skipinaround blog

Thomas Carlyle married his secretary whom he dearly loved.  She was the “apple of his eye” and a soul-mate.  However, he had other soul-mates that absorbed his interests and stole his time — business, self-interests, and the constant push for success and status.

The day came when she was told that her illness would end her life prematurely.  The doctor gave no date or time and only said, “your illness is fatal, no cure.”  Mrs. Carlyle went to bed and remained there until she died.

After the funeral, Carlyle went back to an empty house.  It was not the same.  He wandered upstairs, downstairs; grieving and lost.  “If only I had spent more time with her and less with business,” he thought as he wept.  The illness had been long and painful, and she suffered alone.

One day, he sat down on her bed hoping to feel her presence.  Noticing her diary, Carlyle opened it.  Thumbing through it, he found this passage, “Yesterday, he spent an hour with me.  And it was like being in heaven. I love him so much.”  Turning a few more pages, he found these words:  ” I listened all day to hear his steps in the hallway.  And now it’s late.  I guess he will not come to see me.”

He could take it no more.  Throwing the book half-way across the room, Carlyle ran to the cemetery and fell on his wife’s grave sobbing, beating the ground, and shouting, “If only I had known . . . . if only I had known.”

The only question that remains, “Is all the money, all the status, all the things that money can buy worth the cost of a family or a significant other that loves you dearly?”

On a scale of 1 t0 10, how good are you at doing what you profess to believe?   Let’s see.  The situation is as follows:

You believe that people should volunteer for clinical trials to find a cure for a disease like cancer. You also believe better treatment and medicine are the solutions for combating this deadly disease. “By all means,” you tell others, “if you have cancer and are eligible to receive medication on a trial basis, do it. How else will a cure be found?”

You feel good that you were able to offer your opinion.

However, a year later, your child is diagnosed with cancer. The doctor tells you that the survival rate is about 75% left untreated.  He informs you, “There is a new medicine that might increase the survival rate to 95%. It is still in the testing stage. Would you be interested in volunteering to be a part of a clinical study to determine if the medicine is effective? There are no guarantees it will work.”

Question to consider:   “Are you willing to give up the known, 75% chance of survival, for an unproven medicine that will increase the survival rate to 95%?” Remember: this is your child and the outcome is unknown — no guarantees.

What is your answer? Can you “walk your talk?” The chances are, when it comes to your own child, ethical values of doing the most good for the largest number of people are abandoned.

You tell the doctor:   “It is my child, doctor.  I cannot do anything that harm them.  I will take my chances and, therefore, not interested.”

However, for others — they should do the most good for the largest number of people. It is different when it comes to you and your family; the rules change.

Are there two sets of standards:  One set for others and one set for you?

Talking is one thing. Walking the talk is another.  Eventually, people will read through your talk and determine the real you.  And, when that happens …. well, you be the judge.

Johannes Brahms may have been the best composer of the 1800′s.  His unusual gift of music allowed him to produce works in every form of music popular during his day.  Born on May 7, 1833, in Hamburg, Germany, he composed 4 symphonies, over 100 songs, and numerous works for piano.

At the age of 16, he decided that his love and gift was composing music not performing it.  By the time he was 20, great, well-known composers like Robert Schumann were hailing him as the “coming genius of German  music.”

Timing was not right for the talented Brahms.  He was passed over for conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra.  Disappointed, Brahms moved to Vienna, Austria, in 1862.  He did not give up.  He accepted the position of choral conductor and worked to improve his musical skills.  The result was the famous and beautiful “German Requiem.”

In 1872, he became the musical director of the famed Viennese Society of the Friends of Music.  In 1876, HIS FIRST SYMPHONY WAS PERFORMED — 22 YEARS AFTER HE STARTED COMPOSING IT.  Three years later, he introduced his violin concerto.  In 1881, Brahms completed his second piano concerto, and in 1885 completed the fourth and last of his symphonies.

In 1894, Brahms was offered the post he wanted all his life and failed to get early in his life:  Conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra.  Unfortunately, he turned it down because he felt he was too old.  On April 3, 1894, Johannes Brahms died.

There is a season for everything that requires years of work, commitment, dedication, and tenacity.  Unfortunately, most of us are too impatient to wait . . .  so we cast off our dreams for self-gratification.  Talents are wasted; time stands still in acquiring money and status.  Brahms never let defeat, rationalization, or disappointment stop him from composing the most beautiful, fulfilling music in the world.  However, Brahms let age keep him from achieving his final dream.  Who knows what Brahms could have produced with Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

There is a season and time for everything — and one is never too old to start.  What is your dream, your talent, your gift.  The world is waiting for you to step forward.

The right answer is not “both.”  Putting the question another way:  If you could only choose one, which one would it be?

Ponder these questions, please:

How much do you remember of the books you read?  Beside the title, what were 3 lessons/points you have been able to apply to your life?

Reality shows are huge these days.  What did Pawn Stars teach you that will help you with a major problem at work?  Do you remember anything from Antique Road Show that is life changing or help you in Saturday morning’s Garage Sale?  Anything from the History Channel?  How about PBS?  Dr. Phil, Oprah, or the latest Medical Doctor show?

When was the last time you used Algebra to solve a problem?  How about Philosophy?  The History class you took?

NO, I AM NOT DOWN ON EDUCATION.  It is extremely important and should be a major issue in this Presidential election.

If I had to chose between the two, I would choose common sense.  Education is facts and memorization.  Some courses are taken to get a degree.  Once a passing grade is given, a student moves on with a “sigh of relief that it is over.”  Forty more semester hours to go!

Common sense comes from living — every day experiences.  Some of those experiences are painful and some are joyous.  It does not matter, the experience is remembered and applied to the next day of living.  Here are a few examples:  Algebra is not going to getting one through a loved one’s death.  The facts surrounding the Civil War is not going to help one overcome the shock of life-threatening cancer.  Business 101 is not going to help one understand a child’s health problem or a teenagers drug problem.

The point is this:  life is difficult and complex and it takes both common sense and education to be successful.  However, sometimes, in a hurry to reach the next promotion or the next stage, common sense is overlooked or forgotten.  That is when very costly mistakes are made.  Common sense and good judgement cannot be bought — it comes from living and learning, and it is as important as a degree from the best University in the world.

November 13, 2010, Lt General John Kelly, USMC, told this account to the Semper Fi Society of St. Louis, MO.  This was 4 days after his son, Lt Robert Kelly, USMC was killed by and IED in Iraq.

Two Marines, Corporal Jonathan Yale, 22, and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 20, were assuming their watch at the entrance gate of the outpost where 50 Marines and 100 Iraqi police were housed.

Yale came from a poor background in Virginia.  He had a wife and a daughter.  His mother and sister also lived with him.  He supported all of them on $23,000 a year.  Haerter came from a middle class family on Long Island.  He was not married.  Yale and Haerter were from two different worlds, but the Marine Corps had made them brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same mother.

They relieved the other two Marines and started standing their watch when a large blue truck turned down the alley heading straight for them.  The truck stopped short of the two Marines and detonated.  The entire story was not learned until the next day when I visited the scene and talked to an Iraqi policeman who witnessed the event.

“No sane man, Sir,” the policeman said, “in the name of God would have stood there and done what they did.  They saved us all.”

In the last six seconds of their young lives, Yale and Haerter opened fire without thinking about their own lives.  While others ran, they fired non-stop at the windshield in an attempt to kill the suicide bomber.  They did not step aside; they never shifted their weight; the truck explodes; and two Marines die.

Six seconds to eternity.  Not enough time to think about their families, their country, their flag, their lives, or their deaths.  For the sake of others and Freedom, they paid the ultimate price.”

If you had six seconds to live, what you do?  Think about it — six seconds until eternity.  What would you do that you have not done today?  What story would someone tell about you?

What is America thinking?  It is realized that our country is in serious debt and that something has to be done.  Ask me to make personal sacrifices for my country and I will GLADLY do it.   However, do not ask me to support a half billion to a trillion dollar cut in the military.

While we are considering these dramatic military cuts, other countries are spending trillions of dollars building their weapons for future conflict and supremacy.  Just a few examples:  China now has an aircraft carrier and is seriously moving into space.  Iran, with nuclear capability, is testing long range rockets, doing naval operations in the Straights, and is intent on the destruction of Israel.  Japan now owns our former Clark Airfield in the Philippines and frequently uses our former Naval Base in Subic.  Iraq Shiites are leaning toward an Iranian-backed militia.  North Korea, Sudan, and Myanmar are rogue states whose actions are unpredictable. Turkey has shut its borders to America.  Europe is fighting for its financial survival and the Middle East’s future is uncertain. Chavez is sick in Venezuela, and many of our neighbors south of us have little respect for the United States.  Our closest neighbor, Mexico, is losing a battle against drugs and corruption.

It is totally agreed that America cannot be the policeman of the world nor can we insist that every country adopt an American-style democracy.  Surely we have learned that we cannot buy friends. If not, it is time to stop giving money to countries that hate us in hopes that they will come to love us.  That will never happen.

In a world that is confused and unstable, America cannot weaken itself to the point that it cannot defend itself or assist its friends.  Additionally, the dramatic cut in military spending sends a clear message to those who would destroy us that we are no longer serious about our way of life and freedom.  Leslie Gelb, President Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations said, “The United States is declining as a nation and a world power with mostly sighs and shrugs.”

Thomas Friedman wrote in 1999 this paragraph:

The ultimate goal of free-market capitalism was to virtually give every country in the world a process that would put a web site in every pot, a Pepsi on every lip, and Microsoft Windows in every computer.  Yet none of this was going to occur without the backing of hard power.  The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist.  And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley’s technologies is called the United States Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.”

The New York Times several weeks ago carried a front page article on future cuts in the military.  One of them was to abolish Tuition Assistance for military personnel going to college.  One of the reasons men and women join the military is the promise to assist them in going to college if they so desire.  Education is the LIFE BLOOD of our future.  What are we thinking?

Roosevelt said, “The State is failing when it is no longer able to defend our borders, balance our budgets, or win our wars.”

Cut federal grants that were given for such programs as:  “How Rock Music contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union;” Subsidizing “Pancakes for Yuppies;” “Online Dating;” “The Link Between Cocaine and the mating habits of Quail;” and 17.8 million for foreign aid to China.

I can only ask, “What are we Thinking, America!”  The young men and women who left their families for multiple deployments, each a year or more, deserve better.  The families that remained home holding the family together should receive more than lip service.   What do we do to repay them?  We cut the military budget drastically and say with that pasted on smile, “do more with less.”  Pat Buchannan said it all in the title of his new book, “Suicide of a Super Power.”

Bumper stickers are one sentence philosophical statements, sermons, protests or lectures.  Some are serious, others are funny, and a few make one angry.  That is their purpose — make one think.    Jack Bowen wrote an entire book on “IF YOU CAN READ THIS, The Philosophy of Bumper Stickers.”  He asserts that Bumper Stickers were the pre-runner of Face Book, Twitter, and Blogs.  I have tried to present some Bumper Stickers that are serious, some funny, and some that might upset one.  As they are read, please mentally analyze them and come up with a philosophical explanation of what they mean.  There is truth in each one.

1.    YOU CALL IT “IMPOSING MY MORALITY.”

I CALL IT “KNOWING RIGHT AND WRONG.”

2.    WHEN I AM RIGHT NOBODY REMEMBERS

WHEN I AM WRONG NOBODY FORGETS.

3.     THE MOST VIOLENT ELEMENT IN SOCIETY

IS IGNORANCE

4.     IS THE WORLD GETTING SMALLER

OR ARE WE JUST GETTING FATTER

5.     WHY DO PSYCHICS HAVE TO ASK

FOR YOUR NAME

6.     I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU LOVE,

WHAT YOUR OTHER CAR IS,

OR WHAT YOU’D RATHER BE DOING

7.    TELEVISION IS A DRUG

8.    ABSTINENCE:  100% EFFECTIVE

9.    IF IGNORANCE IS BLISS THEN

WHY AREN’T MORE PEOPLE HAPPY

10.  AT LEAST THE WAR ON ENVIRONMENT IS GOING WELL

11.  I BELIEVE IN LIFE BEFORE DEATH

12.  GUNS KILL PEOPLE

DRIVERS WITH CELL PHONES DO TOO

13.  VISUALIZE WHIRLED PEAS

14.  IF A MAN SPEAKS IN THE FOREST

AND THERE IS NO WOMAN TO HEAR HIM,

IS HE STILL WRONG.

15. FORGET ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

LET’S FIX NATURAL STUPIDITY

How did you do?  Are you going to be the next Plato or Socrates?  Your wisdom and philosophical probably out shined them all.  (Thank you, Jack Bowen for making  one think, laugh, protest, and express frustrations.)

It is 1930, two brothers had just finished high school in New Hampshire and were looking for an opportunity.  America was still encouraging, “Go west, young man, go west.”  And, that they did — straight for Hollywood, California.  While working on a movie studio set, these two high school graduates yielded to the temptation of starting their own business.

With a few months of great Hollywood entertainment business, they decided to open their own theater.  All that business experience they acquired in a short time, led these “90-day-wonders” to close the theater after 4 years of not being able to make enough money to pay their $100 a month rent payment.

In 1937, the brothers were at it, again.  Drive-in restaurants were becoming popular to auto-driving America.  With a few dollars and some good friends, they opened a small drive-in restaurant 50 miles east of Los Angeles. Like most Drive-in restaurants, a car hop came to the car, took the order, and returned with the food served on china plates complete with glassware, and metal utensils.

By 1940, the brothers decided their restaurant was doing so well, they expanded their menu from hot dogs to barbecued beef and pork sandwiches, hamburgers, and other items.  In 1948, they made some risky, revolutionary changes:  (1) china plates, glasses, and metal utensils were replaced with paper products; (2) the menu was reduced to hamburgers; (3) prices were reduced so customers from all walks of life could afford to eat at their restaurant; (4) they implemented the Speedy Service System (drive through window) with a promise to have each customer’s order ready in 30 seconds or less.

That is where it began, on the corner of Fourteenth and E Streets in San Bernardino, California.  Dick and Maurice McDonald hung their sign on a small octagonal building and called their restaurant, McDonald’s Hamburgers.

It all started, when two high school graduate brothers dared to take their dream out for a spin across country to a place they had never been.  Frightened?  Probably; Full support from everyone?  Probably not.  A lot of money to gamble on a dream?  Maybe pennies and nickels.  Courage and Self Confidence.  Enough to try, fail, and try, again.

Aesop said, “It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.”  It is when you decide to listen to your heart, the cry from your soul, and take a chance that leads to success.  Abraham Lincoln said, “The probability that we may fail in struggle ought not to deter us from the the support of a cause we believe to be right. ”

So . . . . what is your heart saying?  What dream do you have?  It will either do one of two things — become a reality or rot in your being.  “Bravery never goes out of fashion,” Thackeray.

He was not a typical “George Washington-type” officer.  How he ever rose to the rank of General in the American Revolutionary Army is unknown.  Charles Lee was a woman-chaser, excessive liquor drinker, rebel with few morals, a liar, and disrespectful to superiors.  He was known for a fierce temper and rough, unruly company.  Indians that knew him called him “boiling water.”

June 28, 1778, General Lee, with little planning,  attacked a British rearguard.  The Americans, not ready for battle and no plan, were soon confused and disorganized.  They immediately broke ranks and began to retreat.  One of Washington’s aides saw what was happening and asked Lee how the battle was going.  Lee responded, “Tell the General I am doing well enough.”  That was enough for Washington to check on Lee’s progress himself.

Washington, arriving on the scene, saw the Americans retreating.  He screamed at Lee asking, “What is the meaning of this, Sir?  Why is there disorder and confusion?”

Lee responded, “The troops would not stand the British bayonets.”

Washington countered, “You damn poltroon.  You never tried them!  You are relieved.  Get off the battlefield.”

General Charles Scott later reported that never had he heard Washington swear and cuss like he did that afternoon.

Washington spurred his white horse into battle riding among his retreating soldiers, shouting, “Stand fast and receive your enemy!”  People that saw him in action said that “he was everywhere at once with British cannonballs landing all around him.  His fearless action inspired his fleeting Soldiers to turn around and fight.”

Washington’s horse collapsed from exhaustion.  He quickly mounted another one and, again, rode into the heart of the battle.  General Marquis de Lafayette reported, “Never have I beheld so superb a man.”

Washington’s action and courage rallied the Americans who fought hard and held their ground.  In the end, they inflicted twice as many casualties on the enemy as they had suffered.

Whether it be 1778 or 2012, true leadership never changes.  It rides into a battle, rallies the people, and fights by their side.  Never does it stand idly by watching; never does it point fingers of blame; never does it run  for lack of courage; and never does it leave a fallen comrade to die alone.  Whether professionally or personally, true leadership never changes.

It is believed that in the life of America, there were only two men who were indispensable to the salvation of this country:  George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  Without them at the exact moment they served, America would not have survived.

There is only one question remaining, “Who will be the next person to be listed with Washington and Lincoln?

How well-read are you?  Are you a “general practitioner” or a “specialist?’  Let us see.  Which of the following facts are true or a myth?

1.  Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead’s Principia Mathematica is a seminal three-volume work on the foundation of mathematics.  It contains a 362-page proof concluding that one plus one does indeed equal two.

2.  After ten years of use, 70% of the solid weight of your pillow is likely to be dust mite excrement.

3.  Whales descended from hippopotami.

4.  The elephant is the only mammal that can’t jump.

5.  A German Shepherd’s sense of smell is over 30 times more acute than a human’s.  When a German Shepherd sticks its head out of the window of a moving car, it is exposed to so many smells it experiences a high equivalent to a human on cocaine.

6.  An airplane’s flight data recorder, commonly known as the black box, is actually orange.

7.  St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, was British.  The French Horn comes from Germany.  German Chocolate Cake originated in the 1950′s in Texas, utilizes Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate, and was named after the Englishman, Samuel German.

8.  In 1972, California governor, Ronald Reagan, pardoned the famous country-western singer, Merle Haggard for his past crimes.  While doing a 15-year stretch at San Quentin State Prison for armed robbery, Haggard attended three of Johnny Cash’s concerts there.

9.  Hollywood was founded when Midwestern pioneers Horace and Daeida Wilcox subdivided their ranch in order to create a community based on sober religious principles.

10.  The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that caused the deadliest tsunami on record released 550 million times more energy than the Hiroshima bomb, or enough energy to power the United States for 370 years.  It was so powerful that it altered the Earth’s rotation, shortening the length of the day by 2.68 microseconds.

How did you do?  If you said “True” to all 10 statements, you are …………………………….. very well read.  According to “Are You Kidding Me?” by Harry Bright and Jakob Anser, MJF Books, 122 English Ave, New York, NY 1001, 2009, all the statements are TRUE.