One idea presented in the book was moving the aged citizens to a reservation so they could be out of sight and out of mind when the economy turned bad again and younger citizens turned angry and vicious. The author claimed the idea came from a common practice in Ancient Greece. Today a friend passed on a message cruising the Internet that says:

To save the economy -

in 2009 the government

will start deporting

all of the weird old people.

I started crying when I read this.

Promise me you will Run,

Old Man — RUN !!!!

Now, wasn’t that sweet of her? It takes someone real weird to pass along a message like that to an old man that has read the Ninth Wave! I hope that one of her New Year’s Resolutions was to take a break for lunch during the day and quit passing these things on to people! But then again, 90% of the resolutions are broken by the 5th of January anyway, dashed to smithereens by Quitters.

A man can change his mind a lot quicker than he can change his character. Quitters don’t stand a chance at keeping their resolutions; quitting before they get started has become such an ingrained habit. The older they get, the quicker they quit.

I think it is all a simple matter of will power. If you are the kind of person that tries to keep a new goal by using will power you would probably enjoy a black whip and tie party too. It isn’t (usually) will power that gets a goal met; it’s love. “Because I love myself I will quit doing this and start doing that!” Then check up as often as necessary to verify you are making the changes you want to. Benjamin Franklin met all his goals this way and by the time he was 32 years old he was perfect, but since he had a great sense of humor, nobody killed him.

I have a friend up the road that lost the right side of his body in a stroke. The way he now navigates is by limping. He limps and lurches everywhere he tries to go.

When people learn to get there by limping then they will only get there by limping for the rest of their life. My physical abilities on my left side have been deteriorating lately. Whole body exercising occasionally has not helped that much. I had dropped back from using my walking stick, to using my cane, to using my flat-footed walker, to using my “sit down when you need a break” walker. The only reasonable next stop was using a wheel chair again and I was on a down hill slide.

After due reflection I decided the problem was my left side was not being hurt enough to fight back — Or, in other words, I was letting a little bit of pain stop me from walking and doing things normally. Phooie on Hughie! Immediately I decided that from then on I would insist on my left leg carrying more than half my weight and hauling me more than half the way to anywhere I wanted to go.

The habit of limping had already been well-established so I ruthlessly rooted out that tendency. “This is what you are going to do and this is how you are going to do it.”

1 step, or 45, I did each one excruciatingly RIGHT! Boy, did it ever hurt and wear me out. By the end of the first week I could walk all the way to the other end of the house. Then I could make it all the way to the well house without any mechanical aids. Yesterday I walked about half a mile, up and down, over rough terrain — with no mechanical convenience.

Like I said, it isn’t a matter of will power that gets me there and back. Before I set out on my jaunts I offer up a prayer explaining why I am doing anything this stupid and which part of my anatomy I want to be blessed because I do this.

Remember my motto if you want to try reaching your goals this way… “The only way to know you have done all you can do is to keep applying the pressure until it kills you.”

Until next time, if there is a next time, don’t tell me to have a nice day because I have other plans.

Thank you.

The way everyone there craned their neck to smell I knew cupcakes were delicious, though I couldn’t get a whiff. Still, I  resolved to do my ding so well that she gave me TWO of them.

Miss Thompson set the tray behind her, and raised her arm. The room grew hushed. Then her arm floated up and down — back and forth — like a feather that didn’t know where the ground was. Sweet sounds eddied up all around me. My ears were so keenly delighted that my mouth watered. My very soul expanded in joyous gratitude towards heaven. This was it, I decided. This was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was going to make joyous sounds for the angels to feast on in heaven.
Others had better toys. They already had more skill. But I would get to help my classmates cook up some music. A simple little DING now and then would be my share, kind of like adding salt to the pudding.

But I was confused.
{Do I ding it now?} I wondered. {Or now? — – Or should I have dinged it when the fat boy clanged his dinner plates together?}

Sweat burst from my brow as I stood there, poised forever to pitch in my little ding to the clamorous roar.

Finally I just threw caution to the wind.

I — began to make my ding.
From the startled glances around me I knew my ding wasn’t quite right. So I tried harder; then I tried faster. I dinged my little triangle when Miss  Thompson’s arm was going up; I dinged it when the skinny kid in blue beside me puckered his lips up to call up the cows that were messing around in the corn.
One by one the other children ceased to play and commenced to watching me.
Soon, I too paused, and glanced all around. The whole  room grew hushed and expectant, looking from me to the music teacher.  My most fervent prayers had been answered; I - was the center of attention.
My victory did not taste good at all.  Miss Thompson shook her head sadly. She peeked up at me twice, and shook her head again with a whisper each time.

I was learning though. Even from that distance I could read the words that never left her lips. “Why me Lord? Why me?”
Then she reluctantly crept up the bleachers, and gently pried the little triangle out of my hands.

I knew right then that I was not going to get a cupcake.

I knew it just as sure as the world.

I had never felt more alone in all my life.

Later I discovered that life is full of little disappointments for all of us. They can crush us to the bone when they happen, yet bring bright smiles and  treasured memories just a short few weeks later.

Losing a cupcake however –

That is a tragedy that takes many, many years before the memories are revealed for treasures we cherish forever.

Quote:

WHERE IS THE HOME PAGE IT TOOK MONTHS FOR ME TO BILL. I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY NOTICE VIA THE MAIL OR E-MAIL.

PLEASE HELP ME FIND MY WEB PAGE SO I CAN COPY IT AND MOVE IT SOME WHERE ELSE.

I SUGGEST YOU PUT THE HOME PAGE BACK OR YOU WILL LOOSE A LOT OF CUSTOMERS.

I WILL SEE TO THAT.

CONNECTIONS ALWAYS HELP.

***
Where is my homey page? I worked really hard on that page,and had lots of vistors tell me how nice it was,I had lots of help also,now its all gone,guess I can thank a foreign person that bought AOL out?
Well, wake up and smell the roses,I will get another way to play on the Internet soon,My dear AOL people.
***
You cant put anything on this crazy thing either,because they keep sending the activation codes and then I click and come to nothing the same page over and over, great gag Aol you make me so sick.
***
This is very frustrating and angishly wrong for AOL not to at least had the decency to emailed their hometown members of this closing of “hometown.aol.com.html” so we could have been MORE AWARE of this closing. If anyone starts a liable law suit on AOL for this outrage action, please put my name down as a victim of this hanious action taking AOL members. Faye Nall efnall@aol.com

END QUOTE

No wonder we keep hearing that saying crop up.. “I’m so angry I can’t think straight.”

I think when we begin writing scenes where people are angry we need to remember that people are often incoherent, violent, murderous and vengeful.

Researchers in Great Britain and the United States have recognized that sound does not travel in waves, as is popularly believed, but in expanding holographic bubbles and beams.

The holographic aspect stems from the physics theory that even a single molecule of air or water carries all the information that describes the qualities and intensity of a given sound. At frequencies audible to humans (20 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz) the sound-bubble form dominates; above 20,000 Hertz the shape of sound becomes increasingly beam shaped, similar to a lighthouse beam in appearance.

There’s more to the subject, all fascinating.

***

“That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

“That the executive will on the 1st day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.”

There’s more found at:

http://www.talewins.com/Treasures/history/Emanci.htm

*
There are only 700,000 doctors in the United States if you include psychiatrists. There are an average of 120,000 accidental deaths caused by some part of those 700,000 physicians. That means there were an average of 0.171 accidental deaths per physician if you include psychiatrists. Since everyone has at least two doctors and some people have over ten that means that some Americans get killed twice a year on the average. I just thought I’d mention that. Statistics were courtesy of the FBI and the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services. The 4th grade math computations are courtesy of this author.

***

My political advice to one and all last year was to vote on the issues, not on the character or eloquence of the candidates. However, when it came time to get into the voting booth I knuckled under to common sense and voted AGAINST McCain.

With my 20/20 hindsight I can see this was the safest course in the world for the American voter to pursue. Now if any of my friends inevitably get sour on Obama I can declare frankly, truthfully, excitedly and with great enthusiasm that I did not vote FOR him.

***

One friend of mine is the only obviously black face in an office of 300. After the election, people kept coming up to her in private and asking if she was happy that Obama had won the election. “No,” she said. “I took Lin Stone’s advice and voted on the issues; MY party lost.”

I hang my head in shame and ask for more sackcloth and hot ashes.

*

The Whigs did this to us. Our Constitution was perfect at first. Women told their men who to vote for and the best man became President. Washington, Adams, Jefferson — why American history rings with glory any time these names are mentioned. The next best candidate became Vice President — a thoroughly useless and thankless job — But, if El Presidente ever did collapse we had a perfectly good (and popular) candidate champing at the bit to take over the reins of government. Until that wholesome event happened he was contentedly being trained in subterfuge and obfuscation as President of the Senate.

But what happened to our perfect system? The Whigs formed a you-vote-for-me-and-I’ll-vote-for-you POLITICAL party, enhanced by the good old SPOILS SYSTEM. Soon it was party against party instead of candidate against candidate. When Lincoln won the Presidential election it was a single-minded, single-handed Douglas out there on his own expense account and - acting out of patriotic duty - telling the American people to get behind Lincoln.

Meanwhile the Republican party leaders were running poor Old Abe into the ground with their constant jockeying to make him reward someone for something. He didn’t get any peace until the war started.

***

After riding with me a few times an exis friend of mine said he thought the way I drove was paranoid.  ‘Every second you are looking into a mirror as if every car on the road might be about to hit you.”

I resented that accusation so much that I pulled over and suggested he find other transportation. “And I want you to know that I am no more paranoid than those people trying to sneak up on me and ram me from behind.”

***

There was some good news too though. One reader told me that (after reading my Christmas suggestion list) her whole family decided to go serve at a local soup kitchen. “We got there at eight in the morning and served until three thirty that afternoon. Our children LOVED it! They even volunteered to help wash dishes.” The only downer was that she recognized several of her friends there that had dropped out of sight some months ago. They were on the receiving end of the line that looked endless, and preferred not to be recognized.

***

Some of us are luckier that others. A downsized friend of mine wrote to say: “This year, Carole was drafted into the Certified Card Carrying Consumers Club Hall Of Fame. Next stop, the poor house. I’ll write again next year, if I can afford a stamp.”

Once upon a time a mother received a letter from the camp her son was going to that summer, asking if he was a leader, or a follower, because it would help them to arrange the housing placements.

After much consideration she had to admit that her son was a follower, and sent off that news to the camp.

Right back came another letter. “We are so glad that your son is a follower. We are overbooked and have to deny camp privileges to 27 applicants. Since your son is the only follower that has applied out of 127 boys he will be settled in the luxurious big house without incurring the usual price increase and, 27 leaders will be turned down for any housing in our camp.”

Even though every mother wants her child to be a leader, followers are a necessity.  Surprisingly enough, there are no suggestions for becoming a better follower while many rules, pointers, styles, and biographies of inspiring leaders throughout world history have been written over the years.. however, there are certain leadership ideas that we ourselves fail to recognize and realize in the course of reading those pointers and books. Here is a short list of things you thought you knew about leadership.

1. Leaders come in different flavors.

There are different types of leaders and you will probably encounter more than one type in your lifetime. Formal leaders are those we elect into positions or offices such as the senators, congressmen, and presidents of the local clubs. Informal leaders or those we look up to by virtue of their wisdom and experience such as in the case of the elders of a tribe, or our grandparents; or by virtue of their expertise and contribution on a given field such as Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts. Both formal and informal leaders practice a combination of leadership styles.

· Lewin’s three basic leadership styles – authoritative, participative, and delegative

· Likert’s four leadership styles – exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, and participative

· Goleman’s six emotional leadership styles - visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding.

2. Leadership is a process of becoming.

Although certain people seem to be born with innate leadership qualities, without the right environment and exposure, they may fail to develop their full potential. So like learning how to ride a bicycle, you can also learn how to become a leader and hone your leadership abilities. Knowledge on leadership theories and skills may be formally gained by enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences. Daily interactions with people provide the opportunity to observe and practice leadership theories. Together, formal and informal learning will help you gain leadership attitudes, gain leadership insights, and thus furthering the cycle of learning. You do not become a leader in one day and just stop. Life-long learning is important in becoming a good leader for each day brings new experiences that put your knowledge, skills, and attitude to a test.

3. Leadership starts with you.

The best way to develop leadership qualities is to apply it to your own life. As an adage goes “action speaks louder than words.” Leaders are always in the limelight. Keep in mind that your credibility as a leader depends much on your actions: your interaction with your family, friends, and co-workers; your way of managing your personal and organizational responsibilities; and even the way you talk with the newspaper vendor across the street. Repeated actions become habits. Habits in turn form a person’s character. Steven Covey’s book entitled 7 Habits of Highly Effective People provides good insights on how you can achieve personal leadership.

4. Leadership is shared.

Leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but rather a shared responsibility among members of an emerging team. A leader belongs to a group. Each member has responsibilities to fulfill. Formal leadership positions are merely added responsibilities aside from their responsibilities as members of the team. Effective leadership requires members to do their share of work. Starting as a mere group of individuals, members and leaders work towards the formation of an effective team. In this light, social interaction plays a major role in leadership. To learn how to work together requires a great deal of trust between and among leaders and members of an emerging team. Trust is built upon actions and not merely on words. When mutual respect exists, trust is fostered and confidence is built.

5. Leadership styles depend on the situation.

How come dictatorship works for Singapore but not in the United States of America? Aside from culture, beliefs, value system, and form of government, the current situation of a nation also affects the leadership styles used by its formal leaders. There is no rule that only one style can be used. Most of the time, leaders employ a combination of leadership styles depending on the situation. In emergency situations such as periods of war and calamity, decision-making is a matter of life and death. Thus, a nation’s leader cannot afford to consult with all departments to arrive at crucial decisions. The case is of course different in times of peace and order—different sectors and other branches of government can freely interact and participate in governance. Another case in point is in leading organizations. When the staffs are highly motivated and competent, a combination of high delegative and moderate participative styles of leadership is most appropriate. But if the staffs have low competence and low commitment, a combination of high coaching, high supporting, and high directing behavior from organizational leaders is required.

Now that you are reminded of these things, keep in mind that there are always ideas that we think we already know; concepts we take for granted, but are actually the most useful insights — on leadership and virtually any other arcane topic.

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