Category: Right Conduct

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No More Teddy Bears

No more candle light vigils.  No more piles of teddy bears.  No more stacks of flowers.  No more fences covered with ribbons.  No more platitudes or speeches of remembrance.  We react compassionately to tragic events after the fact.  They fade from memory and we fail to act to prevent the next one.

There were probably a multitude of factors that collided in the Tucson shooting that left 6 dead and many more wounded.

First, it is much, much too easy to get guns in this country.  I read recently that there are 85 guns for every 100 people in the US.  If they were evenly distributed that would be almost be a gun for every man, woman and child in the US.

Secondly, access to health care in this country is atrocious Continue reading “No More Teddy Bears”

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Wealth Inequality = Social Problems

Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times Equality, a True Soul Food

He is summarizing a British report on the societal effects of wealth inequality. Currently in America “the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans possess a greater collective net worth than the bottom 90 percent.”  I do not understand why everyone, except the 1%, is not shocked and up in arms over this fact.  But that is me.

The basic premise of the study, backed up by tons of data is this.  With great wealth inequality you create a wide variety of personal and social stressors.  There are increases in crime, Continue reading “Wealth Inequality = Social Problems”

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Ace Hardware — Hip Hip Hooray

After about 3 weeks of casually looking when I was in a store anyway, I found a pair of gloves for yard work. “Big deal”, you say. Yes, because my primary criteron was to find a pair not made in China. I had checked all the usual suspects, China*Mart, the China*Mart want-to-be Lowe’s, etc. Every pair of gloves I picked had been manufactured in China.

I was close to an Ace Hardware store Sunday, so I decided to buzz in and see what they had in the work glove department. I picked up several pair, and they were identified as having been made in Pakistan. While this is not American made, I had decided that I would not be able to find a pair of American made work gloves and would settle for a pair made anywhere but China.

I am 100% sure that Pakistan needs the work much more than China. Having worked for a large retailer I know that they make a show of making sure their products are manufactured in factories with some modicum of humane treatment. I can only hope Ace Hardware does this too.

I bought them. Thanks Ace Hardware.

See I Want to Buy American

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Divorcing Susan G. Komen

Susan G. Komen Foundation Elbows Out Charities Over Use Of The Word ‘Cure’

I’ve been donating to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for years. It is not large amounts of money, $100 to $200 a year.  I rotate my charitable giving across several charities.

I first started giving to the Komen Foundation in honor of an ex-girlfriend that died of breast cancer.   Continue reading “Divorcing Susan G. Komen”

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I Want to Buy American

I was in Lowe’s the other day.   The fact that it was Lowe’s is only incidental.  It could have been any of the many big box store chains that dot Generica.

They provided to me a pretty clear snapshot of the some issues that are troubling me about American business.  It all seems to boil down to corporations being willing to sell out this country because they are more concerned about the quarterly profit statement and executive pay than anything else.

My first observation is that Spanish is nearly as prominent in the store as English.  The lettering was not quite as big as the English, but it was only a small percentage less so. Continue reading “I Want to Buy American”

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Worthy Small Charities

Yes I did a cut and paste operation bringing in these links from an article in the New York Times by Nicholas Kristof:  The Gifts of Hope. Mr. Kristof is an advocate journalist. His whole professional career is devoted to reporting on issues like these, especially issues involving females.  If there is a man that can smoke out small worthy charities, I am betting on him.

Here is another of his editorials.  It details some charities that has gone astray:  When Donations Go Astray

If you are looking for alternative giving this year, consider these.

Panzi Hospital (panzifoundation.org) treats victims of sexual violence in eastern Congo, rape capital of the world.

Camfed (camfed.org), short for the Campaign for Female Education, sends girls to school in Africa and provides a broad support system for them. Continue reading “Worthy Small Charities”

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An Irishman abroad tells it like it is !! :-)

The moral of this story is…do not ask an elderly Irishmen what he thinks unless you really, really want to know.

He did pretty much nail it on the head regarding the current financial cluster f***.

Enjoy…if you are in the workplace or small children are around you might want to put on headphones!

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The Secret to Happiness

What is the secret to happiness?  In the adult education Spanish class I am taking, we are reading the book, El Alquimista (The Alchemist) by Paulo Coelho.  The book touts itself as a fable about following your dreams.

Within this fable is a parable about a merchant sending his son off to consult the wisest of wise men on the secret to happiness.  After a long and arduous journey the young man arrives at the abode of the Wiseman.  He is sent off for two hours to tour the magnificent structure, but with a teaspoon of oil in his hand and an admonition to not spill the oil.  The young man returns to the Wiseman who asks him what he had seen. Continue reading “The Secret to Happiness”

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Size Does Matter

How Germany got it right on the economy by Harold Meyerson in The Washington Post

The above link is an article on a different form capitalism, one that values social democratic ideals.  This is not the capitalism found in the good ole USA, but it is found in Germany.  Despite the bad economic times, and the raising economic power of Asia, their economy is still doing very well.

I have had some of the same thoughts as the author of this article, only mine were about farming.  I have occasionally had the same thoughts about small retail shops as Wal-Mart and other big box stores kill downtowns and mom and pop operations. I have just never made the logical progression to our manufacturing base. Continue reading “Size Does Matter”