ENTREPENEURSHIP 101: When confronted with a massive problem, sit down with the parties involved, get the facts, consider various options for the solution, discuss and organize how the parties involved can work together to expedite the solution, establish an order of authority.
OBAMASHIP 100: Do not speak even once during the first two months after the oil spill disaster occurred with the CEO of BP, the operator of the oil well that is daily spewing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, damaging our coastline and our fishing and tourist industries; announce that "I am learning whose ass to kick" and "We are keeping our boot on BP's neck" and "Why are people complaining? One month after the incident, I spoke with some fishermen". (Fishermen vote, you see, BP doesn't.)
What did you expect from a President who never had one day of administrative, executive, experience before taking office...a self-annointed guru who wants his administration to run the banking, insurance, health care, energy and oil industries...whose claim to fame was as a law school professor and local community activist? Further, his degrading language reflects his lack of respect for his office, its history, its stature, and the role it can play in uplifting the standard of life in our country.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the political ledger, no one has as yet stepped forward to serve as an experienced, dignified, presidential alternative. No one electable. Vacuum facing vacuum.
Our ship of state is floundering...and the abyss is in sight.
Oh, yes...the answer to that ass question: Your own!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
THE BLUR
Technology has clearly speeded up human life, at times, to a blur. But that is not the blur I am addressing today, it is a much more important one.
America has been fighting an undeclared war for 9 years now, but refuses to declare it a war because that would require treating those who financially support and provide aid to our enemy is also our enemy...and the Administration refuses to clearly and unequivocally declare Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia as the enemy. Rather, the President would rather overlook their actions, meet and bow to them on the basis of "they have their point of view, their complaints, too". That's the blur.
Israel is condemned for its blockading of the delivery of rockets and weapons to its enemies in the Gaza strip, who have pronounced their will to annihilate Jews and destroy their homeland and who have and will fire those arms into civilian territory in Israel, or be used by suicide bombers. The fact that Israel was established by the UN over60 years ago is overlooked. The use of established civilized international procedures for the resolution of disagreements, and the use of holocaust-type vitriolic rhetoric and its attempted implementation, are treated as equal alternatives. That's the blur.
The woman who is raped is said to have meant "Yes", though she said "No"...because otherwise why would she have invited the rapist into her apartment. No distinction made between a cordial invite and a desire to have sexual force exerted against her. That;s the blur.
The well-crafted television show, Masterminds, and many others (starting with the Godfather series), have you rooting for the bad guys to win...except they are not thought of as the bad guys, but the smart guys, the daring guys, the guys I wish I could be. That's the blur.
The blur caused by modern technology may at times lessen your savoring the simple pleasures of life. A penalty, to be sure, but mild compared to the penalty induced by the blur I am speaking about. In the end, that one will kill you.
America has been fighting an undeclared war for 9 years now, but refuses to declare it a war because that would require treating those who financially support and provide aid to our enemy is also our enemy...and the Administration refuses to clearly and unequivocally declare Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia as the enemy. Rather, the President would rather overlook their actions, meet and bow to them on the basis of "they have their point of view, their complaints, too". That's the blur.
Israel is condemned for its blockading of the delivery of rockets and weapons to its enemies in the Gaza strip, who have pronounced their will to annihilate Jews and destroy their homeland and who have and will fire those arms into civilian territory in Israel, or be used by suicide bombers. The fact that Israel was established by the UN over60 years ago is overlooked. The use of established civilized international procedures for the resolution of disagreements, and the use of holocaust-type vitriolic rhetoric and its attempted implementation, are treated as equal alternatives. That's the blur.
The woman who is raped is said to have meant "Yes", though she said "No"...because otherwise why would she have invited the rapist into her apartment. No distinction made between a cordial invite and a desire to have sexual force exerted against her. That;s the blur.
The well-crafted television show, Masterminds, and many others (starting with the Godfather series), have you rooting for the bad guys to win...except they are not thought of as the bad guys, but the smart guys, the daring guys, the guys I wish I could be. That's the blur.
The blur caused by modern technology may at times lessen your savoring the simple pleasures of life. A penalty, to be sure, but mild compared to the penalty induced by the blur I am speaking about. In the end, that one will kill you.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
THE HYPOCRITTERS
*All those who moan ceaselessly about the few geese and other fowl that were touched by the BP oil spill, and say not a word about the cute 23,000,000 chickens we Americans kill for food...EACH DAY.
*Those wealthy movie actors who moan about the way the rich have been favored by Republicans and do not pay enough taxes, and hire expensive accounting firms to complete their income tax returns and keep their taxes as low as possible.
*Network officials who claim their news programs are fair and balanced and then have their prime daily news commentators all with the same or similar political perspective.
*Presidents who swear to uphold the Constitution and then claim it is a living document with no ideals or principles to uphold.
*Those who tell their children not to smoke pot because it is illegal, and then speed on their way to work each morning.
*All those who claim "there is no truth", for if they believed that, they couldn't and wouldn't say it.
*Those who claim to be benevolent and opposed to violence, and spank their children.
*Those who claim to be "pro choice" but are opposed to euthanasia.
*Those wealthy movie actors who moan about the way the rich have been favored by Republicans and do not pay enough taxes, and hire expensive accounting firms to complete their income tax returns and keep their taxes as low as possible.
*Network officials who claim their news programs are fair and balanced and then have their prime daily news commentators all with the same or similar political perspective.
*Presidents who swear to uphold the Constitution and then claim it is a living document with no ideals or principles to uphold.
*Those who tell their children not to smoke pot because it is illegal, and then speed on their way to work each morning.
*All those who claim "there is no truth", for if they believed that, they couldn't and wouldn't say it.
*Those who claim to be benevolent and opposed to violence, and spank their children.
*Those who claim to be "pro choice" but are opposed to euthanasia.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
THE GREAT KINGDOM
The human mind has three prime unique powers: to contemplate, to choose, to create.
All its feelings of joy, contentment, pleasure, fulfillment, pride, self esteem, exhilaration, ecstasy, derive from them. It is energized, never bored, by their use.
When it is not contemplating, choosing or creating...that is, when it is not thinking, out of control, living repetitiously...it is moribund.
The human mind rests on two pillars:
1. Awareness that the Universe is knowable, and
2. Awareness that it is capable of knowing it so as to make life sustaining choices and direct life nourishing action.
If either pillar is damaged, if the Universe begins to seem chaotic and unknowable, or if the mind begins to feel overwhelmed and inefficacious, it is at risk of anxiety, distress, depression, shutdown.
At the first signs of those signals, steps ought be taken to repair the pillar damage, ideally through a support system of family, friends, counselors.
Evidence that the world is knowable abounds. Look out a window. Everything you see indicates knowableness. Everything you have achieved in life indicates mental efficacy.
Like every other part of the body, the human mind needs healing and energizing. That can be achieved by periodically checking the state of the pillars.
In regard to our learning the human mind, our elementary and high school educational systems fail.
We teach children all sorts of things about the world "out there" (science, history, geography) but nothing about the world "in there" (psychology and the working of our mental dimension). Omitted from the curriculum are any mindful discussions of the importance of self esteem and how to achieve and maintain it; emotions: what are they, where do they come from, are they reliable, should they be used in our decision making; how to deal with anxiety, despair, depression; happiness, and how to achieve it.
The result of the failure of our educational system is evident all around us, as more and more of us turn to addictive medications, and sometimes self destruction, to mask and/or escape our inner demons...demons that should never have been allowed to find a home within us.
Ironic that the academic minds have chosen to study everything but itself.
Virtually all of the physical hazards we face are visible and known, and we readily avoid them. Mental hazards are not visible and most of us not only do not avoid them, but we embrace them in the name of social propriety. Not speaking our mind when we oppose the view of the group, for the purpose of getting along and not rocking the boat, is a mental hazard with serious long range consequences. As does failing to pursue your innermost dreams, choosing to live for the welfare of others, sublimating your will to the will of others. All lead to loss of self esteem, feelings of inadequacy, frustration, depression.
Time for us to shine a light on what makes us the most advanced, accomplished and powerful species of life.
"My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such present joys therein I find
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind"
Edward Dyer
All its feelings of joy, contentment, pleasure, fulfillment, pride, self esteem, exhilaration, ecstasy, derive from them. It is energized, never bored, by their use.
When it is not contemplating, choosing or creating...that is, when it is not thinking, out of control, living repetitiously...it is moribund.
The human mind rests on two pillars:
1. Awareness that the Universe is knowable, and
2. Awareness that it is capable of knowing it so as to make life sustaining choices and direct life nourishing action.
If either pillar is damaged, if the Universe begins to seem chaotic and unknowable, or if the mind begins to feel overwhelmed and inefficacious, it is at risk of anxiety, distress, depression, shutdown.
At the first signs of those signals, steps ought be taken to repair the pillar damage, ideally through a support system of family, friends, counselors.
Evidence that the world is knowable abounds. Look out a window. Everything you see indicates knowableness. Everything you have achieved in life indicates mental efficacy.
Like every other part of the body, the human mind needs healing and energizing. That can be achieved by periodically checking the state of the pillars.
In regard to our learning the human mind, our elementary and high school educational systems fail.
We teach children all sorts of things about the world "out there" (science, history, geography) but nothing about the world "in there" (psychology and the working of our mental dimension). Omitted from the curriculum are any mindful discussions of the importance of self esteem and how to achieve and maintain it; emotions: what are they, where do they come from, are they reliable, should they be used in our decision making; how to deal with anxiety, despair, depression; happiness, and how to achieve it.
The result of the failure of our educational system is evident all around us, as more and more of us turn to addictive medications, and sometimes self destruction, to mask and/or escape our inner demons...demons that should never have been allowed to find a home within us.
Ironic that the academic minds have chosen to study everything but itself.
Virtually all of the physical hazards we face are visible and known, and we readily avoid them. Mental hazards are not visible and most of us not only do not avoid them, but we embrace them in the name of social propriety. Not speaking our mind when we oppose the view of the group, for the purpose of getting along and not rocking the boat, is a mental hazard with serious long range consequences. As does failing to pursue your innermost dreams, choosing to live for the welfare of others, sublimating your will to the will of others. All lead to loss of self esteem, feelings of inadequacy, frustration, depression.
Time for us to shine a light on what makes us the most advanced, accomplished and powerful species of life.
"My mind to me a kingdom is;
Such present joys therein I find
That it excels all other bliss
That earth affords or grows by kind"
Edward Dyer
Friday, June 4, 2010
CLICK
On our show today, latest pictures of the train wreck in Honduras, and an insight into the important new position of the Administration on America's bathing habits. But first these words.
A network news alert. Lars Olsen, number 7 on the FBI's most wanted list, may have been seen in Turkey. Stay tuned for further details on what you should do and shouldn't do if you see Lars Olsen. Back in a moment.
Get the permanent toothpick, the cup of water and the rag for only $19.99. Order within the next hour and we'll triple the offer for free, pay only the additional shipping and handling. That's three toothpicks, three cups of water and three rags for only $19.99. Order now.
The wife of Senator Shmuckofski from Nevada said she believes her husband's claim that his frequent visits to the bordello at Yuca Mountain were to verify its compliance with the state's health standards, and not for his personal sexual pleasure, and that he could best do that by being an inconspicuous client of the bordello over an extended period of time.
The President has announced his new approach to America's bathing issue. He says he is thinking about banning soap that bubbles, which some say, because of the difficulty of washing all the bubbles down the drain, is the prime reason for our planet's shortage of bathing water. More on this important development later in the...
Click.
A network news alert. Lars Olsen, number 7 on the FBI's most wanted list, may have been seen in Turkey. Stay tuned for further details on what you should do and shouldn't do if you see Lars Olsen. Back in a moment.
Get the permanent toothpick, the cup of water and the rag for only $19.99. Order within the next hour and we'll triple the offer for free, pay only the additional shipping and handling. That's three toothpicks, three cups of water and three rags for only $19.99. Order now.
The wife of Senator Shmuckofski from Nevada said she believes her husband's claim that his frequent visits to the bordello at Yuca Mountain were to verify its compliance with the state's health standards, and not for his personal sexual pleasure, and that he could best do that by being an inconspicuous client of the bordello over an extended period of time.
The President has announced his new approach to America's bathing issue. He says he is thinking about banning soap that bubbles, which some say, because of the difficulty of washing all the bubbles down the drain, is the prime reason for our planet's shortage of bathing water. More on this important development later in the...
Click.
IT ISN'T FAIR
A few days ago, Hillary Clinton volunteered that "the rich don't pat their fair share of taxes". She's right. They don't.
* the top 1% income earners, paying at a higher rate on greater income, pay 33% of all income taxes paid. Considering they get the same government services as the rest of us do. The top 10% pay 65% of all income taxes collected, the top 50% pay 96%. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
* In 2009, 45% of an estate in excess of 3.5 million dollars was payable to the government in the form of estate taxes. In 2011, the rate will be 55%. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
* because they buy more and give away more, because they own more valuable real estate, the rich pay significantly greater sales and gift and real property and school taxes than the rest of us do. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
The question is often asked, "Who were the first philosophers?". The answer is: primitive cavemen, who expressed their inately known philosophy in the club each carried: "I am free," it bellowed, "I have a right to live my life as I choose, the animals I have captured are mine to eat, and if you seek to take what is mine, you will feel the strength of my philosophical beliefs."
Time for modern man to return to his primal roots.
* the top 1% income earners, paying at a higher rate on greater income, pay 33% of all income taxes paid. Considering they get the same government services as the rest of us do. The top 10% pay 65% of all income taxes collected, the top 50% pay 96%. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
* In 2009, 45% of an estate in excess of 3.5 million dollars was payable to the government in the form of estate taxes. In 2011, the rate will be 55%. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
* because they buy more and give away more, because they own more valuable real estate, the rich pay significantly greater sales and gift and real property and school taxes than the rest of us do. That ISN'T FAIR, is it?
The question is often asked, "Who were the first philosophers?". The answer is: primitive cavemen, who expressed their inately known philosophy in the club each carried: "I am free," it bellowed, "I have a right to live my life as I choose, the animals I have captured are mine to eat, and if you seek to take what is mine, you will feel the strength of my philosophical beliefs."
Time for modern man to return to his primal roots.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
SODOM AGAIN
It has always been true that civilization could survive in a reasonably livable form only if the great great great majority of people were civil...living their lives in accordance with principles of honesty, integrity, nonviolence, benevolence, with life as the precious value.. No absolute definitions of those terms were delineated, and people would interpret and apply them differently...but unless those differences were minor minor minor, civilization was at risk.
Is at risk. That is where we are today.
*the pressures of life as it has "progressed" have blurred and dulled its joys
*masses of people feeling deprived, denied, shortchanged in life, have shrugged off civility in pursuit of alleged revenge and/or unearned entitlements
*the killing of innocents is not only not condemned by many, but extolled by many as a force for "the good"
*increasing numbers of suicide bombers perceive no resolution of their grievances in existence, imagining salvation in a non-Earthly dimension, preferring death to life
*religious organizations, once the bedrock of moral teaching and example, are inept, conspiratorial, or worse
*academics at the most prestigious institutions preach the "unprovable arbitrariness" of all ethical codes
*technological frenzy has brought potential global devastation as close as the push of a button
*political leaders, almost without exception, are not exceptions to the raging immorality.
Into the valley of hell we ride, blindfolded. Cannons to the left of us, cannons to the right of us. And reason, our only defense, under attack and in short supply.
Are there 10 moral men to save us?
Is at risk. That is where we are today.
*the pressures of life as it has "progressed" have blurred and dulled its joys
*masses of people feeling deprived, denied, shortchanged in life, have shrugged off civility in pursuit of alleged revenge and/or unearned entitlements
*the killing of innocents is not only not condemned by many, but extolled by many as a force for "the good"
*increasing numbers of suicide bombers perceive no resolution of their grievances in existence, imagining salvation in a non-Earthly dimension, preferring death to life
*religious organizations, once the bedrock of moral teaching and example, are inept, conspiratorial, or worse
*academics at the most prestigious institutions preach the "unprovable arbitrariness" of all ethical codes
*technological frenzy has brought potential global devastation as close as the push of a button
*political leaders, almost without exception, are not exceptions to the raging immorality.
Into the valley of hell we ride, blindfolded. Cannons to the left of us, cannons to the right of us. And reason, our only defense, under attack and in short supply.
Are there 10 moral men to save us?
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