I'm not saying I agree with the Tea Party - quite the opposite, but I'm constantly reminded how focused the US is on competition. When a newspaper as reputable as the New York Times reports on which groups are the most disliked in the nation, something is seriously wrong!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/opinion/crashing-the-tea-party.html?_r=2
Sep 30, 2011
Sep 24, 2011
Outsourcing to China!
I bumped into a friend at the library today. His life is changing in many ways. In addition to expecting their second child, he's been laid off because his job has been outsourced to China. Are we really still doing that? US companies continue to take jobs away from hard working US citizens in order to avoid paying taxes that support our society, and on top of that, they pay hard working people in other countries next to nothing for a job well done. How are any of us to survive? Fortunately for my friend, his company has decided to pay their US employees tuition for new job training.
Sep 23, 2011
The Weekend
So it's finally here - two days off! Note to self: I will not go into work this weekend. Plus, I brought very little work home with me, and if I don't touch it that's awesome because we all need some free time, right? Absolutely!
Free time is hard to come by for many Americans. Has anyone else noticed that many people are being asked, bribed or coerced to spend more time working for less pay? We're told that we all have to give, all have to make sacrifices, but I wonder about that... In fact, I'll come right out and say it - I DISAGREE! I think people are more productive in their work when they have the chance to relax on a daily and weekly basis.
I pledge to take some time to relax this weekend. I will spend time with my family and friends. I will spend time alone. I will spend time working on my novel, reading a friend's novel, singing and dancing with my daughter... I will do what I choose to do to relax so that when I reenter the work force on Monday morning, I am refreshed and ready to be productive.
Will you join me?
Free time is hard to come by for many Americans. Has anyone else noticed that many people are being asked, bribed or coerced to spend more time working for less pay? We're told that we all have to give, all have to make sacrifices, but I wonder about that... In fact, I'll come right out and say it - I DISAGREE! I think people are more productive in their work when they have the chance to relax on a daily and weekly basis.
I pledge to take some time to relax this weekend. I will spend time with my family and friends. I will spend time alone. I will spend time working on my novel, reading a friend's novel, singing and dancing with my daughter... I will do what I choose to do to relax so that when I reenter the work force on Monday morning, I am refreshed and ready to be productive.
Will you join me?
Sep 19, 2011
Never moving forward part 2
So I was sitting at a board meeting at work this evening, and I started thinking (or rather continued thinking) about ruts really... The same discussion topics seem to come up over and over again. On a smaller scale, I see it at places like board meetings and on a much larger scale in news headlines about topics that affect us on a city, state, national and even international level. So, why is this? Why do we keep rehashing the same issues and problems? Why is it that we never seem to be moving forward?
Is there a simple explanation? Could it be as simple as turnover? That's why the same issues are brought up at our board meetings. Even though the history is there, when there is constant turnover and a break in communication with those who have come before, the people making the decisions simply don't know what has and hasn't worked in the past, don't know what is already available to them. They don't know so they start from scratch.
That's really scary to me because the US government is based on turnover. I understand the importance of having term limits - so that no one person or group has too much power for too long, so that every side has a chance to be heard. But, by setting short term limits, are we preventing ourselves from making progress?
Even more scary, turnover has become a constant in our society. It's a cost saving measure for business owners to be sure - when you have constant turnover, you can pay workers the minimum starting salary or wages. But again, in cutting corners, are we cutting too much?
Is there a simple explanation? Could it be as simple as turnover? That's why the same issues are brought up at our board meetings. Even though the history is there, when there is constant turnover and a break in communication with those who have come before, the people making the decisions simply don't know what has and hasn't worked in the past, don't know what is already available to them. They don't know so they start from scratch.
That's really scary to me because the US government is based on turnover. I understand the importance of having term limits - so that no one person or group has too much power for too long, so that every side has a chance to be heard. But, by setting short term limits, are we preventing ourselves from making progress?
Even more scary, turnover has become a constant in our society. It's a cost saving measure for business owners to be sure - when you have constant turnover, you can pay workers the minimum starting salary or wages. But again, in cutting corners, are we cutting too much?
Sep 18, 2011
Yet other articles are timely. I wonder though, are the problems behind
them destined to be repeated elsewhere?
An article titled "Living Through a Crisis" by Mrs. Willy Brandt, listed on the cover of McCall's 1962 issue, priced at $0.35, caught my attention. Mrs. Willy Brandt was the wife of the mayor of West Berlin. He'd been giving a political speech in Nurnberg when the border was closed. You know what I mean... the WALL.
A wonderful movie about the fallout from the Berlin Wall is called GOODBYE, LENIN!
An article titled "Living Through a Crisis" by Mrs. Willy Brandt, listed on the cover of McCall's 1962 issue, priced at $0.35, caught my attention. Mrs. Willy Brandt was the wife of the mayor of West Berlin. He'd been giving a political speech in Nurnberg when the border was closed. You know what I mean... the WALL.
A wonderful movie about the fallout from the Berlin Wall is called GOODBYE, LENIN!
Sep 17, 2011
Never moving forward...
My mother recently found some old magazines in the attic at our family's cabin in the north woods. They're from 1959, and the headlines are unbelievable. Why can't we figure these things out?
Here's one from Life magazine - Our Taxes: A Mess and a Gyp
And another from the same issue - Birth Control: A Controversial World Question
Here's one from Life magazine - Our Taxes: A Mess and a Gyp
And another from the same issue - Birth Control: A Controversial World Question
Sep 14, 2011
What a mess!
Sometimes it seems like the world is such a mess! It's crazy really. People try to make the world a better place, but with all of our different viewpoints, it seems like all we end up doing is arguing. Then we plow ahead, repeating past mistakes. Do we really believe that this time it will be different?
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