Dream a Little Dream

Monday, January 18, 2010

Today is the Martin Luther King Jr Holiday. Dr. King is remembered for his "I have a Dream" speech which was given in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington Dc. Dr King said "I have a dream that one day my four children will be judged by the contents of their hearts and not the color of their skin". We are not there yet but we inch closer. In part, Dr. King's movement has been hijacked and subverted to the goals of those who have followed him but his dream remains and his words are quoted to our children. As long as the real message is not lost, all is not lost.

Dreamers are the heart of our society. Dr. King, Bloody Mary in "South Pacific": "If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?" Perhaps the greatest dreamer of all times is Walter Elias Disney whose credo was: "Think, Believe, Dream, and Dare!" Walt Disney went into one of the most risky business in existence, an amusement park, and he founded his entire empire on a mouse. As they say, the rest is history.

Mama Cass Elliot put the words to music, "Dream a Little Dream"

  

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LAURABELIEVES 1/18/2010 8:57AM

Interesting how you put your thoughts to word. Like today with Mama Cass Elliot. And the 17th "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by the Monkees. It makes things more relatable. (yes I know not a word, but you get it) :) Report Inappropriate Comment

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Pleasant Valley is anywhere you want it to be and it can be wherever you are! Life is too short to waste any of it not being as happy as you can be. Abraham Lincoln said it had been his observation that people were just about as happy as they made up minds to be. Make up your mind that today is going to be a great day and enjoy it. Remember that the first 62.5% of "terrible" and "Terrific" are identical. Make the choice to be "TERRIFIC!" and you will be because you have made up your mind to be so and Abraham Lincoln wouldn't lie to us now, would he?

  

It isn't charity when it is taken from you!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

I read in the paper where Pres Obama is sending 100,000,000 to the people of Haiti. At lunch my wife asked where this money is coming from. My son answered that he is borrowing if form my grandchildren!

As I mentioned yesterday, all of the television stations have numbers that you can text to and donate $10.00 or $20.00 to Haitian relief. I went to the grocery store this morning and the cashier asked if I would like to make a donation for Haitian relief. Kroger stores are suggesting that customers "round up" their total to the nearest dollar or the nearest five dollars or the nearest ten dollars.

There is a big difference here! In the first instance, President Obama is stealing from my grandchildren and redistributing their wealth for the benefit of Haitian relief. In the second set of examples private citizens are making a conscious decision to make a charitable contribution because they think it is a good cause, not because some politician thought it was a good idea twenty years ago!

Charity should be an act of love and not something that is forcibly taken from you or your progeny.

  

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ASTERION 1/16/2010 4:51PM

I read HUISFI' s comment with concern...Who were the "people" that helped us when we were a struggling country? Please cite your sources. Are you aware of the amount in dollars of US Aid "given" to Haiti as Foreign Aid and assistance in the past 60 years? Your sentiment is noble, your concern is sincere, you are obviously a caring compassionate human being, but... Money given for relief is money well spent; money that saves, rescues, heals is money that very few Americans object to spending. It may well take a $100M to save the dying, heal the sick, feed the hungry for now. If it does, we should spend it all willingly. But we should not spend One Dollar to "rebuild" an infrastructure that never existed, despite hundreds of millions of dollar given in the past to build roads, hospitals, schools, sewers, water supply systems etc. Let us offer our minds and hearts to assist the Haitian people, not our money. Let us send people willing to teach, willing to help, people willing to share...A Haitian "peace corp" of volunteers from through-out the world, all eager to see these once proud people stand again on their feet. We have sent aid and assistance equal to well over $100K for every Haitian alive today, and yet today they subsist on $2.00, that's two dollars, a day... Obviously, we've never taught them to fish, and we've done a damn poor job of giving them fish in the past. President Obama's knee jerk reaction to promise money is simply more of the same of a failed policy that has never worked as foreign policy. There are no bright spots in America's history of "doing our duty as a powerful country" Our experience, our foundation for a believing financial assistance benefits nations is rooted in our post WWII experience in Germany and Japan...nations whose rebuilding we financed very successfully...but when we go about "Nation Building", not REBUILDING there is not one example of this policy of American "Noblesse Oblige" working. Report Inappropriate Comment

GARRYC55 1/16/2010 3:19PM

I agree, it seems like our President is trying to buy his way into another term by giving our hard earned money and (our grand children's) away to every one. We have bailed out wall street, the car industry, the housing industry and now he wants to shove healthcare down our throats. He and congress do not seem to care what the people want - they just go ahead and do what they want. It's time we make a change and start putting people in office that will listen to the will of the people. Report Inappropriate Comment

HUISFI 1/16/2010 12:03PM

I for one think it is money well spent. We are a very rich country...we might be having problems now, but it will get better in time. If people hadn't helped us when we were a struggling country we wouldn't have the rights we have today. We wouldn't have the opportunity to help the less fortunate. This country spends so much money daily on things we never hear about, never know about....how much of our money is spent on testing and research...some valid, some insane. If the money wasn't going there it would be going somewhere else....at least this way we can feel a little better about our government and how they spend. Those people need the help...those babies didn't ask to be brought into this world and it is our duty as a powerful country to help them....just my thoughts... Report Inappropriate Comment

Random Thoughts

Friday, January 15, 2010

Sometimes I wonder about people's reactions to events. The earthquake in haiti is a tragedy no doubt but we stand now amongst a typical knee-jerk over reaction to a perceived evil. On television last night, each network had a trailer saying text "something" to a certain number to send some minuscule amount of money to Haitian relief. If this was truly a humanitarian effort, why does each network and each station want to have their own destination so they can track that they raised more money that WXYZ in Podunk? I heard this morning that there are at least 100 scams going around with people sending texts, having their cellular provider bill them for $10.00 or $20.00 and then the money goes to a con man and not to Haiti. We need to step back, determine what needs to be done and who will benefit from it.

On the news this morning there was a Haitian singer who was working in the destruction, digging people out, moving the dead to a secure location and doing what he could amongst the destruction. He said he was calling in President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton to declare Haiti a disaster area and to send aid. What to Obama and Clinton have to do with Haiti? Where is the UN? Where is France? All of these third world countries express profound hatred of the United States until the earthquake or the tsunami or the cyclone happens and then there they are with their hands out crying please help us.

These people are hurting and we should not turn our backs on them but enough is sometimes enough. The United States should take a lesson from the little red hen. You didn't help me plant the seeds,weed the garden, harvest the wheat, grind the grain, make the batter, or bake the bread and now you want to help me eat the bread. I don't think so!

  

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Do What You Don't Like Doing!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

The difference between winners and losers is that winners do the things that losers don't like to do. W. Clement Stone says "Success comes to those who try and keep trying with PMA, a Positive Mental Attitude!"

The most powerful nation in the world today is imagination! If you can think it, then you can see it and if you can see it, then you can be it.

Keep your eyes on the prize. Determine what has to be done to achieve the prize and see yourself doing it. Do the distasteful tasks first, then the rest is easy. mark Twain said "If you have to eat two frogs, eat the big one first". He also said "If you eat a frog first thing in the morning, the rest of teh day is easy"

Do What You Don't Like Doing!

  

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DEVSANTA 1/14/2010 10:19AM

Great blog! I love the Mark Twain part it is so true! If I get up and get all the bad stuff done right away the rest of the day is so much less stressful. Good luck on your journey! Report Inappropriate Comment