View From Here

A no brainer, what you see is only the surface of a complex becoming. Much has happened in the past, the near journey steps of what is about to appear, and the context in which the surface moment makes its presence known. Your opinion on any topic is like that. Each of us comes to a ‘conclusion’ only momentarily. We are always gathering bits and pieces of the topic and sorting out what is unnecessary and what should be included. The moment of unveiling a comment or discussion on the topic relies also on who is present, what their mindsets are, and how relevant the discussion is pertinent to topic. Ten seconds or ten minutes later the circumstances are different by the universal law of change. Thus, the meaning moments ago may change. Again and again, this happens. What I think at any moment is the product of many stimuli collected over my experience and growing understanding. Same for everyone else in or out of the discussion on the topic. These three paragraphs explain the compl...

The Ahmaud Aubrey verdict was correct where the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict was wrong. In Aubrey’s case, self defense was not a viable defense because the defendants created the danger and then claimed they were the victims defending themselves. The same is also true for Rittenhouse. He traveled to a place where unrest and probable violence would occur. He came armed with an attack rifle. He was too young to own the rifle. He borrowed it and strutted around with it. He became the danger to others. He brought the instrument of violence. Others felt threatened by him and his being armed. When they attempted to disarm him, to neutralize the danger to others, he shot them; two dead, one injured. Kyle was not the good guy. He was the bad guy looking for trouble. He found it. Aubrey was out for a jog. A black man out for a jog. Local residents, unsettled by matters of race, pursued him. Aubrey did not know he was being pursued at first but then it became obvious. He continued on his jog a...

Being in touch with someone comes in many forms. In the day of social media, Facebook is one form of connection with another person, family or organization. Email is another, often more popular than a phone call. Then there is the phone for a personal chat, long or short. Of course, visits remain an option, but the pandemic gave pause to that. even now with greater protection and fewer infections, we think twice or three times before dropping in on someone; even then it is arranged, not a complete surprise. Personally, I reach out via email. I know some think this is impersonal, but not for me. I love writing a personal note that avoids a postage stamp! I get to explore feelings and ideas more. I can explain something more completely without interruption from idle questioning. Email is my go-to choice to connect with people. The phone is reserved for short chats, setting appointments, checking to see if someone is available, and so forth. Real business is either done over email o...

When trouble is encountered, what do you do? Most likely, you turn to another pathway, or process, or problem solving action. In moments you very likely find a solution to keep moving forward. No food in the refrigerator? Check the wallet for available cash and go buy the needed food items. Or, if a meal is imminent, go to a fast food outlet and buy the sandwich, hamburger or Egg McMuffin. Finishing the meal you create a shopping list and go to the supermarket to buy the food. When the pandemic stopped at our door, we learned to order groceries online. We either arranged pickup of our order at the store, or we had them deliver the order to our door. Over the next few weeks we switched our grocery shopping habits greatly to conform to health demands, and then supply issues. Over more time, we learned to do without certain items, and to use other normal supplies carefully to prolong their availability and usefulness. We adapted. We pivoted to another way of doing things. Businesse...

There you have it – the easy way to live. Getting along with others was Kindergarten 101. Hold hands while crossing the street (safety in groups, keeping the group together). Share with others (they feel included, not separated or discriminated; they appreciate the shared object without coveting it). Respect private property and space (it is refuge for each of us in our own property and space). Ask for help when you need it; give it when asked (this is sharing our common need to cooperate and work on tasks together – collaborate). This is also community . Each day we survive we think we are doing so alone. That is incorrect. We live with, for, because of, and with hope because we live in community with others. Kindergarten taught us that. The value of the lesson continues on in all that we do and experience. Art is life viewed through the special lens of the artist. The message in art is recognizable because of our shared existence. The intellectual process is complicated by the ve...

“Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.” That is a quote from W. Clement Stone, a self-made insurance mogul from Chicago who became wealthy, very wealthy. His company, Combined Insurance Company of America, was eventually bought by the Ryan insurance organization. For decades however, Stone was a major player in market niches unconquered by others. His dream came during the Great Depression. Once he had a tiny start, he just kept growing the model everywhere he could. His life is also a beacon of Positive Mental Attitude, or PMA. Look it up. You will find many practitioners of PMA in print. Reverend Normal Vincent Peale was one, as were Napoleon Hill, and Og Mandino to name a few. Inspirational sayings came from these folks, and a lot of popular books were written on the power of being positive during times of challenge and bleakness. One of those quotes, ‘do the right thing because it is the right thing to do,’ came from Stone. Think about that sentence. Doing the...

I write this post because I have not articulated well enough in the recent past. My concerns about world powers are outlined below. We cannot ignore a machination from any of the powers listed below. We must deal with each of them realistically. Better if we did this collaboratively in my opinion. Defining a world power is tricky. Most of the time we call nations with huge military capabilities superpowers. These would include China, Russia and the United States. This definition, however, excludes other powerful nations who play important roles in managing the global community and the collective peace. Such nations would include India, the grouping of European nations comprising NATO, as well as other national groupings focusing on South America, and Africa. These ‘others’ are important allies of the superpowers and should never be forgotten. There are other superpowers in existence. These are not nations or treaty members, but industries that comprise significant market presence w...

Biden’s Popularity Rating : popularity of sitting presidents rise and fall continuously. Rarely does it reach 100%. There is always opposition to a sitting president, much of it manufactured by political foes watching for an inroad to unseat the president and install their own candidate sooner rather than later. It is the yin and yang of American politics. Add to this the propaganda of special interest groups – the National Rifle Association, conservative and liberal think tanks, handling of touchy subjects that have unpopular results but are not the cause or blame of any one person. Add still the fact that American politics projects future political races and who will run and win. In Joe Biden’s case, that appears simple. Joe will not run for re-election. His presidency is one of bridging a time span from Trump’s era to whatever era will take shape soon. This is not Biden’s America. Or Kamala Harris’. Neither are likely to be in the White House after the 2024 election. So, who i...

Yes, there is a story here. Some of what we read in the press and watch on newscasts is just that, a story, a piece to grab attention and ratings. Not much else is true. Here is a better scoop to ponder. Inflation is defined as rising prices for the same set of goods, quality and number. You pay more without getting more. Deflation is the opposite when prices drop for the same quality and number of goods that before you paid a higher price. We rarely experience true deflation although we did in 2020 and 2021. The pandemic was the primary cause. During the pandemic, the demand for goods in many categories simply dropped out of sight. Commuting was eliminated in many forms. Any business or supplier who served commuters had leftover inventory and little demand for it. Same with wholesalers. For a time these goods were widely available to consumers at reduced price levels. In other categories, however, needed goods were no longer available in large quantities to meet demand, so these...

Technology : as in trouble with! A week ago, Comcast melted down. Our wi-fi was out for maybe four hours. My computer became a word processor with no where to go. Internet connectivity was nowhere. I did not turn on the TV so am unaware if cable service was interrupted; I presume it was. For days afterwards, computer blips appeared out of nowhere. Routines were changed. Favored sites were no longer readily available. Over time I restored a semblance of order. One thing, however, never came back. This blog – The View From Here – originally posted at gsafford.blogspot.com. however, was blocked. I still do not know how to fix this issue. With posts readied for publishing, I opened a new blog site – georgesafford.blogspot.com. The name remains View From Here , and I post daily Monday through Friday. I also copy those posts to my Facebook page as I did in the past. I don’t know if readers can or will access this new site. If anyone knows how to get me back to where I was with gsaffor...

Reporting on problems is the job of researchers, academics and journalists. Creating solutions is the job of academics, researchers, government agencies, private think tanks and corporations which see an opportunity for new products and services. Reporting on those solutions and developments, is the job of journalists and marketers. The latter for the public relations benefits caused by the emergent solutions. Problems and solutions. The problem side of this two word formula is something widely reported. Propagandists report on this. So do journalists. And agencies, and anyone else with a special interest in the matter. Problems as fodder for public communications. This is where the chaos resides and grows. The result is growing unrest among the people, the citizens. Laments and teeth gnashing become more common, more public. The chaos grows as do calls for someone to do something about these problems. In the early stages of reporting on all this, of course, is naming someone to bl...

A thread of faith has trailed through my entire life journey. It began as a young kid, maybe 4 or 5 years of age. Slowly the years ticked off and we kids accompanied our parents to church; if not most Sundays, at least 2 or more per month. Dad’s father was a Congregational minister. So was his grandfather. Both of those men pastored churches throughout the Midwest and California. The Midwest, however, was their bedrock experience. Chicago Theological Seminary was their training ground. So too, were their parishes in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. My father was born in Chicago, lived as the pastor’s kid throughout high school. It was not an easy role for him. Some of those years were deep in the Great Depression and dad, his sister and his parents often lived out of the church’s poor barrel. That’s where their clothes came from. Dad told us tales of going to school with his classmates remembering (and pointing out) dad was wearing one of their old shirts. Humility was lea...

Today’s issue is not easy to write about. It addresses what responsible nations ought to do to be counted as a global citizen. We have grown up with natural friends and allies, and enemies as well. Those enemies have mostly been Russia and China, the superpowers that counterbalance the USA’s military might. Sad that we find it necessary to mention military strength. I wish we could eliminate this terminology. Evidently not in my lifetime. Of course, there are other, smaller ‘enemies.’ Those are the unfriendlies in the Middle East like Syria, Lebanon, Libya, and various other sub-Saharan nations. Most small unfriendlies use their negativity to leverage foreign aid from the US rather than be a full-fledged enemy. For purposes of this blog today, I want to focus on the large unfriendlies like Russia and China. Russia is a has-been superpower. It may retain ownership of a vast array of nuclear weapons, but Russia does not have the infrastructure to manage the entirety of its own nati...

Possibilities we hope for and plan for need to be defined. I will begin this process here, not end it. That is for the rest of us to do. Who how and when is up to the rest of us. 1.        The first possibility I yearn for most is world peace. This is the environment I picture to best nurture our hopes and dreams; it is very difficult to dream impossible dreams if we are struggling to fight other nations and survive the violence and death. 2.        With peace we have time and freedom to explore other pressing needs to solve. Primary among these needs is freedom of individuals to excel to their highest capability. The individual wins as does society at large. 3.        Unfettered access to education appropriate to the student’s ability and interest. This is a basic resource to fuel the person’s journey to excellence. It is also a basic investment in our nation's potential. 4.   ...

Planning attempts to bring order to chaos. It also attempts to bring about hoped for outcomes. These are not certain to occur, especially the way and at the time we would wish them. That is the nature of life itself: vagaries unexpected, unplanned, and totally unpredictable. So, the answer to this? Well, there are many possible answers. Which ones get used to build the plan are in play all the time. Will the desired outcome for our economy follow a conservative ideology? Or might it tend more toward liberal thought? Will social safety networks be engineered with an eye of the charitable or practical ones among us? Such diversity of thought has been a mainstay of American history. And ethos, really. We are not all the same: we don’t think alike, feel alike or yearn alike. We have different values that give shape and urgency to all these things. Diversity alone is a conundrum that proves a barrier to planning. But should it? Diversity after all is depth and breadth of ideas, skills...