there is no definitive beginning to anything---only a continuum of interdependence within which we define time, space, and phenomena----for the purposes of negotiating our way through this inconceivable infinity---this knowledge implies awareness of no further compulsion to become emotionally on intellectually bound to any of the realms that can be mentally construed from the vast ocean of perceptual possibilities

Remembering the Forgotten on Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the day we set aside to honor those individuals who have given their lives for our country.  

Nearly 50 years ago I was the prime age of the men who were drafted to fight in Vietnam, but was lucky enough to have been disqualified for any military service.  Many people of my generation were not as lucky or actually volunteered to join the military to fight in Vietnam. 

Of the guys I grew up with who went to Vietnam, none died in battle in South East Asia; but they all returned so completely altered they were never the same again.

At least three came back so damaged they died by their own hand within a few years of returning to the States.  Not every one simply committed suicide.  In fact only one overtly committed suicide.   The others died of drug addiction, which is a slow form of suicide.

Today, as a result of our never-ending wars in the Middle East, veterans commit suicide after returning to the states at an alarming rate.   They too should be considered casualties of war who gave their lives in military service.

So on this Memorial Day as we honor the men and women who have lost their lives fighting for our country, let's also remember these forgotten casualties.

Think About Thinking

"Once you understand that what you think about is what controls your life, you start getting real carefu1 about what you think about," Wayne W. Dyer, Ph.D.

the gambler

an original on the dharma--------- what draws a man to madness ?---what makes him think that he---can harness light and darkness---to create that which is free ?---what makes him think there's light and dark ?---what bounds define what's free ?---whatever makes him disembark---on 'you' and 'them' and 'me' ?---two worlds he has before him---one earthly, one unseen---each has it's pleasure in the swim---each has it's own smokescreen---i pose the question to all concerned---from sacred to obscene---why can't a man fill the fire that burns---and still be self redeemed ?---does one so drain the other---for he who drinks to the hilt ?---is it really divine mother---who so entwines this quilt----of man's existence---to truly make us side---between the worldly appetence---and the meditative bride ?---the problem leaves me baffled---helpless and forlorn---the freest minds then shackled---not one of us freeborn---to take what life can offer---and still fulfill the soul---making every man a gambler---between wants and self control----what draws a man to madness ?---what makes him think that he---can harness light and darkness---to create that which is free ?---what makes him think there's light and dark ?---what bounds define what's free ?---for all this man can leave one mark---and that is just to BE !

Indicate Never Specify

For years I have subscribed to a theory I call: "Indicate Never Specify". I discovered the concept while reading about East Asian ink wash painters.  They carefully limit their brush strokes to the minimum required to capture the mood and texture of a landscape. Detail is absent; allowing the viewer to fill in the intentionally missing visual information. 

Sales people sometimes employ this technique to help shape their offering to meet a prospect's needs by limiting information to only that which is absolutely necessary to close the sale. There is a potential ethical danger with this technique, as it may lead some sales people to mislead a prospect into an unwise purchase.

The other day, Bill Bonner an investment advisor who posts a daily diary entry, http://bonnerandpartners.com/the-age-of-trumpismo/ explained why it has been so easy for Donald Trump to embrace the Goldman alumni he has appointed to his cabinet after vilifying them during his campaign.  

I guess he didn't mean what I inferred from what he said. He indicated but never specified. Aside a few "bumper sticker" phrases he offered no specifics, except to say he will solve the country's problems. He said "Trust me it will be tremendous".

I pray that in four years The Donald will have done such a "tremendous" job that I will enthusiastically want to vote for him. My concern is that during the campaign he beat the drum about how cozy HC was with Goldman and how the speaking fees she collected were obscene. How she said one thing in public and another in private.

I feel as if a Jedi mind trick is being played out on a national scale. Something like a cosmic three card monte.

Politics - ONE FINAL TIME!

This is a copy of my response to a Facebook post about Aetna abandoning The Affordable Care Act (Obama Care).

WOW to both of you. You clearly have your minds made up but I will simply state my case ONE FINAL TIME!

Donna, you will remember I introduced you to Alex Jones and PrisonPlanet,tv.  I have very broad and varied sources for my information and Alex Jones is just one of them. So is Noam Chomsky.

For the record, I am not a democrat or republican.  I feel as though I am at a party and the host tells me I can have anything I want to drink; then asks if I want Coke or Pepsi.  I ask, "Do you have ginger ale?" and he repeats, "Do you want Coke or Pepsi."  That is the difference I see between the two ruling parties.  I emphasize RULING PARTIES.

Politics today is presented to us by the mainstream media and the whores in Washington just like the "bread and circuses" the Roman Empire fed the plebs right before the Roman Empire collapsed.

I read and followed Ayn Rand when Paul Ryan was still in his diapers. I understand and ascribe to the libertarian principles she wrote about many years ago. Unlike the Tea Party fanatics, who rage "We the people", "Take our country back"; I also am a realist and businessman who recognizes we are out of control FIRST as a society.

Government is a construct of our society.  There ARE free and democratic socialist republic countries in the world today, but our media scoff at their success because the media and government is controlled by lobbyists for the power elite, not for the people of the country.  The people are simple chattel who are enslaved by banks and government privatization which is turning our world into a version of a bad futuristic Sifi book or movie.

Getting government out of education, health care and the economy is exactly what the rulers who REALLY run this country want.

I have friends in education who cite numerous examples of corporations making hundreds of millions of dollars from Charter schools while abandoning less profitable neighborhoods and children. Education is NOT something that should be treated like a business with measureable outcomes and standardization.  You can read my post on this subject at http://efficiency-expert.blogspot.com/

The collusion between the health care providers, big pharma and the insurance companies is a disgrace to our nation.  EACH and EVERY ONE is a private company.  Today, corporations are no longer corporate citizens of America, They are international entities focused on short term shareholder value. They move their jobs and revenues across the globe to find the best tax rates and the cheapest labor.

Have you given any thought to the disgrace private prisons are in this country. We have a prison-industrial complex made up of companies who operate prisons simply for profit.  Last week the justice department ruled that the federal government would no longer support private prisons. The mainstream news reported about how this will impact the profits and share price of these public companies.  That was the focus of the story they fed us as if running prisons for profit is a "good" thing.

Are you familiar with the case in Pennsylvania where a judge was colluding with a private prison to receive a kick back for every young person he sent to their facility.  It was a fabulous marketing scheme,  In business we call this a spiff.  GREAT marketing, and the more actions  the government declares illegal, the more people get arrested and sent to prisons.  These modern day Bastilles are  run by corporations who bring jobs and stimulate the economies of the former industrial towns where they build them. 

Maybe someday they will be stormed just as the original was stormed in 1789.  Unfortunately, our government has insured this will never happen; not because they have corrected the injustice, but because they have financially, chemically and electronically sedated the public so they no longer have the desire to revolt.

So please don't tell me about, "We the People", or getting the government out of the very activities in which the government SHOULD be involved. 

Open your eyes.  Democrats, Republicans, Tea Party, Clinton, Trump, Sanders, Paul, Cruz, Bush, Kasich, Biden, Obama, Fiorina, McConnell, Ryan, Reid, Cheney, Conservative, Liberal, Moderate: It's all bull. A puppet show set up to give you the illusion that your vote matters and that you have a choice.

So what will it be, Coke or Pepsi?

https://www.facebook.com/martin.amadio.75/posts/10210150169734790?comment_id=10210154454641910&reply_comment_id=10210166976114939&notif_t=feed_comment&notif_id=1471995377622082

Mr. Holland's Opus

Sunday, August 20, 2016

I just caught the last 15 minutes of the movie Mr. Holland's Opus on Showtime.

Normally I would have just clicked to the next choice on my multi-channel cable feed which constantly shows movies I have no desire to watch.

I stayed with Mr. Holland’s Opus because I knew that Jay Thomas played a supporting role and I love Jay Thomas on Sirius/XM radio. He is a very funny guy.  The scene I clicked into was the very scene, where Jay Thomas, who plays “the buddy” to Richard Dreyfuss was saying goodbye to him in the music room.

I stayed with the movie past this scene as I was getting dressed and the TV was just on as background.

Now Mr. Holland’s Opus is a very well made mainstream movie. There should be more movies like this but marketing and sales dictate what gets made.

The movie was perfectly, emotionally manipulative, and hooked me right into Mr. Holland.  It romanticized the role of Humanities in education in the same fashion that Hollywood movies like An Affair To Remember or You’ve Got Mail romanticized love and relationships.

Mr. Holland’s Opus presents the pleasantly romantic, even innocent, notion that our school systems are or should be, places of enrichment and development of our youth. The movie’s climax illustrates the fact that teachers, and music teacher, Mr. Holland in particular, shape our young people into adults who create tomorrow’s society.  This is an idea which should be at the core of our education system.   Unfortunately, one could not recognize this sentiment when one looks closely at the reality of the educational system in America.

I'm sure we'd all like to believe how important the humanities are to a person's education and development but as a nation we continue to cut budgets for education because we view education as an expense which needs to be streamlined and made to run efficiently.  I cannot help but think that this view is hurting our society.  The humanities are far more important than school boards realize.

Believe me, I am a true capitalist.  I recognize the importance of the vocations and training our educational system provide to prepare students with the skills they will need to keep the capitalist society going forward.  But education should be more than glorified job training.

Like so many things in life, and in business, something’s dollar value sometimes is not really equivalent genuine value.

I just heard a quote but cannot find to whom it is attributed.  "Not everything that can be measured is valuable and not everything valuable can be measured.”  I struggle with this everyday in business.

The moral of Mr. Holland’s Opus, although the movie is a fairy tail, a fable if you will; is that under appreciated teachers all over our country are indeed touching our youth’s lives with subjects such as art appreciation and music who’s value cannot be measured or tested.

Education, at both the high school and university level needs to be much more than preparation for the jobs our society needs filled.  Yes that is important, but the true value of education cannot be measured on tests.  There is no metric for the love of learning that comes from a well rounded education.