What We Need

... have a keen appreciation for the ironies all around you.
... develop a knowing sense of humor that allows you to see through the superficiality in your world and its false virtue.
... notice that things are often the opposite of what they appear to be, and
... use your wits to avoid being led along by naive, one-dimensional interpretations of experience.
(Thomas Moore, Dark Nights Of The Soul, p. 103)

What we need most are men who are willing to be social entrepreneurs -- men who will try out new ... approaches to the crises

• in education, 
• n health care, 
• in race relations, 
• [in levying taxes, creating a budget and running local and federal government], 

social innovators who will find out what governments can do, and then make them do it.
(Peter Drucker in Understanding Men's Passages by Gail Sheehy with addition in square brackets by Richard E. Henthorn, p. 120)
2 March 2013

Nothing To Celebrate

You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. (Colette in The Book Of Choices, by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 201)

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experience. (Ralph Waldo Emerson in The Book Of Choices, by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 233)

Unease, restlessness, boredom, anxiety, dissatisfaction, are the result of unfulfilled wanting. (Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, p. 47)

When I open a book, I try to approach it with a willingness to grow and change in the process of reading it. I always hope that by the time I finish reading it, I have become a better person, even if I don't remember all I read, I can always go back and browse through my notes and remember the lessons I learned. (Leticia A. Guardiola-Saenz in The Upper Room Disciplines - 2003, p.11)

******

This morning I'm listening to Brooks and Dunn on my Oasis player while the rest of the family catches up on sleep.

Yesterday I uploaded the modified Publications page to the MCC of OGS website. The most significant change I made to the page was to add a Table of Contents and Table of Contents buttons that will facilitate movement on the page. In the course of this project I learned more about how MS Word creates webpages. My next project will be review of the Letters page. It's also a good candidate for the installation of a Table of Contents.

In the course of studying how MS Word works I discovered that I have a copy of the MS Word Art program on my old computer. It might be fun to learn how this program works. There's always something to learn, if I am willing.

There's nothing to celebrate this morning. Last night the House of Representatives failed again to approve the budget for the current year even though we are now more than six months into the fiscal year. At midnight, just before the government would have been compelled to shutdown, they passed another continuing resolution which will keep the country operating until sometime next Thursday. The Republicans, and their Tea Party members, claim this domestic terroism happened because both sides can't agree on money issues. This is a blatant lie. All major money issues were decided some time ago with the Democrats agreeing to cut the budget by thirty-nine billion dollars. At the end of the day they were debating whether to stop or reduce funding to Planned Parenthood and the EPA. They'd already attacked NPR and stripped them of their funding. The truth of the matter is that the entire country is being held hostage by the new Tea Party members of the House of Representatives who certainly don't speak for the majority of the American people. Sometimes when you get your wish, "you get more than you bargained for." Enough is Enough!

Mr. Dickie
9/Apr/2011 7:56

Enough is Enough

You're worried and troubled about everything,
Wondering and fearing what tomorrow will bring.
You long to tell someone, for you feel so alone,
But your friends are all burdened with cares of their own.
(Helen Steiner Rice, A Collection of Blessings, p. 125)

******

Last night I had the air conditioner set to operate. This morning it was so cold there was ice on the top of the minivan. I had to turn the furnace back on.

I'm ready to start a project to install a Table to Contents on the genealogy society "Publications" page. There are ten sections on the page. There's no Home button at the top of the page. I found a nice TOC button to use at the end of each section. There are many minor typesetting issues. I printed out and highlighted the problems on the page. I expect to spend several hours working on the project. I can use my "genmenu" page from my old website to guide me.

As of this morning there is still no budget agreement even though the Democrats have met or exceeded most of the budget cut demands of the Republicans. This work should have been accomplished more than 180 days ago. There is a very real possibility that the GOP will achieve what they seek, a shutdown of the government at the end of the week. They ought to be working on the budget for next year now. I'm advocating for a nation wide recall effort to remove all members of the House of Representatives. Enough is Enough!

Mr. Dickie
6/Apr/2011 8:01

Opps, They Did It Again!

(Photo: Mr. Dickie - Great Hall of The Library of Congress, December 2010)

Are you on guard against wrong thinking?
(Twenty-Four Hours a Day, 30 November)

******

Opps, they did it again!

Here we are, the 22nd day of December and time for a Christmas Congressional break. Once again the Congress has failed to pass the budget legislation necessary to keep the government running this fiscal year, which started on October 1st. To keep the country operating they have resorted to passing continuing budget resolutions with funding levels therefore still at last year's levels. Perhaps the Republicans believe this delay will allow them to have more influence after the new Congress is sworn in. In my opinion it's just another glaring example that the people we elected to run the country for us aren't doing their jobs. If corporate management and their boards behaved in this manner the stock holders would soon throw out the entire lot. Think about it.

Mr. Dickie
22/Dec/2010 8:49