Romney Lying for the Lord

Lying for the Lord is a Mormon tradition.

Mitt Romney during first Presidential debate said:
"I'm used to people saying something that's not always true, but just keep on repeating it and ultimately hoping I'll believe it."
Romney described exactly what happens in the Mormon faith when members are asked to repeat statements over and over again until they believe them.  He thinks it is OK to say things that aren't true, keep repeating them, and hoping the voters will believe it.

Guardian and Commercial Systems

Tim Gieseke "Apportioning Ecological Values and Costs through Symbiotic Demand." http://prezi.com/tpfaewgz1jie/apportioning-ecological-values-and-costs-through-symbiotic-demand/

From Gieseke's presentation, "The fundamentals of symbiotic demand 1) agriculture producer's respond to policies and market signals......"

The symbiotic relationship between Guardian and Commercial systems is played out in exacting detail. The Guardian elements are in the form of state legislature, state agriculture dept., board of soil and water resources, at the federal level the USDA, and who knows how many other elements of government. The Guardian elements determine the public policy using laws, rules and regulations. The Commercial elements are the owners of the dairy farms and the market they sell into.

This is a great example of the symbiotic relationship between Guardian and Commerce systems. The "symbiotic demand" is defined perfectly by Gieseke. The Guardian intervenes in the Commercial system by creating demand for sustainable products that benefits the Commercial system elements so that they can profit and increase wealth.

Special Person Letter about Grandma

Special Person
by Natalia G.
September 2011
Beginning of 5th Grade

Teacher’s Score:
5 = clear main idea - details supporting are carefully chosen and relevant.
5 = order works well, good intro/conclusion, good transitions in body.

My grandma has been taking care of me for as long as I can remember.  She picks me up from school every Monday and Tuesday. I can talk to her about anything and she’ll always understand. She’s the one who will always be there for me when I want to spend time with her or when I’m not feeling well.  My grandma is a very helpful, caring and generous person.

My grandma is unbelievably helpful. She’ll help me whenever I don’t understand my homework.  Or, when I can’t find something, she automatically finds it for me. If I have any tests at school, she will help me study for them. Whenever my grandma helps me, she always does it with care, she never rushes through it.

My grandma is very caring for the following reasons. She’s always on time to pick me up from school. She will always make sure I get a healthy snack. And, whenever I have a piano concert or soccer game, she will always be there to watch me no-matter-what. On top of all that, she’ll give me almost anything I ask for.

I’ve never seen anyone more generous than my grandma! Whenever she makes cookies, she’ll always let me take home the extras.  Or, for example, whenever she has coins in her purse, she’ll always give them to me to put in my coin collection.  And with her special sewing skills, she’ll sew me tons of things with her favorite pieces of fabric.  My grandma is not overly helpful, generous or caring, she’s just the right amount.

My grandma is so incredible, sometimes I can’t find a good enough way to thank her!  It just seems impossible to think of someone more helpful, generous or caring than my grandma. I really appreciate all that my grandma does for me.  Whenever I get the chance, I always try to be just as nice to her as she is to me. I can’t think of a better gift to have in life than caring, helpful and generous!

Trying To Tell It Like It Is

Trying To Tell It Like It Is

As Baby Boomers age into Elderhood

they have a secret. They can’t tell others,

to understand you have to be old.

Thanks to William Stafford’s words in our ears

and the blessing of time in our hands,

any challenge will sound like a bell.

Our past was spent at work or on the phone

but now all we have are the memories

that our mind plays again and again.

The secret is in the non-action messages of renunciation

Boomers will send and their stillness.

Some will wake at night listening.

The secret comes as each touch over a lifetime

layers a thin understanding again and again,

finally giving a hint of some future conviction.

When you look at Boomers you won’t be able to see

the secret or hear it in their voices but it’s there.

Like a live wire with power inside,

like the art of war or a fantasy.

Boomers have always wanted more than material stuff.

Now they lead with ideals.

Boomers will turn to the Millennials and forge an alliance.

Now, in 2012, we don’t understand why,

but we will.

Inspired by William Stafford’s poem “Trying to Tell It” page 239, “The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems” 

Baby Boomers and Non-Action

Introduction

Tension exists between science predicting disastrous consequences caused by climate change and economists predicting gains in prosperity that guarantee future well being. Consumers, governments and business maintain their traditional viewpoints about how technological innovation and entrepreneurship will fix any problems. For example, advertisements on TV tell us the American goal is to preserve the value of vast reserves of coal as an energy source that requires only a technological fix and we will have clean coal.

The strategies used today are conservative and rely on business-as-usual practices. These strategies preserve the existing economic system and rely on traditional values. These strategies result in three failures that lead to a system collapse:

1. Failure to anticipate the problem.
2. When the problem arrives, failure to recognize the problem.
3. When the problem is recognized, failure of attempting to solve the problem.
4. When action is taken, failure to actually solve the problem.

Baby Boomers

A poll by Yale University found that seven in 10 Americans believe that “global warming is affecting the weather" and that more than 80 percent of Americans have personally experienced extreme weather or a natural disaster of some sort in the past year." At the same time, Baby Boomers (born 1943-1960) are transitioning into retirement and slowly accepting a lifestyle change.  What do these things have in common?

Boomers are experiencing a loss of position power and action but not transitioning to inactivity. Instead Boomers are seeking and will find their power of participating in society in ways that prior generations did not.  Instead of retiring to a warm climate for leisure time activities, Boomers are going to fulfill their new role in society as the new elders with the power of non-action.

Non-action is not inactivity and not about spending all your time on leisure activities. Boomers with a purpose will engage in non-action activities. An example of non-action is a boycott. Gene Sharp listed 198 non-violent activities that groups use to deal with authority.

Boomers will stay in place instead of moving for retirement.  They will stay connected and anchor themselves near family, friends and community.  Boomers will learn to use the power of renunciation, non-action and non-violence to deal with the failure of government and business to anticipate, recognize, attempt solutions and succeed in solving local and global problems that have catastrophic consequences.

¹ Diamond, Jared M. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Viking, 2005.

² http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/05/climate-impacts-day-extreme-weather-climate-change_n_1483420.html

³ "Albert Einstein Institution - Publications - "From Dictatorship to Democracy."  Web. 31 May 2012. http://aeinstein.org/organizations98ce.html

Why Systems Collapse

Tension exists between science predicting disastrous consequences caused by climate change and economists predicting gains in prosperity that guarantee future well being. Consumers, governments and business maintain their traditional viewpoints about how technological innovation and entrepreneurship will fix any problems. For example, advertisements on TV tell us the American goal is to preserve the value of vast reserves of coal as an energy source that requires only a technological fix and we will have clean coal.

The strategies used today are conservative and rely on business-as-usual practices. These strategies preserve the existing economic system and rely on traditional values. These strategies result in three failures that lead to a system collapse:

1. Failure to anticipate the problem.
2. When the problem arrives, failure to recognize the problem.
3. When the problem is recognized, failure of attempting to solve the problem.
4. When action is taken, failure to actually solve the problem.

 Diamond, Jared M. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Viking, 2005.

Education Reform

Matt Farmer of Chicago
Chicago parent takes down Board of Education member and the Mayor of Chicago and basically all education reformers. Don't miss this!
Chicago parent Speaks the truth to power