Robert Jackson Bennett on that horrible, self-righteous and self-aggrandizing article on talent. Growing up there were at least 3 other guitar players who had more "talent" than I had, but I was the rhythm guitarist for our stage band and have some of my licks on (admittedly "self-published", but by other people) records (back when vinyl was it, baby). Why, because I had to work at it. Not one of those guys still plays or every made it anywhere in a band. Oh, they had bands. They didn't even compete in the talent contests or show up at fairs. They were too good for that. When you love something enough to fight for it, you can break through that level that "talent" gets you to and reach "professional" levels. If all you have is talent, you'll be the best there "could have been" ever. Because eventually it gets hard and if you don't know how to work for it, that's a hell of a learning curve to get over. I can speak from experience having done that more than once.
Editors note: graduated last summer summa cum laude not from "talent" or "skill" or "just gets it", but because I worked my ass off, which I didn't do my first 3 years in college. I didn't have to work to learn things and a C was good enough. This degree I needed, wanted, and hungered for that A. It's my promise to myself to approach writing the same way once I'm able to get back to it. [insert long-winded discussion of having realized I was skating by and floundering, now I see I need a more disciplined approach, and why Sonnet 29 has been haunting me]
The ACE score, or 10 questions your doctor doesn't want to ask you, but could help determine you chance of developing some health problems. Unfortunately, as the story talks about, there's no course of "treatment" or way to avoid these health issues (other than what we're already doing). Me? Seven out of 10. (Grokked from Tania)
Catherine Shaffer on on finding your way back. It's a difficult thing to explain and understand unless you've experienced that detachment from your own body.
The crime of allowing people to live in squalor. Not only is it demeaning, it costs us all a lot more and is deleterious to the health of the people who have to live in those conditions.
"Fewer American workers are taking time for lunch. Research shows that only 1 in 5 five people steps away for a midday meal. Most workers are simply eating at their desks." I so feel this. Normally I take only a half hour, and lately I've been going into the warehouse to eat. And people have been known to find me there to tell me something that isn't timely. Seriously. Tell me again how business shouldn't be regulated. There are hard numbers that allowing your employees to have their lunch hours increases productivity. Taking vacations also have the same effect. Having paid sick leave, regular hours, having email access turned off after business hours, all have been shown to have demonstrable effects on increase creativity and productivity. But these are the very things that business' as a whole are trying to stamp out. "People who are in more staff or line jobs that are unionized or regulated by labor rules, [those] are the people who are left taking lunch — because it's mandated. But for white-collar workers and managers it's not, and so they're the group who are least likely to take lunch."
What's love got to do with it? The Alabama Supreme Court strikes back and issues an order to stop county courthouses from issuing same-sex marriage licenses. However, in doing so they've contradicted all the claims of "marriage is a religious institution" (which is okay, because it isn't). "'This notion (public chanting "love matters" outside the courthouse) has broad public appeal and is, perhaps, the mantra most repeated in public discussions of this matter,' the court wrote. 'But although love may be an important factor in a lasting marriage, civil marriage has no public interest in whether the people seeking a marriage license love one another.'" Civil marriage, that means "the state controls marriages".
This must have been what the conservatives called the English no-go zones. Only, here are members of the Islamic community renovating an abandoned (but not un-consecrated) church as a community center of "All Souls." Look, it's one of those armor-plated llamas.
Well, I'm glad you're hate isn't based on ignorance. "State Sen. Steve Vick (R)[said] on Monday that he would walk out of the invocation, delivered by Hindu leader Rajan Zed. He explained that the U.S. was 'built on the Judeo-Christian not only religion but work ethic,' and said he didn't want to see that 'undermined.'… Hindus 'have a caste system,' he added. 'They worship cows.'" Okay, well India does have a caste system (not necessarily just Hinduism), but they don't worship cows. In my head I hear Raj saying, "Do not tell me about my own culture, Sheldon." So, how does being a hateful, vengeful ass fit into your idea of Judeo-Christianism, Sen. Vick? Do you worship your god with those lips?
"Describing its policing practices as totally out of step with the nation as a whole, the U.S. Department of Justice called on Ferguson, MO to take immediate action to align its level of institutional racism with the rest of the country, sources said Thursday." Please don't take my Onion away. (Grokked from someone, sorry, lost the link)
"'Our teen birth rate has dropped 40 percent over the last four years,' says (Larry) Wolk. 'The decline in teen births has been accompanied by a 34 percent drop in abortions among teens.'" But the pro-lifers will try and shut it down. Granted, the program to provide IUDs to poor women was initially funded by private money, but it's proved its worth. It is cheaper for the State of Colorado to continue the program than it is to let it die. But, because the Pro-Life movement is not about actually reducing abortions (but is all about rolling back the sexual revolution) they will kill the bill.
No comments:
Post a Comment