View From Here

What gives life meaning? Philosophers have pondered this question through the ages. Theologians have done the same. Religious texts have been written by unknowns in private refuges, caves and mountain tops. These have been saved, shared, hidden, discovered and published. The theologians have struggled to understand the ancient texts. Philosophers have lent their hands as well. Struggling with unfamiliar words, phrases and languages, wise men have pieced together wisdom for the ages. Their conclusion? Need drives action. Action creates outcome. Outcome identifies purpose. Purpose is meaning. The reverse is true. Meaning is purpose.  Find your purpose to learn the meaning of your life.  Arguments? January 31, 2022

President Biden was caught on a hot mike the other day commenting on a Fox News reporter’s question regarding inflation. The President mumbled a reaction to a colleague about the reporter saying he was a dumb SOB. Biden was roundly criticized for this blooper. I prefer to think of it otherwise. Trump told it like he saw it. It was popular with his base supporters but horrifying to the rest of us. The problem with Trump was/is we do not know if he was being truthful or manipulative. Always the con man, Trump did things his way and got away with it. His lifelong career mirrors this same behavior. Most of us desire better behavior from our elected officials. Protocol matters in so many ways. However, we need and want the truth. It matters to me that our President thinks the reporter is an SOB. The logic of the reporter’s question and suppositions were suspect. The President recognized it. Being nice he left it alone. Being caught on a hot mike in a private moment tells us what the Pre...

You have them. So do I. Opinions. A way of seeing things, ideas, happenings, people, relationships, a whole host of ‘things.’ Much of the time we don’t give vent to these opinions. Too often we do. Offer them up to whomever is available to listen. We might see a reaction. Maybe not. Ours is a polite society for the most part. Only lately have we become a vituperative, sassy, argumentative social order. Social media did that, I think. It made anonymity possible. We could like something, laugh at it, or select a different emoji for anything and everything we read on social media. Sometimes we were moved to comment on someone’s opinion piece. Reaching out to comment does not automatically invite discussion, but trolls love to snare a commenter into a downward spiral. Best leave them alone. Just ignore them. Just because they say something doesn’t make it reasonable, factual, or even correct. Most likely it is empty headed. Even somewhat likely it was written to excite a reaction in yo...

What is possible? In any given situation? What is the negative take on the same situation? Can that be turned around into something positive? What is gained or lost by taking this action? An example: We have a jade plant in our home. Rocky had it about 20 years before that. Forty two years the plant had been a companion of Rocky’s. A long time. In recent months (full year or more?) the plant became root bound and began shedding leaves, small branches, then whole limbs. We knew it needed to be replanted but neither of us were up to the task, or mess in an apartment. A neighbor suggested donating the plant to a local nursery that provides employment and botanical career training for handicapped persons. We chose to do that. We also provided one of Rocky’s art bowls as a planter for a planting from the original jade plant. The nursery would replant the parent plant, subdivide it as it thought proper, sell those products to the public while returning the planter bowl with a fresh cutti...

The minority runs the US Senate. The minority controls the US Judiciary. The White House was held captive for four years and yet the minority party controls the current party even though they are not in power in the White House. This is the picture of American politics in the year 2022. This confuses me. Media reports the leaders of the GOP are running scared from the GOP agenda. When they are the GOP, why are they running from the agenda? Don’t they set that agenda? Don’t the majority votes in a party determine the agenda? The American people when polled by prestigious, nonpartisan academic research organizations, are middle of the road politically. They also lead toward the progressive positions on abortion rights, voting rights, international relations, and addressing central issues of justice. They appear horrified by past and current discrimination against all minorities – black, Asian, gay, immigrants – and they very much favor religious freedom without mucking up public law ...

Dealing with Now would be another title for today’s post. What matters the most to us this moment is often compared with past conditions. This draws us into what would be a better situation and then the inevitable blaming on how we got to this position. None of that matters. What does matter is the immediate issue facing us. What do we do about it? What would make it better, not just a massaging of the issue, but solving it for the long term? Each issue is a clarion call for change. We live with constant change and most often fear it, or at least are uncomfortable with it. Why not treat it as an opportunity? That way we realize quickly that the problem is only temporary. We can and should do something about it. So why don’t we? That is a more difficult question to answer but I suspect most of us don’t know how to do something about the problem in question. Rather, we hope someone with better skills will step up and do something about it. Self-confidence may be the lacking ingredie...

The media seems to be on the attack of Joe Biden and his presidency. One wonders why? The fate of the country is more important than any single presidency. What is the agenda we all feel is important to be in our focus? Then go back and ask these key questions: 1.        What are the long-term objectives we should ideally be aiming for? World peace? Survival of the planet? Justice? Healthcare of the citizenry? Vitality of public education and its role in building lives that thrive? 2.        How are those objectives best attended to? In priority order? If so, how do we determine that? What methodologies are called for in creating solutions? Speed? Diversity? Social justice? Economic sustainability? What? 3.        How did we get into this pickle? What led to these circumstances that control so much of our attention? And resources? Focus on what and how, not the people who might be tagged for ...

The journal Foreign Affairs , a bi-monthly publication, publishes academic papers and essays on issues large and small throughout the global community. That community, like so many others, is not all peaceful or in agreement. Each nation after all, must listen to its needs that support the well-being of its people. These needs are understandable, but the methods used to meet those needs often do damage to other people in other lands. This means we are all in competition with one another for the basics of life. Eons ago social order formed in each community unit – family, tribe, encampment, village – to keep a natural peace and gain the benefits of cooperation. Early societies – big and small – learned cooperation led to more gains than competition for power. Exercise of power often led to stark standoffs which led to violence as the final means to settle differences. Eons ago we learned this. Yet today we still demonstrate the weakness of mankind for violence and raw power. Tal...

Games are big sport in America. Always have been. The biggest sport, of course, is politics. Someone is always looking for fame, power and money. Make no mistake, there is plenty at stake and always willing players. I know this sounds cynical, but truth is often nasty business. We adults need to deal with life the way it is if things are to advance on a better path. Better outcomes beckon our attention. Getting along with people in the world is pretty important. We are on the edge of two or three abysses at this very moment. How did we get here? What ball was not being watched? Who is responsible for this calamitous situation? How do we repair it, so it doesn’t happen again? The pandemic is a challenge. Has been. But we have created vaccines in a hurry, we have amassed knowledge on the virus and its permutations. As well, we have pivoted several times to address health concerns caused by the shifting realities of the virus. Nothing stayed the same. How we met that challenge constan...

Is this the end of America as we know it? The end of democracy, soiled as it is? The Supreme Court has emasculated the Office of the President, saying he does not have executive power to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations to employees of large corporations. For the time being, the court has allowed the mandate to remain for workers within the healthcare industry. Why one and not the other? Whatever the answer, it is plain the court believes that no President has the responsibility – ethically or morally – to protect the health and well-being of the American people. How utterly sad that we have a government of, by and for the people that has been usurped, first by the trump presidency, then by congress for generations, and finally, the Supreme Court. My personal view is a mere whimper begs respect for my government. Truthfully, I have little left. The mechanics of American democracy have been eroding for many decades now. The spirit is weak. The purpose is lost. And now, all but th...

With the news turned off on TV and radio, the mind settles on issues that matter, issues that can be addressed, solutions that can be pondered, and the creative juices that make this possible as individuals of good will work together to build the best outcomes. Think about it. We are not arguing about how, but discussing the outcome desired, defining it, giving it size and heft. Then our group works backward toward our current situation and wonders how to move from here to the futured efficiently and effectively. Working together to find workable solutions to common problems is a worthy expenditure of time and brain power. It can be done when competition does not skew motivations among the participants. Being truly collaborative is the secret to this process. If we are trying to find a cure for cancer, we focus our energies on that outcome. This specific challenge is complicated because of the many forms of cancers, the differing cellular constructs of the cancers, and the tissues sp...

The new year just began. Seemingly moments ago, but here we are writing the blog for January 14 th . That’s half a month gone already. Soon the month of January will be gone and into February we will be. Time moves swiftly these days. Maybe it is just because I am paying attention to it? Writing a daily blog has taught me to observe dates and deadlines. You and I have been in this space before, many times. Projects, due dates, significant planned events, measuring the passage of time and how much is left to complete a needed task. Somehow the resource of time leaks away rapidly as the stakes appear larger. And with age. When I was young time seemed to stand still. We wondered about the inactivity. We wondered about the molecular constitution of a minute, its seconds, the hours, and days. We were not employed much at the time, so time did stand still. My birthday never came. Christmas was stalled many months ahead. So too, were school vacations, family trips and vacations to amazing...

Skimming through the news, Facebook or blogs these days I encounter barbs, shaming, and attacks on others. It is a natural part of our social landscape. Sad, but true. The level of nasty has grown exponentially in recent years. Beyond demoralizing, the trend of nasty sets an edge to most public communications designed for public consumption. Edgy, you know? Or maybe, you don’t. If so, you are one of the saved! I have given this much thought over the past few weeks. I don’t like the temper of our times. I expect nastiness to be a part of national enemies, back alley bullies, schoolyard thugs and that sort of thing. To counter the nasty, I avoid where I will likely encounter such behavior. That is not always possible, but the avoidance technique is a workable tactic most of the time. Creating my own bubble of peace is the strategy. Unfortunately, this does nothing to defeat the nasty. Instead, it grows ever more strident. What do we do about this? Is there anything we can do? Ano...

Birthday : today is my sister’s birthday. 80! Wow! She and I share the same birthplace, Pasadena, California. While living in Massachusetts, she chose to return to California for college, remained there, and now resides in the Phoenix, Arizona region. A warm weather person to be sure!  Happy Birthday, Carol. Keep safe and keep the COVID cooties far away!! Getting Along : if a person always picks a fight with another person, the other person will eventually become a worse enemy than you bargained for. That is why we remain civil with one another. We do not have to agree with one another, but we do need to get along with each other. Getting along with one another provides room to compromise and address common problems together. Our social order – anyone’s social order – requires us to remain orderly and reasonable. That is the basis upon which we can transact business. Most of the time we agree on needed outcomes. Today we argue over who does what and how. Both of those do not re...

This is not about Russia. This is about Putin. He wants to cement his life’s legend by reconstituting the USSR. This time it will be with uncompromising discipline. Brutal reality will be evident. It was in Crimea on the heels of a successful hosting of the World Olympic Games. Brutal military action. No prisoners taken. Today the challenge goal is Ukraine. The eastern border of Ukraine with Russia is militarized. There is no doubt of Putin’s intention. The same is true in Kazakhstan. There are other targets, and they will be brought to light soon enough. Putin had the Russian constitution changed to support unlimited terms of office for himself. He intends to live in the seat of power until he no longer can physically stand it. At this time no retirement date has been set and Putin is a relatively young man. Make no mistake, the intentions are clear. Putin has played the role of bad guy for a long time. He intends to prevail in leading Russia back to an age of power and might. H...

Our household contains two people in their late 70’s. One of us is limited in mobility, and the other is getting there, too! We keep ourselves busy during the day and get plenty of sleep at night. With the COVID pandemic, however, we limit our exposure to stores and crowds of any sort. We watch a lot of TV and get daytime naps. One of us is busy online with consulting and mentoring and blogging. The other is a Facebook fan and spends hours each day there. The question is what can we do that will add spice to our lives given our limitations? One answer is a routine of walking even if walkers are used. Both of us use them but I’m fairly certain we could improve our walking ability without assistance if we put in more time exercising. Our local park district has an indoor walking/running track, and it is available for Medicare patients free under the Silver Sneakers program. One of us is already enrolled there; the other old poop has yet to sign up. We could do this together which wou...

Life Goes On : My dad would have been 111 years old yesterday, January 6 th . He made it to  87 in 1998, just shy of his 88 th birthday due to complications of two falls. Life continued on after his passing. Twenty-three years of events and developments he would have had trouble understanding. The pandemic he would have understood; he witnessed the 1918 flu pandemic as a child of 7. He was an engineer and would be amazed at the advancements in electronics. He would have been shocked by the January 6 th insurrection at the US Capitol in 2021. Shocked and dismayed. He would have marveled at the advancements in healthcare. He would have been disappointed at the distrust in government in 2022. A critic of government most of the time, he still trusted it and its authority. He participated in the system and had a basis of trust in it. He could see its operations up close and personal. He saw the human side of governance and its many trials and tribulations. No such allowance for diff...

Turn on the news any night. Watch celebrated reporters and news anchors ascribe fault or blame for something. Observe how they turn the news item to one of ownership by someone or some group. Leading questions is one tool of this sort of newscasting. But does it tell the tale? Does it expand the audience’s understanding of the news item and its importance? Most often it does not. Most likely it creates unneeded tension and distrust of the audience for the now besmirched entity. An example would be helpful here. The largest one is the treatment by the news industry (NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and others) of the CDC and its spokespersons concerning the COVID pandemic. We hear of the prevailing confusion over CDC directives. We hear concern over the soaring pandemic spread, the why questions and the wonderment at shortage of COVID tests. We hear doubts expressed about leadership and effectiveness of work done in the name of the public. Doubt. Fear. I have faith in the CDC, the NIH, the...

What does this title mean? Does it refer to a record of achievement soundly beaten, surpassed? Or might it mean the constantly repeated track of sound, looped forever over and over again on a malfunctioning record player or CD player? Or maybe something else? If so, how many others might there be? As I started to write this piece my mind went in several directions. Certainly not the path I had in mind when I first started typing. But then I returned to my original intent. Here it is. Repeating the same behavior and expecting a different outcome is the intent of my title. Examples abound. We mow the lawn week after week and enjoy the result for a short time. Rain and sunshine urge the lawn to grow some more and out comes the mower. Week in and week out, we do the same thing. In climates of perpetual summer, this behavior goes on for 52 weeks. Or in colder climes, the weekly behavior is swapped with shoveling snow, only that task is done as called for, rarely once a week, unless your...

2021 will go into the history books as one of the deadliest years for Americans. The pandemic toll is at the top of the list of causes. Traffic deaths figure high as one would suppose, but gun violence is a close third. If those two causes of death are OK with you, stop reading this post right now. The rest of what is written here won’t be of much interest to you. For the rest of us, however, it does matter that an enormous number of people died unnecessarily from guns and traffic accidents. Both are avoidable. Plain and simple. We learned long ago to lessen traffic deaths by making our cars safer for their occupants. Engineering came to the rescue. Our cars are collapsible now, with a core non-crush zone to protect passengers. And drivers. Safety features grew from seat belts to deep dish, break-away steering wheels, padded dashes and interior designs meant to keep passengers out of harm's way. Then the electronic age entered the picture. We have rear view cameras, so we don...

Finally, snow has fallen in Chicagoland. Nothing much the other day, but this weekend’s storm proved to be a strong start to winter. Several inches of snow predicted. Falling temperatures. Windy conditions. Blowing snow. Followed by very cold temperatures and low wind chills. This is winter in Illinois. [Note: actual snow fall amounted to a measly 3 inches, if that!] Most recent winters, at least 5, have been mild. Yes, a few bouts of very cold temps, but quickly followed by warming. Snow falls of a few inches, heavy and gloppy. But then melting quickly with the warmer temps. Our winters have been mild and of little bother. Not like the winters of years past. You know the kind, so windy we hung onto railings and sign posts while navigating downtown streets. We wore heavy nylon parkas to ward off awful wind chills. We learned to see and breath through ‘snorkel’ hoods on those parkas. We wore boots that would take the cold snow, melting slush, and salt infested snow melt. We wore casua...