I just saw a story that lead with the phrase “teen activists.” There shouldn’t be teen activists. The vast majority (if not all) teens haven’t had enough life experience and are only beginning to get a high level understanding of the issues, events, nuances, and rationale of what’s going on in the world around them. There is propaganda in the world, being pushed by professionals, supporting nearly every world view there is from which to choose. When you’re a teen, getting your first glimpse at the world beyond your own community borders, the chances are the first taste you’ll…
Guess what? We’re all busy
If you’re in a workplace, especially one in which things move fast and people are overwhelmed, please don’t spend any time telling people “I’m too busy,” or using it as an excuse to not do something. Everyone is busy. It’s kind of like saying, “I can’t right now, I’m breathing.” Yes, we’re all breathing. Stating the obvious doesn’t really advance the conversation. My anecdata suggests that the people who speak those words are the people to whom they don’t apply…
AOC doesn’t trust her friends – should you trust yours?
On September 4th, Alexandrea Ocasio-Cortez wrote this series of tweets. Much has been written about Ocasio-Cortez being a fool. I don’t know her, so I’m not in a position to say. But it’s evidence like this that supports the notion. It’s not about whether or not she’s right or wrong. I’m more interested in what she’s really saying. If you’re a friend of hers, what she’s really saying is that she doesn’t trust you. In fact, she can’t trust you. No matter what her experience has been with you so far. Taken a step further, you obviously can’t trust…
Losing control by trying to be in control – the driving edition
Have you ever tried to pass someone and had them speed up so you can’t? These people are sinister (and Socialist) because what they’re really seeking is control over you. (And others, presumably) Not content to simply drive the way they prefer, they’re also trying to make sure everyone else drives the way they want them to. And isn’t this really the source of most of our problems – not just on the road, but everywhere. If people would just do things the way they like, and get out of the way of others doing the same, all would…
Today’s to-do list
Call, email, or text someone you haven’t thought of or contacted in at least six months. Chances are, there’s probably a long list of people to choose from. Just check in with them, tell them what you’re up to, and find out what they’ve been doing. Keeping in touch with people, despite all of the tools that have made this easier, is actually harder. Ironically, it’s harder because we’re passing the time using those same tools for short-term amusement. Then, one day, we look up and it’s six months later. Use the tools the way they were intended, and…
Attending your own funeral
An old neighbor of mine moved away about a year ago because she had ALS (or Lou Gehrig’s disease). She and her husband moved to a location better suited for the care she would inevitably need. In the last few months, she had planned a service for herself at her old church for this past weekend. I had never heard of this before, but she essentially planned her own funeral. It was a gathering of old friends to celebrate her life… with her. This is an idea I’ve been toying with for the past three or four years. I’m…
Unfortunate timing… almost
I walked into a restroom for obvious reasons. As I was standing there at the stall answering nature’s call, I made one of my own. As I was standing there, I could barely hear the indicator that I was making a FaceTime call. Somehow, I initiated this call with a business vendor I sometimes use. Never one to use, or even hold, my phone while in a restroom (the subject of a different post), I had to dig in my pocket, pull out the phone, and correctly hang up the call. It didn’t occur to me for a few…
When it comes to racism, lazy thinking prevails
Yesterday, I wrote about racism being behind the propensity of white to be targeted and jailed for white collar crimes. As expected, the point seemed to be lost on many, from the emails I received. It wasn’t about white collar crime. It was about how easy it is to say that racism against whites is to blame. The real point was to mirror the claim that racism is to blame for the proportion of incarcerated blacks. If you read my post on white collar crime and thought it was illogical, wrong, or even ridiculous, doesn’t the same apply to…
Our justice system is racist… against whites
After a somewhat lazy search for statistics on white collar crime, I finally came up with a few, which are, unfortunately, not very recent. From the January 2006 edition of The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, it was reported that the odds of a convicted white collar criminals being white are 4.51 to 1. In the Oxford Handbook of White-Collar Crime (also 2006), Paul Klenowski and Kimberly Dodson suggest that the great majority of offenders in jail for high-level corporate violations are indeed white. Assuming this is a) true, and b) continuing to trend this…
Keeping people captive must be exhausting
People who kidnap others… prison guards… soldiers who guard prisoners of war… They must be exhausted. I can’t imagine a job much more stressful than being responsible for making sure a prisoner or captive remains captive. The person you’re guarding is most likely constantly plotting and scheming ways to get out of captivity. Most of those methods probably involve making a move while you, the guard, is gone. But I’m sure some of them involve attacking you when you least expect it. And it’s 24 hours a day. It’s constant. You never know when they may make a move….