I double dog dare ya....

Yeah, make that "triple dog"....

Do you think you could have graduated from the 8^th grade in Bullitt County, Kentucky, in 1912?

The only thing between you and the diploma would have been the test below (thanks to WashingtonPost.com for this little eye-opener).

Now, I'm not going to say any of the obvious things that will come to your mind, as they came to mine….

I'm not going to mention my guess that many of the young folks who walked across the stage at college commencement a couple months ago wouldn't do real well on this test.

I'm not going to make any comment about the thought you're going to have, along the lines of "nobody needs to know this stuff!" and so on…

And I'm certainly not going to give you any clue about my approximate score of right and wrong answers…that's personal, you know what I'm saying….

No, no! be a truck driver...!

"You wanna be a politician?!"

Gallup says about 2 out of 3 Americans would not want their children to "go into politics as a life's work." Also, the polling organization reports, that sentiment has been pretty much unchanged during the last 20 years.

Well, no surprise, right? Think of all the politicians you know, respect and love…

Congress is currently getting something like a 14% approval rating…who are the 14% who think the folks in Washington are doing a good job?

For that matter, who are the 1 out of 3 Americans who WOULD like a son or daughter to go into politics?

I think politics SHOULD be a noble profession.

It's not. I don't expect it will be.

In politics, there is too much reward for the wrong kind of motivation.

Every elected representative should be limited to one brief term.

And come to think of it, who are the people who keep re-electing the incumbents?

   

  

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-do-nothingest-congress-ever.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/06/memo-to-congress-what.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/06/we-think-congress-well-yknow-sucks.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-value-of-voter-apathy.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/all-politics-is-local.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/04/are-we-forgetting-majority-rule.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/08/dont-vote-for-incumbents.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/05/re-election-what-is-point.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-still-dont-get-it.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-dont-get-it.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/03/fighting-entrenched-incumbents.html

The wisdom of the Cherokees (part 18)

"It isn't in the hearts of the gentle

      to think that others do not have their same heart-felt ways."

The wisdom of the Sequichie of the Cherokees

Let your heart rule your choices and guide your dreams.

Let your mind be open to the truth within you and around you.

Be strong in your heart, and in your mind.

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-17.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-16.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-15.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-14.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-13.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-12.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-11.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-10.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-9.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/today-is-house.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-wisdom-of-chief-standing-bear.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/touching-earth-is-lovely-thing.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-5.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-4.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-3.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-2.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-wisdom-of-cherokees.html

1 out of 3 households with kids has a single parent

Bravo to the hardy women and men who are raising their minor children without the help of the other parent. 

It's a demanding job when both mom and dad are around, and more so when only one is present….

The Pew Research Center reports  that in the last 50 years, the percentage of households with kids that are under the care of both mom and dad has dropped from 92% to 67%.  Solo moms are raising their kids in most of the other households, although homes with a solo dad have increased to 8% of the total.

Growing up without both parents present is not the best deal for the kids – but let's give full credit to the mothers and fathers who are going it alone, and doing their best for the children.

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/kids-dont-learn-from-people-they-dont.html

"...the do-nothingest Congress ever!"

Ezra Klein, over at the WashingtonPost.com, had a tasty item yesterday on his Wonkbook blog:

The 113^th Congress now in session is making a serious run for the title as the laziest Congress in history.

I think that's a polite way to say that all those Senators and Congresspersons are just completely focused on playing their let's-get-reelected political games, and so they're not spending any time on doing the real people's business, like boosting growth in our national economy and helping to create jobs for the millions of Americans who want to work.

So far in the current session, the 113^th Congress has passed 15 bills that became law. That's not even one every week. We have enough national problems to make a-bill-a-day seem like the right pace, more or less….

You can read his depressing rundown on the past do-nothing Congresses here.

Klein mentioned that the current crew of 535 incumbents are "less popular than dirt mixed with mud."

Why do we keep re-electing these people? Most voters could honestly say that Congress isn't looking out for their interests….

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/06/memo-to-congress-what.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/06/we-think-congress-well-yknow-sucks.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-value-of-voter-apathy.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/all-politics-is-local.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/04/are-we-forgetting-majority-rule.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/08/dont-vote-for-incumbents.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/05/re-election-what-is-point.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-still-dont-get-it.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-dont-get-it.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/03/fighting-entrenched-incumbents.html

The wisdom of the Cherokees (part 17)

"The sweetness of a child can cause a tenderness to come in the hardest heart."
The wisdom of the Sequichie of the Cherokees

Let it be.

See the world as the child sees it.

The wisdom of the Cherokees (part 16)

"Gentleness has amazing strength."

The wisdom of the Sequichie of the Cherokees

Oh yeah, I almost forgot:  Speak softly.

If you're blustering, odds are you're not leading, and you're probably not convincing anyone, either.

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-15.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-14.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-13.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-12.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-11.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-10.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-9.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/today-is-house.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-wisdom-of-chief-standing-bear.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/touching-earth-is-lovely-thing.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-5.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-4.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-3.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-2.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-wisdom-of-cherokees.html

The wisdom of Leo Tolstoy (part 2)

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time."

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)

Take your time, think about it.

Sometimes saying "I'm gonna live longer than this problem will exist" can set up a good frame of reference for you….

Tolstoy on changing the world....

   

Try chewing each bite 100 times…..

I think if a fast food menu item weighs more than your shoes, there's a good chance you shouldn't put it in your mouth.

You keep hearing the bad news about obesity.

Here are three of the reasons for it:

At Kentucky Fried Chicken, the 10-piece bag of Original Recipe Chicken Bites -- 1,300 calories. 

At McDonald's , the Big Breakfast with syrup and margarine -- 1,350 calories.

At Wendy's, try Dave’s Hot ‘N Juicy, the  3/4 lb. triple patty with cheese -- 1,120 calories.

Roughly speaking, the USDA says the average sedentary American in his or her 40s needs about 1,800 calories (ladies) per day, or 2,300 calories (gents) per day.

And about 80% of Americans don't get the minimum recommended exercise, so "sedentary" describes most folks.

So it's not too hard to figure out that getting more than half of your daily recommended calories from one menu item at your favorite fast food joint is an easy way keep the pounds on.

Mayor Bloomberg was on the right track when he tried to outlaw the 128-ounce Big Super Mega Giant Gulp drinks….

I think if a menu item weighs more than your shoes, there's a good chance you shouldn't put it in your mouth.

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/large-soda-at-mcdonalds-in-1955.html

American Gothic: an update

No surprise here: American Latinos are moving to the Midwest, looking for work and finding it. This new book  tells all about it. 

A recent report from Experian Marketing Services mentions that, right now,  almost 25% of Americans 6-34 years old are Hispanic. And that percentage is growing.

Hispanic folks are our neighbors.

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/habla-espanol.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/02/your-daddys-daddys-daddy-was-immigrant.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/11/what-immigration-problem.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/09/immigration-yet-another-bottom-line.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/08/welcome-welcome-emigrante.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/06/immigration-another-bottom-line.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/06/immigration-one-of-bottom-lines.html

Social networking: old as the hills

A piece in the June 23 Sunday New York Times Review section caught my eye, but it turned out to be superficial, mostly a waste of time.

Tom Standage, the digital editor at The Economist, unloaded some of the points he makes in his new book, Writing on the Wall: Social Media – The First 2,000 Years.

I beg to suggest that social media as we know them now just aren't that old.

I'm no Luddite, and I'm not an early adopter of current social media, I have a Facebook page but only 11 Facebook friends and I'm not looking for more. I have a cell phone and I send a text message now and then.

I happen to like social networking, but I do it the old-fashioned way: face to face, with spoken words and facial expressions and hand gestures. You know, like they did before the Great War….

Frankly, I don't think we've had social media for the last 2,000 years. Standage used up his column inches in the Times with three cheers for the English coffee houses which sprang up in Oxford and London in the 1650s. I'm happy to agree that the gentlemen who patronized the coffee houses were doing socializing and social networking, but a coffee house is not a good example of social media.

I go so far as to suggest that each and every aspect of the use of social media is not necessarily social networking, at least not in the human biological sense. I go so far as to suggest that each and every aspect of communication is not necessarily social networking.

Let's stop blandly and blindly labeling all use of electronic media and iconic gear like iPads and iPhones as social networking. For instance, posting a Facebook picture of your cat eating ice cream is not the highest form of social networking.

I'd like to argue the point that personal human contact is essential for social networking that has traditional meaning in the context of the dynamic human communication that's been going on for a lot longer than the last 2,000 years.

Before there was Google.....

Don't give 'til it hurts.

"Don't give 'til it hurts."

It seems like that's what wealthy Americans—let's say your average wealthy Americans—tend to say to themselves when they haul out the checkbook to do the charity thing.

The poorest Americans are almost 3 times more generous than the wealthiest Americans in their donations to charitable causes and organizations.

Here's an excerpt from a recent report on TheAtlantic.com:

"One of the most surprising, and perhaps confounding, facts of charity in America is that the people who can least afford to give are the ones who donate the greatest percentage of their income. In 2011, the wealthiest Americans—those with earnings in the top 20 percent—contributed on average 1.3 percent of their income to charity. By comparison, Americans at the base of the income pyramid—those in the bottom 20 percent—donated 3.2 percent of their income. The relative generosity of lower-income Americans is accentuated by the fact that, unlike middle-class and wealthy donors, most of them cannot take advantage of the charitable tax deduction, because they do not itemize deductions on their income-tax returns."

And the folks who write the very biggest checks, the ones with six zeroes, generally aren't helping the poor.

The Atlantic says: "Last year, not one of the top 50 individual charitable gifts went to a social-service organization or to a charity that principally serves the poor and the dispossessed."

Everyone is entitled to be generous as much, or as little, and how, he chooses. Absolutely.

But let's just be harshly candid: writing a big check and putting your name on the new wing of the art museum isn't the moral equivalent of feeding hungry orphans or buying books for poor kids or sponsoring a sports league for disadvantaged youths.

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/having-fun-at-disney.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/389000-millionaires-in-new-york-city.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/maybe-diana-would-have-done-it.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/01/some-people-have-too-much-moneypart-2.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/12/some-people-have-too-much-money.html

Guilty.

I'm reading my books as fast as I can.

Wish I could read two books at once, one with each eye.

But, I'm not going to stop buying more.

No way.

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/04/get-em-started-with-books.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/books-books-books.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/does-your-library-smell-like-leather.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/so-many-books.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/for-bibliophiles.html

Memo to Congress: What?

Memo to Congress: What?

As in:

What are you thinking?

What are you doing?

What is stopping you from doing your real job?

Members of both parties in both houses are endlessly skewering each other and just about everybody else from President Obama on down, focused on the politically-charged subjects of NSA "snooping," immigration and citizenship for immigrants, abortion, the hopelessly boondoggled  special-interest nightmare loosely called the "farm bill," you can add to the list….

What Congress isn't doing is working on the two primary national concerns: boosting growth in our national economy and helping to create jobs for millions of Americans who want to work.

I think more or less everybody knows that economic growth and jobs are what's on the minds of Americans.

Too many people keep voting to re-elect the pols who are playing their political games and pandering to special interests, while the rest of us twist slowly in the wind….

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/06/we-think-congress-well-yknow-sucks.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-value-of-voter-apathy.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/all-politics-is-local.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/04/are-we-forgetting-majority-rule.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/08/dont-vote-for-incumbents.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/05/re-election-what-is-point.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-still-dont-get-it.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-dont-get-it.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/03/fighting-entrenched-incumbents.html

The wisdom of Abraham Lincoln (part 8)

"The things I want to know are in books;

      my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read."

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

16^th President of the United States

Now, I ain't got any doubts that this here is pure Lincoln, Old Abe weren't no stickler fer grammer when he was a young man….

Books was a summat scant commoditee then, in those parts where the Railsplitter was livin' in his early years.

So I ain't feeling like there's any reason to think this is anythin' but the whole truth, as a youngish country lawyer in Illinois might have spoken it.

So, you go on, do like me, do honor to Mr. President Lincoln's memory, be a friend and give a friend a book.

Some of the things your friend wants to know are in books.

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-wisdom-of-abraham-lincoln-part-7.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-wisdom-of-abraham-lincoln-part-6.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-wisdom-of-abraham-lincolnpart-5.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-wisdom-of-abraham-lincoln-part-4.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/03/wisdom-of-abraham-lincoln-part-3.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/02/wisdom-of-abraham-lincoln-part-2.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/01/wisdom-of-abraham-lincoln.html

Enjoy yourself, you're going to live a while longer….

The Center for Disease Control estimates that average life expectancy of Americans has increased by more than 10 years in the last two generations.

That's a stunning gain in longevity, in less than a blink of an eye in geologic time. It's definitely a man-made phenomenon. It's all due to rapid, worldwide improvements in health care, sanitation and nutrition.

The average American born in 1950 had a life expectancy of about 68 years. Folks born in 2010 had a life expectancy of almost 79 years—on average, they'll live a decade longer than their grandparents.

They're probably going to work longer than their grandparents did.

And they're going to use a lot more health care.

And, regrettably, they might save a lot less for their retirement than Grandma and Gramps did.

This is a huge public policy issue….and hardly anybody is talking about it.

Saving for retirement

The "golden years" ???

Boomers, get with it

Take care of the ones you love….

Be serious, be the Nurse, be gentle….

Put your hand on his neck, so he knows it's OK

Umm, technically, my paws.....

                      

Your dog looks up to you

                           

Walkin' the dogs

More dogs and stuff....

The wisdom of the Cherokees (part 15)

"We don't have to tell everything we think…Subtlety makes someone else think, and that is more important.

           Our tendency is to think that no one understands

                         unless we spell things out for them."

The wisdom of the Sequichie of the Cherokees

I try to avoid being the person who has no unexpressed thoughts.

That's all I'll say.

Over to you.

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-10.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-wisdom-of-cherokees-part-3.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-wisdom-of-cherokees.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/02/wisdom-of-chief-joseph.html

Don't ask for a reading….

Hey look, stuff happens, right?, I mean, who knew?, y'know?, everything was going along and then, suddenly, it was, like, I don't know….

Can't do it today....

Stuff

Oooops!

Double oooops!

The wisdom of Jonathan Safran Foer

"I worry that the closer the world gets to our fingertips, the further it gets from our hearts."

Jonathan Safran Foer (b. 1977)

American writer

Foer's opinion piece in the June 9 Sunday New York Times really struck some resonant chords for me. He riffed, with feeling, on the theme "How Not To Be Alone." Indeed.

Read his piece here.

He pointed a finger at "diminished substitutes" in our everyday communication with each other: "Leaving a message on someone's machine is easier than having a phone conversation—you can say what you need to say without a response; hard news is easier to leave; it's easier to check in without becoming entangled. So we began calling when we knew no one would pick up."

More: "Being attentive to the needs of others might not be the point of life, but it is the work of life."

There are many needs and aspirations that are the work of life, and your own may often take perfectly natural precedence over those of others somewhere….

….but I embrace attention to the needs of those I love and those around me, so I can share in their fulfillment and share in the pleasures of their aspirations….that is good work….

not dust and shadow....

You're not excused....

Civilized people

Sweet dreams.

Just one of the ways to get visions of sugar plums dancing in her head….

….or the lion, the witch and the wardrobe….

What's this?

Get 'em started....

"...and step on it!"

The camel bookmobile

Sometimes you really need somebody….

Sometimes you really need somebody to listen.

And sometimes you really need somebody to be there for you.

Dogs aren't people.

But, in a pinch, it can be a little hard to tell the difference.

Walkin' the dogs....

more dogs and stuff

Your dog looks up to you

We're cooking the planet (part 10)

Global climate change and planetary warming are real and dangerous.

The folks who choose to disbelieve are going to sweat just as much as the rest of us.

Mayor Bloomberg in New York City just rolled out a $20 billion plan to "prepare for the impacts of a changing climate," and that's just for starters:

“By mid-century, up to a quarter of all New York City’s land area, where 800,000 residents live today, will be in the flood plain,” he said, and “40 miles of our waterfront could see flooding on a regular basis just during normal high tides.” We no longer have the luxury of ideological debate, he said. “The bottom line is we can’t run the risk.”

Read the full report here.

Folks, we're cooking the planet. The entirety of  believable science says so.

It's the only planet our grandchildren are going to have to live on.

We need to do more, now, to mediate the worsening effects of global climate change.

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/05/were-cooking-planet-part-9.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/02/mother-nature-owns-it.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/01/were-cooking-planet-part-8.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2013/01/color-me-hot.html

http://barleyliterate.blogspot.com/2012/12/you-didnt-rebuild-that.html