View From Here

Yes, sifting through a lot of things lately. What’s important? What’s not important? What’s big versus what’s little? But then, how many littles make up a big? Hmmm. Lots of snubs and shrugs add up to insensitivity. Insensitivity accumulates to incivility. Incivility amasses into outbursts both vocal and physical. When does all of this amount to a society out of control? No wonder traffic laws and rules of good behavior lapse into rudeness, hot tempers and road rage. And that doesn’t come close to traffic accidents and road deaths. Facebook insults and dissing easily become disrespect and intolerance. On view every day, we become inured to bad behavior and soon self-pride veers into supremacy. And that devalues those who deserve pride and worth. Being different from the norm is often an allure in the world of fashion. Same with design of cars, architecture and interior décor. Just the right difference makes the style-fad-chic definition. Too much and it becomes grotesque. Revil...

With the world unsettled by the Russia/Ukraine horror, it is natural for all of us to think about and comment on what is happening. What is not alright is to question our national resolve and solidarity at a precarious moment. Our President is in the thick of things and needs flexibility to seek the best solutions and pathways toward a peaceful world. That does not mean giving in to the bully Putin and his warlike stance; nor does it mean we should be all macho and rattle our own weaponry. It takes tact. It takes cool minds. It requires solid information and intel. It also requires less open criticism in the press. America is home of the free press. It is also home to freedom of religion, right to assembly and free markets. None of these freedoms are absolute. Not all freedoms are totally free. Duty and responsibility are called on. Some limitations exist. We are not free to shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre, for example. And, freedom of religion is apparently not freedom from re...

It amazes me when so much public discourse rages on over topics, although important in their own right, pale in comparison with larger issues clearly facing the human race. To wit: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; Russia’s threat to broaden the military action to other nations; vague nuclear threats from Putin; and so much more, just from the Ukraine/Russia debacle. Another huge issue is existential, too, that of Earth’s planetary health to support humanity in the long term. Both issues deserve our full attention. All other issues, although important, are subsidiary to the two big ones. Why, then, do we spend so much time and energy on the other topics? Distraction comes to mind. Also, scalability of the issues, that is, what impact will my efforts have on military actions far away from home, and how can I impact the ecological health of Mother Earth? Both issues are so enormous we can’t get our heads around them. Or know what to do that would be practical and impactful. I get that,...

There are those who believe Russia’s attack on Ukraine has ended globalization. They focus on economic sanctions placed on Russia, Putin and his oligarch pals as witness to closing down international markets. I think these critics have gotten this all wrong. Globalization is the result of interdependence of nations. They – we – rely on each other to make the world function more smoothly. Last time I checked the need for smooth remains great. A lot of work to do. We are interdependent for clean air, clean water and unspoiled soil. We are interdependent to build and maintain peace. But most of all, we are interdependent economically. No country knows this better than Russia. It needs many things from other nations in order to thrive. Rare minerals, food stuffs, and technology are a few of those things. At one time Russia needed oil for energy. Now it has its own ample supply, in fact, so much, they export it to nations in need of it. And that is the other lesson of globalization. R...

A few months ago, I got a call from a SCORE client. We had met at a public event maybe 4 years ago. We struck up a conversation and then met over lunch a few weeks later. She was an inveterate international traveler and wondered if she could build that activity into a business. A travel tour business with a twist.  Recently retired, she planned trips to Africa and the Far East. I asked her what her interest was in those regions. Other than personal curiosity, she did mention an interest in learning how living conditions in the regions were different from ours in America and what could be done about improving target areas. That led to a discussion of critical needs in some large regions. Africa continues its struggle to find and deliver potable water to millions of people scattered over a huge territory. Same is true for sewage collection and treatment. I mentioned to her that her travels could be theme oriented and target specific problems and potential solutions. Seeing problems...

Recently I have had an uptick in friend requests on Facebook. Some of these come with no shared friends so I automatically delete these. Those with shared friends, I have lately been accepting. I look at some of the friends and if I spot a troll or two, I delete the entire request. However, the increase in negative reactions to my posts tell me some of these ‘friends’ are really trolls in disguise. Their messages almost always blame democrats for the nation’s problems, or the pandemic being mismanaged, or how the republicans in the past attempted to control this issue but were out gamed by democrats. I doubt that happened; democrats are not good at gaming in the first place! What these messages tell me is an election season is about to launch and the party propaganda is gearing up. The tone of the conversation is the first clue this is happening. It saddens me because the issues I write about are shared by all of us and commonsense solutions are needed for our common good. This is ...

Small Stuff Bothering : scanning the news begs the question, “What’s really important?” The bigger the problems are, the more time we spend on the smaller stuff. Why is that? Is it because we are avoiding the big items? Is it because the big topics are too weighty and scary? Do we even care? Reading the headlines, it would seem we don’t care. Or, are fashion shifts more important than world war? Or even cyberattacks? Or pandemic issues? Really? I think it is time to focus on the big issues before they engulf us in a point of no return. The rest is nothing but distraction from the important things. A World at War : yes, we are in a world war. It may not seem so because bombs are not falling on our homes or destroying our bridges and infrastructure. But we are at war. A nation is being bombarded indiscriminate of civilian casualties. Entire apartment blocks are being destroyed. Schools and hospitals are under attack. Public spaces like malls and theaters are being pulverized. It is...

60 Minutes had a news piece Sunday evening (March 20, 2022) focused on rising rents. The largest real estate investment firm is buying up single family homes as fast as they can, as soon as they appear on the market. The CEO claims many of those homes are bought sight unseen and without a building inspection. They take the homes as they are, refurbish them, and then lease them at prevailing rental prices. That is to say, rents about 30% higher than the region's previous rental pricing.  60 Minutes asked why. The answer: the US housing market is short 4 million homes. Four million homes. Think of that. Many millennials have been living on campuses, or sharing small apartments near their work, or simply living with their parents. The pandemic witnessed a lot of this. As the pandemic eases and people are returning to more normal activities, incomes are rising, new careers have become established, and homes are sought. Single family home purchases have driven that market to new he...

 I rarely write this blog live. Usually, I work a day or two ahead, keeping my head clear and responsive to the latest happenings. Because I awoke this morning without having written a blog draft for today, I realized I was going to have wing it. So here it is. Community is a word often mentioned or tossed about. We live in community. All the time. We are part of the community whether it is just one household or two or three, or an entire block. Maybe several blocks constituting a neighborhood. Of course, there are communities of faith, political philosophy, social creed, and so much more. We humans are complex. We have physicality, emotional presence, and intellectual probing's. We have many dimensions. And heart strings ready to pluck! My work in SCORE has been hugely rewarding. Personally, I have worked in the nonprofit sector most of my life. I didn't realize it as I was doing it. Many years - decades - later I was told by others what I had not recognized - a career in nonp...

Trump’s past Attorney General Bill Barr claims Trump should not have been President, but his administration was better than letting the political left be in control of the White House. In another venue, Trump claims Putin’s love of country drove him to enlarge Russia by capturing Ukraine. If any of my readers believe either or both of these statements, there is a disconnect from logic, history and right and wrong. Rhetoric in America may have swings of extremes, but surely only small numbers believe the two statements above, or even believe the polar opposite of them. The truth is clearly in between such positions. And that truth captures a majority of American’s loyalty. First of all, polemics defining right and left politics simply misrepresents either the left or right as being so right or so wrong as to destroy the nation we know and love as the United States of America. Right wingers think smaller government is better than bigger government. Left wingers believe government s...

Reading Facebook and many websites gives the impression that we have many problems needing attention in America and the world. That impression is correct. There are always problems. The real challenge, however, is which problems are most critical? Of those, which are central to solving many other issues? Focus our energy and collective genius on those few problems, and watch good things happen. It is more than a hunch that many other problems would melt away if we did this priority work. Handling current issues in this manner will also reduce bellyaching about so many minor issues. We truly are a nation of complainers! Two issues are critical for our very existence: first is climate change; second is world peace. If we have no planet to live on, what value are the remaining problems? Firmly establishing world peace would most likely improve quality of life for huge numbers of people while eliminating the cost of heavy militarization. The military forces throughout the globe would...

When and how do we define if we are in a World War? Let’s see, this would be WW III. Our thoughts are swinging in this direction as we react on the reality of what Russia has done with Ukraine. The global community has responded with diplomatic protocols and economic sanctions. The latter will hurt Russia, already have. Sadly, they do not have immediate effect to thwart Putin’s decisions. Only when the Russian people feel the pain and rise and speak their truth to Putin, will sanctions produce desired international outcomes. In the meanwhile, Ukraine is being destroyed. Cruelly, civilians are targeted. Public institutions are being bombed, infrastructure is being destroyed, and refugees in the millions are escaping their homeland. Putin is set on controlling Ukraine’s territory as Russian land, even within redrawn Russian borders. This will give Russia immediate borders with NATO countries. This is his threat, and it is very real. He is not looting Ukraine for its people or asset...

I am a person of peace. I truly believe the world can live in peace. I also believe that most people yearn for peace as a base for living their lives in fullness and potential. History, however, has shown how people who think they have less than someone else, think they have just cause to find ways to take what they want from others. Like the kid on the playground who covets another kid’s fancy basketball shoes, or a kid steals a car for a joy ride. They just take what they want. They bully or sneak their way to fulfill a want, an ache. Like those kids, nations generate feelings of entitlement to what other nations have. Whether it is power, ability to grow sufficient food stuffs, or mine fossil fuels, dig up precious ores needed in manufacturing, or just plain drilling for ample water supplies, some nations develop plans to take what they need by violence, war and usurpation. Russia is an example of this. Burma, too. Many African nations and tribes have done the same over the mi...

A new day has dawned. Yes, we have been here before, but the open, free markets of international trade have truly never been unfettered or free. They have been tortured by countless restrictions, controls and outright discrimination. Some trade was even conspiratorial to gain access to intellectual property and control it. Russia and China are the most common suspects in that domain. In recent years, however, trade has become more open and less restricted. However, it remains a political minefield for many nations. In America, politics have soured international trade. Many industries lost markets to cheaper producers in foreign lands. Many jobs simply relocated to China (manufacturing), India (research and sales/service call centers), and many countries too numerous to relate. People bemoaned loss of jobs here at home, but no one bemoaned the higher standard of living we Americans gained by having access to high quality cheaper goods made overseas. Markets in poorer nations soare...

I can’t let this opportunity pass. Florida this week changed it’s public education laws to ban any kind of program, literature, or classroom talk about gender related topics in Kindergarten through 3 rd grade. Opponents of the bill labeled this law the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In essence, however, that is what the bill is about. Conservative republicans in Florida and elsewhere, claim this bill has nothing to do with gay, for or against. That is disingenuous. Surprise? No. I am not surprised. The state that gave us Anita Bryant claims that gender talk has no place in public education, that only parents have the right to talk about such things with their children. Sounds reasonable, right? But it is not. If parents were such good educators, why are there public schools? Why does society legislate the existence of public schools? Why do we have gender issues, politics and dysfunction within our society regarding matters of sex? Why? Like banning books, banning talk is censorship. Cen...

We have communication challenges in our home. Rocky has no voice box. He is deaf and getting worse. He has poor eyesight and that is getting weaker. He has Parkinson’s and that reduces his small motor skills like writing, word processing, and yes, walking, standing, sitting. We get by with his use of an electrolarynx, a glorified buzz box held up to the throat to make a sound which he then shapes with his lips, tongue and hollow spaces in his mouth. They come out as sounds that can be construed as speech. Not always, sadly. So, we augment his communications by lip reading. This is not good due to his Parkinson’s affecting his control over facial and lip muscles. I’ve tried to get him to type simple emails to me but that simply doesn’t work very well. I think it has a lot to do with controlling his finger movements. In the final gasp of desperation to be understood, we do hand signals and ‘charades.’ If that works, great. If not, we move on to one of the other options. That got me...

Knowing and doing right and wrong are vastly different things. Sad but true. In the modern age I suspect more people do right more than wrong. My hunch is a greater number of our fellow citizens simply do not know what is right and wrong. Why is that? Why is it so difficult to know right from wrong? If you can do right rather than wrong, what do you suppose causes this disconnect? I am not certain I understand this well enough to write about it. I am uncomfortable about the reality of the disconnect to write about it, however, here goes. First, I think most people struggle to find their own identify, then purpose to follow, then relationships that fulfill biological imperatives (sex!), building family, continue pursuing purpose to a higher calling. All of this takes effort, time and discipline to think things through. Most young people don’t have the latter. So, right and wrong are situational. Faced with a decision to act or not to act in a specific situation often calls us to do ...

Looking at something, anything, provides a perspective. Step to the right or left a foot or two. Observe the ‘thing’ again; compare that with what you saw before. Anything seem different? Did you gain more information on the subject? Did it matter? Did it give you more things to think about that subject? Whether a thing/object, or an idea/opinion, observing it again from a different perspective, aids in understanding it. It changes its value to you. It may change its function with you. Space is a dimension in which things are placed. You and I are placed in that space as well. Dimension has characteristics – size, shape, interior environment (heat, cool, light, air quality, aromas, etc.), and maybe even an exterior environment. Time is a dimension, too. Is this subject under observation in the past, the present or future? Is the timeline static or in motion? Is the motion fast or slow or halting? Each dimension informs of different qualities about the subject. All the differenc...

We think not. Yet again, what if…? Yes, Putin’s actions threaten the future of our planet. His cold calculating mind looks to victory however defined. Hubris eliminates failure as a possibility. Think like this, like him, and wonder what lengths he would employ to ‘save’ himself. The nuclear option is available. Actually, it is always on the table, isn’t it? We have a tool to use for certain purposes. When do we use it? Is its effect so awful we hope never to use it? Of course, that is our reason of comfort. We have it to ward off the opposing evil. And vice versa. In balance this stance works. It has worked for many decades. But now? One has to wonder. What would happen if Russia exploded the nuclear power plants in Ukraine? It would annihilate Ukraine. Forever. The nuclear fallout would embrace much of Europe. Of course, it would blow back on Russian soil, too. We are not talking damage here. We are speaking the unthinkable. Destruction of facilities would be real, but the ra...

I wish upon a star that…  You recall saying this when you were a kid. There was magic in that moment, but it didn’t take long to learn that magic wasn’t real. Neither was wishing on a star. What model we set for ourselves to follow is a good start. The outcome is yet to be. Much work must be done before we can expect outcomes. Any outcomes. Certainly not The Outcome we hope for. Life may be a journey, but outcomes are the objectives we aim for. Having no aim makes life just a trip, endless and pointless. The trip, the journey, life itself, takes on meaning when we find the model we wish to be. Commitment and energy – hard work – makes it happen. Investment in time and ideas make it happen. Dedication to values makes it happen. If it is only for you - the self - the celebration is short-lived. It may be valuable to you, but often not to anyone else. That alone should tell you something. We find value in community, relations with others. We achieve great things through sharing ...

With the first shot fired I sat down and wrote the following list. It is just a starting point. But it was therapeutic. Getting down to the basics helped me place this terrible current event into historical perspective. That led me to a range of results that will likely be our history going forward. The process was instructive. The consequences: 1.        Death, and usual horrors of war on Ukrainians 2.        Subjugation of Ukraine; re-absorption into Russia for re-birthing USSR 3.        Instability on all borders of Russia, Ukraine, etc. 4.        Total challenge to NATO’s mission and resolve 5.        Economic disruption of world markets 6.        Economic disruption of world banking system 7.        Greater instability with China and all other powers 8.  ...

Putin Isolated? Ill? – No, Putin is not ill. He is not in isolation because of that but may be withdrawn to think and sort out options, strategies and tactics. He entered the war with Ukraine fully prepared to win. He thought out his game plan meticulously. Ukraine is not the end game. It is a steppingstone in his chess game with the global village. He has spent recent years rebuilding his military and refocusing on targets. Do not underestimate this man. He is very dangerous and has been all along. Trump only emboldened Putin. Trump was manipulated better than he thought he was conning Putin. The losers are not the USA. The losers are free societies everywhere on the planet. Do not doubt Putin’s objective. He will not go quietly in the night. We must oppose his every move. We are talking about our future. Yous and mine. And our kids and grandkids. Consider the options very carefully. Russian Response to West’s Sanctions – Bravado is often an automatic response to sanctions and...

Indeed, it does. Sometimes marches, other times piddles around, most of the time running. And so it goes. One day you are 8 years old, the next day you are 68, then 78. Soon it will be 79. Meanwhile we do our thing, day after day. We take stock of what it means to be alive and what lies ahead. We are aware and anticipating. We plan. We arrange. We do. Magically the days follow one another. In our days, the landscape does not change much. Oh, a vacant lot gets a new building; that’s a big thing! But the grass is the same, the trees, shrubs and flowers remain in place for the next growing season. Snow is present today, but soon it will   be gone and greens will appear. We watch life pass in our kids and their kids. We greet neighbors daily and note subtle changes. We are now more attuned to the pandemic routines and how it has made us eager to see and mingle with others. This family has a new baby, this one a new high school student, and that one, yes, that one just over there,...