For the most part, in the competing memes of talent and practice, I side with the [Talent is Overrated] camp. [1] However, real talent does exist [2]. If you or a child you care for is brilliant, this essay is about how to cope with it. I'm using links to sub essays to keep the bullet points direct and succinct. *Make sure you are as bright as you think you are. [3] * Look for places where you are compensating. My brother Daniel is brilliant. He has severe dyslexia that was undiagnosed until he was a senior in college because he was compensating (well, he was first in his department). Had he been properly taught and helped in grade school, his life would have been much better. I have mild number dyslexia. I learned about it, and to compensate for it in 2009. Economics would have been easier if I had taken care of it thirty years earlier. * Believe in yourself. I'll note that Daniel has brilliant ideas, still. Sometimes he shares them with me. I'm always impressed that the only weakness in his ideas is that he does not believe in how brilliant they are. * Expect and excuse mistreatment. If you want to succeed in life you need to realize that in some contexts you will create and prompt people to be unjust and unfair and that the only successful response is to forgive them and move on. [4] * Practice. In a study of outliers in math ability, it was discovered that by engaging in practice, the brilliant learned better than the traditional belief that the brilliant could learn best by skipping the practice. They can, but that is compensating, and they learn better with practice. * Don't rush yourself. I started college at 17. I resisted things that would have pushed me into college at 15 or 16 or younger. My life was better for the delay. * Learn social skills. The pretty, the social, the pleasant get better treatment in life. Kind of like learning to dress for success or how to bath regularly, you should learn how to have a social demeanor. [5]
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Adjusting to Brilliance
Child rearing advice [cross posted from http://www.adrr.com/srm/adjusting.htm]
Friday, July 17, 2009
Rachel's surgery went well, she is doing better and better.
Had a jury trial (we won), Rachel had surgery (got up at 5:00 a.m., they were supposed to report at 7:30 so I could leave by 7:45, I got out for a deposition at 8:45 instead, but the other side got delayed at the airport).
All is well.
All is well, except this morning Rachel got up and decided to jump rope, seeing as her doctor had told her she should refrain from running for a few days but did not mention jumping rope ....
She is safely asleep now.
All is well.
All is well, except this morning Rachel got up and decided to jump rope, seeing as her doctor had told her she should refrain from running for a few days but did not mention jumping rope ....
She is safely asleep now.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Until I get that book review up this week end, here is a post to tide you over
The Media's Role in a Loyal Society
By Timothy Keiningham and Lerzan Aksoy,
Authors of Why Loyalty Matters: The Groundbreaking Approach to Rediscovering Happiness, Meaning and Lasting Fulfillment in Your Life and Work
Putnam lays much of the fraying of our social fabric on the "individualizing" nature of our electronic media. He laments, "Electronic technology allows us to consume this hand-tailored entertainment in private, even utterly alone. As late as the middle of the twentieth century, low-cost entertainment was available primarily in public settings, like the baseball park, the dance hall, the movie theater, and the amusement park . . . As the poet T.S. Eliot observed early in the television age, 'It is a medium of entertainment which permits millions of people to listen to the same joke at the same time, and yet remain lonesome.'"
There is no question that we now have tremendous opportunities to be both connected to others via electronic media, yet remain completely anonymous and unaccompanied. We can even build synthetic identities, complete with virtual wives, jobs, and mortgages. As the real living, breathing wife of a cyberholic laments, "This other life is so wonderful; it's better than real life. Nobody gets fat, nobody gets gray. The person that's left can't compete with that." If only it were real!
Fortunately, most of us know the boundary between the virtual world and reality. But our ability to satisfy our own distinct appetites has led to increasing fragmentation of our personal lives. A study by Deloitte reports, "In recent years, the number of media formats and channels has exploded -- changing the way people consume content and splintering the mass market into smaller pieces . . . that translates into a fragmented world of increasingly scattered audiences."
Furthermore, this fragmentation abets asocial ideas. The ability of the media to provide subject matter on virtually any idea means there is ready access to content for the lunatic fringe of society. A study conducted by the New York City Police Department states, "The Internet is a driver and enabler for the process of radicalization . . . It also serves as an anonymous virtual meeting place -- a place where virtual groups of like-minded and conflicted individuals can meet, form virtual relationships and discuss and share the . . . message they have encountered."
Whether or not the decline in social networks is primarily attributable to the individualizing aspects of modern electronic media is clearly debatable. But let's assume for the moment that it is. Should we give up our iPod, our satellite TV and radio, our Internet access to live in a more cohesive society, where loyalty to other citizens is as obvious as it is fulfilling? For many (if not most) of us, the idea of moving backward to a technologically simpler era sounds too severe an action to bear.
But we should realize that if we don't moderate the effects of our electronic entanglements, we put at risk our most basic and common humanity. There is a definite connection between our level of personal interaction and our social selves as citizens. Alexis de Tocqueville's observations more than 150 years ago still ring true:
When men are no longer united in any firm or lasting way, it is impossible to persuade any great number of them to act in cooperation unless you convince each of those whose help is vital that his private interests are served by voluntarily joining his efforts to those of all the others. This cannot be achieved usually or conveniently except with the help of a newspaper, which is the only way of being able to place the same thought at the same moment into a thousand minds.De Tocqueville reminds us that civic loyalty was once tied to the news we received from our media. Unfortunately, modern news is often driven by the ratings it will generate, filtered by political ideology, and narrowly broadcast to like-minded constituents. So instead of producing the "same thought at the same moment into a thousand minds," we now transmit different thoughts at the same moment targeted to those who already believe. We no longer interact with the community at large but only with those portions of the community with which we agree.
The Founding Fathers of the United States believed strongly that free societies required a free press. Thomas Jefferson famously said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." But Jefferson also added, "But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them."
The First Amendment grants freedom of the press in the United States. And while all countries do not provide constitutional protection to the press, Western countries provide news organizations with great latitude so that reporters are able to uncover and report the truth. But with every right comes a responsibility. The free press is supposed to remain loyal to the people. This requires offering the public a forum for open, honest political discourse.
Hence, it is ironic that parody news programs -- namely The Daily Show and The Colbert Report -- are viewed by many Americans (specifically Americans under the age of forty-five) as truly honoring the media's duty. A key responsibility of the press is to challenge truthiness with the truth. (Truthiness is a term that Stephen Colbert, faux-conservative anchor of The Colbert Report, popularized, defined as "the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true.") In an out-of-persona interview, Colbert laments:
Truthiness is tearing apart our country . . . it doesn't seem to matter what facts are. It used to be [that] everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that's not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It's certainty . . . What is important? What you want to be true, or what is true?So what part of the equation has changed? Why do we find that people are willing to accept gut instinct over verifiable truth? Well, this type of skewed media has always been available. But nowadays, intellectually honest debate is sorely lacking. Debates in the news are choreographed and the true essence of debate is spoiled. Often, conservative and liberal representatives merely repeat the party line so that they simply talk past one another without listening to or addressing the legitimate concerns of citizens. So, perhaps it is the fleeting concept of open and public discourse that allows the proliferation of "truthiness" to go unchecked.
To quote Jefferson again,
No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press.In other words, Jefferson believed that the press is the primary means of ensuring our liberty. And, as de Tocqueville observed, it is also the primary means of ensuring our loyalty to our communities while maintaining our individual rights.
Therefore, the press must exercise its great power to bring honest discourse to the people, recognizing its vital role in maintaining liberty, and fostering civic loyalty. And it should do so with vigor.
The above is an excerpt from the book Why Loyalty Matters: The Groundbreaking Approach to Rediscovering Happiness, Meaning and Lasting Fulfillment in Your Life and Work by Timothy Keiningham and Lerzan Aksoy. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.
Copyright © 2009 Timothy Keiningham and Lerzan Aksoy, authors of Why Loyalty Matters: The Groundbreaking Approach to Rediscovering Happiness, Meaning and Lasting Fulfillment in Your Life and Work
Author Bios
Timothy Keiningham is a world-renowned authority in the field of loyalty measurement and management, and Global Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President for Ipsos Loyalty, one of the worldÂ’s largest business research organizations. Lerzan Aksoy is an acclaimed expert in the science of loyal management, and Associate Professor of Marketing at Fordham University. They are coauthors of a new book, with Luke Williams, entitled Why Loyalty Matters (BenBella Books, 2009, www.whyloyaltymatters.com ), and creators LoyaltyAdvisor (www.LoyaltyAdvisor.com), a web-based tool that analyzes your loyalty across multiple dimensions proven to link to your success. LoyaltyAdvisor is the product of a global effort, the most comprehensive study of loyalty ever conducted.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Being Yourself
I was recently reading about someone who had lost themselves in trying to be what someone else wanted. Obscuring their self, they failed in the relationship and failed in loving who they really were. I don't think in that specific case that if they had not hidden who they really were it would have changed the outcome, but it made me think, because it happens so often.
Being yourself does not mean being a collection of your flaws. That sort of definition would define a floor by the dirt on it. But being yourself does mean expressing what you really are and not something else. The the extent that you work on yourself, it means improving rather than changing yourself.
A long time ago, being yourself was considered a core part of having integrity. It was a significant part of the trope "to thine own self be true" and it meant avoiding pride and pretensions.
Now, being yourself seems to be used either as an excuse for annoying problems (e.g. "I'm a motor mouth and I don't show courtesy or respect to anyone else, but that is just the way I am") or a call to "free yourself" from trying to be someone you are not.
The later sense, that of freedom to be (rather than freedom to annoy) is important. We have gone from people who are being pretentious from an excess of pride to people who are submerging themselves because they do not love themselves the way that God does. I find myself wanting to tell people "You should allow yourself to be the person that God loves, not someone else." Nurture the person God loves.
Be that self. Then what love you give and receive will be true. But be there for God to love as he loves you and not something else. That is what being is all about.
Being yourself does not mean being a collection of your flaws. That sort of definition would define a floor by the dirt on it. But being yourself does mean expressing what you really are and not something else. The the extent that you work on yourself, it means improving rather than changing yourself.
A long time ago, being yourself was considered a core part of having integrity. It was a significant part of the trope "to thine own self be true" and it meant avoiding pride and pretensions.
Now, being yourself seems to be used either as an excuse for annoying problems (e.g. "I'm a motor mouth and I don't show courtesy or respect to anyone else, but that is just the way I am") or a call to "free yourself" from trying to be someone you are not.
The later sense, that of freedom to be (rather than freedom to annoy) is important. We have gone from people who are being pretentious from an excess of pride to people who are submerging themselves because they do not love themselves the way that God does. I find myself wanting to tell people "You should allow yourself to be the person that God loves, not someone else." Nurture the person God loves.
Be that self. Then what love you give and receive will be true. But be there for God to love as he loves you and not something else. That is what being is all about.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Thomas Jefferson this 4th of July
A quote or two, starting with this:
Which led to this when he was informed of the death of Abigail Adams, Jefferson sent his condolences to her husband — with whom he had just a few years before resumed correspondence after nearly fifteen years (fifteen years that had been filled with rancor and bile on both sides):
From: http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_06_28-2009_07_04.shtml#1246369069
Third of July I took Rachel to Six Flags. With a few exceptions, no lines reached five minutes in length. A long day, from 8:00 a.m. when we left to 12:00 midnight when we arrived home.
We are well, just haven't felt like typing up the thoughts I've written down.
In the Spring of 1781, Jefferson was finishing up his second term as Governor of Virginia, the office to which he had been appointed following his service with the Continental Congress and his justly-celebrated work drafting the Declaration of Independence. It was a very difficult and unhappy time in his life. His infant daughter Lucy Elizabeth died in April; his wife Martha, who had never quite recovered from the pregnancy (her fifth in seven years), was also, slowly, dying Martha Jefferson died the following year (September, 1782).
Which led to this when he was informed of the death of Abigail Adams, Jefferson sent his condolences to her husband — with whom he had just a few years before resumed correspondence after nearly fifteen years (fifteen years that had been filled with rancor and bile on both sides):
The public papers, my dear friend, announce the fatal event of which your letter of Oct. 20 had given me ominous foreboding. Tried myself, in the school of affliction, by the loss of every form of connection which can rive the human heart, I know well, and feel what you have lost, what you have suffered, are suffering, and have yet to endure. The same trials have taught me that, for ills so immeasurable, time and silence are the only medicines. I will not therefore, by useless condolences, open afresh the sluices of your grief nor, although mingling sincerely my tears with yours, will I say a word more, where words are vain, but that it is of some comfort to us both that the term is not very distant at which we are to deposit, in the same cerement, our sorrows and suffering bodies, and to ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved and lost and whom we shall still love and never lose again. God bless you and support you under your heavy affliction.
From: http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_06_28-2009_07_04.shtml#1246369069
Third of July I took Rachel to Six Flags. With a few exceptions, no lines reached five minutes in length. A long day, from 8:00 a.m. when we left to 12:00 midnight when we arrived home.
We are well, just haven't felt like typing up the thoughts I've written down.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Blueberry Banana Nut Bread Recipe
The party was a success. We had over sixty people, including lots of kids in the pool.
The surprise was how much people liked my brownie alternative, Blueberry Banana Nut Bread. I was asked for the recipe, so here it is:
Melt the shortening, blend with sugar and eggs.
Blend in until the bananas are no longer forming any lumps and the Wheaties are broken up enough that they are like bran (you can crush the Wheaties pre-blending if you prefer to do it that way).
Spoon about a third in a layer into a 9x13 glass pan. Half the recipe if you want to use a smaller pan.
Coat with blueberries one berry deep.
Spoon over the blueberries the remainder.
Cook at 325 degrees for an hour. 350 degrees if a metal pan. Can be served cold or hot. Vanilla ice cream goes well with it when cold.
It was surprisingly well received. I like the effect the oats had on the flavor (most recipes call for no oats and a lot of bran and I'm not as fond of them). Heather saved a little for breakfast the next day and reported that it was still good the day after.
I'm looking forward to the next party at our house. We really enjoyed this one.
On a completely different topic:
A great essay on staying happy in a marriage: http://lchan.blogspot.com/2009/05/staying-happy.html
The surprise was how much people liked my brownie alternative, Blueberry Banana Nut Bread. I was asked for the recipe, so here it is:
- 1/2 cup margarine or butter (I tend to blend them for a better baking taste, but it probably doesn't really matter).
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs.
Melt the shortening, blend with sugar and eggs.
- 2 cups oatmeal
- 1/2 cup Wheaties or 1/4 cup bran
- 2 regular size bananas
Blend in until the bananas are no longer forming any lumps and the Wheaties are broken up enough that they are like bran (you can crush the Wheaties pre-blending if you prefer to do it that way).
- 3 cups flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
- 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (depends how much you like nuts)
Spoon about a third in a layer into a 9x13 glass pan. Half the recipe if you want to use a smaller pan.
Coat with blueberries one berry deep.
Spoon over the blueberries the remainder.
Cook at 325 degrees for an hour. 350 degrees if a metal pan. Can be served cold or hot. Vanilla ice cream goes well with it when cold.
It was surprisingly well received. I like the effect the oats had on the flavor (most recipes call for no oats and a lot of bran and I'm not as fond of them). Heather saved a little for breakfast the next day and reported that it was still good the day after.
I'm looking forward to the next party at our house. We really enjoyed this one.
On a completely different topic:
Nobody worries that a child ignorant of the various theorems of thermodynamics and incapable of solving an equation of motion would be unable to ride a bicycle. Yet, why is it that we made the Euthyphro mistake with our understanding of quantitative products in the markets? Why should traders responding to supply and demand, little more, competing to make a buck, do the Girsanov theorem, any more than a trader of pistachios in the Souk of Damascus needs to solve general equilibrium equations to set the price of his product?For more: http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/
A great essay on staying happy in a marriage: http://lchan.blogspot.com/2009/05/staying-happy.html
Thursday, June 11, 2009
New Phishing Scam 877-364-2950
I got a text message asking me to call 877-364-2950. When I did, a "bank" wanted me to give them information to "reactivate" a credit card. Of course I don't have a card with that bank.
Reverse Look-up reflected that 877-364-2950 doesn't belong to anyone listed. It was another fraud scam.
I surely want to find a way to block text messages sent by e-mail addresses.
I'll note that it is a known issue for Sprint http://www2.sprint.com/mr/gp_dtl.do?id16=I_want_to_stop_spam_and_phishing_text_messages&article=680#__highlight they just don't offer any tools to block text messages from people not in your address book.
Reverse Look-up reflected that 877-364-2950 doesn't belong to anyone listed. It was another fraud scam.
I surely want to find a way to block text messages sent by e-mail addresses.
I'll note that it is a known issue for Sprint http://www2.sprint.com/mr/gp_dtl.do?id16=I_want_to_stop_spam_and_phishing_text_messages&article=680#__highlight they just don't offer any tools to block text messages from people not in your address book.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Barbecue at the Marsh Home June 12
We are having a sort of housewarming party. As my wife says
Yes, if you are in the area, you are welcome to come by.
The floors are mostly complete, the walls are mostly painted .. curtains are not up and very little is hung on the walls. But .. We are tired of working and we are ready to take a break.
So:
Friday June 12
6:30
BBQ at the Marsh home
Bring a side dish if you think about it.
Bring your kids.
Pool and spa are available
(I doubt anyone but the kids will swim)
Drop us an email if you can make it.
Yes, if you are in the area, you are welcome to come by.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Al Anon and Me
I don't have an alcoholic in my life. I'm not one myself. But I have really found a great deal of meaning in much of the Al Anon literature.
Al Anon is a twelve step fellowship for those who have alcoholics or addicts in their lives (vs. Alcoholics Anonymous which is for Alcoholics). But more, it is a framework or philosophy for living, acting and becoming in spite of the devastating things in your life you can't control (e.g. violently alcoholic parents).
Much of what it leads to is that you may be powerless, but you are not helpless. You may not be able to control some things that seem crucial, but you are not controlled by those things or persons.
From a grief perspective, that is a shared need and meaning. I enjoy the literature. Maybe some day I'll attend a group, though I hesitate.
But the core is finding courage and belief and strength to change and improve the things that can be changed. The antithesis, the rejection of their approach is the philosophy captured in the statements:
There is a higher power and there is always hope.
Al Anon is a twelve step fellowship for those who have alcoholics or addicts in their lives (vs. Alcoholics Anonymous which is for Alcoholics). But more, it is a framework or philosophy for living, acting and becoming in spite of the devastating things in your life you can't control (e.g. violently alcoholic parents).
Much of what it leads to is that you may be powerless, but you are not helpless. You may not be able to control some things that seem crucial, but you are not controlled by those things or persons.
From a grief perspective, that is a shared need and meaning. I enjoy the literature. Maybe some day I'll attend a group, though I hesitate.
But the core is finding courage and belief and strength to change and improve the things that can be changed. The antithesis, the rejection of their approach is the philosophy captured in the statements:
- "Yeah, I offend people, but that is just the way I am;" or,
- "I just can't change and you shouldn't expect me to;" or,
- "I know that I'm doing xyz wrong and my life is toxic, but that is just the way I am;" or,
- "I'm just helpless."
There is a higher power and there is always hope.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
On Health Care Reform
I'll be back to my my normal blogging in a little bit. I just wanted to blog, a moment, about an approach that seems to work in both cutting costs and in improving health care. It is the model that produces the best results in the world, happens to be working in the United States and produces higher quality and lower costs.
From http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande
Also, on the same topic,
http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2009/05/29/the-american-health-paradox-what-causes-it/
From http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande
This approach has been adopted in other places, too: the Geisinger Health System, in Danville, Pennsylvania; the Marshfield Clinic, in Marshfield, Wisconsin; Intermountain Healthcare, in Salt Lake City; Kaiser Permanente, in Northern California. All of them function on similar principles. All are not-for-profit institutions. And all have produced enviably higher quality and lower costs than the average American town enjoys.
When you look across the spectrum from Grand Junction to McAllen—and the almost threefold difference in the costs of care—you come to realize that we are witnessing a battle for the soul of American medicine. Somewhere in the United States at this moment, a patient with chest pain, or a tumor, or a cough is seeing a doctor. And the damning question we have to ask is whether the doctor is set up to meet the needs of the patient, first and foremost, or to maximize revenue.
….[this is just an excerpt] ....
… isn’t going to solve this problem. Nor will changing the person who writes him the check.
This last point is vital. Activists and policymakers spend an inordinate amount of time arguing about whether the solution to high medical costs is to have government or private insurance companies write the checks. Here’s how this whole debate goes. Advocates of a public option say government financing would save the most money by having leaner administrative costs and forcing doctors and hospitals to take lower payments than they get from private insurance. Opponents say doctors would skimp, quit, or game the system, and make us wait in line for our care; they maintain that private insurers are better at policing doctors. No, the skeptics say: all insurance companies do is reject applicants who need health care and stall on paying their bills. Then we have the economists who say that the people who should pay the doctors are the ones who use them. Have consumers pay with their own dollars, make sure that they have some “skin in the game,” and then they’ll get the care they deserve. These arguments miss the main issue. When it comes to making care better and cheaper, changing who pays the doctor will make no more difference than changing who pays the electrician. The lesson of the high-quality, low-cost communities is that someone has to be accountable for the totality of care. Otherwise, you get a system that has no brakes. You get McAllen.
Also, on the same topic,
The cause of the American health paradox is American inequality. America is more unequal than other countries. Everywhere, in every country, the powerful prefer the status quo but in America the rich and elite are especially powerful relative to the poor, so the status quo is especially entrenched and innovation especially well-squelched. America has a lot of health problems building up unsolved. Perhaps the most obvious is obesity, which affects the poor far more than the rich. The further the rich from the poor — that is, the more inequality — the more the rich can ignore it. And they have: The healthcare establishment’s record on prevention and treatment of obesity is terrible. Staggeringly bad.
In one tiny example, when I proposed a rat experiment to test an idea behind the Shangri-La Diet, I was denied permission by the UC Berkeley Animal Care and Use Committee: My idea couldn’t possibly be true, I was told. Had there been plenty of poor people on the committee, instead of none, I think the outcome would have been different. Problems such as depression, allergies, autoimmune disorders, and autism are likewise building up with no real progress being made. An example of a real solution is home glucose monitoring for diabetes. This came from outside the healthcare establishment — from Richard Bernstein, an engineer with diabetes.
http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2009/05/29/the-american-health-paradox-what-causes-it/
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
What could be better than economics and comic books
http://www.eco-comics.blogspot.com/
Most recently, "Kal-El (formerly Superman) is having trouble negotiating a peaceful resolution to a very dangerous hostage situation. Members of the planet's labor guild have"
...
Neat stuff.
As is this, from a series of comic strips about someone trying to find a church (click on it for more):
Most recently, "Kal-El (formerly Superman) is having trouble negotiating a peaceful resolution to a very dangerous hostage situation. Members of the planet's labor guild have"
...
In fact, the labor guild likely adheres to the social code for one or all of three reasons:
1) Civic duty or a utilitarianism
2) Deep sense of Kryptonian tradition
3) Self-interest: they work in exchange for the right to be citizens, to enjoy the planets public resources (the only one I can think of is pretty crystals), and to be protected by the military guild
Neat stuff.
As is this, from a series of comic strips about someone trying to find a church (click on it for more):
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Some short political rants
Ok, I understand why the CAFE standard changes (myself, I'd raise the price of gas by $2.50 a gallon instead -- $.50 to the highway fund, $1.00 to deficit reduction, $1.00 to social security fund issues) which would result in all sorts of market driven changes. But, if we are going to use the current method, then I want a pledge by everyone who supports them to:
On Club Gitmo, let us just assume that everyone we have in detention is guilty of murder. In most state prisons they would be currently eligible for parole. Will one out of seven return to the bad ways they had before? Without doubt, the number of people on parole who return to a life of crime is higher.
We have to decide if this is a war -- then put them into prisoner of war camps -- or if this is a criminal action, in which case you eventually have to let them go.
Are they dangerous? Of course, but how dangerous? Too dangerous to be allowed out? I doubt any of them count as strategic assets. Cold blooded murderers with a grudge (heck, if I'd been waterboarded over a hundred times, I think I might hold a grudge)? So, there are hundreds of those that go in and out of the prison system every year.
For more on torture, etc.:
Some jokes I heard this morning:
And ...
Every time I read stories like this one -- L.A. Weekly -- I feel ashamed and feel we should do better. I found myself writing my elected officials again.
Finally, as I told a friend (who posted it to a discussion), with the Chrysler bankruptcy and the secured creditors (one group is selling the other group out in return for government money), every cent of the TARP funds used to leverage the sell-out group belongs in the bankruptcy, under some sort of clawback or other remedy as it is an asset being used on the bankrupt's behalf.
- Drive the speed limit
- Drive, ride in and own only vehicles that get a minimum of 35 mpg EPA standard.
On Club Gitmo, let us just assume that everyone we have in detention is guilty of murder. In most state prisons they would be currently eligible for parole. Will one out of seven return to the bad ways they had before? Without doubt, the number of people on parole who return to a life of crime is higher.
We have to decide if this is a war -- then put them into prisoner of war camps -- or if this is a criminal action, in which case you eventually have to let them go.
Are they dangerous? Of course, but how dangerous? Too dangerous to be allowed out? I doubt any of them count as strategic assets. Cold blooded murderers with a grudge (heck, if I'd been waterboarded over a hundred times, I think I might hold a grudge)? So, there are hundreds of those that go in and out of the prison system every year.
For more on torture, etc.:
Some jokes I heard this morning:
How many bluegrass musicians does it take to replace a lightbulb?
Five. One to hold the ladder, one to switch the bulb and three to complain that it is electric.
And ...
What is perfect pitch?Well, they seemed funny this morning.
Throwing a [fill in the blank] in the garbage without hitting the rim on the dumpster.
Every time I read stories like this one -- L.A. Weekly -- I feel ashamed and feel we should do better. I found myself writing my elected officials again.
Finally, as I told a friend (who posted it to a discussion), with the Chrysler bankruptcy and the secured creditors (one group is selling the other group out in return for government money), every cent of the TARP funds used to leverage the sell-out group belongs in the bankruptcy, under some sort of clawback or other remedy as it is an asset being used on the bankrupt's behalf.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
I, too, have had students
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ggmain/strips/ggmain20090515b.jpg
Last panel, worth a smile.
--------------------------------------------
However, here are some pictures of the new house, second update to the paint, with the new tile in progress. The second picture has had the contrast enhanced, it is a four tile size pattern, I really like it.
The rooms just seem bigger with the tile (which took multiple capacity loads in the Tahoe). Win and Heather laid all of it, all I did was run a jackhammer to help take the old thinset out as we pulled tile in the four rooms we tiled.
I guess I should note that the increased contrast makes the tiles look a little uneven. In real life the tiles are flat, but it is harder to see the pattern.
Last panel, worth a smile.
--------------------------------------------
However, here are some pictures of the new house, second update to the paint, with the new tile in progress. The second picture has had the contrast enhanced, it is a four tile size pattern, I really like it.
The rooms just seem bigger with the tile (which took multiple capacity loads in the Tahoe). Win and Heather laid all of it, all I did was run a jackhammer to help take the old thinset out as we pulled tile in the four rooms we tiled.
I guess I should note that the increased contrast makes the tiles look a little uneven. In real life the tiles are flat, but it is harder to see the pattern.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Resentment and Gratitude
This is the same post I posted for my permablogger post at Mormon Matters.
Resentment and gratitude both have a role in our faith in Christ. Together they teach us a great deal.
Not only is “resentment like taking poison and expecting the other person to die” Christ warned us that if we are wronged and hold on to our resentment instead of giving forgiveness, we would have the greater sin. Compared to anything that can be done to us, resentment is a greater sin.
Why?
Because by holding on to resentment we deny that Christ can heal us and we deny that God’s judgment of others will be sufficient. With that denial we repudiate Christ and we exercise a sort of anti-faith. Resentment, at its core, refuses redemption.
Now for a true story. There was a BYU married ward that had a tradition of telling funny stories in priesthood and relief society. That evolved into telling stories about the stupid things spouses did. Which morphed into people trying to top each other each week with stories of their spouse’s stupidity or failings. Which led to young couples spending each week looking for, framing, embellishing, and provoking bad behavior for the week’s stories.
Things got very bad and very intense. Everyone’s focus was on negatives and resentments until a member of the board of trustees intervened.
But imagine what would have happened if the people involved had spent the time being grateful and looking for positive things to say instead of nurturing resentments. What would have happened if they had met together once a month to share experience, hope, faith and gratitude?
In your own life, consider what you might do if beyond keeping the monthly fast and testimony meeting in mind you also prepared each day to have a conversation with God about what you were grateful for that day. If you turned from irritations to being mindful of Christ i nyour life.
If you always remembered him.
You would have his Spirit to be with you.
What do you think?
Resentment and gratitude both have a role in our faith in Christ. Together they teach us a great deal.
Not only is “resentment like taking poison and expecting the other person to die” Christ warned us that if we are wronged and hold on to our resentment instead of giving forgiveness, we would have the greater sin. Compared to anything that can be done to us, resentment is a greater sin.
Why?
Because by holding on to resentment we deny that Christ can heal us and we deny that God’s judgment of others will be sufficient. With that denial we repudiate Christ and we exercise a sort of anti-faith. Resentment, at its core, refuses redemption.
Now for a true story. There was a BYU married ward that had a tradition of telling funny stories in priesthood and relief society. That evolved into telling stories about the stupid things spouses did. Which morphed into people trying to top each other each week with stories of their spouse’s stupidity or failings. Which led to young couples spending each week looking for, framing, embellishing, and provoking bad behavior for the week’s stories.
Things got very bad and very intense. Everyone’s focus was on negatives and resentments until a member of the board of trustees intervened.
But imagine what would have happened if the people involved had spent the time being grateful and looking for positive things to say instead of nurturing resentments. What would have happened if they had met together once a month to share experience, hope, faith and gratitude?
In your own life, consider what you might do if beyond keeping the monthly fast and testimony meeting in mind you also prepared each day to have a conversation with God about what you were grateful for that day. If you turned from irritations to being mindful of Christ i nyour life.
If you always remembered him.
You would have his Spirit to be with you.
What do you think?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
More on Higher Education and Employment
Some adjuncts have interesting luck.
. 
.
How the University Works: Higher Education and the Low-Wage Nation (Cultural Front) by Marc Bousquet and Cary Nelson (Paperback - Jan 1, 2008)
That is the book behind the blog: http://howtheuniversityworks.com/wordpress/
I have serious doubts about whether or not he is right, but it offers a different perspective.
For a valuable comparison:
Bottom line, PhD programs are not usually a good alternative to law school, though the PhD in business is (average pay ~100k a year, seven positions for every five graduates, most graduate without significant debt -- it is also a great alternative to an MBA).
For more: http://phdproject.com/
That is the book behind the blog: http://howtheuniversityworks.com/wordpress/
I have serious doubts about whether or not he is right, but it offers a different perspective.
For a valuable comparison:
Bottom line, PhD programs are not usually a good alternative to law school, though the PhD in business is (average pay ~100k a year, seven positions for every five graduates, most graduate without significant debt -- it is also a great alternative to an MBA).
For more: http://phdproject.com/
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Real Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe
Lets get serious and skip the old wive's tale. Here is the recipe for the cookies they serve in the Zodiac Room in downtown Dallas
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
half a cup of softened unsalted butter
2 large (not medium) eggs
1 teaspoon of almond extract
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt (why they don't use salted butter and adjust this, I don't know)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of sliced and toasted almonds
3/4 cup of cranberries
1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips
Start the oven heating to 300 degrees F. Prepare greased cookie sheets.
Cream the sugar and butter together until they are fluffy. Combine the eggs and almond extract at low speed.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Beat the mix into the butter mixture on low speed, scraping down the sides as you go. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Spoon onto the cookie sheets and flatten a little.
Makes two dozen cookies, cook them each for about 20 minutes.
Caveat (lawyerspeak for warning): 241 calories per cookie.
But that is the real recipe.
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
half a cup of softened unsalted butter
2 large (not medium) eggs
1 teaspoon of almond extract
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt (why they don't use salted butter and adjust this, I don't know)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of sliced and toasted almonds
3/4 cup of cranberries
1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips
Start the oven heating to 300 degrees F. Prepare greased cookie sheets.
Cream the sugar and butter together until they are fluffy. Combine the eggs and almond extract at low speed.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Beat the mix into the butter mixture on low speed, scraping down the sides as you go. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Spoon onto the cookie sheets and flatten a little.
Makes two dozen cookies, cook them each for about 20 minutes.
Caveat (lawyerspeak for warning): 241 calories per cookie.
But that is the real recipe.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Trusting God in Spite of Confusion
The parable of the iron rod struck me in its description of the mists of darkness that afflict the faithful after they have seen the goal and received the word of God. At first it seemed a warning that event the faithful can become lost, but on reflection, it more describes the experiences of both Peter and Paul in the Bible.
Consider Peter's confusion at the crucifixion of Christ and then his surprise at the resurrection. From the gospels we know that it was not that Peter had not been told what to expect. But, because of his context, he just did not get it. I know, most teenagers I meet can't believe Peter was that dense, but then there are many things that the same teens just do not get.
Or think about Paul, while he was still using the name Saul. He tried so earnestly to serve God as Saul persecuted the saints. He really did not get the point until the Christ himself appeared to him to discuss the issue. The same thing would happen when Paul prayed for relief from the thorn in his flesh.
As far as I can tell, we just lack the context (the life experience, knowledge, perspective and vocabulary) to really understand God many times. No matter how clearly it seems that God is communicating in hindsight, we lack the ability to fully understand. It is easy to see similar problems when we try to communicate with infants, children and teens. But it is hard for us to appreciate the things we can not understand because we lack the context. We can not see our own lack of vision.
What I am really discussing is understanding our own blind spots. It is realizing that just as infants, children and teens (and other people) have blind spots, so do we. In facing the decision of whether or not to trust God in spite of the confusion our blind spots cause us when He speaks, we encounter life and are surrounded by paradox.
As an aside, one thing that surprised me when I visited my parents in Saudi Arabia was the humidity. I walked off the plane and was covered in water until my surface temperature warmed up from the airconditioned interior of the airplane (it never cools down, so the humidity just stays in the air). I've had it described to me how that works when a sand storm kicks up; the combination of sand, dust and moisture creates an almost solid moist mist that blocks out all light and cuts down vision to inches. In a pretty much featureless desert, you can imagine what "mists of darkness" are like to someone caught in a sandstorm without a modern car to hide inside.
But how often do we think of our spiritual vision being down to mere inches in a realm without landmarks? How often when we are faced with spiritual confusion do we think "this must be exactly what God told me to expect?"
I've written about examples from my own life. My blithe thoughts when the patriarch giving me a blessing broke down and cried for five minutes, then got himself together and told me that I would have experiences that would be blessings, but hard to appreciate when I received them. I've also written of other examples of times I thought I understood (or could at the time understand) more than I did.
But my experiences have led me to conclude it is not a cop-out to ascribe confusion to a lack of context. To see the problem of communicating with a God who is much smarter than we are, who sees much further, being problems of the limits of our understanding. Nor is there any solution to mists of darkness obscuring our way from time to time.
When God warned us of them, God did not say that "there will be confusion, but the really smart won't be bothered by it" -- instead we were warned that we needed to have faith, hold on to the iron rod of the word of God, and press forward. God knows we will be confused and unable to see. He has done what can be done to warn us and given us a solution, even if there is no way to avoid the problem. All that remains for us is to have the context, the faith, the hope and the love to hold on to the word of God.
It sounds simple, too bad it isn't easy.
Consider Peter's confusion at the crucifixion of Christ and then his surprise at the resurrection. From the gospels we know that it was not that Peter had not been told what to expect. But, because of his context, he just did not get it. I know, most teenagers I meet can't believe Peter was that dense, but then there are many things that the same teens just do not get.
Or think about Paul, while he was still using the name Saul. He tried so earnestly to serve God as Saul persecuted the saints. He really did not get the point until the Christ himself appeared to him to discuss the issue. The same thing would happen when Paul prayed for relief from the thorn in his flesh.
As far as I can tell, we just lack the context (the life experience, knowledge, perspective and vocabulary) to really understand God many times. No matter how clearly it seems that God is communicating in hindsight, we lack the ability to fully understand. It is easy to see similar problems when we try to communicate with infants, children and teens. But it is hard for us to appreciate the things we can not understand because we lack the context. We can not see our own lack of vision.
What I am really discussing is understanding our own blind spots. It is realizing that just as infants, children and teens (and other people) have blind spots, so do we. In facing the decision of whether or not to trust God in spite of the confusion our blind spots cause us when He speaks, we encounter life and are surrounded by paradox.
As an aside, one thing that surprised me when I visited my parents in Saudi Arabia was the humidity. I walked off the plane and was covered in water until my surface temperature warmed up from the airconditioned interior of the airplane (it never cools down, so the humidity just stays in the air). I've had it described to me how that works when a sand storm kicks up; the combination of sand, dust and moisture creates an almost solid moist mist that blocks out all light and cuts down vision to inches. In a pretty much featureless desert, you can imagine what "mists of darkness" are like to someone caught in a sandstorm without a modern car to hide inside.
But how often do we think of our spiritual vision being down to mere inches in a realm without landmarks? How often when we are faced with spiritual confusion do we think "this must be exactly what God told me to expect?"
I've written about examples from my own life. My blithe thoughts when the patriarch giving me a blessing broke down and cried for five minutes, then got himself together and told me that I would have experiences that would be blessings, but hard to appreciate when I received them. I've also written of other examples of times I thought I understood (or could at the time understand) more than I did.
But my experiences have led me to conclude it is not a cop-out to ascribe confusion to a lack of context. To see the problem of communicating with a God who is much smarter than we are, who sees much further, being problems of the limits of our understanding. Nor is there any solution to mists of darkness obscuring our way from time to time.
When God warned us of them, God did not say that "there will be confusion, but the really smart won't be bothered by it" -- instead we were warned that we needed to have faith, hold on to the iron rod of the word of God, and press forward. God knows we will be confused and unable to see. He has done what can be done to warn us and given us a solution, even if there is no way to avoid the problem. All that remains for us is to have the context, the faith, the hope and the love to hold on to the word of God.
It sounds simple, too bad it isn't easy.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Accepting Happiness
Coping with being happy and overcoming the issue of happiness occurs several times in grief. While many people write about grief, few discuss how to cope with happiness or that the issue has more than one stage.
The first stage of coping with happiness gets at least some notice and discussion. This stage is the disruption and confusion that occurs from experiencing joy in the brief appearances it makes. In the black and white world of gray grief, joy is like an unnatural splat of color. The initial break throughs are usually sudden and unsettling.
But, like green shoots of growth in the gray of Spring, they are really a promise of life. A little warning and people are ready to accept these flashes as positive motes of light in darkness.
Next comes survivors guilt tied into happiness. Especially during layoffs, people will have survivors guilt for having a job when those around them were fired. Or a surviving child will feel guilt for still being alive or for having a happy moment when their sibling died and their parents are devastated. In every situation of grief and loss, those who remain may feel guilt and sorrow at feeling happy.
Finally comes accepting happiness for itself. It is not betrayal of sorrow. It is not a harbinger of disaster (many will remember their last period of happiness ending in the disaster that brought them grief and have learned to associate happiness with disaster striking).
Acceptance is just a coping mechanism. Accepting happiness is something else, it is a return to life.
Related essay at: http://ethesis.livejournal.com/ (my first post there of any meaning, may be my last as well).
The first stage of coping with happiness gets at least some notice and discussion. This stage is the disruption and confusion that occurs from experiencing joy in the brief appearances it makes. In the black and white world of gray grief, joy is like an unnatural splat of color. The initial break throughs are usually sudden and unsettling.
But, like green shoots of growth in the gray of Spring, they are really a promise of life. A little warning and people are ready to accept these flashes as positive motes of light in darkness.
Next comes survivors guilt tied into happiness. Especially during layoffs, people will have survivors guilt for having a job when those around them were fired. Or a surviving child will feel guilt for still being alive or for having a happy moment when their sibling died and their parents are devastated. In every situation of grief and loss, those who remain may feel guilt and sorrow at feeling happy.
Finally comes accepting happiness for itself. It is not betrayal of sorrow. It is not a harbinger of disaster (many will remember their last period of happiness ending in the disaster that brought them grief and have learned to associate happiness with disaster striking).
Acceptance is just a coping mechanism. Accepting happiness is something else, it is a return to life.
Related essay at: http://ethesis.livejournal.com/ (my first post there of any meaning, may be my last as well).
Saturday, April 11, 2009
So, where is life these days?
Much of what I am doing is learning to cope with being happy. That doesn't give me much to write about (though it should, it is the final stage of grief work).
Did see Peter S. Beagle today and got an autograph. He was great wronged in the matters involving The Last Unicorn, a movie and a book I've loved.
I was glad to donate and to buy some prints I've wanted for more than a year.
Mostly these days, I look forward to coming back from my early Saturday morning meeting to see my wife coming home from work and to just lay down with her so she can fall asleep in my arms. Things like that don't make for much to blog about, but they give me a great deal of joy and happiness.
Did see Peter S. Beagle today and got an autograph. He was great wronged in the matters involving The Last Unicorn, a movie and a book I've loved.
THE LAST UNICORN — 25th Anniversary Widescreen DVD, STORY AND SCREENPLAY BY PETER S. BEAGLE ( $15 unsigned / $25 signed / $30 personalized )
THIS EDITION IS APPROVED BY PETER S. BEAGLE. MORE THAN HALF THE PURCHASE PRICE GOES TO SUPPORT HIM AND HIS WORKS. (Note: if you buy it elsewhere, he doesn't get anything at all. See www.conlanpress/youcanhelp for more information.)
The Last Unicorn: 25th Anniversary Edition DVD tells the tale of a unicorn who sets out on an extraordinary quest to find the rest of her kind, long missing from the world. With a screenplay by Peter S. Beagle, based on his own classic novel, this special edition DVD is available for the first time in the United States in a widescreen version. It brings the film to life in its highest quality ever, with digitally remastered audio and video, new foil-printed slipcase packaging, and extras including a video interview with Peter. ALL SIGNED COPIES WILL BE AUTOGRAPHED IN THREE PLACES: DVD, COVER, AND SLIPCASE. Available now. Allow extra time for signing.
I was glad to donate and to buy some prints I've wanted for more than a year.
Mostly these days, I look forward to coming back from my early Saturday morning meeting to see my wife coming home from work and to just lay down with her so she can fall asleep in my arms. Things like that don't make for much to blog about, but they give me a great deal of joy and happiness.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Thinking, though slowly.
Some links, then a discussion:
I've been thinking of explaining what libertarian marxism is. Or where it doesn't work vs. where it does in the simple form (where the government runs the banks and the military, worker managed firms run the rest of the economy -- for a good model of a worker managed firm think of a partnership or a law school -- both of which reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the process).
See small steel mills, some rail roads, etc.
But it requires ownership of private property and free markets to pull off.
I've been thinking of explaining what libertarian marxism is. Or where it doesn't work vs. where it does in the simple form (where the government runs the banks and the military, worker managed firms run the rest of the economy -- for a good model of a worker managed firm think of a partnership or a law school -- both of which reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the process).
See small steel mills, some rail roads, etc.
But it requires ownership of private property and free markets to pull off.
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