We all need a place to vent and this is mine.
1) The state of the world - How unpredictable life can be. The .com implosion and the aftermath of September 11th have left all of us a little more aware of just how much. The economy is in serious trouble... we all know that. But what do we do about it?
The government is selling off our resources to the highest bidder while holding us all in a permanent "yellow alert." Violence is something that happens to all of us now (see below for a great resource for coping with violence).
2) CRIME is, by definition, something done outside the limits of the law. There are plenty of things that ought to be against the law that aren't and just as many things on the books that shouldn't be there. I remember hearing once in the 80's that Los Angeles had a law requiring all trains moving through city streets were to be preceded by a man on horseback waving a flag!
But where on earth did we get the notion that we could eliminate negative behavior by passing a law against it? How naive. If we could change human behavior that easily we wouldn't need laws at all? Let's get our heads out of the sand before the lion bites our collective behinds.
We are all wondering how seemingly "normal" people, let alone children, can turn deadly. We live in a violent world - but we ALWAYS have. It wasn't any safer for our ancestors in any past age.
The Gift of Fear : And Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence
Don't let the title fool you. This book is about accepting this gift we have all been given and putting fear to work as it was intended - for our survival. Gavin de Becker's number 1 best seller; "The Gift of Fear" has specific insights into the reasons for violent behavior and ways of protecting ones self and loved ones.
After spending years consulting for governments and celebrities he decided that the best way to really make a difference was to bring the information to the people. Now Gavin de Becker is working with the families of Columbine, to bring some sanity to the violence that is erupting among our children.
The appendices in the back provide checklists for judging the "Incident Potential" for everyday situations and resources for dealing with them. The paperback has an additional chapter bringing it up to date as of May 98. An audio tape version is also available.
The Gift of Fear : And Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence Links to other book, magazines and related materials are available in the Library.
3) Politics
From Merriam-Webster
president: an elected official serving as both chief of state and chief political executive.
executive: having administrative or managerial responsibility.
Like many of us outside of Chicago, I first became aware of Barack Obama when he appeared on the Oprah show a couple years back. I was intrigued and picked up a copy of Audacity of Hope to find out more about him. I was impressed with his quiet, honest, intelligent manner, his ability to thoughtfully answer tough questions, and his confident handling of unexpected situations. Later I gave a copy of the book to a friend who was bemoaning the lack of such qualities in our current politicians.
In June of 1968 I listened to the assassination of Bobby Kennedy on the radio from my Hollywood apartment and felt the hope drain out of me. My birthday fell a week after the election, so I missed the opportunity to cast a vote against Richard Nixon. With that election, I believe, began our slide into the current state. I’ve often wondered how different the outcome would have been if more of us “Boomers” could have voted back then. I’ve been determined to be heard on subsequent controversies. When I was asked to share my reasons for supporting Barack, I realized that it was a great opportunity to be of service to others like myself who have felt frustrated by the state of our government and our society as a whole.
Over the years I’ve worked for many companies and individuals, run my own graphic design business, and taught at a couple community colleges. I’ve come to believe that the most striking determinate for success is good management… be it an individual, a household or a country, bad management can destroy the most promising endeavors.
I was pleased to see that Barack made the decision to run in the current campaign and that he has not “given up his soul” in the process. I think that the very aspects of the presidential campaign process which we hate so much actually give us a very good idea of how the individuals will behave under the pressure of the nation’s top manager.
Those who fall into the “win at all costs” mode are not likely to “remain calm, quickly analyze the problem, and find its root cause” later on. Much like The Iroquois Confederacy needed the outsider, Hiawatha, to bring them together after years of civil war, we need someone like Barack. He has seen “us” from both sides and learned to be an effective, well-adjusted individual, husband and father, before deciding that there was more that he could do for those around him.
I find those who complain about his perceived “lack of experience” need to look at their criteria for experience. Has Bush learned to govern better since his first term? Did this country benefit from the political experience of Cheney and Rumsfeld? I think not!
It’s time to send “Mr. Smith” back to Washington and begin the process of setting our House (& Senate) back in order… we need Barack’s calm, intelligent, creative humility. We need someone who will put our best people in the right jobs, facilitate their success and start setting an example of what it looks like for a country to behave as group of intelligent adults... not as the world’s biggest bully. No one is perfect, and we all have our flaws, but I believe Barack Obama is the best person we have for the job at this time.
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From F. John Reh,
Good Management Is Predictive Management Not Reactive Management
A predictive management style is an important ability for a manager to have. The more problems that can be prevented through predictive management, the fewer resources will need to be spent on reacting to problems that have arisen. Predictive management does not replace reactive management, but it reduces the need for it.
If you are good at reactive management, you are:
1. Decisive and able to act quickly,
2. Able to find the root cause of events,
3. Creative and able to develop many solutions,
4. Innovative and able to find new ways to solve problems, and
5. Calm and in control in the midst of a "crisis".
Someone who is good at reactive management is able to remain calm, quickly analyze the problem, and find its root cause.
If you are good at predictive management, you are:
1. Thoughtful and analytic,
2. Not likely to go chasing after the current panic,
3. More aware of the important than the merely urgent issues,
4. Able to identify patterns in data and patterns of failures,
5. More focused on "why" did something go wrong, rather than "what" can be done to fix it, and
6. Able to keep the big picture in mind when working through the details.
Someone who is good at predictive management is sufficiently detached that they can identify the conditions that lead to certain problems and can implement procedures to reduce or eliminate the problems. Rather than being concerned about the immediate problem, they are able to relate current conditions to earlier information and predict when problems might arise.
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4) The housing market. The current slump (crash?) was a long time in the making. The California median home price in 1968 was $23,210. The median price of a home in the San Francisco East Bay was $650,000 in 2002 - for a 3 bedroom tract house. After the meteoric rise in 2004, April of 2006 found it drop to only $561,350... and then go back up to $740,000. In Washington DC the median home price was $177,000!
Some of the lows in 2006; $175,000 Barstow, $190,000 Porterville, and $280,000 Fresno. The highs; $1,295,000 Palos Veres, $1,385,000 Laguna Beach, and $1,501,000 Newport Beach.
Want to see what a $200,000 home looked like in one nice East Bay city in 2002?
Don't see the house on the corner lot below? Click here 2K Home to see more of this house.
In 2005 we found this bargin "Starter Home" for only $642,000 in the Monterey suburb of Seaside... similar homes in San Bernardino County were going for $200,000 in 2007.
