As I was making it through what is now the normal day’s worth of Zoom calls, I couldn’t help wondering, “Has anyone on any of their work Zoom calls we’re all enduring witnessed a coworker die from something like a stroke or heart attack?” I figure, with the millions of people on Zoom each and every day speaking to their coworkers, someone has to have died during a call. Given the law of averages, it has to have happened. I mentioned this to someone (on a Zoom call, of course), and they forwarded this story to me about someone…
More exposure, more immunity
Basic science and years of experience tells us that the more exposure we have to germs, bacteria, and viruses, the more immunity we build. That’s why we let our kids play in sandboxes, pick up things off the floor and put them in their mouth, and play with other sick kids. It’s the single greatest argument we have for kids returning to school. By staying at home, the entire nation is weakening their immune system. By not exposing ourselves to the latest viruses and illnesses, we are only hurting our ability to overcome them. I think this may work…
Vote to join the US
I was just reading about Hawaii and their vote to become the 50th state in the United States. How many countries around the world, if they were to take a vote, would vote to become one of our states? If you asked that a year ago, I suspect the answer would be quite a few. Sure, national pride and culture may make many vote against it, but I suspect we’d still get quite a few takers. But even now, with all of our discord and division, I wonder how many countries would love to hitch their proverbial wagon to…
That’s not who we are
It’s not uncommon for politicians (especially Democrats) to say, in reaction to some action or statement they don’t like, that “that’s not who we are.” It’s ironic, because Democrats are making it clear every day that they have nothing in common with the foundational principles of America and no interest in sharing commonalities. The code meaning behind it, when used by American politicians, is that it’s un-American. For example, “stopping people from protesting on highways and disrupting traffic is not who we are.” (No one, that I know of, said this. I’m just using it as a hypothetical example.)…
Grace, empathy, and perspective
There’s plenty of dissection going on regarding the daily splitting of the United States, and there’s no shortage of theories: parenting, smart phones, video games, biased news, public school indoctrination, moral decay, pop culture, removal of God, etc. Obviously, it’s not just one thing, but probably a mix of all the above, plus factors not even considered. But what’s the path back? I think three key ingredients we’re missing are grace, empathy, and perspective. Without grace, we can’t forgive, and that’s the foundation of cancel culture. Cancel culture is all about finding one transgression in one’s past – usually…
How we’ve changed since 9/11/01
19 years ago today, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were felled by Islamic suicidal soldiers who hijacked commercial flights and piloted the planes into the towers. The country was largely united after those events. The support for President Bush and Mayor Giuliani was high. Love for firefighters and police officers was off the charts. They were heroes wherever they went. Just 19 years ago… one set of events, unified understanding of what happened, what it meant, and that we were all hurt by it. As you think about 9/11 in the year 2020, can you conceive…
Lift every voice and sing
This year, the NFL is going to start games by playing not only the national anthem, but the “black national anthem,” called “Lift every voice and sing.” Tonight, the Texans appeared to have remained in the locker room for both anthems, while only Alex Okafor, of the Chiefs, knelt for the national anthem. Following the anthems, the Chiefs and Texans started the season by linking arms as a show of unity. And once again, as 2020 twists, turns, and blurs everything we think we know about everything, the game starts by playing two separate national anthems (one for a…
Democrats and mafia tactics
What do you call it when a group or crowd of people set an example by destroying something they don’t like and then coming to your door to see if you agree with them? There’s no way to know, but I’d still love to know what percentage of “Black Lives Matter” signs in stores and neighborhood lawns are there as part of a protection racket. How many of these people think, “If I just put up this sign, maybe they’ll leave me alone.” It’s like putting lamb’s blood on over your door during Passover to make sure the Lord…
Trading safeties
In the State of Washington, most kids are attending school virtually. Many think by doing this, we’re protecting our kids from a virus that is essentially dangerous to none of them. This is what that protection looks like… Kids get up, eat breakfast, head into their room, often back into their bed, where the shades are drawn, and they sit on the computer for the next six or seven hours. They they sit in that same room and do homework, until they eat dinner. They, because they’re not supposed to be seeing each other, they hang out in their…
When protesters come to your door
A member of my in-house staff refers to limits of freedom as the freedom to move your arms around until you hit someone in the nose. It’s with that in mind that I consider what to do if the street in front of my home is suddenly filled with 100s of “peaceful protesters” screaming and yelling and shining bright lights and lasers into my home late at night. Certainly, they have the right to assemble and make their case. But do they have the right to disrupt my life? Do they have the right to scare my family? Do…