Friday, August 31, 2012
'A matter of life and death.' A concerned young boy asks me if I can help freea great lobster. My answer may surprise you.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Readers, as someone with millions of readers worldwide I receive a good many comments and responses, some silly, some insightful, some profound. Today's article is a response to a letter I just received from "Timmy" in Orleans, Massachusetts.... He has taken pen to paper (actually fingers to keyboard) to write thus:
"Hello, Dr. Lant. I am 8 years old and care about our planet. The other day I saw an article in the Boston Globe about a 21-pound lobster which was caught in our town. I think that lobster, which was handed over to the New England Aquarium, should be freed. My father (who helped me with this message) told me to write to you being one of your fans. He says that you'll have something sensible to say on the matter. I think the lobster should go free. What do you think?"
My response.
First of all, Timmy, I want to thank you, not just for writing me but for your concern about the future of our distressed planet Earth. You may know that I regularly write on that subject, for I too care deeply about our planetary home.
Second, I want to thank you for writing such a nice, clear message. Most people your age would have made that message unclear and muddled by using what we now call a text message, that is a message composed of abbreviations, symbols, and made-up letter and word formulations whose meaning is known only to the texter and follows no known standard.
I regard such messaging as an abomination and an attack on what is arguably the most important contribution we humans have made to our collective welfare, that is the gift of language. And more precisely the English language, now the language of all the educated people on Earth, people like you. Because of the importance of language, we must fight to sustain it... therefore I urge you to continue your correct usage and maintain the proper features of our sublime, lyric, supremely practical language. I say bully for you!
Finally, I want to say how good it is to see you working with your father on this project. As you probably know even better than I do, young people often see their " 'rents " as nothing more than a convenient if irritating meal ticket... At school, at play, it is the usual, the fashionable thing to denigrate parents, deriding, belittling, everything said a put-down, the better to be thought "wicked cool."
But this is not cool, wicked or otherwise. This, I know, is easier said than done; after all, I was eight year's old once... as your father was. But keep this in mind: it's always easier to criticize and get the cheap laugh than to be constructive. Your policy must be different because you've got brains and sensitivity. Aim at all times to "Honor Thy Parents", even when they are bugging you the most. Remember, this is the first time in their lives they've had to master the important subject of -- YOU. Your help in this endeavor at all times is necessary... and appreciated!
Now, we must get down to the business at hand... for this is a matter of life and death.
"Will you come and join the dance"?
The answer to your fine query, Master Tim, begins in rethinking the matter of lobsters, to understanding them and their place in the universe. Most people don't do so; they see a lobster as a thing that goes from the sea into a scalding pot thence into a waiting and expectant stomach. But here, I assure you, they are short-sighted and ill-informed. We shall begin where these laggards leave off... with the fact lobsters love to dance... See for yourself. Go to any search engine. Look for the 1999 film version of "Alice in Wonderland", based on the celebrated books by Lewis Carroll, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865) and "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There" (1871 ).
Knowing how much raw energy you have, you will want to learn all the steps to the intricate 'Lobster Quadrille" as described by the Mock Turtle. You will see what most people have not only never seen but never even knew existed...an elaborate Court dance which even kings and princes did not disdain. You see, the lobsters we think are so slow moving and awkward seem so only because we see them in our environment, trapped, their claws bound, no vestige of dignity. They are then just so many pounds of boiled meat... and at such a distressful moment the agile and graceful figures of a quadrille are not of first importance.
Ah, but when they are free, in their own expansive home, how they enjoy themselves... leaping, cavorting, every movement practiced, perfected, the better to dazzle their rapt audience. And do please note this: it is the lobsters who are thrown highest in the figure... a matter of exacting perfection and precision done to these lyrics:
" 'Will you walk a little faster?' / Said a whiting to a snail/ ' There's a porpoise close behind us / And he's treading on my tail / See how eagerly the lobsters / And the turtles all advance / They are waiting on the shingle / Won't you come and join the dance?' "
But they can only dance as they should if they are free, untrammeled, for the fact they are free gives them a zest and exuberance no captured creature can ever feel and always pines to have. On this basis alone, our giant crustacean, the master of many dances over his long strand of life (which locals estimate at 150 years), deserves the chance for 150 more. Thus, right from the moment he was caught near your home the good people of your neighborhood have paused before ending this life. This includes the gentleman who bid $3,400 to keep him alive, the money generously donated to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
He has lived, they remind each other, majestic and condescending, since the days of the American Civil War, going about his business with more peace and tranquility than we humans have gone about ours. He should be given life, not the cooking pot. He should be taken into the ice blue waters of our Massachusetts Bay and saluted as he slides into the waters of a world where he is a personage of grandeur and awe.
But, Tim, this doesn't feel quite right either, and perhaps the lobster knows this. Surely, he wants freedom... every wild creature wants and deserves it, for their rights are ancient and fundamental. However, remember this, in the wild they live daily at risk, not least from humans less sensible and sensitive than we are. They will promptly kill, thereby ending all... only to be hungry again in just hours. Fortunately, the Solons at the New England Aquarium have a solution to this problem, which may suit the old fellow just fine and provide the respect he deserves.
Visiting Professor.
You see, we humans need the knowledge that is inherent in this lobster. His long life suggests a superiority of reproductive capacity, and so he is protected by state and federal laws. We need to know what he knows, and the best way to get it is by honoring his wisdom, making him as comfortable as possible, studying him the while.
Thus our lobster has already gained his own huge tank, a true think tank where he resides in amplitude. He must by law undergo a routine thirty day quarantine, and he does not object, for he wants his species healthy, too. During this time, he can be ogled and clearly seen, admired by humans who are naturally curious about a denizen come to us from places little known and vast. He is a time traveler, and we want to know more of what he's seen and how he did it.
Thus, let him stay amongst us for a time, until he has told us all he can. Then release him to total freedom with all its risks and rewards, one of these being, of course, the quadrille which is his to dance as only he can do.
I hope this answer pleases you. And while our visiting professor resides among us at the New England Aquarium, be sure to visit and tell him what we advise. He will be glad to know he has a friend like you -- and me.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Russia's most famous band hasn't released a single song. Why then do we admirewhat Pussy Riot is doing and need to support them?
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Ordinarily Russian punk rock girl bands aren't my cup of tea. Call me old fashioned but my knowledge of and interest in Russian composers and their music ends with Prokofiev.
But I am making a strenuous exception in the case of what is now Russia's most celebrated band, Pussy Riot. In fact, consider me amongst their most enthusiastic fans... for all that I have never heard a note of their music... and neither have their fervent adherents back in the old USSR or anywhere else. Notwithstanding this admitted drawback, don't be surprised to find me outfitted shortly in their trademark balaclava with a lurid t-shirt with their name and logo. I shall be wicked cool for sure. Even more importantly, with this garish garb I shall be reminding not just the powers that be in the Kremlin but everywhere on Earth that injustice somewhere empowers injustice everywhere.
And as long as I have breath in my commentator body, I stand against injustice... I rise against the big guys who trammel the rights of the little guys... and I shall never accept the proposition that because we cannot solve every outrage, we should do nothing to remedy a single outrage.
That is why I am taking this opportunity to tell you about three young women in Moscow whose right to be outrageous, bombastic, uncivil and rude has been crushed by a man who never met a single form of free speech that he liked, approved of, or tolerated, except of course his own. This man's name is Putin, and he is reason enough for constant scrutiny of and grave doubts about the "new" Russia... for in such matters as this it looks remarkably like the pernicious aspects of the defunct Soviet Union itself and the tsars who preceded it.
In short, this is a thoroughly Russian story which could have taken place at the court of any ancient grand prince and where Mr. Putin's views would not only have been understood but appreciated, and that is yet another reason why I must write this story today, for the grand princes of Muscovy were masters of evisceration, eradication, and execution... liberty, save only for themselves, was never part of their dark rule.
The players.
To understand this event, you must know the players. There are essentially four of them. First, Vladimir V. Putin, president of Russia, shop-worn, re-elected in May, 2012 under questionable circumstances, a man determined that his views shall prevail, never mind detritus like bills of rights, constitutions and other paraphernalia of a democracy he disdains and subverts at his pleasure. Make no mistake about it, Putin understands power and never fails to use it, no matter the injustices that thereby ensue. So long as he gets his way, it matters not how many of these injustices he engenders. That is a mere detail of interest only to sentimentalists and cranks.
The Russian Orthodox Church. It is important to remember that in the days when consecrated tsars ruled all the Russias they did so with the ardent support of the Russian Orthodox Church. Indeed, tsardom without the church was unthinkable. Thus when the tsars fell forever, the Communists despoiled the church. But they could not kill it and so the bearded patriarchs bided their time always believing that they would return to the Third Rome that is Moscow and prevail. After all, they were God's elect. In Putin they found a man who would assist them; never mind he believed only in Putin, not the Eternal Father or anything else. They could, they both discovered, work together and profitably for all. It was an understanding the church had satisfactorily had with even the most barbaric and murderous of tsars.
The members of Pussy Riot. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Maria Alyokhina, 24, are three earnest young women dedicated to "revolution", a word which has caused Russia unbearable suffering, dislocation, miseries virtually unmatched in the calendar of human crimes and brutalities. It is against these women that President Putin has hurled the unmitigated apparatus of the Russian state, unknown when he did so... now heroines, if only for an instant.
You. The fourth group is a heterogeneous hodge-podge of protesting Russian citizens, fellow travelers, human rights organizations, and Western governments, including the United States... and, after reading this article... you, a person who must believe in the widest latitude for political free speech as an essential element of our freedom and thus stand firmly against its diminution as inimical to the most robust and challenging of human expression...for all that you may disagree with what is said, done, and promoted. Here is where Vladimir Putin and the civilized world part company, never the twain shall meet.
The incident.
The matter began in February when the women infiltrated the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. There they wore their colorful balaclavas and pranced around in front of the golden Holy Doors leading to the altar, dancing, chanting and lip-syncing for what would later become a music video of a profane song in which they beseeched the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Putin. And this was perhaps the key fact of all... for surely a man more powerful than the Romanovs rightly took umbrage at any act of lese majeste'. Such incidents must be dealt with, swiftly, thoroughly, with maximum punishment. It was only right.
And so three women who had no resources, no powerful friends, no standing were immediately jailed under the noxious conditions a by-word in Russia. In due course, they faced their ordeal... and a verdict that staggered the world, for in no way did the punishment fit the crime. It did, however, make a mockery of the "justice" of "new" Russia and the vengeance and vindictiveness which have always been Putin's own. While they might have faced seven years in prison, prosecutors had urged a three- year sentence; in fact they received two years. Moscow Judge Marina Syrova said in her sentencing the three women were a danger to society, their crimes "grave", insulting and humiliating the Christian faith, inciting "religious hatred." The fact that every word from the judge's mouth was wrong, a deliberate lie was irrelevant. It was what the regime and the church wanted... and they, not the hapless women, had the means to get it.
When the verdict was announced the awaiting crowd howled angrily, then fell into a stunned silence that suggested how terribly far Putin's Russia has to go and how hard the opposition must work. All over Russia that evening there was sadness, profound, haunting, despairing at all that must be done and how long it must take.
As for Putin, there was no compassion in his victory. Pussy Riot and the verdict had given him what he wanted, the opportunity to extol the church while excoriating his opponents as obscene, disrespectful rabble-rousers, liberal urbanites backed by the West standing against the great verities of Mother Russia as exemplified, of course, by Putin himself. It was Putin at his most hypocritical, master of a cynicism that has no superior and which delivered him of all people the plaudits of revered religion.
As for Pussy Riot, they will soon be forgotten and shunted aside unless they are able to turn this outrageous matter into a soul touching song that rekindles hope and inspiration in the downtrodden everywhere. Friends, I give you Woodie Guthrie's immortal song "This Land Is Your Land" (1944) with its sharp assertion that "this land was made for you and me." "This land" now means our planet itself and that includes Russia. It was all made for you and me. Go now and find it in any search engine. Let its soaring declaration ring out, even unto the Kremlin which so needs to hear it.
Sadly, it is unlikely anyone will ever hear such a song from Pussy Riot. Why? Not because they are persecuted but, far worse, because they have no talent and hence no adoring audience of fans and devoted listeners... and never will.
How do I know? You see, they have never recorded a single number or sent samples of their oeuvre to such major artists as Madonna and Sting who have offered to help them gain a worldwide hearing and following. Any ambitious, talented folks would have seized this opportunity to rise high fast, victims of an outrage that gave them e'clat forever. But Pussy Riot cannot... because the fickle Muse doesn't speak to them or inspire... and that is the most ironic and sad aspect of this case, for it only makes Vladimir's smile the broader and more sardonic. No wonder the opposition is chagrined today and sad, for while Putin and his message are clear, they have only a small band whose members cannot sing or raise up the people... and that is cause enough for their great despair.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today.
Photo Credit to New York Times. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
'My huckleberry friend, Moon River and me.' Thoughts on Neil Armstrong, hero.Dead at 82, August 25, 2012.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. Do you remember where you were July 20, 1969? It was one of the iconic dates in the history of our species. Like virtually everyone in the United States and world I was glued to the television, in my case in San Francisco. I was mesmerized by an unfolding event that previously could only be imagined. I was watching a representative of our species -- an American man -- walk on the untrodden moon and make us all so proud, not least for the simplicity and universality of his short remarks, a few words that will live forever:
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
The bar I was in erupted into prolonged cheers as these words, crackling through the distance, rained upon us like a benediction. First the words... then mayhem. I shouted along with the entire world... hugged... kissed total strangers, people I had never seen before and would never see again. All because one man, seen clearly if imperfectly in the grainy pictures from on high, had done a thing every infant can do... take a first step.
At the moment it happened, we were all drawn together. There was a sense of profound joy, relief, and pride in our Great Republic and what it could do when it focused on the project at hand, doing it right, doing it the can-do American way.... As a nation we needed this shot in the arm, we needed this re-affirmation, we needed to be reminded there's nothing we cannot do when we insist on doing it. That day, the day we all remember like it happened yesterday, was many things -- a once-in-a lifetime thrill; a risky, even dangerous challenge successfully met; essential confirmation that we were indeed a people of dexterity and destiny, but above all we were still inhabitants of that shining City on a Hill, a people of vision, of great goals set and great goals achieved. No wonder there were hugs and kisses all round.
At the center of our jubilation about taming the moon was one decent, grounded man, the kind of man-next-door we all knew and relied upon. And as we saw and heard him at his essentiali work, we were glad in our souls that such a one was treading the moon for all of us, for he was one of us, the best of us, the very person we instinctively knew was so right for the work at hand. This was the true importance and lasting legacy of Neil Armstrong, the right man at the right place at the time we needed him.
How had this crucial serendipity happened?
America's lunar perambulation (but not yet Armstrong's part) was predictable from 4 October 1957. This was the fateful date of another iconic event, the day the Soviet Union, the deadliest of our enemies, sent Earth's first artificial satellite into orbit. The result was mass terror, profound fear and a certainty that the Russkies were indeed coming, were in fact already on their way, Sputnik I the precursor of American subjugation and humiliation.
Like all my countrymen, like concerned peoples everywhere, I looked up that perfect fall evening and saw... a future where everywhere around me, the verities of our national life, its blessed contours, its fundamental certainties was all at risk, my life no longer mine but waiting to be claimed by clever partisans of the Evil Empire, our soon-to-be masters. No one who was not present that night can understand this profound angst, despair, and horror at what we all knew was the impending apocalypse.
We all vowed that this would not occur... and if it did that we, not the Russians, would emerge victorious, whatever was required. We were not born to be second rate, to fill second place... and the politicians who understood this and spoke to and promised a great national revival were the ones who captured our attention, our votes, and our admiration.
John F. Kennedy was such a man, and he recognized that sending a man to the moon and bringing him safely home was the adamant symbol the world needed to confirm America's place at the top. Such a mission, dangerous, expensive, unprecedented was just the tonic needed to repair and reinvigorate the body politic. On May 25, 1961 before a Joint Session of Congress, Kennedy threw down the gauntlet... we would go to the moon, no ifs, ands, or buts.
"Moon River".
Just as the president was making this epochal announcement, this historic commitment to lunar and planetary exploration, a song was sweeping the nation. It was "Moon River" by Johnny Mercer (lyrics) and Henry Mancini (music). Sung by Audrey Hepburn in the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's", it won the 1961 Academy Award for "Best Original Song." It's lyrics might have been written for the new space program:
"Moon River, wider than a mile,/ I'm crossing you in style some day."
Smart people, people with insight, realized Hepburn wasn't just singing about a lazy Southern river but, far more significant, the actual moon itself, "my huckleberry friend". And so Holly Golightly became an advocate of lunar lift-off. "Moon River and me." But who would lead the expedition, called Apollo 11, crossing the moon in style?
There was just a handful of men qualified to do so; one of them was Neil Armstrong, naval aviator, aerospace engineer, a level-headed Ohio man who had, since joining the NASA Astronaut Corps in 1962, moved up in the program, steadily, consistently, one important reason why being the fact that he was liked by all, his ego firmly in control.
This was a very important factor in that hothouse of male egos called NASA. He was the ultimate team player who made it clear to the powers that be, "wherever you're going I'm going your way." It was a message heard loud and clear. Here was a man who understood not only the complicated technical aspects but the fact that the lunar mission was also and more importantly a signal to Americans that we were back on top again while reassuring everyone else that our motives were generous, humane and in no way threatening to them.
"The Eagle has landed."
Thus on that day of our nation's pride in July, 1969 it was Armstrong who commanded the mission and thrilled an expectant world with the announcement they had landed... followed about 6 hours and 30 minutes later with the words that ensured his place in history... and our hearts. Inevitably honors were rained upon him and his crew, co-pilot Buzz Aldrin and third astronaut Michael Collins. They deserved all of it.
Now Neil Armstrong is dead, his last important mission accomplished. That is the one which commenced the minute he landed on Earth again after his famous walk-about. This mission was doing nothing to tarnish, diminish or undermine what he and his colleagues had achieved. Here again he did the necessary, being the perfect keeper of the flame and a true hero, modest, unassuming, selfless; a man who was vividly and completely aware of the great significance of his work, never needing to say so.
And so this son of Ohio lived out his days in Ohio and died in Ohio, at peace with himself, his community, his professional colleagues, and his God who had, we know, shed His grace on thee, the man whose single step on the moon signalled the giant leap for mankind.
Now the Eagle is ascending again, free to fly high and far. "There's such a lot of world to see", and no one better to find it for the rest of us than Neil Armstrong, humanity's guide into the limitless Cosmos and its unequalled beauty and awe.
Musical Note. For the music to accompany this article, "Moon River," go to any search engine. Think of Neil Armstrong and all the star voyagers as you listen as you have never listened before. The lyric words surely apply to them.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com
Thursday, August 23, 2012
'Just reach out and touch me.' Prince Harry, Her Majesty, and the undeniable urge to flaunt it if you've got it. Some thoughts.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. For thousands of years, since our ancestors in caves learned how to do what comes naturally, men have been ogling women. It was their God- given right and no one but a few do-gooders thought anything about it. It was the way the world was, and we males liked it that way.
Then the sexual revolution of the 1960s took a remarkable twist. Women started, tentatively at first, to ogle men... and all of a sudden sexual equality meant exactly that. The fig leaf, so firmly in place for millennia, was now dropped forever and ou la la meant Billie and Bobbie, not just Heather and Marie. Thus the world jumped at the chance to see His Royal Highness Prince Harry of Wales in the altogether, up close and very personal.
The facts.
HRH's office reported this week that 27 year old Harry was bushed from his unrelenting labors at the London Olympics. We empathize. It is, after all, strenuous work handing out gold medals and saying just the perfect word of victory or consolation. He surely needed the holiday he took and all its perquisites. But where to go? For the funnest prince on Earth it had to be the funnest place on Earth, somewhere outside the empire where the sun still never sets and where grandmama was sovereign, somewhere where he could kiss and no one would tell.
And so it came to him, "Viva Las Vegas", the magic place where whatever happens stays. The perfect place to parteeeeeeeeeeeee!
Now, let's be clear about what goes on in the town universally called "Vegas". Gambling. Sex. Celine Dion. Sex. Over abundant dinner. Sex. Capische?
Let's be clear about something else. Harry is a bona fide prince of the bluest blood but the likelihood of his ever reigning is miniscule. His father Prince Charles would have to be out of the picture and his brother Prince William, the new Duke of Cambridge. Moreover, the minute Prince William and his alluring wife Kate have a kid, Harry goes down another notch, oblivion his destiny. What's a boy to do in such circumstances? Rod Stewart, loyal subject of the dynasty, has the answer, and he delivered it in his 1978 pop smash "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?". He made the necessary moves as clear as a how-to book, listen, learn, do.
"If you want my body and you think I'm sexy/Come on, sugar, let me know."
And women did, slowly perhaps but undeniably, and a whole new genre of males was born. We called them boy toys. I was chagrined that I was old, far too old, to try on that persona and flaunt the little that was left. Call it caution. Call it common sense. Call it apprehension and fear. I demurred. But Prince Harry most assuredly did not.
Thus, this junior prince of Wales started off with the obligatory game of strip pool, so popular, so prone to reckless betting of vestments. But then, who needs clothes, in Vegas of all places?
Where was his security?
Here is where every single alarm bell in the kingdom should have gone off and where Harry's security detail should have been johnny on the spot reminding him that stripping and flinging his glad rags on the floor was not, ahem, the best of all courses, sir. Such a warning may well have caused HRH to pause and come to his senses, keeping his clothes on his body. Had he heeded the warning, the world would have had to somehow get through the day adrift, without Harry's buff body to titillate and amuse us. But those bells did not go off... and this is a matter not for mirth but for concern. Where were those agents when he needed them? This calls for investigation, explanation and disciplinary action.
Another matter for concern: the totally revealing photos which are now so easily accessible online are grainy, unprofessional, unclear; they resemble photos taken secretly from a closet or undisclosed location. In other words, our feckless prince, all uncomprehending, went into a room of strangers, lost his clothes and thereby became a golden meal ticket to a shutterbug who saw his chance in the naked body of this scion of Windsor to garner a king's ransom fast. It was ignoble, deplorable, but do-able the way our clueless prince so carelessly operates.
Second royal child syndrome.
Harry's singular problems began with his birth. In the old saying, "the heir and the spare," he was "the spare". In this situation, well known to every royal family, the heir gets the good stuff, all the good stuff; crown, kingdom, the respect of a great nation and its empire, and the best seat in the house for every royal pageant. Against this mountain of goodies, what "the spare" gets looks petty, derisory, even unfair. Yet it is the royal way.
As a result, second children, princes like Harry's uncle Andrew, Duke of York, Prince Charles' younger brother, and princesses like Margaret Rose, the Queen's late younger sister, get indulged to a degree... perhaps because their reigning parents feel sorry for them. In short, there is guilt and lots of it, for all that this is the royal way. And so these indulged younger children run rampant in a way no heir to the throne would ever be allowed to do.
Even more guilt in Harry's case.
Harry was just 12 when his adored mother Diana Princess of Wales died. A great nation wanted to reach out and give him comfort. This, in time, turned into near carte blanche, as if he were entitled to do whatever he liked because of the great tragedy that was his burden for life and haunting reality. And so the "indiscretions" piled up:
How Harry was famously photographed wearing a Nazi uniform for a costume party. How he was photographed cupping the breast of a female TV presenter. How he uttered a racial slur while teasing a fellow army cadet from Pakistan.
This prince more than most needed extra attention and as the events in Las Vegas show though he needed it, he didn't get it. Will what ensued hurt the dynasty? No way. For Harry was indulging himself in ways every English mate would understand, do whenever he could, and envy. It was a case of "that lucky dog" and a lascivious wink.
But what of Her Majesty the Queen? Surely she had something to say on the matter? Not necessarily, for I suspect she realizes her own responsibility in the matter of her handsome, dashing, most humorous grandson, and likes him just the way he is. Any such call she might have made would have contained only the most mild slap on the wrist, thus: "Harry, really...." "Yes, Grandmama." "Try not to be so trusting." "Of course, Grandmama." "And assume there are always cameras present." "You're right, Grandmama". "And do keep your clothes on, dear Harry." "You have my word, Grandmama." And that, this time, was that. But of course both knew he couldn't keep it.
Wanted: a good woman.
The solution? A good woman, of course, pretty in the English rose way, and above all someone who would understand and love him for himself. His elder brother, someday to be king, found such a beloved. With luck, and fewer trips to Las Vegas, Harry will find his, too. Until then, we must anticipate and expect more such indiscretions and misadventures splashed on the world's tabloids, giving us the opportunity to tsk tsk, disapprove, and, above all else, enjoy the discomfiture and witlessness of a prince of the blood royal whose ancestor was once our puissant lord and king. It pleases us to see how far the mighty have fallen and hope to see how further still they may yet fall.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Committed Relationship-There Comes A Time When You Need More
Dating can be a wonderful experience, but there comes a point where you need something more. What you need is a committed relationship. But how do you know if you are with the right person now (assuming you are already dating), or if you should try looking for somebody else?
The first thing you need to do is look at things objectively. You have to do your best to take the emotion out of it and use a logical approach to your desire for a committed relationship. That means you have to ask yourself if you are actually looking for commitment, or if you are looking for something else. As long as you are being honest with yourself there are no wrong answers.
Okay, so you have decided you really want to be in a committed relationship, but there are still a few more things to do.
Decide what you want from the relationship - Knowing what you want will help you to find the right person to be committed to. Again, the key is to be honest with yourself. If you are looking for someone to give you financial security, then say so; if you want someone to make you feel special, then say so. At the same time, you should also think about what you can offer to your partner. It wouldn't be fair for only one of you to give their all while the other one takes, so be sure to think about what you are adding to the relationship.
Assess your current relationship - If you are currently in a relationship, then you need to take a close look at your partner to see if they can provide the things you want (and if you can provide the things they want). Nobody is perfect, so you have to be willing to accept your partner for who they are, not who you want them to be. The only thing that you are trying to change is the level of commitment in your relationship.
Talk to your partner about being in a committed relationship - Let's face it, commitment scares some people, but you still need to have a discussion with your partner. This is an important topic, and one where assumptions usually do more harm than good. You know your partner best, so you'll have to decide what the best method is for bringing it up. Be sure to discuss the subject in a way that is calm, respectful and sincere.
Make changes, if needed - If your partner isn't quite ready to be in a committed relationship, then you have three basic choices. 1) Ignore it and be trapped in a non-committed relationship, 2) give them a bit more time, 3) break up and move on with your life. Which option is best will depend on you and your situation. However, you do need to make a decision and then proceed from there.
Ruthsella Corasol is the Owner of http://WorkingAtHome101.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Wrong right from the start. Problems, muddle, confusion, embarrassment at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. You've got to wonder whether the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy and his second wife Victoria Reggie ever bothered to read the Constitution of these United States before advancing what the Senator saw as his 'legacy," the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.
Article 1 Section 1 of the most important and influential document of the Great Republic reads thus:
"All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives."
In crystal clear language, the Constitution lays out what legislative entities there will be, what powers they shall possess, how many representatives there will be in a state, who is eligible to serve, what officers there will be, how they are chosen, etc.
At no time does the Constitution state or imply that one branch shall be considered superior to the other. Instead, the Constitution lucidly makes the point that the two branches of Congress are equal.
This being the case, any discussion of the Congress, its history, and its place in the Great Republic must perforce focus not on one branch or the other but on the two co-equal branches and how they work together to advance the people's business, or not.
Why did Senator Kennedy decide to focus his institute on just one branch? First, because he served in the United States Senate for nearly fifty years and was widely regarded as one of its Grand Old Men. Second, because it was the sole branch of government in which all three famous brothers served, John, Robert, and Edward.
Once the decision was made that the Institute should focus solely on the United States Senate, a host of otherwise avoidable problems was planted and began to grow. These problems are now numerous and acute, threatening an already illogical organization that wiser heads than those in charge would have seen as a disaster waiting to happen, taking prompt remedial action accordingly, not least to save the face of this celebrated family.
The project is born (2003).
When you're a Kennedy of the Camelot Kennedys, it is expected, anticipated that you will have a suitable monument, large, grandiose, something that adds to the family's renowned place in the history of the Great Republic. For after all, to be a Kennedy is to be an historic figure. No one knows this better than the Kennedy in question, the next to be immortalized. Discussions amongst the cognoscenti go something like this: "Should I run for offices for which I am entirely unqualified... or not?" "Should the names of my several spouses and friends with benefits be included in my monument... or not?" "Should this stirring quotation attributed to me but written by my ghost writer be chiselled in my eternal stone... or not?"
Such questions are unending, continual... and treated with the utmost seriousness by those expecting apotheosis, victims all to a collective edifice complex, the latest example being the Kennedy Senate Institute, a whopping 40,000 square feet of hubris. And what is to take place in all that space? Just about everything that has to do with the Senate, including its history, members, operating procedures, educational programs, issues, debates, filibusters, legislative training et al. Only senatorial amours and favorite salad dressings have been left out.
The problem is, the way this institute is organized is egregiously incorrect. Just as love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage, so does the United States Senate go hand-in-hand with the United States House of Representatives. Whilst each has its unique aspects, neither makes complete sense (much less a productive legislative enterprise) without the other. They are two halves of the whole.
Imagine this scenario.
Ms. Martin's 5th graders are learning about how Congress works, how bills become laws... or not. Emmy Sue asks what happens when a bill passes the Senate. What then? And there's the rub... the Senate-only institute stops just when it needs to continue, so that people understand the complete Congress, the total legislative process, not merely its seigneurial "upper" branch. Even Emmy Sue, age 10, will know something's amiss when the guide says, "Er, the Senate bill goes to the House, but this institute only covers the Senate, so I cannot tell you more...." Even ten-year-olds would consider this weird, bogus, dumb. And they'd be right. That's why there must be a complete halt to the current farce... and a total rethinking of this embarrassing "institute" that has "Keystone cops" written all over it, before there are further cost over runs and another seventy million dollars, more or less, are wasted.
What must be done?
1) The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate as presently configured must be terminated. Its 40,000 square feet should be transferred to the JFK Presidential Library. Suitable spaces within the whole should be carved out for Robert Kennedy, Edward M. Kennedy, their wives and families, personal lives and professional achievements.
2) Focus should shift to a much needed Congress facility where everything about the Congress of the United States, past, present and future, can be showcased and presented to a nation which desperately needs a brilliant state-of-the-art interactive facility, the apogee of American technology, architecture, and historic preservation and presentation.
3) A suitable Washington, D.C. location should be scouted, considered, selected... no other location can or should be reviewed, much less Dorchester, Massachusetts, its current pied-a-terre.
4) ALL current administrators should be graciously, courteously shown the door forthwith.
5) The highest possible blue ribbon advisory board and trustees should be appointed with the sitting president a must as honorary chair. Mrs. Victoria Reggie Kennedy can have an honorable seat amongst them, but no more. An important institution requires important governors, and it is telling that the current institute has none.
6) A complete fund raising plan should be drafted with both private and public funds to be raised.
7) A knowledgeable, hands-on, organizational expert must be appointed, an individual of skills, deep pockets, and determination. My suggestion? Mitt Romney, if the presidency eludes him. After all Romney salvaged the 2002 Olympics. He is even an historic footnote in the story. He ran against Senator Kennedy in 1994, and lost. Mitt would do the project proud. His considerable pride alone would see to that.
Can such a radical shift take place? Of course. IF the principals now bobbling the matter are open to reason and a willingness to put the needs of the Great Republic above their own. Thus we need a "fixer" to arrange matters with grace, kindness, clarity, efficiency and such ruthless and surgical incision as may be called for.
In short, we need Joseph P. Kennedy, Patriarch. He would have seen the point, dragooned the personnel and raised the lavish funds required. Oh, where is Joe Kennedy now, and where shall we find his like -- and fast enough to avoid more muddle and abashment? For these, muddle and abashment, have set the two surviving children of Edward Kennedy against the woman he loved and revealed how toxic this situation already is and how much more poisonous it could get. For now, this is the sad legacy of Edward Moore Kennedy, and until it is firmly taken in hand, rethought and redirected it will fester and deteriorate into rancor, bitterness, and enmity. Musical note. As the music to accompany this article, I have selected "The Country's In The Very Best of Hands" (music by Gene De Paul; lyrics by Johnny Mercer) from the 1956 production of "Li'l Abner." Go now to hear this ironic gem... and let's hope it motivates the folks so over their heads and misguided at The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, so obviously not in the best of hands, or anywhere thing near.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Make Money with Writing, Blogging, and eBay
I'm going to show you three quick and dirty ways to make income online, by working as much or as little as you want, from anywhere in the world, whenever you choose.
Freelance Writing.
Online freelance writing jobs are plentiful, if you know where to look and can distinguish the legitimate opportunities from the potential scams.
Most people don't have a clue about the wide variety of writing opportunities available to them all over the Internet. These include writing simple articles, press releases, and even complete e-books.
Some clients pay upfront for your material, offering a certain amount per word or per assignment. Others will pay you per the hour for other writing and publishing related tasks such as proof-reading and editing web content.
Freelance writing networks such as "The Freelance Writing Jobs Network" are a great place to start looking for writing jobs and advice. And then there are what I call "freelance matchmaking" sites or "job boards" like Elance.com and Freelancer.com.
On these sites, almost every day, thousands of businesses post various types of writing projects, gigs and requests. If you get aggressive in applying for these open spots, then there's a virtually unlimited supply of writing opportunities that can make you money relatively quickly.
When starting, reply to as many project requests as possible, offer to work at a reasonable rate (but not dirt cheap), and be quick and responsive.
Landing that first gig is always the hardest step, but once you've built up a portfolio and some clientele, you'll get more and more consistent work.
The key to making money with freelance writing is to quickly produce as many quality pieces as you can for your portfolio, and then use job boards and social networking strategies to promote your writing. The more traffic you get to your online work, the more companies you'll have approaching you to write for them.
Here are some additional tips when setting up your portfolio:
1. Set up a professional web page with your resume, contact information, and some writing samples.
2. Establish yourself as a reputable, talented freelance writer by submitting only your best quality work to potential clients.
If writing is not your thing, then hop on over to ebay.com and you can start selling almost anything you can imagine within just minutes.
Imagine having access to 100 million cash-spending buyers. That's exactly the kind of gold mine that's waiting for you on eBay. It has over 100 million registered users, all of whom are out there shopping for great deals.
To become a successful eBay seller, first you must first figure out what to sell. You can sell your own items, check out trade shows in your local area, or search online directories like Doba.com and Alibaba.com to find hot products.
Here's how to get the most out of your ebay listings and auctions:
1. Create good titles and descriptions, and include quality photos of the items. Write descriptions that stand out, but do not make them obnoxious by using all capital letters or excessive punctuation. Also, be honest about any defects in the items you have for sale.
3. Other ways to get traffic to your auctions and items for sale include creating an page on eBay and linking to your auctions from other sites. You also could register a domain name dedicated solely to promoting your own auctions.
Once you find a hot product, keep selling it, and then gradually find more and more products you can promote. Over time, your income will grow exponentially.
How to Make Money with Your Own Blog.
Blogging is another easy way to make money online. The secret to profitable blogging is to focus on a particular that is, your area of expertise or a very specific subject that is popular in the search engines.
Here's how to get started blogging:
1. Like freelance writing, you should approach blogging with the intent to write unique, quality content. Offering useful information and establishing yourself as a trustworthy resource to your readers will quickly lead to lots of word-of-mouth traffic to your blog. Readers can tell if you do not know what you are talking about, so do your research and focus on producing quality content.
4. Promote your blog by utilizing social networking opportunities such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and blogging forums. If you're creative, then you'll find endless opportunities to promote your blog throughout these social communities.
Freelance writing, selling on eBay, and blogging are only three of the many ways to make money online. They might require an initial investment of time and effort, but you are likely to see some quick income and even huge profits in the long run if you follow these hints.
***********************
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Saturday, August 4, 2012
How Pinterest Can Send You MASSIVE Traffic
Have you heard of 'Pinterest' ?
Well it's a new website that's already got over 65 Million users... It's getting 6 times the traffic than Google & Youtube Combined...
Users on this site are 10 times more likely
to buy from you than Facebook or Google...
And I've found a way to siphon all
the traffic from 'Pinterest' and get
the users to any website I want...
Which is currently making me on average
$233 per day.
So (while I'm on vacation in Thailand right now), my friend Jani has put together this free tutorial video for you as my valued subscriber, to show you how I'm doing it and how you can to.
Watch the tutorial video here (from the beaches
of thailand)
==> http://www.WorkingAtHome101.com/?rd=po44P64b
The tutorial video is around 20 minutes of good
content, so make sure you cut out all distractions
when you check it out, and take notes.
After you watch the video, you will be able
to apply the technique he shows you, and start
getting as much traffic as you want from Pinterest
for FREE.
Here's the link again:
To your success
Thursday, August 2, 2012
God, chicken, Bean Town and mud pies. What's not to like? Are you good enoughfor Chick-fil-A?
by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. I've got to tell you, stories like this make me glad to be alive and, as a commentator, have the solemn responsibility to report the facts and nothing but the facts to you... while trying hard not to bust a gut as both sides realize that America is enjoying the cat fight we're reporting... in fact, we just can't get enough of it.
But, first, I want to introduce you to the music that accompanies this tale of fowl behavior and roosters crowing on their own dung hills. It's Rodney Carrington's tune "The Chicken Song".... and it perfectly fits the bill: red neck, down home, big hat, bigger ego, not much up there, howdy ma'am, finger lickin' good, you dawg you, God bless America. It starts like this, and Rodney insists you learn these lyrics... or kiss his.... he's that kind of guy:
"I like my women like I like my chicken/ With a little bit of fat on the ends/ Not too much and not too little/ Just enough to make me grin."
You'll find the rest (and there is more of the same) in any search engine. Go now; it's got just the right sound for the rollicking article that follows.
"My way or the highway. Don't you even try to spend your tainted money here."
You'd be hard-pressed to find a businessman in our punk economy who made a point of letting you know in no uncertain terms that you'd better believe as he believes about God, Cosmos, and the American Way... or take your business elsewhere. Yeah, it's hard to find 'em, because that point of view is the very antithesis of capitalism, plutocracy, making a buck and laughing all the way to the bank.
Sure we each have our very own opinions on such Big Questions of Life, but we're shrewd enough, careful enough, discrete enough to keep them to ourselves. Remember Karl Marx's celebrated assertion, "The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope"? That about sums up what all of us in business do to get us through the day... and keep something beside for the next rainy day. We go along to get along, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
It just doesn't happen to be the way S. Truett Cathy, Chairman and CEO of Chick-fil- A and his son Dan, president, do business. With them, it's all glory, glory, hallelujah, those saints are marching in. They sell their chicken, done just the way Rodney Carrington likes his women, "with a little bit of fat on the ends", only to the "right sort" of people... and woe if you want a chicken sandwich and have money in hand but your foot doesn't fit their shoe. The welcome mat will surely be removed as you're shown the door.
Unlike virtually every other business in the customer-starved Great Republic, you are not necessarily welcome at Chick-fil-A. It all depends on what S. Truett and Danny believe today and would feel a whole lot better about you believing, too.
Founded in Georgia in 1946. $4.0 billion revenues in 2011. Over 1000 restaurants in 2012.
If you're a student of American literature and mores, you no doubt recall F. Scott Fitzgerald's celebrated line from "The Rich Boy" (published 1926): "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me." And the Cathys are way beyond comfortable. As such they dish out their bigotry without remorse or understanding. Indeed, there may even be a nubbin of profound business insight in their disdain: if they stress their Godly views with vehemence and dogmatic insolence, they may actually sell more chicken and reap more profits.
After all, if you believe yourself saved and a certain candidate for heaven, you feel a whole lot better paying for chicken delivered by fellow believers, sanctioned by Jehovah. Chicken McNuggets eat your heart out. Mere taste has been trumped by sanctity, righteousness and rock-ribbed certainty about absolutely everything, including how you should live your life and express your love.
S. Truett's adamant point of view is summarized in the final step in his Five-Step Recipe for Business Success, "I was not so committed to financial success that I was willing to abandon my principles and priorities. One of the most visible examples of this is our decision to close on Sunday. Our decision to close on Sunday was our way of honoring God and of directing our attention to things that mattered more than our business."
Now, the usual way for such zealots to pursue their celestial work would be to set up a charitable foundation and go to town, leaving the business to focus on chicken, all the fixings and cold hard cash. But the very rich are different. Thus, while they did establish a (501(c) (3) tax-exempt organization, they also used company money to co-sponsor a marriage conference and this, in due course, lead them to the unholy bugaboo of homosexuality... a subject guaranteed to send most every Southern Baptist like old man Cathy and son into a bona-fide, ripe-roaring rodomontade about the Sins of the Flesh and a plethora of Unspeakable Outrages. Foaming at the mouth was recommended, but not required.
And so Dan Cathy sat down with the Baptist Press one July day in 2012 and made it clear why the Founding Fathers added the First Amendment to the Constitution. This day he confirmed that his company was "guilty as charged" for being a supporter of organizations rallying against same-sex marriage. It was the usual jeremiad that proved nothing so much as that President Cathy had a mania for peeping in other people's bedrooms and being horrified (as well as titillated) by what he went in search of and forced himself to see.
Chicken in Bean Town?
At just this moment, it happened that Chick-fil-A was going through the necessary motions to do business in Boston. Now as all the world knows, not a creature stirs in The Hub of the Universe not even a mouse without His Honor Mayor (since 1993) Thomas M. Menino knowing the reason why and stamping it with his approval, or not.
Menino is also an adamant "my way or the highway" guy and he made it clear he'd do anything to block Chick-fil-A, unto the full panoply of his considerable powers, to keep those Southern fried gay bashers out of the Shining City on a Hill, a place of liberal ideas where gay people are very much at home and accepted, marriage and all. Thus the fat was truly in the fire for all that Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas (who never met a kooky anachronistic view or uncivil behavior he didn't like), promptly opted for God and chicken.
And so the tempest in a teacup continues... with each party fulminating, posturing, speaking darkly of rights and lawyers, sound and fury signifying nothing so much as each and every participant in this fiasco looks like a card-carrying knucklehead, the Cathys for assuming they know God personally and know His will and intentions, which no man, whatever his outlook or denomination, has ever known or can know... the Honorable Tommy needing a cold shower bath while a responsible adult explains to him the realities of business and just what he can and cannot do. Thus in due course, after filling out innumerable municipal forms and paying considerable municipal fees, Chick-fil-A will come to Boston. But I shall never go. I have tasted their recipe and prefer McNuggets, and that's a wrap.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com
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