did. They walked out of their country at night and into a neighboring nation with more civility and promise. But they were overrun by fellow émigré’s. That’s when international service agencies and churches became involved and soon the young family was being flown to America for resettlement.

Their names are Emilio and Juanita Mendeles. Their baby is son Juan. They are happy to be safe and healthy and embraced within a community that cares more than their native land in Central America. Geopolitics is complex and disarming. It is also not discerning of human rights or common decency. That is when action must be taken.

And so Meg provides the homestead for a family now of four. And she is pleased.

She awakes with vigor every morning while this family is with her. She is part of their family now and they hers. Close by and dear.

What could be better than that?

August 16, 2016

More about Meg

We met Meg in yesterday’s post. Let’s visit her again and see what’s doing.

She has lived in her immediate neighborhood for 7 years. We know she lived in other neighborhoods of Chicago because she is a native born Chicagoan. Most of those areas were on the near northwest side of the city, and closer-in north neighborhoods. Over the years rents and home prices have soared so Meg had to balance her options carefully to retain city residence or move elsewhere. She always opted to remain in the city she loves.

Meg is a disaffected Roman Catholic. This was not a choice for her; she was married and had a good marriage for 14 years when she learned he was cheating on her. So divorce was the obvious legal choice regardless of the church’s rules. Of course the church didn’t see it that way and so Meg and the church separated.

Meg had two children. Both remained with Meg after the divorce. The father paid dutifully his alimony and child care agreement plus he generously supported each child through their college educations. The girl went into education and moved to Ohio with a boy she met in college. They are married, have three children, and the girl still teaches in the local school system.

Meg’s son went on to an engineering degree and moved to Silicon Valley in Central California. There he has made a life for himself and his wife he met locally once he secured his first job out of university. They have two children and Meg rarely sees them. They are too busy to travel to Chicago and she is too old to travel at all. At least she thinks so!

So we have Meg a divorcee, mother of two and grandmother of five. She lives on social security, a small pension provided by the divorce agreement, and owns her modest home outright by carefully managing her finances following the divorce and asset division at that time. Meg lives simply. And enjoys life all the more for it.

Meg yearns for connection with people. She enjoys her walks to the grocery store three times each week. It provides exercise and keeps her purchases light enough to carry back to the house. And get up the stairs to the entry! She walks to the drug store on the corner, shops at the local resale shop for small things, and at a discount department store for clothing and other essentials. She is not a clothes hog and keeps her appearance neat, clean and spare.

Meg also explored churches in the area. She looked for a small one that welcomed single women, older ones, too! And she was taken with a few that seemed especially happy and joyful. They seemed to want to share something that she found alluring. So she remained for a few months at each to experience their social interactions and worship services.

She thought the Episcopalians were too dramatic, ritualistic and formulaic. Too much like the RC church that booted her for divorce! She gravitated to Methodist, Baptist and Lutheran churches, too. In the first instance she felt their ‘methodism’ was a bit too rigid, while the Baptists were much too tied to creed and expected behaviors. She felt the Lutheran church was right for her, ELCA, the liberal synod of the church. She was not enamored with the other synods because they were too rule-bound. No, she liked the freedom to explore her theology openly without judgment. Lutherans allowed her to do that.

And she loved fellowship with the other parishioners. Such fun and worthwhile projects they gathered to do. As she aged Meg appreciated the work, the conversation, the earnest caring among all of the people. She had found a church home.

Politically Meg is a maverick. Similar to the journey her life has taken, Meg is open to people of different faiths, races and cultures. She is especially caring of people who have had to trod a life path of difference – race, gender, sexual orientation. She is independent of mind and doesn’t fall in line with what others would expect from an 80-year old. Just my kind of lady!

So now we have a better picture of Meg. She is three dimensional now. We know she is financially stable enough to afford her own housing, food, medical care and maintenance of her home. She loves gardening and has meticulously kept her home neat and trim. Painted on time. Leaves raked on time. Snow shoveled.

We know she doesn’t own a car. Her garage is filled with family leftovers and gardening tools. Her husband drove in the old days and took the car. Meg never learned to drive and didn’t care to. She has lived in Chicago all her life and currently lives in a close-knit urban neighborhood complete with stores, shops, services, restaurants and grocers. She doesn’t need a car. If she needs to visit out of the immediate area there are friends who drive her or she takes public transportation. The church groups get her around, too!

She is a city person true and blue.

So why write about her now? Because there are things looming of a natural kind. Age is one; aging another; and health care a natural issue closely following. All of these issues will challenge Meg’s ability to remain in her home, won’t it? What would happen if she could no longer live alone and needed someone to live with her? How would she afford such support? Does she have financial resources for that? Or, would she move to assisted living? Could she even afford such an option?

So many challenges ahead. Life lived well through challenging times presents rewards. But those are replaced with fresh challenges that threaten peace and security. Or maybe challenge that requires a bold face of courage to meet head on and grow even more?

We shall see. This story continues as all do. What will become of Meg?

August 15, 2016

Her Name is Meg

Her name is Meg. Meg Ranglon. She is seen now weeding her front yard in Chicago. Near the front walk, she has found a patch of weeds in her lawn and she is dutifully removing them. 

Behind her is a small yard. A center walkway goes from the public sidewalk to the front porch steps – five of them up to a wide porch embracing the full width of her modest clapboard frame home.

The house is one and a half storey with a central window on the second floor looking out over the front porch roof. On the first floor are one window to each side of the front door, one presumably her living room window, the other? Perhaps a den or a first floor bedroom.

A few flowers adorn the front yard near the porch steps. Bushes – perhaps low growing ewes? – frame the porch’s lattice work which covers from view the open space beneath the porch. The image is tidy. All except the weeds Meg is working on.

She is thinking about those weeds. Growing a lawn in a city neighborhood is not easy. Weeds, yes; grass no. It gets snow and salt shoveled on it for 7 months of the year; the public and dogs trample it if it is close to the walk. So other options?

Meg is thinking of planting flowers, small beds to mark the corner of her walkway with the public sidewalk. No; that wouldn’t work. Too much wayward feet and snow shoveling to protect any kind of planting. Maybe a bush? Or an Urn with evergreens planted in them for the winter and flowers for the growing season? Ah, that sounds like a nice solution.

But who would do the work? Meg is 80 (that number is whispered only to a few close friends!) and she is just a mite of a thing, barely 95 pounds. Weeding is OK; so is pushing a mower on level ground; but hauling cement urns? Or planting them with bushes once each year and then removing them and replacing them with flowers? Seem like heavy work.

She’ll ask her grocer down the block if he knows someone who could help her for a modest fee. Jake is a good guy and known Meg for 7 years now. Helpful and smiley most of the times. Yes, Meg will ask Jake.

So her plans firm up. The weeds now gone Meg is carrying the plastic bag of weed pullings to the rear yard and the garbage can. Meg’s house is a typical urban lot, only 28 feet wide. There is a gangway walk between her home and the house next door, only three and half feet separate them. On the other side Meg is lucky. An empty lot has been there for years with large old trees shading adjacent buildings. So she has a grassy edged walkway to the rear of her yard. She rarely uses the other gangway – too spooky!

Inside her home – up a back porch of 6 steps to a small landing providing little maneuvering space in front of the rear door, Meg passes through the service porch and then into the kitchen. Old with high ceilings and a very dated layout of appliances and sink and cabinets. A sole table with three chairs sits in front of a window and serves her for daily dining.

Nearby is the dining room with modest and very old furnishings. Then the front room (frontrum to some!), the front window looking out on her front yard. On the other side of the front door and hall is her modest bedroom. Originally an office or den, Meg prefers to sleep on the first floor. She avoids the stairs whenever she can. Besides, the one and only full bath is on the first floor nestled next to the kitchen.

Upstairs are two bedrooms and a bathroom we now call a powder room – sink and toilet. Too much work for Meg to clean so the rooms are simply furnished and rarely used.

Meg uses the dining room as an office; there she has a writing table and bookcases. She finds a catalog with gardening supplies and flips it open. She finds the urns she is looking for, and then the bushes for the winter months (plant them in fall, water them good, and they will stay green throughout winter until spring when they turn brown; then you remove them and plant flowers). She checks the prices. Gosh! She didn’t think they would be that much. But they will look good in that place and dress up her yard.

Dress up her yard. That sounds good to Meg. She has been dressing up her home and yard for years now. Making a good impression for others to see and be aware of. No special reason but Meg feels that this makes her feel good; maybe it will make others feel good too. Besides she notices that other homes spruce up when neighbors do the same.

The neighborhood has a sense of pride in its appearance. Most of them are between 60 and 80 years of age. So it may be a generation thing! Meg does hear rumors that the guy two doors down is hiding the fact that he is nearly 90, but Meg is respectful; just as she hopes no one knows she is 80.

The neighborhood is 150 years old. The homes are modest and range in age of 125 years to 75 years old. The stores are of similar age but benefit from frequent updating. There is neatness and pride on the block. And Meg gladly does her part. This is her role to play. Keep up the neighborhood. Improve it where she can. Help others, too, in the past; for now she can only manage her own home and yard. And that’s a full time job these days.

Yes, at 80 Meg is doing her part keeping the city livable and happy.

So should we all.

August 12, 2016

Taking the Day Off

I have been ill for the last few days and will resume posting hopefully tomorrow. Thanks for your readership and past support!

August 11, 2016

Pushing Boundaries

You are getting along in your day. Routines beckon and you perform them. Automatically without much thinking. That’s why we call them routines. On the other hand a phone call comes in and challenges you with a problem you don’t experience often. Later that same day a couple of emails arrive with questions about matters you are unfamiliar with.

So it goes. Challenges. The routines keep our productivity moving along. The challenging stuff thus has time and our attention to be addressed. But how?

I think about the problems posed by others. What would I do in their place to champion the problem? And is it a problem? Perhaps it is a message from the future urging us to do something different than we are doing? Might that be it? Are we actually meeting the future on its own terms? How do we even know that is the message we are dealing with?

Well, in truth, we don’t know the answer to that question.

What I do is imagine what outcomes I would like to see from the challenge. What is the best desired result if we were handling the challenge very well? Do we even know what the desired outcome is? Wishing the problem would go away is not a desired outcome. No; we are challenged to do something more with it. 

But what? Well, that’s the real question isn’t it?

Seeing the world from our own perspective often lulls us into sameness. We expect things to be such and such and so we accept the status quo gladly. It doesn’t rock the boat. But what if we see the world from a different perspective? Perhaps we should try these vantage points:

• If I do nothing, what will happen? Is the imagined result good, bad or ugly? Why?
• If I do something to avoid the bad or ugly, is that result what we truly want? Or should I be aiming for a better result, maybe one that revolutionizes the situation entirely?
• Imagine I am sitting 5 years in the future; what then does this problem pose for me? Am I able to respond differently? And if so, what makes it different AND better. Doing something different is not the end product we are aiming for necessarily. Doing something better, or gaining a better result is the goal here.
• Are we using all of our abilities to address the issue? Are we specializing our faculties and only using those we expect we should be called upon to use? Or should we reach out beyond usual borders and norms and seek the larger, the new, the revolutionary end?
• Are we responding with creative and inventive processes to address the issues we face daily? 

I think not. I suspect we expect the world to work the way it always has. Problem is the world only works the way we have witnessed it to work during a particularly short span of history. I used to get university students in my office urging me to produce a program that we did the year before; ‘it’s tradition!’ We have to do it again! Only problem is last year’s program, although a smashing success, was the first time we ever did it. Some tradition!

It serves my point, though. What we think is usual or traditional is often not at all what it seems.

Life deserves all of our attention. What do I want to accomplish? What do we want to achieve as an organization or company or institution or group? What is the essence of success we would like to be associated with?

This is a much deeper and more demanding question to answer. It requires us to really think about the goals, the possible goals we haven’t thought about, the affected populations we haven’t addressed but should, and the desired improvements in productivity and resource minimization that would result from a new approach.

When we push against the borders or edges of our self defined ‘boxes’ we often discover fresh new worlds. Often we don’t even know we have placed ourselves in a box. Sometimes we feel boxed in by circumstances or by an employer’s job description. That’s OK, but trust me, everyone will be happier if we challenge those boxes. Not just for yourself, but for the benefit of other colleagues and especially the customer or end user.

I have urged readers to challenge the ‘normal’ and see for themselves if normal is evolving into totally new paradigms. Often it is without our being aware of it.

Is real estate selling to customers what they want or what we think they want. And wants are not needs; which end are we serving? Same with insurance products; what is needed by the customer and by the society? Are we really addressing these needs or only wants and the buying off of threats?

Is education teaching the student how to think or are we teaching him how to act or behave? The former is the idea; the latter only continues the ‘norm’. We are challenged to do much more in the education field. Deep down I think we all know it. The status quo is actually stultifying; suffocating. We must do something outside the norm, outside our boxes.

How else will we learn of what we are capable? Isn’t that the point of education and life-long learning? The becoming of a wholly new, improved and more capable person is good for you – the student – and for the society in which we all live. This is fueling the evolution that builds new futures.

That’s what we should be doing. Actively and instinctively and purposefully. How exciting is this? How boring is the opposite?

We should choose the better.

August 10, 2016

Police Violence and Labor Shortage

Two more bits and pieces. Just commenting on issues that seem hot in the media these days. Just different perspectives. This is what makes living in a complex society difficult. So many views. So many truths. Not all of them pleasant.

Police Violence

A guy steals an expensive car. He takes it on a wild chase through high traffic areas with dense populations and pedestrians. Police take chase and corner him. He makes a break for it, smashes through a street barricade of police cars, and is ordered to halt and surrender. He does not. He runs for it. More police chases and gunshots fired – first to warn, then to stop the speeding vehicle.

The kid crashes the car. He makes a break for it and runs into a neighborhood. Police chase him on foot. They shout their warnings and shoot warning shots. Finally, not knowing what danger they face in the end, they shoot to stop the fugitive. They get him, cuff him and take him in. He dies from gunshot wounds to the back – because he was running away from the police! – and the city goes hysterical because of police violence.

Give me a break. The kid did everything to attract his grisly end. The police are charged to protect you and I. I expect them to take the lead in doing just that. The miscreant be forewarned: you may get hurt or killed doing your misdeeds. And you know you are breaking the law, right?

If the police are to stand nicely aside while the criminal breaks the law and wait for him to stop, turn around and shoot them fair and square, how many police do you think would apply for the job? Who is to know at the moment the kid doesn’t have a gun? For all the world he does. After all people are shooting at police and ambushing them, right?

Of course the police could wait until all the excitement has come to an end and then respond to the emergency call. But what good would that do the public? Huh?

A little balance please. Just who is the victim in these matters? The police? The criminal? The public? Or principles that often get confused in the rush of life being lived in the real world. These are not simple matters.

Take time before making a judgment please.

Labor Shortage?

Bloomberg News has claimed that there is a shortage of labor in America and employers are facing real problems staffing their business operations. I don’t agree with this.

First, we have a huge number of retiring experts who would gladly receive fair pay for part time work after retirement to help their former industries prosper. They haven’t been asked. It would be good for the retirees and excellent business for the employers. Why haven’t they asked?

Second, there are plenty of young, bright and technologically savvy people who want to work but don’t know exactly what the employer wants. So the employer should hire them and train them exactly the way they want the new hires to do the work. Why don’t they? Do all employers expect the public to train and educate the young to do exactly what the employers want? Why? It is time for employers to educate, train and pay the tab for what they want. Last time I checked we labeled that investment.

Investing in your people is job one if you wish them to perform in a prescribed manner. So do it!

The only labor shortage we have is in our thinking and doing. The people are there. Hire them, train them, and pay them. They will have the jobs and the incomes to buy your dam products and services. That’s how the economy works!

Meanwhile, schools, colleges and universities need financial help to do their work, too. That’s one reason they are mostly tax supported entities. Imagine that!

August 9, 2016

Olympics and Hillary

Again there are so many stories happening around the globe and within our own country that it is difficult to land on just one and give it solo attention. So I will scope out a couple items that may interest you as well.

Olympics in Rio

Good to see the Games begin at last. So much drama leading up to them – the construction delays, incomplete facilities in Rio, water pollution at ocean front beaches where competitions are to be staged, crime sprees rampant throughout Rio and its region, political unrest, President under impeachment, temporary president under suspicion, too, and near financial collapse of Brazil, and of course the continuing threat of international terrorism despoiling the games. One of these crises would be a huge news story on the global stage, but all of them at the same time?  One wonders if they were blown out of proportion or not; the city looks glorious and appears to be a generous host to the games. May all go well from this point on.

So far it is. Capable venues. Beautiful scenery. Challenging competitions. A willing gathering of so many nations and 11,000 athletes, all primed for their Olympic test!

Hillary Not a Liar

It is said that young white people do not trust Hillary. I think this is a normal thing when one realizes this demographic was raised on sound bite news and social media. Twitter statements do not contain much fact. Perhaps not even much conclusion. Just bites of information that are totally disconnected to the context of their reality.

This is a problem when dealing with news, historical stories delivering context of later events, and complex social issues that often have many symptoms and even more causes. It is the nature of social issues. Why is joblessness experienced among one group and not another. Depends, doesn’t it? On education, experience, expertise gathered through the complex evolution of some industries, and so on. Then there is language, meanings of words and phrases, different cultures and clashing of age groups without translatable experiences to share.

A politician understands that how the public sees them is vital for receiving and retaining support (votes) from that public. Statements – written or oral – must be phrased carefully so exact meaning can be communicated and misunderstanding avoided. Not always possible, though. The issues and the times are very complex.

Hillary has claimed and most experts have agreed that email communications involving Hillary’s work at the US State Department did not involve classified information. At the time of the emails whizzing from pillar to post that may have been true. Later events would make some of the material classified because of those later events, but not at the time the emails were originally sent. Out of 30,000 plus emails maybe a hundred or fewer became sticky. This does not make Hillary a systemic liar in any sense of the word. Nor does it make her careless. The complex issues she was involved with required timely, fast communications. Emails fit the bill; perhaps not the most secure practices, especially over a server that was not in the direct control of the State Department. Thus policies and procedures have been established that are much more strict. A good thing. Not a liar thing.

And more. Hillary and husband Bill have been the target of political enemies for decades. They tried everything they could to bring each down as well as the couple. So far they have not succeeded. With all this scrutiny how can anyone believe that they are serial liars and breakers of the law? If anything they have been generous with their time and talents to the public. They have given up their privacy for all to view. That shouldn’t be the price anyone pays to be a public servant but the public demands it anyway.

Making personal finances and tax filings public is an example of that. Too bad Trump doesn’t agree or his supporters. Guess he can hide behind any old excuse to maintain his privacy. But not his competitors?

Next time you or Mr. Trump wants to accuse Hillary of wrong doing, be prepared to provide all the proof. Being accused is not being convicted. If you were in her shoes you would understand that intimately.

August 8, 2016