Little Engine That Does

One of my favorite books I read over and over again when I was a tot was “The Little Engine that Could.” Small and good at the tasks it was designed to do, one day a larger train with a huge shiny powerful locomotive was unable to do its job. The little engine was asked to help; he doubted he could do it. The job was huge. He was so small!

But others urged him to at least try. Although worried, he did try. It was hard work but he worked as hard as he could. He used the mantra – “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” – and the rest is history, well at least fictional history!

The little train nearly failed at the top of the last hill but he kept on trying and eventually, with one last gasp of effort, he was over the top and accomplished the impossible.

We have another little engine that can and does buried deep in our nation’s culture. What is that little engine, you ask? Well, glory be, it is the small businesses that abound throughout our land!

This little engine creates its own job. Then another, and another until the little business is a little larger and putting several people to work. Multiply that factoid by 100,000 or more new businesses in a year, and you have nearly a million new jobs for the year.

There are those who donate their time and energy to helping people start small businesses. Those same people help create about 50,000 jobs alone last year, and the year before that, and the year before that a whole long way back! The organization that has done this for 54 years, now, is SCORE – Service Corps of Retired Executives – and they number 12,000 volunteers who mentor small businesses into being. Those same mentors help existing small businesses strengthen their operations, and in many cases, save them from failing. How many jobs were saved, you ask? No one knows, but a whole lot; maybe another 50,000 jobs annually? If so, that would mean SCORE helps create and save 100,000 jobs annually by providing expert, free and accessible help to small businesses.

To get help just visit www.SCORE.org. The whole picture for SCORE is available there. More and new mentors are always needed to do the work; if you are interested in helping, get on the website and click on ‘volunteer’. If you need help as a small business person, connect with the SCORE website and ask for help. If you are interested in starting a new business for yourself, go to the SCORE website and ask for that help.

Yes; it is as easy as that. It’s fun and rewarding to volunteer with SCORE. And clients of SCORE have fun with those same mentors. It is a win-win situation. Who could possibly think this would be free? But it is.

Volunteer mentors don’t have to be retired, but it would be easier for them if they were.

I’ve been a mentor for 3.5 years and enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve become quite involved and hold a leadership position or two in the organization. That only helps me know and understand more so I can help others even more.

It’s the story of more, don’t you see! And you can be a part of this, too. Think about it. You can easily help a lot of little businesses become the ‘little engine that could’ and does.

WWW.SCORE.org. Go there now to give or get help.

August 9, 2017

Saying it is So

For many years now I have been saying something that puzzles me. With almost disbelief I hear political thoughts expressed and wonder how those people believe what they are saying is the truth. Maybe another way of saying it is, ‘do they really believe what they are saying represents facts, reality?’

I started thinking this way back in the 90’s. It was just before the Clinton Presidency began. During that election campaign the republican machine was in high gear saying all sorts of things without any proof of fact. That was a new experience for me; oh sure, I’ve been exposed to misstatements and propaganda in the past, but not forceful, programmed discourse that was totally off the beam fact wise.

As the Clinton presidency continued for 8 years, I noticed an increasing fervor, frequency and decibel of political speak that simply was not factual. I began then to see a behavior in politics that was curious but prevalent.

Republicans spoke from a scripted presentation of distortion and un-truth. It was a campaign to discredit their opponents regardless of what was claimed. If a democrat said the sky was blue, republicans insisted it was gray or orange. And they acted on those statements as though they were the gospel truth.

In time supporters of the view rallied behind the script and voted that way – in congress and in the ballot box. In a very odd way it became the truth – the representation of the universe was theirs by simple fiat.

That behavior has continued to this day. Throughout all of the Bush W years non-fact was touted as fact. That’s how we came to fight two wars simultaneously and enrage the world against us. It was also how Muslims came to be hated in America. And how the economy was turned upside down all the while we were told it was the fault of someone else.

Then the Obama years were upon us and they were excoriated continuously for things that simply were not true. But republicans believed this nonsense nonetheless. It went on for 8 years.

During the Hillary/Donald campaigns the same un-truth behavior ran rampant. Hillary was repeatedly attacked without proof, without validity and without logic. Sound bites all. Misspeak and misdirection. Until enough people believed it and the election was up for grabs.

That's how we got the Donald in the White House and everyone is scratching their heads.

Today the same behavior continues. Say what you want as the truth regardless of the lack of proof; say it enough times and it will be perceived as truth. And it is. Over and over again.

So pervasive is this behavior that the news media is now distrusted by half the population of the USA. Unfair, but that’s a fact. All because political imps have mastered the art of propaganda.

That’s how propaganda works. It is how Putin has taken control of Russia. It is why the Donald admires Putin. Saying something is so makes it so regardless of the facts.

This is pure delusion on a massive scale. And we are all pulled into it like the vortex of the planets.

The answer to this? Education. Open a book and read it. Learn how to learn. Learn how to think for yourself and locate facts and play them against other facts. Learn how to discern the truth. Understand your own life and those of others; also learn how to understand history and know what it is.

We don’t have to learn things by rote. We don’t need to memorize vast lists of things. All we have to do is learn some facts, understand how they interact with one another, and then let logic actually work. Occasionally ‘prove’ your conclusions using known facts and data bases. Take hold of your own life and mind and learn what is fact and what is fiction.

And then with a clear and informed mind vote for people who will do the same.

Ignorance is an ugly thing. All you have to do to see that is turn on the news or read a newspaper. All sorts of ugly surround us. Which is true and which is not? Well, that’s not easy unless you have fought off ignorance with a determined spirit to become educated.

If people undercut education and school budgets, you have a clue that something is not right. Follow your nose and you will see what I’m talking about.

Will you help change the tide? Will you do this for yourself and others? Or will we continue to let others steal our nation’s spirit and vision for greed and ego?

I think the choice is clear. How about you?

August 8, 2017

Welcome the Tired and Poor

I am writing this on Friday, August 4^th. I am posting it today, Monday, August 7^th. I will re-edit it before publishing it. It will be interesting to see what occurs today and over the weekend that might change the message!  [Nothing to change!]

Yes. News forms quickly and impacts each of us differently. Interesting dynamic abroad in our land these days. Used to be if we knew the characters involved we understood the news as it unfolded; not so today. None of us know the characters it seems.

Therein lies the uniqueness of our times. Think back on your experiences with governments, policies, political issues, personalities and all of that; think back hard, now. Some of you are too young to have much memory on these matters, but many of us do.

I’m one of those people who has always been interested in public policy and its formation. Not an easy subject to understand; on the surface it seems easy, but once you delve below the surface the rocky shoals appear and loom large. Navigating among them toward a safe landing is difficult. Try it some time and you will quickly learn the lesson of which I write.

That experience informed me long ago that political rhetoric is cheap; it is directed at winning supporters for their vote at the ballot box. Making promises work after the election is another matter. And we have such an example today.

“Build the Wall.” Not practical and not needed. Policy and implementation of the policy is the primary means to achieve the goal the wall was supposed to achieve. The reason: the border is land, sea and air. It is not a line drawn in the sand of a desert separating Mexico and the southwestern states of the USA. Go around the wall by Gulf or Pacific waters. Or fly to another land and enter that way.

Picking and choosing who you discourage from immigrating is another matter. Canada shares the longest border of a foreign nation we have. Period. Think about that. Then measure the coast line mileage of the west and east coasts; add them together; compare that astounding figure with the mileage of the desert border with Mexico. Peanuts.

Policy is the answer. Well thought out policy. And no one person has the answer. All of us together most likely have the answer. It takes combined intelligence to work this out. A Congress of many theories and ideologies can do this with discipline. Without the discipline, however, it will not happen.

Ask John McCain. When George W. Bush was new in the White House, McCain worked with him to define a compromise that would lessen illegal immigrant traffic from Mexico to California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada. Both McCain and Bush agreed on the basics. Then McCain was tasked to visit Congress with suggestions. He was resoundingly repulsed by everyone in sight – the leaders of both the House and the Senate, as well as rank and file members. Do you remember those attempts? They were well reported in the press.

The interesting thing is McCain and Bush suggested similar solutions voiced by Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and other political leaders. Because the ideological divide and purity held sway in those days, progress on the issue was impossible. Too bad; we have the same issue today and the solution chosen by trump and his supporters won the argument.

Trouble is: it doesn’t work. It is impractical, too costly, and down right inhuman and inhospitable. America is not like that.

The current RAISE act being touted by trump is similar. It cuts in half immigrant flows by policy. It proposes the antithesis of what the Statue of Liberty heralds – ‘give me your tired and poor, huddled masses yearning to live free’ – and to do so redefines who and what America is.

I understand frustration. But I do not believe it should redefine who we are as a people or nation.

Get a grip, people. Just because you are here and settled does not mean you have the right or moral compass to close the door on others who yearn for what you already have.

Shame!

August 7. 2017

Beginning to Show

Unraveling an establishment is beginning to show. Unpredictability first, then more, until chaos reigns. Decisions made in quiet solitude, tweeted out, and then the scramble of the establishment White House to make sense of it. The press is next to attempt making sense of it. Not much luck there. Sense is not much present.

Foreign nation polls of citizens take measure of their sentiments; about America. Once the reliable partner in most all things – commerce, finance, medical assistance, education sharing, military safety umbrella – now it is eroding.

Tough man image is projected by trump; but is it real? Not very. The image is skin deep and easily crazes and shatters into tiny bits. Too many players to understand their roles; besides, all the roles keep shifting to others with little sense of who is who and what is what. Chaos. Smoke screen? Or reality coming into focus?

Too soon to say for history buffs, but for political buffs and social scientists the verdict is shaping up fairly well: there is no control in the White House. Perhaps Gen. Kelly will impose that on the fractured team, but then there are the family members walking about the ‘palace’ as though they have an official title. They don’t; their presence only serves to confuse and addle the rest of the people on scene.

As I said, chaos. This is no way to run a country.

Especially, not America. We are used to better.

Better thinking, study, consideration, manners, too. Planning and careful ordering of myriad details. Productive operations require order and policy; and informed minds with the discipline to relate many disciplines of thought to one another. Discovery comes from this order of things; control supports leadership and the projection of same. All of this is missing in this White House.

The name trump is building a lexicon of meaning all its own. The brand is dwindling. The reputation is not one of burnished wealth but of dissolution and failure. There were those who predicted this. There were many who said no. Who is saying that now?

Letting Obamacare implode may be more difficult than once thought. Laws require levels of federal support; those are not easily allowed to fade away. And implosion needs an active core of citizens actually hating the program that they abandon it. That is not in the cards today; most rely on the program and fear its dissolution. It will remain for some time and maybe even be tweaked to strength.

What can implode is a meaningless presidency founded on nonsense. This looms larger every day. Facts matter. Opinions fade with time. Only provable facts retain value. And that is the nettlesome reality the trump family is beginning to realize.

Thinking something is so doesn’t make it so.

There’s a lesson for the rest of us buried in all of this.

Ponder it well.

August 4, 2017

Voice, Face and Feel

Some years ago a small band of us formed a community newspaper and began writing stories covering our town. Our Letters to the Editor section was entitled Voices. It was our way of encouraging people to speak up on ideas that mattered to them. Their opinion was solicited. We cautioned them to be polite, of course, and we omitted letters of fiery rhetoric and hurtfulness.

Voices were heard often. Yes, they did stir up opposition from time to time, but the temper of the newspaper was positive and upbeat. We called a spade a spade in news stories, but we also kept the pipeline open for official comments from those in authority in order to keep the account accurate and on point. Over the years we built trust and reliance with the community that we would cover their happenings well. And accurately.

In time the voice of the newspaper became a good reflection of the community’s voice. It was a good thing then. Not always liked or trusted by everyone but deep down I think they knew we were giving everyone a fair shake at the truth. We also inserted a lot of logic and perspective to the coverage; history is a helpful piece of that perspective!

So, we had a ‘voice’ in town, and in return they had a ‘voice’ as well in their own community. The bottom line of any newspaper is that quid pro quo – trusting and giving so we can trust and receive.

Our photographic coverage of town was more challenging. We had an excellent staff photographer and editor, but we had so little space to give proper weight to photos. A full page photo would be terrific at times, but we simply didn’t have the space to devote to this photo-editorial treatment. Through the years we lost several citizens; we covered their deaths with front page stories and hearty obituaries. But often we knew what we truly needed was a large photo of the deceased. Such would hold our attention by the sparkle of their eyes and the hint of a knowing smile. Character and personality shines through such photos just when we need them. But we didn’t have the luxury of space and budget to offer this treasure to our readers.

The ‘face’ of our community was thus offered in word rather than photo. Oh, we printed photos of events and fires and floods and beauty, but we didn’t publish photos of people very much. We simply had to be satisfied with word pictures of the mind. We knew we missed readership because of this. So many times readers suggested photo stories of local athletics, especially of the youngest among us. We agreed; our check book didn’t! Oh well. And yes, if you counted, photos were maybe 2 per issue; a few times we had 5 or 6, but those were rare editions.

So, we had ‘voice’ and a little ‘face’ in our paper. The third element was feeling. Oh we had a lot of that. Our town of 13,000 is marked by its feeling. It cares about its people and their welfare. It cares about its landscape features and landmarks. It cares about its traditions and history, too. A volunteer-spirited community, too. The fire department began that way. So did the library. Much of the town's government was small and voluntary. In later years state standards as well as a community’s desire to excel pressed all government entities to strive for excellence. And they did in time. One needs only to observe the culture of pride in the local fire department to understand what I’m saying here.

But then the library was nurtured and grown into quite the small town treasure. Later tax referenda and a burgeoning TIF district allowed the library to rebuild and gain a major future of professionalism and excellence. So too the park district. A state award winner in excellence and achievement, the park district continues to delve deeply into the community to discern needs and programs.

And city government has replaced all of its buildings with new, energy efficient structures designed to last a long time and meet the needs of the town for its foreseeable future. Infrastructure is in place, well funded, and very well maintained. Police services are top notch and well relied upon. Snow removal is legendary among our neighboring suburbs. Ours are the first streets to be scraped clean of every snow storm!

This is a community that cares about each other. Governing entities are blessed with this type of community. The citizens know their public life is in good hands. They remain aware of the happenings and respond to requests of assistance.

That’s much more difficult these days without a weekly newspaper. But then social media is picking up the tasks and the community is finding a new way of voice, face and feeling. Indeed. Social media has room and full color for faces. Now the voice and feeling take a little more effort, but both are there in abundance. Ours is a blessed community that knows itself well.

Multiply this by 100,000 towns throughout the nation and you have a good picture of America’s soul. This is where life is lived and perfected. Indomitable.

August 3, 2017

Order and Chaos?

Walk into a room, any room and tell me your first impressions. Is it pleasant in appearance? What about the volume of space? Is it appropriate to human dimension and proportion? Does it have flair that excites thinking? Or does it induce quiet, calm and slumber? Is it neat and tidy? Or is it sloppy and cluttered?

Space is something we relate to easily. It is either comfortable or not, welcoming or not. What makes it so comes from a combination of many factors. Temperature, draftiness, fresh air smell or stale and fusty? Color palette matters, too, but also the shape of the room and the shape and proportion of the things in the room.

My taste is favorable to order and straight lines with softness introduced by fabric and shapely furniture. Overstuffed couches coupled with rectangular bookcases, drapes that absorb annoying sound but natural surfaces like stone present near the fireplace. Welcoming chairs that are firm and supportive but cushioned have an allure. Poofy and fluffy don’t attract; soft leather does. Wood floors with ample area rugs with one or more inches of pile are preferred.

All of this, however, in my mind must be orderly. Expected arrangements yes, disarray of baubles and reading material, no. Papers stacked to the ceiling do not comfort; orderliness does. Tidy. Neat.

It doesn’t have to be exceptionally clean, just neat.

All this relates to spaces in which we live and work, too. Flow of work requires orderliness of thought, process, expectations, and stimulating interchange among fellow teammates. Break the orderliness of this flow and interchange of ideas, and chaos results.

Walk into the city room of a newspaper. Watch people hunched over keyboards, talking on the phone, most probably on the phone and computer simultaneously. Phones ringing, staff walking or trotting between desks and rooms. Even a few shouts to co-workers are heard. A hubbub of labor is apparent in every direction. This is what it is like to put together a newspaper every day. Different editions and varying markets get different targeted articles and materials.

Writing used to be a loud clacking of typewriters, now it is a soft thrumming of keyboard clicks and fingers flying. Muted sounds, but a rhythm of movement is noticed.

Interrupt that flow and chaos erupts quickly. Voices are heard questioning events, reports, chronologies, and meaning.

Interesting parallels occur when chaos reigns in governing circles. We witness such today. The White House – normally the scene of order and agenda driven precision – is in disarray in the trump White House. In-fighting among staff; unclear policy formation; work lists and schedules unperformed, perhaps unassigned? Press conferences that do not explain, only extol; communication efforts that sound more like orders and public relations posts; these are the signs of chaos in which the left and right hands do not know what is going on or even what is supposed to be going on.

The staff reports 38 bills have been enacted; that is not correct. Thirty eight executive orders have been written and signed but they do not have the force of law, nor are they bills. Bills emanate from Congress – written by elected officials and their staff after much discussion, agreement and compromise; votes are taken and drafts of bills are tweaked and rewritten; and finally agreement leads to a final vote and the bill is approved and sent to the President for signature. When signed, the bill is law and enact-able. Not until then. 

Definitively a bill is not an executive order.

Little has been accomplished in the first six months of the trump administration. Only chaos, anger and questions result. If the agenda is to turn everything upside down, then progress has been made. If not the agenda, then no progress.

Perhaps a new Chief of Staff will help. Time will tell what is expected of him and what authority level he has been assigned to get his work done. If no authority, then order will not likely result. Only more chaos. Removal of Scaramouch is a hopeful sign.

Meanwhile the business of a nation awaits to be done.

Without order, it will not be done.

August 2, 2017

Challenges Galore

I have said in this space many times before that the current era of American unrest is similar to that of the 1960’s. Back then the era resolved itself mainly in the 70’s, mid or late in that decade. There are many who would claim resolve is too generous and that the issues were gently laid aside and we went on with our lives.

I would argue the opposite. Yes, some gentleness was applied and we were able to move on with our lives, but the seeds of resolution were planted and they grew into healthy trends still impacting our lives today.

An example? The whole gay community and its acceptance into the mainstream of American life. Acceptance may be too broad a term here, but I think the sense of it is that America today accepts gay people fairly broadly. There is upsetness involved to be sure. There is lack of understanding by those who do not identify as gay, but I sense a deep feeling that gays have been a part of our national life from the beginning and have provided many contributions to public life and culture. Those contributions are too many to ignore. And so we have a gentle dénouement in which we get along.

The transgender issue is an extension of the gay community. It is part and parcel of it. And it is broadly not understood. I am not transgender. I do not understand what they experience in all of their nuances. But I am a person of empathy and am able to feel some of their distress, loneliness and fear. For many others they cannot bring themselves to the same elemental position of empathy. Understandable. But it is a growth opportunity for them and all of us when we face the issues involved.

This is precisely the mechanism by which the 'Flower Power Generation' of the 1960’s expanded America’s understanding of sexuality and openness. They were the youth of the day preaching to the rest of us about freedom, open expression, peace initiatives and a re-examination of our basic freedoms embraced in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

It was a heady time back then. I was too old to be a part of it, but I observed their courage and faith in the American spirit to explore and claim outrageous statements. Their actions shaped an era and changed us. Uncomfortable as it was back then, it seems modest and small potatoes compared to today’s brash incivility.

Incivility? It is worse than that. Let’s label it what it is – Nasty.

The rhetoric is vulgar. The TV comedy shows are spot on but as vulgar as the issue they are parroting. That’s part of what makes their comedy work. It is edgy and vulgar and uncomfortable. But we laugh nonethesame.

Politics is like comedy, I think; it reflects the social awareness of the day. It mirrors it. And it is used by many to make philosophical points, and religious and political points, as well. In America this is allowed, even encouraged. It is an expression of our guaranteed freedoms. The nastiness and bad manners just accompany all of that; and they will tone down in time.

For now we must allow free wheeling discussion to be heard and jar us. This is the edge of our current era still in the making. We will exit the era when the next one appears. The two eras will inform each other and make us more and strong.

Yes it is upsetting at times as we follow our path through the chaos and ugliness. But we will gain strength and perspective along the way. We may even learn to laugh with abandon and gusto!  And that’s not a bad thing.

August 1, 2017