Election Year Issues

Here's a list of election year issues.

• Distribution of Wealth.
• Growing poverty rates.
• Big Business - Monopolies.
• Banking Regulations.
• Big Business Influence in Politics
• Labor Laws.
• Public Health.
• Immigration.
• Environmental Issues.
• International Trade.
• Equal Opportunity Issues.

The list is from 1900. All of these issues were addressed in the period between 1900 and 1914 in what is known as the Progressive Era. They came about as issues because of changes in what drove our economy from agrarian to industrial. The changes were made to make the lives of average citizens better. In many cases, they did. We are going through a change again from national and regional to global. The issues above still have relevance. 

Etiquette and the Real Life Survival Guide

The Real Life Survival Guide is gathering for another recording this Sunday. The subject is Etiquette. I remember being taught etiquette by my parents. I also went to refresher course as an adult with my wife. The focus was proper etiquette at formal dinner occasions. I think my wife wanted me polish a few of my social skills. At the final class I made a mistake when cutting my meat. In my defense, I'm usually polite.

Because I help produce RLSG, I wanted to know more about etiquette. Was it something from the past? Had the rudeness of partisan politics and postings on the internet made it obsolete?

I found a few articles on talking about politics at social gatherings and at home. An article published by Reuters advises, "Know your goal. Think about the purpose of the conversation, and whether you should even be having it. Are you seeking information? Advocating a point of view in the hope of changing someone else's mind? Venting frustration?"
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/10/04/us-etiquette-politics-idUSTRE6931O620101004
Despite knowing deep down that your opinion is truly enlightened, you might want to keep that thought to yourself.

Social Media has etiquette. Reuters published an article on the etiquette of Pinterest.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/02/net-us-etiquette-pinterest-idUSBRE8610IU20120702

The News and Sentinel of Mobile has an article on intersection etiquette. Jim Parker wrote that for many, intersection etiquette was non-existent after last week's big storm.
http://newsandsentinel.com/page/blogs.detail/display/1106/Intersection-etiquette-non-existant.html

The focus of an etiquette class would seem to be important. NY State Senator Marty Golden wanted to teach some of his Brooklyn constituents proper etiquette. Golden's class was pitched as teaching the proper etiquette skills for women to get ahead in the business world. Among the skills the class would teach women to "sit, stand and walk like a model" and how to "walk up and down a stair elegantly,"  The class is being roundly criticized for focusing on the wrong issues. Golden cancelled the class.




You can find out more at CBS news.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57466407/n.y-sen-marty-golden-cancels-feminine-etiquette-class-after-outrage/

The Real Life Survival Guides program on Etiquette will air on WNPR in a couple of weeks. It airs Sunday at 4:30pm. The shows are also available on-line at the Real Life Survival Guide's website and wnpr.org.

Thank you for your time.

The Complexity of the Healthcare Debate

There are 50 million people in this country without healthcare insurance. Most simply cannot afford it. When the need for healthcare arises (It will for for all of us) the costs are astronomical.  Basic, affordable health insurance can solve many of these problems because the problems can and will be found before they go too far.
A thoughtful and insightful article in the New Yorker by Atul Gwande points out the three types of arguments being thrown in the path of Obamacare. Reactionary arguments take three basic forms. They are perversity, futility, and jeopardy.

The perversity argumnent is that the change will not only fail but, make the problem worse. The futility argument is that the change will not be meaningful. The jeopardy argument is that the healthcare law will result in unacceptable cost on our society. Part of this argument is the desire to exclude the "others." Healthcare is for the deserving. The deserving is narrowly defined.  Gwande writes,  "During the nineteenth century, for instance, most American leaders believed in a right to vote—but not in extending it to women and black people. Likewise, most American leaders, regardless of their politics, believe that people’s health-care needs should be met; they’ve sought to insure that soldiers, the elderly, the disabled, and children, not to mention themselves, have access to good care. But many draw their circle of concern narrowly; they continue to resist the idea that people without adequate insurance are anything like these deserving others."      

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/06/something-wicked-this-way-comes.html#ixzz1zQXaPulc

There's a moral imperative to caring about the fate of those who are less fortunate. It is key to the Christian Faith that we care for one another. It's the second half of the two great commandments given by Christ found in Mark Chapter 12. “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[c] There is no commandment greater than these.” 

I once had sin described to me as seeing someone in need and turning away...not doing anything about it when I could.  We're in a position to do something about it now. Playing politics at the expense of 50 million people would be more than a shame. It would be a sin.

Self Care on Real Life Survival Guide

 The Real Life Survival Guide begins taping this week for season two. The guide will keep its quick back and forth with intelligent guests who have lots to say. This season there's going to be an effort to focus on a particular subject. The first episode in this series will focus on self care.

Self care has become trendy with top ten and top 25 tips. The tips include advice like "stop over thinking", "be still", "eat as many greens as possible" and "forgive yourself and others."

For others, self care is a core issue. I went on-line to find the definition of self care. I came up with this link from an on-line medical dictionary. http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/self-care

The definition has to do with nursing care and occupational therapy.

Number three is pretty basic.

3 personal care accomplished without technical assistance, such as eating, washing, dressing, using the telephone, and attending to one's own elimination, appearance, and hygiene. The goal of rehabilitation medicine is maximal personal self-care.

Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. © 2009, Elsevier.

Number three is also an issue with people on the autism spectrum. Setting up a routine with visual cues to help with focus on some basic self-care issues. Basic issues like washing and brushing teeth, dressing, toilet habits and eating. Living Well With Autism has some good visuals to help children learn theses skills.

I went to the Education Resource Information Center to get more information about self-care for autistic children. They suggest systematic, intensive teaching in self-care skills due to deficits in language and attention skills. There are hundreds of scholarly articles about autism and the issue of self care. A lot depends on how early autism is diagnosed and how early treatment begins. The autism spectrum is a pretty broad range. How deeply the person is affected by the disorder has to do with where he or she falls on the spectrum. This the individual's ability to learn and practice self care.   

I have an iron in the fire on this issue. Autism has touched our family. I'm also on the board for the FOCUS Center for Autism. They work with children on the spectrum on socialization skills including self care. With one in 80 children being diagnosed as being on the spectrum, this is an issue that will become more prevalent in the near future.  Something to think about is how we're going to pull together the resources for the services needed to make many of these children functional (holding a job - having a degree of self-sufficiency). Many parents are now facing this on their own with little help from insurance coverage.

Not addressing the issue could result in a tsunami of adults with emotional and behavioral issues on the streets. During the early years of the Reagan administration, federal funding and grants to community clinics were cut. "We can no longer afford to pay for this service."  These clinics dealt with individuals with mental health issues. The result was that many of these people were put on the street. They had  illnesses like schizophrenia. If they were "lucky", they got warehoused in institutions. If "unlucky" many became homeless. There are many more individuals diagnosed with Autism. I realize libertarians and conservatives will cry, "we can't afford this." I suggest as a civilized and progressive society, we're going to need to be proactive. We will need to come together and find solutions. 


The Real Life Survival Guide airs Sunday afternoon at 4:30 on WNPR. You can hear episodes anytime on their website.

Saving Print Journalism

Two articles published by the Poynter Institute highlight aspects of efforts to save print journalism.
In signing a petition to save the The Times Picayune Garrison Keillor said, "A city without a daily paper is an office park with some malls." The owners of the Times Picayune laid-off  half the newsroom. In the second half of this year it will be published three days a week.

Newspapers are struggling mightily to survive against the Web, Social Media and mobile media as news sources. Warren Buffett bought 63 papers from Media General a few weeks ago. He has bought more since then. Buffett now owns 88. One of the papers he owns through Berkshire Hathaway, The Buffalo News, will erect a paywall for its on-line edition. 

There is speculation that Buffett would buy The Times-Picayune. Buffett acknowledged that he is following the situation in New Orleans but, he's not sure the current owners want to sell.

 

Pew Reports on the Widening Political Divide

Pew Research is reporting the partisan divide is the widest it has been in 20 years. Driving the division is politics. From what I've seen in the research it seems the Republicans have become more rigid.

Partisan Polarization Surges in Bush, Obama YearsTrends in American Values: 1987-2012


NPR on All Things Considered  gave three examples from the Pew Research Center on how things have changed since 1987.

 "There needs to be stricter laws and regulations to protect the environment": In 2012, 93 percent of Democrats agreed with that. 47 percent of Republicans agreed. In 1992, those numbers were 93 percent and 86 percent.  Republicans had a 39 point shift.

"Labor unions are necessary to protect the working person": In 2012, 82 percent of Democrats agreed; 43 percent of Republicans agreed. In 1987, those numbers were 76 and 58.  Republicans had a 15 point shift.


"Government regulation of business usually does more harm than good": In 2012, 41 percent of Democrats agreed, while 76 percent of Republicans agreed. Those numbers were 50 and 61 in 1987.  Republicans had a 15 point shift.



Wisconsinites 'Reach Out' To Heal Partisan Divide

Political polarization is blamed for the gridlock in Washington.  The same issue has deeply divided Wisconsin as they head into their recall of Governor Scott Walker Tuesday.  Is there any hope of breaking this self-destructive trend? There is is when individuals leave their political parties behind. There was another report on All Things Considered about two Wisconsin couples who have gone out of their way to discuss issues rationally.  The group has grown into Reach Out Wisconsin with 30 to 40 people meeting. They hope the meetings will help Wisconsinites move on after the election.


There was a story a couple of weeks ago about partisan politics and the Negro River in Illinois. On one side a group that wanted to rename the river calling it demeaning and racist. On the other more conservative individuals calling the drive to change the name another example of political correctness run amok. The two sides even had dueling Facebook pages with all sorts of insults being hurled back and forth. That is, until the leaders of the two sides started talking with each other. The insults came down off the sites. The argument became more respectful. Here are links to the two Facebook pages.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/adamscreek/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/176640022437400/
The group opposed to the change still can't quite let go but, the worst postings have come down.
Compromise can be found. In your face attitudes have to be set aside. The people near Negro Creek and Wisconsin are proving it.

Ignoring Science in North Carolina?

It looks as if developers will win in North Carolina. US News and World Report says a bill moving through the state legislature would allow developers to ignore sea level predictions based on global warming. By ignoring science developers stand to make a lot of money. So do the communities along the shore, at least, in the short run. They won't be around for the consequences with the sea level predicted to rise 39 inches by 2100.


You can find out more here: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1peM85


Why are sea levels rising? Global temperatures are going up...fast! Below is a chart from NOAA.






Republicans pushing the bill to allow development along the coast...close to the water...assume sea levels will rise gradually. Scientists are warning the rise will be much faster.



N.C. Beaches Eroding 2 Feet Per Year, Study Finds


The bill would create jobs in construction and then support services. But, the bill gambles that the science  is wrong and, that rising sea levels will not be a factor. Eroding beaches are already an issue in North Carolina. Erosion problems are not going away. Is it ethical to sell property to consumers knowing the likelihood of ecological problems? And what about the problems this will cause the State of North Carolina as it deals with property loss after it has tried to legislate away ecological likelihoods?