New Year’s Resolutions

I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions. I’ve worked out at gyms since I was 12, and I’ve seen how many people wait until New Year’s to make changes in their lives, only to drop out by February (and lose hundreds of dollars in new member fees). I prefer to make my resolutions as I go along. It seems that way I am not postponing my life. If, for example, I’m waiting until January to exercise, aren’t I just putting my health on hold? Is 1/1 more magical for starting something new?

But I digress. This year, I’m going to make one New Year’s Resolution. I am going to learn Chinese.

China is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. If the U.S. is to stay competitive, we need to learn how to communicate with one of the largest populations in the world. In China, English is mandatory for students from the 3rd grade on. In Europe, more than half the people in the 27-nation EU are bilingual, 28% are trilingual.

Can you guess how many U.S. citizens can speak a second language?

Just 10 percent.

We cannot compete in a global economy without knowing the languages and cultures of others countries. This is one of the biggest disappointments of our school system. We do not teach languages in the elementary schools. Yet children under a dozen years of age can readily learn new languages—much easier than adults can. What a huge brain waste.

So that’s my New Year’s resolution-not to just learn a language, but to learn to speak it well. One day, I may have to use it.

Modern Day Bell Ringer

Just thought this story was amusing. People are asking to be buried with their cell phones. It’s the number #2 request, just after being cremated with the ashes of a beloved pet.

It’s funny, but sad, really. One woman buried her husband with his cell phone. She still calls him, even though the battery has died–and she still pays the bill. Wonder if she checks his voice mail messages, too…

Interesting

…I wrote about Cerberus Capital Management in an earlier post. They own 80% of Chrysler. I did not know this, but Ceberus ALSO owns 51 percent of GMAC. Hmmmm…..

Christmas Spirit

Yeah, people can disappointment you, but they also amaze you, too.

Humans can be greedy. Many are selfish. Some are lazy. A few can commit horrific acts of violence. But there are also those folks who give generously of themselves. A blogger recently raised over $11,000 to save a family from foreclosure. Strangers from around the country sent money.

There are stories that go unreported every day. So many times I’ve thought, I should write that one down. So many kind random acts from strangers, such as a man who buys lunch for the car behind him in the Chick Fil-A drive-thru line. (There’s a guy who really does that here every week.)

Another blogger, Dave, pointed out that there are organizations like Child’s Play in which nearly all of the donations (97-98%) go directly to helping kids. Over the last four years, Child’s Play, a Seattle-based gamer organization, has collected $3.5M in toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in hospitals across the country.

I prefer to stay closer to home with donations to my local homeless shelter. Most folks don’t even know that this county has one. We keep the homeless “off the streets” here, but that doesn’t mean we give them a place to stay. The police will run them off. In one of the wealthiest counties in Texas, we, ironically, have no heart for people living on the streets. Maybe it’s just that seeing people homeless makes us feel guilty–we’re so much better off. Or maybe, it just makes us aware that we could be homeless one day. We’re just one step away from hard luck.

As an agnostic, Christmas has a different meaning. We don’t leave gifts at the altar for an invisible man. We don’t throw money into a basket so that a church can build a bowling alley or coffee shop. We don’t believe in the literal spirit, but rather the figurative spirit: how to help our fellow man. We know that this life is all we have; our heaven is right here–most of the time–on a planet full of amazing things and with people who sometimes do amazing things.

If you do a good deed, I don’t believe that it will come back to you. But I do believe that it will soften someone’s “heart.” Good deeds accumulate in a good deed bank. Some where. Does it really matter where?

For those who are not Christian, Christmas is merely a secular holiday of stuff-giving. But it is also an opportunity to reflect and to give thanks for all the gifts we already have: our warm homes, our good health, our children and our friends. People can be greedy. Many are selfish. Some are lazy. A few can commit horrific acts of violence. But there are also those folks who give generously of themselves. Many have shown their generous nature. A blogger recently raised over $11,000 to save a family from foreclosure. Strangers from around the country sent money. Yeah, people can disappointment you, but they also amaze you, too.

There are tons of stories that go unreported every day. So many times I’ve thought, I should write that one down. So many kind random acts from strangers, such as a man who buys lunch for the car behind him in the Chick Fil-A drive through line. (There’s a guy who does that here every week.)

Another blogger, Dave, pointed out that there are organizations like Child’s Play in which nearly all of the donations (97-98%) go directly to helping kids. Over the last four years, Child’s Play, a Seattle-based gamer organization, has collected $3.5M in toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in hospitals across the country.

I prefer to stay closer to home with donations to my local homeless shelter. Most folks don’t even know that this county has one. We keep the homeless “off the streets” here, but that doesn’t mean we give them a place to stay. The police will run them off. In one of the wealthiest counties in Texas, we, ironically, have no heart for people living on the streets. Maybe it’s just that seeing people homeless makes us feel guilty–we’re so much better off. Or maybe, it just makes us aware that we could be homeless one day. We’re just one step away from hard luck.

Christmas for atheists and agnostics seems to have a deeper meaning. We don’t leave gifts at the altar for an invisible man. We don’t throw money into a basket so that a church can build a bowling alley or coffee shop. We look for ways to help our fellow man. Because we know that this life is all we have; this life is all there is.

I don’t believe that, if you do a good deed, it will come back to you. But I do believe that if you do a good deed, it will soften someone’s “heart.” Good deeds accumulate in a good deed bank. Some where. Does it really matter where?

Where’s the bank bail-out money?

OK, so no where in this CNN article about the banks and their bail-out did the article mention that the execs received $1.6 billion(!!) in bonuses and perks for last year. The rewards came even from bail-out banks that had poor performance. Although some banks did “trim” executive compensations, they still gave their execs multi-million dollar “executive pay packages.” Then the CEOs marched off to Washington to ask for help.

Something is definitely rotten in the state of Denmark.

Reviews of federal securities doucments revealed that these perks included cash bonuses, stock options, use of company jets, home security, country club memberships, chauffeurs and professional money management. Wow. Wouldn’t you think the big guys, who are in large part responsible for the failings of their organization, would be a little more humble? I mean, really. It’s one thing for a guy running his own business to pay himself huge bonuses, but these CEOs and other executives should not be grossly over-paid to be “motivated.” What have they done to their employees? Their stockholders? The taxpayers?

The total amount given to nearly 600 executives would cover bailout costs for many of the 116 banks that have so far accepted tax dollars to boost their bottom lines.

So. I say these folks should put some of their bonus money back into the system and give us taxpayers a break.

But what’s not public is what they are doing with the billions in federal bailout money they’ve received — the money doled out through a $700 billion rescue plan so banks could start lending again.

Yes, of course, banks are vague about where their money is going, and with good reason. They were unsuccessful in prior years at TCOB (taking care of business), so what has changed? Not their executive’s compensation….

Intelligent Design

It’s funny that we call “Intelligent Design” intelligent. The universe is, if I may borrow a term from my Christian friends, a miracle. It’s mysterious, amazing, awe-inspiring, but “intelligent,” perhaps not. There is no evidence of a plan or forethought. We wouldn’t have species evolving if the “design” had been right the first time. For that matter we would not have flux, or even time, since time is simply the expansion of the universe into space. No, we are still moving and changing, and there are no speed limits, stop signs or indications of a destination. I see no evidence of a blueprint or intelligent designer.

 

Only in our human arrogance could we believe that man (“Adam”) was perfectly created. We are such imperfect machines, susceptible to mental and physical illnesses, age, bacteria, viruses, heat, cold, gravity and so many other factors. We are adaptive. We are lucky.

 

There must surely be a better term than “Intelligent Design.” I know there are smart people reading…so what do you think?

Holiday Shopping is Disappointment, News Reports

One good thing that has come out of this economy-in-the-pits: people aren’t buying as many holiday presents. It’s a catch-22. We need consumerism to help our economy, yet it kills our “soul”.  

Buying stuff we don’t need is bad for our emotional well-being. It takes away from the important matters. Rather than developing relationships and bettering ourselves, filling our empty spaces with stuff is our national past-time. Some people actually take time off from work to shop for presents. And look at the mobs (and subsequent deaths) created by after-Thanksgiving sales.  Many of us are not very thankful.  Nor grateful.

Although I’m not christian, I do participate in the secular Christmas.  But I tell my kids they can only ask for one thing. And that’s all they ask for, and save for a few small items such as books, that’s all they get. Why should I teach them to ask for and expect so much “stuff”? I’d just be teaching them to ask for more than their fair share.

I don’t know how to reconcile a struggling economy with consumerism. It seems, though, that we’re not only making market adjustments, but also moral adjustments.  Hopefully, we’ll come out of this a better America.

Dead Angels

Like the rest of the country, I am so saddened to hear that the remains found near the Anthony’s home were Caylee’s. I only hope the girl didn’t suffer too much. I hope that she had some love in her life. 

I don’t undertand how the grandparents can say their granddaughter is now “safe.” She’s just dead. And, evidently, she suffered.  Their attorney read this statement (full story here (http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/19/caylee.anthony/index.html?iref=mpstoryview):  

“They now know that their precious granddaughter is safe and hope that she will serve as the angel that protects thousands of missing children and their families,” he said, adding that the Anthonys want “the same answers as everyone who has been assigned to investigate and prosecute this case” and will be available to authorities.”

It makes NO sense to say that a child will serve as an “angel” that protects thousands of missing children. How can a dead child do that? Why would a god put a child in service as an angel? Why wouldn’t he just stop child abuse and abductions?

No, we’re here alone, and some of us do bad things.   It’ s up to the rest to make sure justice is served so that little girls can grow up to be women, not dead “angels.”

Suit Seeks to Nullify Legal Marriages

Geez. Why? Why do people care? Why should it be my business if a female coworker wants to marry another woman? Someone. Anyone. Tell me why it matters to ME or to YOU?

Proposition 8 proponents now want to nullify same-sex marriages that were legally performed. (See here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/19/california.proposition/index.html.) That’s just wrong.

I challenge someone to give me one good argument why same-sex couples should not be afforded the same legal rights as other couples? (NOT based on what the bible says) Just one logical argument…