Hail Caesar & Full speed ahead

Hail Caesar and full speed ahead

I am a contrarian. Maybe by design. I entered school early and was smaller and more immature throughout school. I also got sick as a kid and missed a lot of school. Never being the football hero and marching with the band will make you cynical. Anyway I saw the news a couple nights ago and they showed Obama’s final correspondent’s dinner and a couple jokes he told and at the end he dropped the mike, put two fingers to his lips and said “Obama out.” Didn’t get it. Then I read he was kinda’ lampooning Kobe Bryant’s last game where he did the same thing but with Mamba out. Get it? Mamba out, Obama out? In that context it was cool. Without the context it was strange. I’m going to miss Barry. He’s a cool guy. Smart. Educated. Cool under fire. He’s done a representative job. I didn’t vote for him because I guess I’m older and white and identify with people like John McCain. Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate President Obama and I do. Are we better off after eight years? Some are. Government sponsors health care for a lot more Americans. That’s good for those Americans. Everybody else? We’ll see. I made an allusion that I didn’t vote for Obama because I’m white but that’s not really the case. I know Obama’s a hybrid. Raised by his mother and grandparents. Wrote the Harvard law review. The black guy in him makes him special. I kinda like that. But being white gives me privilege, right? I can’t empathize with minorities because I’m flawed by race. The white/black thing is weird though. I pulled for the Lakers throughout the 60s when the Celtics were dominant because I got tired of Red Auerbach’s white guys and cigar lighting. The black guys on the Lakers were the underdogs and I liked that. Black guys seem more relaxed, have better physical skills, play the blues better, and so on. All generalizations are false, of course but we all do it, you can’t help it. You generalize. I don’t think I dislike anybody based on race. If it’s true, I’m a clueless individual but I don’t think so because hey, I am a contrarian. Who is more the underdog than people who are working to overcome being a racial minority? I also have a bit of a problem with black people hating white people because of race, isn’t "racist." It’s justified. But I give Obama credit. He’s pretty logical. Besides, he’s a hybrid.

So where’s this going? Obama’s moving on to the speaking circuit, writing his memoirs and biography, building his Presidential library in Chicago and playing about the same amount of golf, eh? That leaves the office open for either Hillary or Donald. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Trump is a bit of a bigot, a narcissist (most politicians are), an over-privileged braggart, a misogynist, a truth stretcher (most politicians are), with no track record as a statesman. He is not and would not be my first choice for President. He is probably more than a little dangerous. But he is one of two who has qualified to be a major candidate for President and he has been woefully underestimated so far.

The other candidate:

Ms. Clinton. Hillary reminds me of a reptile. She probably sheds skin. Her tongue is lizard like and can say amazingly smooth, calculated and rehearsed things. She is mistake free. Just ask her. Like a chameleon she can change color when adaptation benefits her. She seems asexual, reproducing through parthenogenesis, but then a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. Like a reptile she is cold. Stays married to a serial cheater but then he is now her eunuch, why not use him? A rather cold and calculated plan but it fits. Has a plan for everything and can change it to suit the latest poll. Is indebted to big banks, big pharma, unions, lawyers and anybody with a big check book. She knows how the game is played. She and Bill have been playing it for forty years. Power. Money. Revenge. Say anything, do anything to grasp the big goal. She dropped the feminist Hillary Rodham stuff to appeal to a broader audience but can change it back if it has a benefit. It’s not about principle, its about advantage. She set up her own personal server as Secretary of State for her convenience and control. Advantage Hillary. It was almost immediately compromised. No, no it wasn’t. Right? Just ask her. She doesn’t make mistakes. She is used to political power and privilege and her struggles to be locally relevant during her campaign are hilarious. What will she bring to office? A political agenda that will similar to Obama’s. How exciting. Eight more years of apologizing and making things more “correct.”

So how has the political status quo worked for the average American the past eight years? The country’s middle class is worse off. The rich and powerful are more rich and more powerful. We manufacture and export next to nothing any more. Steel? No. We import nearly everything. We are a service economy. An intellectual property country. Blue collar workers are out of work. Kids get degrees and work at Starbucks. We are nation on the decline. Most believe it is inevitable. Go with the flow. Free trade our way to oblivion and enjoy how productive our entertainment industry is. Can’t blame Democrats for this. This is bi-partisan. Besides, we deserve it. What we get for all our past transgressions.

Everybody agrees it’s a global economy now. We have to adapt. Lower our expectations. Export jobs, export manufacturing, This generation and the next will have to adapt to the new reality. They can have jobs, but they will struggle to pay their bills for decades. Debt will grow to be unsustainable but hey, that’s okay and I’m not talking about federal debt, I’m talking about individual debt the middle class is taking on. That’s what leadership agrees. Both the left and the right don’t want to get in the way of global progress. We take on debt. We protect the rest of the world. We export jobs, manufacturing, industry and leave behind french fry pushers.

Again, where I am going?

Perhaps with bad analogy but it comes from deep inside. Andrew Jackson, who they are taking off the 20, turned the white house over to common people for a while. Teddy Roosevelt, who posed with bears and sent gunboats around the world and Ronald Reagan, who was too dumb to know what he couldn’t accomplish. And yeah, that other serial cheater and other misogynist, JFK when he dealt with Khrushchev and threatened nuclear midnight over missiles to Cuba. These guys had vision and they were doers. Not planners. Not politicians. Egg breakers. Omelet makers. Once in a while we need a leader who can’t see the reasons why we can’t. Doesn’t understand all the nuances, isn’t interest in the “other side of the coin.” When Reagan stood at the Berlin wall and said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” He should have known it was provocative and threatening and we don’t control what other countries do. We don’t have the power to dictate global policy. We are but one country with a sordid past of slavery, civil war, illegal expansion into the west, native American disgrace, unfair labor practices, unequal pay, monopolies, homeless people, drug addiction and the shame of Vietnam. Right Hillary? Let’s focus on our shame and do better politically. Meanwhile the average American needs to lower their expectations and realize what we’re doing is only right for Mexico, China, Central America, Japan and so on. Obama’s done a good job of making us look better to Europe. Less cowboy. More chess player. Excellent. Keep it up.

Except it isn’t selling well locally. People want to see their leaders pushing the edge of the envelope for them, not Mexico, not China, not Japan. They want to hear somebody say, “Let’s manufacture here.” Let’s grow our economy and lower our debt. Renegotiate debt percentages. Let’s stop apologizing and start being proud again. Simplistic? Maybe. Timely. We’ll soon see. I don’t like Trump. He’s an ass. And let’s be honest. Arkansas is a red state. How I vote will essentially be meaningless. There will be a handful of blue states that went for Obama that will need to flip if Trump, the asshole, can have four years to reverse some of the conservative/liberal/progressive political posturing and ideology which has gotten us where we are. Trump is an asshole but he is not a conservative or progressive ideologue, he is a bullheaded businessman who wants to do something about regressive taxation, unsustainable debt, insurance industry collusion, big pharma advantage to the detriment of the middle class, and loss of jobs, manufacturing and our essential industrial base. Our country is moving in the wrong direction and our “leaders” are frankly, clueless about it. They work hardest at one thing. Getting re-elected. It’s what they work on from the minute they’re elected to the next time the polls open. Raising money for ads and political war chests. The people who give them money want favoritism and patronage. Trump’s already rich. He already has a plane to ride around in. Living in the White House won’t be much of an upgrade. He doesn’t need to cow-tow to anybody. Both parties both fear and hate him. The press hate him. There will be more character assassination in the next six months than ever before. But like Jackson, Roosevelt and Reagan, the average Joe considers Trump something more than just a politician. Because well, he obviously isn’t a politician. He doesn’t act like a politician. He doesn’t speak like a politician. He says what he thinks. That’s so rare it’s scary. They think he is an iconoclast because he is. An egg breaker. The turd in the punch bowl. If nothing else, it’s at least not “more of the same.”

Will I vote for him? Hard to say. Like I said, won’t matter one way or another. Arkansas is red and will stay red no matter what I do. But let’s make it theoretical.  Hillary is the safe bet. Short term, of course. Because long term, enough of her type of pol who work for their party and their contributors and work hard at more and more legislation that benefits their constituency to the detriment to our overall economy and the decline of our country is assured. The Romans liked their bread and circuses. Trump has the big shoes and the big top. Clown-like but hey, it’s going to be interesting… Hail Caesar and full speed ahead. I for one can’t wait for the next circus performance, it’s even better than the bread.

Forgiveness has no expiration date. It just keeps on giving.

Every long journey begins with the first step. Personal journeys begin with forgiveness.

Why is forgiveness so important? Because it focuses the mind on the future, letting the past go.

Close your eyes. Look inward. Help is there.

Be practical. First and foremost, forgiveness calms and helps the forgiver.

Close your eyes and stop focusing on exterior issues.

Ask important questions.

Who is causing all the problems I live with daily? All. My. Problems.

Here are a few examples:

Others, obviously. My parents. My teachers. My so-called friends. The people who are wrong about everything, who don’t understand me. Foreigners. Red necks. Liberals. Republicans. Muslims. Selfish people. Rich people. Immigrants. Illegals. My boss. My spouse. My brother or sister. My boyfriend/girlfriend. Haters. Shooters. Pushers. Old people. Young people. Homeless beggars. Thieves. Politicians. The President. Congress. The guy who cut me off in traffic this morning. The Supreme Court. Society. Humanity. Booze. Drugs.

Frankly, the list can be exhausting.

But here’s the thing: Exterior forces and people surely can be causing you problems.

Yes. They are. They will be.

How does that help your future?

It doesn’t.

Others may well be causing you problems

But

Others will not be able to solve these problems.

What? How fair is that?

Well, who’s going to help me then? Where do I go for help? I mean if all these people and things are giving me grief, where do I go for satisfaction?

We must take the proverbial first step.

Stop focusing on the exterior world for a moment.

Close your eyes and breathe; journeys begin from within.

Let the pain and the anger go, eaten away by forgiveness.

Stop blaming everybody else for your problems, even if it’s true, because it just doesn’t help.

Work towards understanding pain by stop blaming it on exterior forces and start thinking about the path to follow to move away from it.

What has to happen to make you happier and more satisfied?

You are in charge of your own happiness. Nobody else. You.

Why forgive others if nobody’s going to be able to help?

Because you must acknowledge the main issue:
 
You and only you can create a road to your own personal satisfaction and to begin the journey you must let go of the past.

If you are waiting for somebody else to fix your pain for you, I’ll bet you’re pretty dissatisfied at the results so far. They can anesthetize it (your bartender). They can drown it out (your rock band). They can stimulate you enough to forget it temporarily (your lover). Later you blame them because it doesn’t last. The problem is until you can focus your mind on your own personal solution, long term satisfaction is ephemeral.

That’s not to say you have to do all the work yourself. Far from it.

Read. Listen. Become educated. Work a program. Listen to mentors. Adopt a philosophy or religion. Go about it however you wish. Listen. Adopt. Adapt. Emulate. Work. Lather, rinse, repeat. You won’t know what works until you fail a couple times. But you decide and you agree: I am in charge of my own happiness and personal satisfaction. The moment I stop blaming everybody else for what bugs me, the sooner I can be happy if I can forgive myself along the way for temporary failures.

Now, once you forgive, it doesn’t mean you forget. If you need to move on from a bad relationship, leave an abusive spouse, stop working a job that harms society, or find a more positive living environment, that simply pulls the thorn from your paw. At that point you can stop blaming the thorn for what’s been going on and begin to understand what drove you to misalign yourself. Why or how did I get into this thorny situation? Chalk it up to experience and yes, forgive yourself. Learn from it. Then move on.

That’s important too. Acknowledgement that you are a flawed human being. “I did some questionable things around some questionable people but I’ve moved on, forgiven myself and yes, others too. Now it’s time establish a positive attitude, living situation, friends and loved ones.” It’s never too late to learn from the past and move toward the future. Forgiveness has no expiration date. It just keeps on giving.

Every long journey begins with the first step. Begin your journey with forgiveness. For yourself. For others. Then and only then can you work toward a lifetime of personal achievement and satisfaction.

Give me the middle, that's where both the head and the heart reside.

Read most of the newspaper this morning, including the op ed page. Much of this week's front section's news centers around the horrific shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. This lone act of violence now dominates our national and local news cycles and serves to polarize (further polarize?) out nation's leaders and pundits. Hopefully reasonable people can approach regrettable events, such as this one, with hope and understanding that our nation is not defined by the acts of lunatics who so lack a basic moral compass that they kill without conscience. This isn't a statement. It's the opposite. It's a vacuum. A very painful vacuum lacking ideas or ideals. This lunatic has nothing to give, nothing to say, nothing to share. He is nothing. But his actions, which cause pain and grief, trigger opinions. Opinions and actions which now try to retroactively un-cause it from happening. What went wrong? What should be done? Whose to blame? Thus the news cycle's maw opens for its weekly feeding.

This is not the first lone wolf, nihilistic mass killing in recent years. Sandy Hook's elementary school shooting, while sui generis, is compared and contrasted to the Charleston shooting. Each is its own horror and those of us on the sidelines have no way of understanding the pain family members and friends are going through. I am a bit embarrassed to be writing at all since I really don't have the right to comment at all unless or until I suffer something like this myself. That said, I seek only to rebut the nonsense that seems to permeate comment after these events. All generalizations are false and each of these perpetrators tends to have a unique disconnect which allows them to open the door to destruction, both personal and general. Some are obviously mentally bent, some morally bankrupt and others motivated by political and religious misinterpretations. It seems last week's shooter was nothing more than a moron with a gun. It is true he seems to have been motivated by a hatred for black people and considered himself a white supremacist but realistically he drooled in his photos. Mass murder is not now nor will it ever be laudable for anybody for any reason. Those who execute it are terminally confused and well, stupid. Perhaps I am embarrassed to be from the South (when related to this idiot) and deny this moron's motivations because they are so anathema to any enlightened human's value system. I can't see anybody actually taking anything this guy believed seriously but there it is. The horrible loss of life focuses us on the perpetration of evil. We must react.

So I concede the point. There will have to be a reaction. The most vocal reactions come from the right and from the left. These are most newsworthy. Let's step off with the left foot first. Is this is a hate crime? Is this an act of terror? The President responds by wanting more law(s). He bemoans his lack of power to restrict gun ownership. The kind of very restrictive laws they have in Chicago that work so well to prevent gun violence, right? How's that working? Laws are only as good as the will of the people to follow them. The prohibition of murder by law isn't stopping murder, is it? The prohibition of illegal drugs by law isn't stopping it, is it? But beyond the fact that the country is chock a block with literally millions of guns already and the only effective way of controlling them is to give the government rights to control citizens beyond common sense, is the history of our country. We are a country founded by revolutionaries who took up arms against an unjust government, which was run by a despot who didn't care about the rights of citizens. Our citizens, to this day, still don't absolutely trust government to not act in just the best interest's of government. Read a little about Huey Long some time if you think this country is far removed from despotism. Individuals want protection. Sometimes from intruders. Sometimes from a government run amok. Is it likely in our enlightened society? No. But anything isn't until it is. Or it is until it isn't. Paranoia is a side effect of basic distrust of what government is capable of. It fuels nuts and there are quite a few of them. Should crazy paranoid people wield weapons? Probably not. Would we be better off if such people didn't have easy access to plentiful dangerous weapons? Yes. So that's the President's point right? Give me the power the restrict gun ownership. But the reality is such laws are unlikely in this country and when they are passed in communities, they work about as well as passing laws against using drugs. People find a way if they aren't law abiding citizens and they feel the need. Their need will be met. Besides, the fool could have taken lessons with a Japanese Katana and done the deed more quietly and with even more gruesome results.

I read the op-ed page about the right's response being something about we should arm everybody and those in church could have defended themselves and the guy wasn't a racist, he was attacking our religious freedoms, or something. Bizarro stuff. If anything, worse than the left's approach, which is at least seeking some semblance of a solution. The real "beauty" of guns is they preponderantly kill their owners and the owner's families, friends and acquaintances. The chance that a gun will actually be used to defend somebody from an attack is incredibly small. Guns kill their owners and owner's family members by suicide, accident, and rage. Every week in the United States a gun is discharged by a child to kill another child in play, a loading accident kills a family member, a father kills himself (including my own), a drunken husband kills his wife or vice versa because they are upset. Neighbors kill neighbors. People have fist fights in bars and somebody goes gets a gun to escalate the violence and kills somebody. Hunting accidents kill by mistake. Road rage fueled gun owners kill strangers who drive aggressively. Guns provide instant power to kill and let's face it, they whack more thumbs than nails. To own a gun is to be instantly less safe from violence.

But...

Illegal drugs are bad. Most uses of people-shooter guns (pistols, assault rifles, etc.) other than practice and shooting for thrills and kicks, turns out bad for the owner and their family. But they ain't going away any time soon.

The bottom line is, in America, with our culture and our history, we want to keep our guns and we don't trust government enough to give them up. Bigger government with more control is not today's solution for this problem. Period.

But...

The fool who murdered those people in church WAS a racist. He was an idiot racist. However his small mind was polluted by the internet or other racists can be studied and maybe we'll learn something, but I doubt it. I'd like a simple solution to people who lack understanding or who have a broken brain, but I'm afraid we will mourn this act and soon others after it. We are a country of 319 million pretty decent people who go about their daily business without recourse to senseless killing. While horrific, this act was an aberration of the norm, not indicative of it.

But I do have an opinion (and two elbows):

I inhabit the middle. In the middle we tolerate responsible gun ownership and we prosecute illegal uses of weapons, not ownership of weapons. We blame the idiot user, not the gun. And again, owning a gun likely will end in tragedy for the owner and his family. But people still buy guns.

In the middle we understand the motivation behind progressives who want to restrict gun ownership and in time, with reason, some of that is likely to occur. Gradually and with compromise. We believe that there are actually racists in the world and their actions are offensive and when they occur we will speak out and when necessary get up and march for individual rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution. For all citizens.

What happened last week was the lone act of an idiot. There is little or nothing that can be done in a free society to track, restrict or prevent idiocy. 

But where there is cause, there can be effect.

I am from the South. I studied in a school in the 1950s in rural North Louisiana with a text book that subscribed to the idea that the Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia were heroes during reconstruction. Today I believe southern pride is taken as knee-jerk racism. I can't help if it is or it isn't, that's how its perceived. That the rebel battle flag is about as benign as painting on black face and putting on a minstrel show.

I am in the middle and I think to honor the dead in an historic African American church, the dead who were murdered by a racist idiot, the rebel battle flag needs to be retired from the statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina. To honor those individual lives lost. To honor those black South Carolineans who suffered prior to the war between the states and those who have suffered since, up to and including this act of stupidity. To show this idiot that no, blacks aren't taking over our country, they are joining it as equal citizens and while we respect our forefathers and their contribution to the south, that INCLUDES our black brothers and sisters who suffered before, during after the war and continue to this day to suffer from those who perceive them as different or inferior. It would only be symbolic but it would be a very minor achievement and honor for those fallen dead at the hands of a racist idiot.

That's from the middle, where the heart and the head reside.

Who or what is in control of your life?

Who or what is in control of your life? You? God of Jehovah? Jesus? Allah? People? Chaos? Fear? Love? The Law? The Bible? The Koran? Situational ethics? The theory of relativity? Politicians? Judges/ Juries? Mom & Dad? Secular Humanism? Twitter?

I’ll posit something. I’ve said it before. After satisfying needs for water, food, shelter, procreation, security, health, love, praise and More (I’ll defer to Samuel Gompers here), people want control. Absent control they want comfort, recreation and entertainment. Most have an easier time obtaining recreation and entertainment and abandon most attempts for control. Using alcohol and drugs obviates the desire for control. Rationalization soothes lack of control. Lower your expectations. Monks will tell you feed the spirit and seek enlightenment. You don’t need to, or can't control the physical world. Concentrate on the metaphysical. Meditate. Grow your spirit. I like it. Which of course let’s the Chinese take over, more actively seeking physical control.

But let’s take a look at “desidero, decideras, deciderat:” 

[what I want, what you want and what we want] based on a spiritual person’s persona (qi (chi), weltanschuung)

Positive control = Balance = harmony (give and take)

non desidero, …as, …at:

Negative control = Unbalanced = disharmony (take and take)

Example of non balanced leading to balanced leading to non balanced:

Places of employment, struggle for control:

Company establishes a business. Following market forces and sound economic principles, it expands. Hires more workers. Grows, hires more workers, the cycle continues. The workers achieve water, food and shelter, which can be purchased with wages, which (failing spending it all on drugs, gambling, etc) lead to temporary satisfaction. Later they get health insurance, vacation, retirement, holidays, etc. Once these necessities are satisfied we finally get to “control” and who has it. First we get various concerns. Some workers are retained, even promoted. Others are furloughed, discharged even. Where are the rules? Why is all this happening? Rumors are Debbie and the boss really like each other and Debbie got a raise. The boss fired Dave because he didn’t like him. Eventually they feel powerless and frustrated. They compare their work situations with others. They realize they could have it better. They organize, form a union and periodically negotiate. We want more. Pay. Benefits. And we want to reduce management’s control so there’s no subjectivity any more.

Unions want printed rules. A book of them. A rule for everything. A remedy for infractions. Wages spelled out. Seniority rewarded. The tacit goal is to remove management’s prerogatives. Once the contract refers to the book of rules, there is no need for management, other than to challenge when rote adherence to written rules produces unsatisfactory results, which it often does. All generalisations are false sooner or later. All rules lead to unsatisfactory results, for everybody and then the union, which requested the book of rules, gets to intercede now as the arbiter of rules. Failing to follow the rules by management also makes the union challenge management. Second guessers always have the benefit of hindsight. Removing management’s prerogative removes management’s intelligence. Somewhere between no rules and all subjective management to nothing but rules with no intelligence there is balance and harmony. I have worked in and experienced both situations. Too much management subjectivity reduces everybody’s morale, including the supervisors who have to carry out discriminatory practices based on emotions, preconceptions and poor judgment. Everybody gets mad, makes mistakes has errors of judgment. That’s when a union can step in to remedy management’s errors. The sweet spot here is some intelligence based on knowledge, experience, and common sense and a basic set of written rules and guidelines. The balance requires supervisors of workers who have experienced both being a worker and a supervisor. Too little management intelligence (a rule for everything with no need for knowledge, experience or common sense) leads to retention of sub mediocre employees and promotion based on longevity. Long term valued employees make one stupid mistake and are terminated and replaced with new hires. Products and services suffer. When the balance is way out of control, companies go under. The needs of the employees are all met save that of a work place to go to. An unbalanced situation over a long term will eventually lead to a sudden crash. Something that is until it isn’t.

Example of struggle for power based on democratic freedom:

Gradually our country has undergone a dramatic political shift away from long held ideals and morality based on religion and tradition. A lot of it is healthy. Fifty to a hundred years ago it was Judeo/Christian God and country (mostly Christian). The Bible, Mom, the flag and apple pie. To question those ideals was both anti-American and immoral. Ethics and morality were paramount in leaders, both political and social. Or was it? As society got more and more open and information became more and more readily available, hypocrisy was identified as a byproduct of strict morality. These rules, while “just,” became inconvenient. Kids turned on to drugs and burned the flag, refusing to serve if they felt the situation wasn’t right. President Kennedy was a good father and husband when he wasn’t cheating with Marilyn Monroe or Judith Exner. President Clinton didn’t have sex with that woman, depending on how you defined sex or “is” or perhaps woman. Situational ethics overcame religious and moral imperatives. You didn’t need to serve your country or forgive your leaders as much as shrug your shoulders. A thing “is” until it isn’t any more. Three years ago our President, Barack Obama opposed same sex marriage. Today he doesn’t. Something is until it isn’t. Some of this is obviously healthy. What was whispered in the shadows is now more open and above board. Religion or lack of it isn’t the deciding factor for a job, an appointment or an association, outside of church. Or at least that’s the general idea. Merit counts. The color of your skin, the sex of your employee, their origin, nationality or religious preference shouldn’t decide associations, employment or appointments. Persons with disabilities struggled for equality for decades. Most would agree they’ve achieved a higher level of recognition and equality, at least under the law. Now (2015) sexual preference and orientation has the nation’s attention with the President leading the way with his recent flip-flop. Men should marry men and woman should marry women, if they choose to. Nothing’s wrong with it, right? Uh, anymore. Shrug your shoulders. A thing is a thing until it isn’t a thing. Then it’s something else. In relative terms that is.

Will this movement toward situational ethics and intelligent tolerance of (fill in the blank): murder (euthanasia), lying (Clinton and just about everybody else), divorce (a majority of the time), children born out of wedlock (a majority of the time), false gods (wealth, power, lust), and pleasures of the flesh over power of the spirit eventually lead to an out of balance situation? Are there no absolutes? Do we need no spiritual guidance? No religion? No commandments? But of course many gay people are religious, Republican (as an example of relativism, at least a few) and believe in the power of the spirit over lust. Not all power and wealth is used in a self-serving manner (see Bill and Melinda Gates). And many prelates are coke sniffing hypocrites and priests pedophiles. So? Does’t this mean everything is relative? There are no absolutes? What do we use as guidance?

Can secular humanism replace the ten commandments? It can if it’s codified? Society through politics = law. Then you get to choose whether you obey the law or not? Doesn’t the minority have a voice?

Let’s pass a law that prevents people from discriminating against gay people. Since society can’t recognize religion, as there are too many of them, laws will trump scripture, or perceived scripture. Don’t want to sell them a cake because you don’t like gay marriage? Too bad. Pay a fine. Face a lawsuit. Let’s codify morality. We know what’s right, right? Let’s have a book of rules that show everybody how to live. We don’t or can’t need a Bible or a Koran (separate religion). We have society’s rules which, of course, are subject to variance and interpretation depending on who is in power at the time. That’s situational of course. But follow your society’s laws, or don’t, depending on the situation?

Final posit:    Democracy is and always has been situational and subject to interpretation. If you want to avoid immoral or unethical behavior, you will be confused by statutory fiat. My old friend Sam Lang, who spent a lifetime serving the law gave me some free advice: Do what you think is right. Obey the law. It is after all, the law. But in the final analysis, do what you think is right. When right and legal are mutually exclusive, do what’s right. I have never received better advice from anyone. The harder question is: what can you always believe in, no matter what?

Who or what is in control of your life?

Twenty-Five Homilies from Sixty-Seven years

1. Success is about getting up every day and doing your best.

Not being the best, being perfect, being ideal, being better-than, just:

Do the best you can with what you have where you are. (thanks Teddy R.)

The world is run by people who show up.
(thanks Ben F.) 

2. Work hard to forgive yourself and then forgive others, not for their sake, for yours.

3. Think about what you can do to make everybody else's life better.

4, Focus your life's work by empathizing with those to whom you deliver that work (your customer, guest, client, user, etc.) then continue to narrow and refine that focus.

5. If you wonder what your life's work is, concentrate on today. What you're doing now is for all intents and purposes your life's work. Do it to the best of your ability.

6. Listen as often and as much as you can and always before speaking.

7. If you can't voice a greeting, wave. If you can't wave, smile.

8. When you hear something interesting, take note, it'll soon be your idea.

9. Write down what you intend to accomplish each day and check off what gets done.

10. Review your accomplishments and give yourself credit.

11. Talk about what's possible with others because for an idea to flourish, it needs to be spoken.

12. Avoid negative people.

13. Seek consensus before acting.

14. Give credit to others wherever and whenever possible.

15. Everyone seeks positive reinforcement, give it.

16. Everyone seeks creative control, cede some of yours when you can.

17. Slow down long enough to acquire presence of mind in thought and action, especially before acting.

18. Be emotionally positive towards all, fight negative impulses.

19. Consume in moderation.

20. Love openly and with vigor.

21. Equivocate (your enemies have a point, you need to work toward seeing it)

22. Take time each day to walk, run, bike, roll, dance and move about (be as dynamic as your body allows).

23. Avoid stimulants, sugar, caffeine, chocolate, bright lights, computers, iphones, & social media prior to your normal sleep time (weaning off at least two hours prior, caffeine, 4-5 hours) so you can have normal sleep cycles and stay quiet, in the dark for 8 hours a night. Shift workers, adapt accordingly.

24. Find time to breathe deeply and relax hourly, even more than being dynamic, but you need both.

25. Laughter is the best medicine. Always be on the lookout for something that tickles you.

Goals are understood, expedited, and achieved, 96% of the time.

Let me restate that, for emphasis.

Goals are understood, expedited, and achieved, 96% of the time. 

How?

Once you are focused and are confident you know what it is your team will produce and how that will happen, be ruthless in its pursuit. When I ask people what they are doing, they point to the process. Their goal is to process. Cut that out. Your goal is to achieve. Use the process or lose the process but by all means stop focusing on it. Make sure you achieve your results. That and only that is your goal.

Who is responsible for failure? You are. I used to have a sign in my office before we valued positive reinforcement so much that said "What's your excuse for not doing your job today?" I wanted to post another, "Excuses are for losers." but knew, in my heart that that was really pretty harsh. It is true, of course. At the end of the game the winners celebrate and the losers outline a litany of excuses for why they lost. Do I have a point? I have two.

Let's eliminate the need for excuses:

Follow the cycle of your team's task from start the finish and understand each phase. Know the RESULT. Once you understand your phase of the operation and are a 96% achiever (good as humans get) ask questions and follow through the rest of your team's cycle to make sure your team has achieved its desire result.

Point two, flows from point one:

Be results oriented. Take responsibility, probably shared responsibility, but still be Individually Responsible for achieving the desire result. Understand the desired result. Make sure you are achieving it.

Got that. Understand what's supposed to be happening. Follow through to make sure it happens.

What's the cycle?

Before the cycle begins, all its segment's goals must be defined. A consensus of team members agree on a common goal. (I know, I know, it don't work that way where you work. Stay with me.)  Each segment of each cycle will have a start and a finish and will then logically lead to the next segment. The final result of the cycle will be the final result and the fruition of the cycle. Each team member must make an honest effort to understand other team member's cycle goals. Each phase of the cycle must support the other phases and recognize and follow up if the common goal of cycle completion isn't being achieved.

Example:

I worked at a non-profit bus company. All transit is now (since the 1960s) not only non-profit but financial loss leaders. You run transit, you lose money. The more transit you run, the more money you lose. I won't go into the how and why of subsidies but subsidies are necessary to prevent insolvency. I say this as a prelude because only heavily subsidized businesses can lead to what I'm about to describe. At least long term. Many failed businesses are just like what I'm about to describe.

Upon my active employment, I reviewed the department's prior work. One phase piqued my interest. The organization accepted special projects. A call would be received from another department to request a bus for a field trip. Because of federal regulation, private carriers must be polled for interest. None found, we accepted the work. A service order is executed. The work is added to a duty roster. An operator reports and inspects a bus and carries out the assignment. A trip sheet is filed. Reports are generated. The service order is marked complete. A request for invoice is executed. The invoice is sent to the department that requested the service. The requesting department pays the invoice. The funds are allocated to the proper account. The service order is retired. Other things can and do happen. Paying the operator, servicing the equipment and so on. Funny thing about one particular cycle, is it always has the full attention of all employees. That is the payroll cycle. I have never seen a payroll cycle that didn't have the apt attention of all employees, 24/7. There also should be some form of quality assurance monitoring and auditing but those are subsequent to the basic cycle I'm describing.

You can probably guess that all employees were satisfied that we were performing adequately. Some felt we were exemplary. About 10-15% of the time we were never paid for the service. Working in private industry I know accounts receivable are written off as losses eventually. And I know people who run businesses tell me they have to show up, in person, and demand a check, on the spot and be willing to compromise on the amount, for some clients. Collections is a nasty business. But these weren't recalcitrant customers. These were departments of the same university. The cycle was broken largely from lack of attention. Nobody followed up after a certain number of days, weeks or months.

So, you say, that's the fault of the organization. The accounting people weren't discussing receivables periodically and following up on payments. You had a process but it was flawed. It's "management's" problem and if they don't know about it, well what do you want me to do? It's not my job. I will admit it would be a pretty strange organization that would have bus operators asking after payment for services rendered, EXCEPT if their wages were withheld until the payment was received.

I asked the charter director if he knew who paid and who didn't when he executed a service order. He didn't. Because if he did, he wouldn't schedule another charter without dunning the requester. Likely the requester didn't know if the last charter they ordered had gotten paid either because of departmental segmentation.

I sat down with the director and we went over the cycle and I told him to be aware of all phases of the cycle and to not consider a particular job completed until payment was received. Don't mark a charter order complete until he is aware that it has been paid for. He didn't have a problem with it. It never occurred to him. I know that sounds strange but it's true. He didn't consider it his job until it had been spelled out for him. He trusted the process? I guess.

Am I asking too much? Should an employee, any employee make themselves aware of all phases of what an organization does and take responsibility for the total cycle and not be satisfied until it is complete? Sometimes it is difficult to impossible. BUT: Sometimes it is quite possible. My challenge to anybody is this: find out what's going on and try to facilitate the completion of a cycle that you provide any phase of.

This is particularly true of the result. What is the desired result of the cycle? A profit for your organization? The production of the best possible product? Ultimate customer satisfaction? A green environment? If you are firing a rocket into a crowd, are you killing everybody or just your enemies? Sometimes it takes a conversation with a group of co-workers and managers to list all the desired results. My point is all workers should work toward learning if the desired results are achieved if they participate in a work cycle. Don't wait for a "manager" to take the lead. You do it. Take responsibility. Fill your free time. Work toward a better understanding of what your organization does and how it does it.


I know managers who will say, "well we just need to have a meeting and adjust the process." Nothing wrong with that. It will/may fix what's happened. Won't fix what's about to happen though. Process always is behind the curve.

Here's the thing.

If you are process oriented, following the process is the logical result. If you achieve the process, then you've succeeded. I report, do my work and go home. On Friday, I get paid. I don't need to think about the how's and the why's and the after effects. That's not my job. My job is not to think, not to learn, not to worry. It's only to show up, do the required minimum and mark my calendar when my vacation is due. I totally respect the process because it gives me an excuse not to think.

As a manager, or conscientious employee, you must be careful not to fall into the cycle of process.

Define, specifically, what you and your organization tries to achieve. What are your (you and your organization's) short term, mid-term and long range goals. If you can't list them, you are in trouble. If your goals and your organization's goals are in conflict, you are in trouble. Once you have a firm grasp of consensual goals for yourself and your organization, learn what others are doing and what their goals are. You may be surprised to learn they have a different impression of what the organization or team is trying to achieve. Work toward a consensus.

I will admit that Herculean individuals have been known to develop processes so intricate and self learning that they actually achieve a consistent, desired result. The problem is that everything changes frequently and organically. Even good processes require individuals that listen and learn and adapt to changing environments. If you think the process you follow always does and always will work, you are deluded. Understand goals and results intrinsically. Respect the process if it is a good one but keep track of the results. Understand. Following the process isn't the goal. The goal is the desired result.

Knowledge is power. Understanding leads to wisdom. When you have a spare minute, talk to others in your organization about what they do and what they achieve. Learn as much as you can as time allows. You can't focus on the goal unless you can visualize it, fully realized.

Once you are focused and are confident you know what it is your team will produce and how that will happen, be ruthless in its pursuit. When I ask people what they are doing, they point to the process. Their goal is to process. Cut that out. Your goal is to achieve. Use the process or lose the process but by all means stop focusing only on it. Raise your vision to the horizon. See where you are going while your pull those oars. Call out if you are going the wrong way. Rowing the oars is necessary but getting where you are going is essential. Rowing in a circle achieves the process, not the goal. Make sure you fully understand what and where your intentions lie. Then and only then can you be guaranteed you are approaching results. That vision must be your guide.
 
"Goals are understood, expedited, and achieved, 96% of the time."

because I'm looking for them.






 

Beans

Beans, Not steak. Not lobster or snow crab or salmon. Not escargot or oysters Rockefeller. Beans. Just ask Louie Armstrong. When he signed anything for people he enjoyed being around, he signed with, "Red beans and richly yours." He didn't sign sizzling' steak, did he? Know why? His favorite meal was red beans, rice and sweetin' water. So, you say, he came from poverty. He didn't have a lot of choice. But Louie became famous and traveled pretty much world wide and had a sample of all kinds of food. He ate with royalty. He still liked his beans.  My fetish for the legumes was formed at the Methodist Children's Home in Ruston, Louisiana. We had two cooks. Gussie and Lela.  Our meals weren't fancy but we did get fried chicken and turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Corn on the cob. Cornbread. But my first experience with the bean was the modest, unassuming but soon to be considered ethereal, the pinto. The pinto is kidney shaped and light brown. Often with speckles. Like all beans, they need to be soaked overnight then slow cooked with various seasonings, most prominently ham bones and fat. Salt. Bay leaves and so on. I'm no expert but like art and pornography, you know it when you experience it. Pinto beans cooked well by somebody who knows what they're doing, is better than barbecue, short ribs, filet Mignon or broiled trout. Don't get me wrong. I like all of those. I love a great gumbo. Freshly cooked fish. Wow. But let me tell you, pinto beans, properly prepared, seasoned and served hot are at least the equal of expensive meat and seafood. I didn't get good pintos for decades. There was a forty year gap. I almost forgot how I cleaned up two to three platefuls during my preteen growth spurt until I got a chance to stay in Half Moon Bay for a few nights. Our company ordered some buses from Gillig Corporation, located in Hayward, CA and I got to serve as an inspector. I chose to stay in Half Moon Bay for lots of reasons, not the least of which is it's location adjacent to Mavericks. Am I surfer? Hardly. I've been on a board but I'm a kook. But the bay has soul and is a great place to walk around and hang out. The spirit of Mark Foo inhabits the shoreline. I picked a motel close to Highway 92 and the first night I drove over from San Francisco Airport I was hungry. Immediately adjacent to the motel was a Taqueria, Taqueria La Mexicana. It was a typical hole in the wall, ex-burger joint which had seen better days. A few booths and tables of Formica and chrome surrounded by glass walls looking out onto an asphalt parking lot stained with partially-dried leaked-out motor oil. I stood reviewing the menu, which was posted above the inside window which led to the open kitchen. I chose steak rancheros, which came with two sides, one of which was beans. It was all placed in a styrofoam take out container with flour tortillas wrapped in tin foil. If you've been to the west, you pretty much know what I'm talking about. The rancheros was thinly sliced beef slow cooked with salt, onions, tomatoes and green peppers in a savory sauce and well, it was pretty darn good. Cheap too. Nothing on the menu was over five bucks and in the ten days I stayed there I pretty much tried everything they had and it was all simply great. The two older Mexican gals who stayed and cooked all day had all kinds of pots and pans of food cooking, all the time. The Chicano locals were their main clientele. For the week and a half I commuted to Hayward each day, so was I. But I digress. While eating the rancheros, I decided to sample the beans in their own little pressed styrofoam trough and, pow, there it was. It all came flooding back. These were the beans I couldn't eat enough of all those years ago. My olfactories triggered a nostalgic temporal episode. I was taken back forty years. I tried to savor each mouthful. There it was. Properly cooked and seasoned pintos. Not mashed. Not refried. Melt in your mouth, salty sauced and wonderfully seasoned pinto beans. I still remember the experience. It's now going on twenty five years ago. I still can smell and taste those beans.