Don’t you remember when you had the answer. You would raise your hand and wave hysterically until you were called. Well at least in grammar school. Damn! She picked someone else. Wait. He didn’t know the answer. Another chance.

NBC is having a special week on Education. What’s right. What’s wrong. I think you know where the air time is being spent. They are discussing, money, testing, teacher performance.

Some of these educators are both gifted and giving above and beyond. Some are disgruntled. Frustrated comes to mind immediately. These aren’t screaming labor types. They just want to do their job.

Back to the classroom of yesteryear. We had 51 eighth grade boys and girls in the basement of St. Mary’s Church. We had one rolling blackboard. Oh yes and ONE nun. We not only survived but we all went on to pass the New York State Regents exams in reading, math and social studies.

No, the good sister was not a tyrant but she was strict. If I got a ruler pop, I deserved it. Other than my congenital character flaws I was not affected to the negative. That was a huge part of the answer I want to give now. Discipline.

My mother was a part of that same program. The woman should have worked for the Department of Defense. No matter what I did, her sonar or radar or whatever was working overtime. She was aware of my misbehaving before I came through the door. Nailed again. An observant and inquiring parent conquers all.

And we did not have girls in short shorts with one or both cheeks showing. The boys did not wear their pants below their butt. There were no controversies over what expletive was written on shirts. The girls looked downright plain in their blue skirts. For the guys you cannot look cool in an old royal blue tie and white shirt..

Looking back there was an emphasis on learning. We did not have gym class because our school didn’t have one. We played punch ball at lunch and the girls jumped rope. Cafeteria ? There was a plain brown bag with a bologna sandwich wrapped in waxed paper. Somehow we all survived.

Now I am not espousing parochial schools for everyone. But there were common denominators that could be applied anywhere. First and foremost the teacher was in charge. He or she had the ability to mete out punishment for miscreants. Somehow the threat of lawsuits never entered into the equation.

Secondly were the parents. They were part of the three legged stool that included student and teacher. They were there to back up the teacher. To oversee homework assignments. We had to have our homework and tests signed by mom or dad.

Lastly was the uniform part. It took all the guesswork out of getting dressed. All the grief too. Incredibly the parents of the Parsippany Troy Hills School District in New Jersey voted and rejected the idea of uniforms. Go figure.

Look, I get all the complexities of today’s world. Computers. Cell phones. Drugs. But are these the result of too much discipline and uniformity or too little? Does wearing a white polo shirt and khackis really cramp one’s creativity?

Parenting, discipline, interaction with the teacher and uniforms don’t cost anything more. I know there are working parents but do you really want me to believe there is not 15 minutes in the day or every couple of days that they can’t be part of the most important aspect of their children’s upbringing.

It takes a lot to raise a child in today’s society. Kathy and I have been through it. We had three in high school at the same time. We didn’t have a social life on weekends. Big deal. Still it resulted in three great kids and their families. Teacher! Teacher! I think I have the answer. Or at least part of it. Raise your hand too.

As always

Ted The Great

Factoids:
13,506 school district governments
1,196 education service agencies (agencies providing support services to public school systems)

49.3 million students grades 1-12
3,825,000 teachers
Total budget…approx $600 billion

Of 70 Countries around the world:
We are #4 in the world on spending per student
We are #1 in the world by numbers who finish high school
We are #25 in math… Japan #1
We are #17 in science… South Korea #1
We are #14 in reading…Finland #1

Question: When it comes to teaching are both teachers and parents filling a bucket or lighting a fire?

I hope you don’t mind me shortening Leonardo to Leo. It’s kind of what we do today. The past is old hat. We think we are beyond smart. Wish you were here to show them what real thinking is all about.

I just returned from a trip back east. I love Denver and couldn’t wait to get back here. Sort of my Milan after visiting Rome. Just like days of old there were villas and monuments to me, everywhere I went back there.

There were orators both in New York and Washington. Nothing has changed. They love to go to the Forums and BS. They don’t really say anything new. Just rehashing the samo samo. It’s like our new version of the Dark Ages.

I couldn’t help but think of your maxim of “Curiositae”. You know the part where you question everything. You look at a problem from three different sides. Not looking for the most popular answer. Just the one that makes most sense.

These guys look at one side. It been the same for decades. They know it by heart. They ascend to thrones. Think the monarchy is dead? No way. They just take turns being kings and queens. Backchannels by those out of favor? Machiavelli would have field day. He could become what they call a spin doctor. Or even better a lobbyist.

Hey, I know you played to the Medicis and the other swells because that was the way to survive. You thought they were idiots but what the hell? You could be brilliant in the back room and then make them think it was their idea. Very clever, mon ami. Oops I mean amico.

There are a lot of city states these days. You know the old fiefdom bit. They all vie for power and independence until they realize how many lira it takes to run these shows. Then they want all the taxes they pay to Rome as it were, to come back to them. They shuffle the decks and the vaults are running dry.

There are plenty of cats like the Borgias and Medicis. Some have class. Some don’t. There is this dude called, “The Donald”. You would have to meet him to believe him. All in all, they think the rest of the country are peasants. Ignore them. Use them. Let them eat cake. Sorry.wrong century.

I really try to look at things in the Forum with “Sensazione”, using all my faculties to try to understand this thing we call government. Smell? That’s a problem. Sometimes I think everything stinks. Taste? A lot of bad ones. Sight? This is really getting ugly. Touch? A lot of greasy slimy things. Hearing? Why didn’t you invent earplugs? Be still my heart. We now have a thing called TIVO.

I think I will spend the rest of my day working on “Connesione”. That place where I realize and appreciate that all things are connected and dependant. If I remember correctly, we can achieve who we are at our greatest potential by interacting and cooperating.

I really believe we all have our innate talents and abilities. The problem now is that we are all Lone Rangers. Sorry, that is a twenty first century metaphor for selfish. I am not sure we are bad as much as worried that we kind of crawl up in a cocoon. Man if we could just get everyone pulling on the oar at the same.

The strangest part is while publicos are warring there is the hint of optimism with the young. They are going to make do. They will blaze a new trial. Change of mind and spirit is not alien to them. They are not so afraid of new ideas.

I did have one particular bit of fun on my journey. I made it a point to reach out to every stranger I could. I tried to make them laugh. I tried to hear what they were saying. I tried to make them the most important person in the world at that time. And they responded. They lit up. They smiled. One check out clerk in a grocery store was luaghing so hard I almost saw tears. I almost had the feeling no one had been that way to them before. You would have loved it,

Sorry to take up so much time. I know you have a lot of thinking to do. I do too. I want to be alone with my thoughts but on the other hand I have to try to reach out to others. I am not the cat’s meow but I pray I can resonate in some way. A lot of them won’t understand. I just hope a few do.

Ciao bella

Ted The Great

Things that don’t make sense:

We put people in jail for kicking dogs and cats. We teach our kids to step on spiders and ants to kill them.????

The Kardashians.

Getting a dog for the hell of it. Having kids for the hell of it.

Spending $500 on dinner Saturday night and $5 in the collection plate on Sunday.

Sean Hannity. Keith Olberman. Nancy Grace. Ozzie Osborne. The Vatican.

Being for abortion and against capital punishment. And vice versa.

When you ask for a 7:00 PM reservation and all they have is 6:45 or 7:15.

Failing at suicide and then saying, “Please don’t tell my wife”. Actually happened in Pittsburgh.

NOTE: I am going to try to set up some sort of forum or chat room. Several have asked for it. More to come.

We have been traveling in the New York area visiting family and friends. Some places I haven’t been in ten years. There are roads I am traveling that I haven’t seen in forty years. The most fascinating part is seeing old houses that were new when I was growing up. The trees planted 50 years ago look like…well, a fifty year old tree now.

I am a sucker for old houses. There is a charm and inherent beauty no matter how run down they may be. My wife, daughter and I have renovated several. There is a certain sense of wellness in making something that was abandoned come back to life. Rejuvenate. I hope it is a product of our optimism.

In real estate it fascinates me that a house that is twenty years old is considered dated. How did we ever get along growing up with five bedrooms and two baths? No den. No family room. What were we thinking? A one or two car garage? What peasants.

There was linoleum. There were tiny TV’s. There was a milk box on the back porch. There was a diaper pail. Yuk! There was a bread man. Soda man. Milk man. Egg man. They were all friends. They were us.

There was a hardware store. There was a butcher. A fish market. A neighborhood pharmacy. The super market was small. There were four or five of them. Everyone knew you by name. There were movies on Saturday for a quarter. Ice cream cones for a dime. In Penn Station you got two hot dogs and a soda for fifty cents. There was this crazy thing called an automat.

I am writing this in a Starbucks on the Village Green in Morristown, New Jersey. There is a fellow selling Sabretts hot dogs from a cart. There are people doing something really stupid. They are just sitting watching the world go by.

I am in an enclave of four leather chairs. There is a young lady working at her computer. Another guy is reading the recap of the yesterday’s games in the Star Ledger. Tranquil and peaceful in this crazy wound up part of the world.

The soft jazz playing has just been shattered by a new entrant into our den of relaxation. He has an earpiece and a Blackberry. He didn’t buy coffee. He just sat down and proceeded to dial an associate or client of some sort.

He speaks louder than me. Can you imagine? We all look up and glare. The man is impervious. At the cessation of his negotiations he gets up and roars out the door and down the street. He was just looking for someplace tranquil to have his phone call.

What a guy.

Church bells are ringing. It is 12 noon. I sure hope he doesn’t need any more serenity. Edith Piaf is singing La Vie En Rose. It could almost be Paris. Well, not exactly. I am back to my train of thought. As a counter to my ravings last week I just want to have fun. Ted’s Head is moving at half speed.

I am so struck by the 9/11 ceremonies. What has faded to a far part of my memory is so poignant and still incredibly raw for so many of these people. It’s hard to equate country lanes and historical homes to shiny towers that disintegrated. Metal and flesh that vaporized. My nephew wrote to a small group of friends about how searing that day was. His cousin died. He was one of his best friends. There is so much to forget. He was eloquent in his still held grief.

Family, friends, tomatoes, corn on the cob. Cherrystone clams. Fresh swordfish. We all have our strengths. We all have our weaknesses. We have traditions and rituals for better and for worse. We want to be critical. We want to think our way is better. We want to be right. Sometimes we are so wrong.

I have finished my coffee and my ramblings. I am going to walk back to the house, a half mile down the road. I am going to take a long walk in the woods later on. I am going to come up with some positive thoughts about myself, my family, our country, our world.

I am going to figure out how to renovate this old house. This place we call home. We can’t scrape and rebuild. We must take out the original set of plans and rework them. She has what we call in the biz, good bones.

We have got to bring out her beauty once again. Even if we have to take her down to the studs. Repaint her. Rework her. There is so much here we have overlooked for so long. Just like old houses we can fix anything with enough imagination and hard work. Let’s dust off our brains and our hope. Let’s put on our tool belts again.

As always

Ted The Great

Factoids:

In the normal NFL game there are actually only 11 minutes of play time during a three hour telecast.

There are 261 births in the world every minute. There are 107 deaths.

There are 8.4 million millionaires in the US.

We now have a poverty rate of 15.1% in the US. That’s 46.2 million people

Americans go to bed hungry every night. There 17 million children in the US without access to nutritious food.

John Kyl (R,AZ), member of the super committee of six to do spending cuts announced after the first meeting that if there were cuts to the military he would resign. Good start.

PS: The phone caller from Starbucks came back. I asked him to go someplace else. He apologized and did.

Note:

The world is 8,000 miles wide not 8. Thx to our observant readers. To the others you are bored or don’t read the factoids

Poor Ted’s Head is bursting at the seams. Pondering the imponderables is taking its toll. I sit in my perch on the world and really look for a plan…a way out. Not of my particular morass but of the country’s. Hopefully I have been a decent businessman over my life. I just don’t get it in an intellectual way.

Our consumer based economy sucks. Why? Because people aren’t buying. Because firms aren’t hiring. One side says we have to save and wean ourselves off credit. The other side says we have to get back to buying. The absurdity of a consumer based economy is glaring.

Companies worry to death about their stock price. They have to cut expenses and improve revenue. But we cut expenses by firing and going automated. Outsource to cheaper pay scales. But the unemployed don’t buy things. Duh!

The companies make money by hoarding cash. They are doing just fine. So the stock price and ergo 401K’s go up. But if the guy on the street has to cash it in then where does that leave us? But capitalism is a beautiful thing and left to our own designs we will come out of this.

So let’s do away with regulation. Wall Street and the banks want to govern themselves. We have been holding them back. Get rid of the SEC and FDIC and they can make some real money. It was because of our stupid laws that the housing crisis occurred. Credit default swaps are really good things. Who cares if Goldman can be selling securities to the clients and shorting them on the other side. Caveat emptor.

Farmers are being screwed. Department of Agriculture inspectors at hog farms, poultry giants and food processors are bringing them down. Salmonella. Schmowmonella. It is part of doing business. Let’s bring back DDT.

Let’s get rid of building inspectors,the FDA, FCC,FAA, FTC etal. No more Homeland Security. No NOAA. No FEMA. No EPA. Let’s roll the dice. I hate all this regulation but why do they exist. Because we are too shallow and greedy to police ourselves. We have shown time and again you can’t “Trust us”.

Infrastructure doesn’t need any further improvement. Highways, bridges, water tunnels, sewage treatment plants are just fine. Some have been around a hundred years and could go for a hundred more. Don’t worry. Be Happy. I am paying way too much for water and electricity. It’s almost as high as my cable bill.

Natural disasters? We build homes by the rivers and oceans. I love the view of the water. Many of my family own homes there. But then there is good old Mother Nature getting a little cranky. The hell with it. Let’s subsidize flood insurance. Fires. Hell, I love living in the woods. Let’s just call it a disaster area and make it all go away.

Education is the way out of this maze. Put more money in. That’s the problem. But we put more and more in and yet get less out. I would imagine a large part of the learning curve has to do with looking at the past and seeing what we have done wrong. Maybe we just have to look back. But we won’t.

I have been part of inner city parochial schools. They usually educate on about 65% of the budget for public schools. They have 100% attendance and in many cases 100% go on to higher ed. They wear uniforms. There is discipline. Above all there is parental involvement. Why doesn’t someone study this model?

Lastly is the food we put on our tables. Or on tables somewhere. We are obese. Mc Donalds stock has doubled in the last five years. So have our waistlines. Yet we give out food stamps. Hey, you can buy soda and lottery tickets with them. Maybe even cigarettes.

This world has changed so drastically in the last ten years. The last five years. We have rested on our laurels. “Just wait til we get back”. It is not really that easy. It would take a huge overhaul in business strategies, bureaucracy and most of all public attitude.

Watch Meet The Press from this weekend. Tom Friedman stated with great perception that we are making economic decisions with a political board of directors. He went on to sadly say there are so many things out there that we invented but have let the world take the lead with. Doris Kearns Goodwin recalled the effort we put forth in World War II. At that time it was all that mattered in the US. It’s where we have to get to today. The task is that Herculean.

To make sense of all this we have to put a shoulder to the wheel. We have to get rid of selfish, self serving attitudes. The rich. The poor. The old. The young. No one is immune. I really don’t think we can do it. Politicians are in charge. They now want to wait until next year. We just wring our hands and sometimes just shrug. Are we that cynical?

Can we be great again? Yes, but I think we have ALL had it too easy, too long. We can’t seem to shake ourselves out of this malaise. We are dreamers but in the wrong way. I guess this is the part that Ted’s Head really doesn’t get. What a tragedy.

As always

Ted The Great

Factoids:

Unemployment by Education level.

Not finishing high school…15.4%High School Grad…9.4%Some College…7.9%College Grad…4.7%

In 2004 we did not have Twitter, Facebook,  IPads, IPhones

Over the last 25 years our calorie consumption per annum has increased some 40%. We have approximately 10% of our population (30 million) suffering from diabetes.

An Amtrak train, The California Zephyr derailed in southwest Nebraska. It had 190 in passengers and crew on board the line that is 2438 miles long. We pay a subsidy of around $35 per passenger for approximately 350,000 carried over the rails

The hurricane season is upon us but Mother Nature has really been getting her hits in all year long. How soon we forget! Earthquakes in New Zealand, Japan, and of course the east coast of the United States. Tornadoes in Joplin. Drought in Texas. Flooding in the Catskills and Vermont. What is going on here?

If you are living in any of the affected areas you are quick to use the term disaster. And for you it really is. We have had the pine beetle wipe out huge sections of our forest greenery in Colorado. We have had raging wildfires taking out palatial homes and cabins alike. It has not been good.

In our scientific, uber cyber world this seems not only inconvenient but downright scary. But wait. Don’t we have satellites to do something about it ? Don’t we have an app. When I built my house the agent didn’t mention these things on the disclosure forms. There has got to be a way I can sue him, the county or God or something?

In Katrina we didn’t do enough. In Irene we did too much. FEMA screwed up in Louisiana. Ron Paul says we don’t need them at all. The TV and radio got carried away. There was only $5 billion in damage not $8 bill. The stock market soars. No sweat. Only 40 poor souls lost their lives.

Has any one waxed eloquently about the beauty of the forces of nature? I have been at sea in a raging hurricane. Sure you get a little nervous but there is a majesty of a rolling angry wave that is all its own. We didn’t fear the sea. We respected its power.

There is something quite amazing about an earthquake. The epicenter was about 80 miles south of DC. It’s tremors and reverberations were felt in Cleveland, New York and Canada in a matter of seconds. I though of the massive fissures in the earth as our planet pushed here and there, searching for some leg room. Not to destroy but just to relieve pressure. Plate upon plate of rock and magma, heaving and groaning thousands of feet deep in the earth’s bowels and oceans.

We are so quick to equate power with money or guns. Armadas. Flying fortresses. Missiles that can wipe out cities in seconds. We throw accolades at rock stars, movie queens and sporting heroes of all types. The almost farcical spectacle of a Kardashian wedding. We ooh. We aah.

Whenever I would hike in Vail I would come upon this glen or that. I almost imagined I was the first human being to ever set foot on this little piece of earth. The incredible beauty. The deafening silence. Then you began to hear. Birds. Animals. All in unison. Better than any concert I have been to.

We live in the city and the other evening I took my sentry duties on the front porch. There was the faint rustling of the trees on a beautiful summer night. It had rained a little earlier and the smell was sweet. I thought that even in all the turmoil of the world, life wasn’t so bad after all.

I guess in the midst of all the craziness of this thing we call life, I actually revel in the uprisings of Mother Earth. I really do look at our planet as a vibrant organism. A person prone to tantrums. A beast that can be tranquil and hibernate for only so long. Like every other human thing it wants to be appreciated and loved. Not just used and thrown away.

I am not sure we have done a good job. We have really laid waste in so many ways. I am not a tree hugger per se but I have the utmost respect for this wonderful, gift giving hunk of a planet.

I believe God has put it here but let’s not debate theology. All I know is we should be thankful and understand we have to give something back if only by protecting it. Kiss the earth? Why not? She would love it.

As always

Ted The Great

Factoids:

The earth has a width of approximately 8 miles.

The fresh water in the entire world comprises 3% of all waterOf that approx 70% is in glaciers and 30% in groundwater(lakes and rivers)

The earth’s surface is 28% earth,72%water

As a country we put almost 5 1/2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As a planet we put 29.9 metric tons into the atmosphere. No matter what you think about global warming this can’t be good.

My wife as always questions my sanity. Unfortunately a lot of others do also. But there really is a method to my madness. I just happen to have about 17 thoughts going on at the same time. I still haven’t figured out if my train of thought is a high speed bullet or a switching engine in the yard. Oh well.

Health: We went to the ball park on Saturday. A very full figured couple was sitting in front of us. He was eating a corn dog and she had a plate of fried something with powdered sugar on top. That was bettered in the fourth inning by a big plate of nachos laden with melted Velveeta cheese. But spare them criticism. They were washing it down with Coors Light.

Now you can do whatever you want with your body. It’s the American way. But when this couple checks into the hospital a few years from now with diabetes, clogged arteries or high blood pressure will they say “I screwed up?”….or will they just whip out their Medicare or insurance card and say “Heal me!” Either way you and I are being screwed.

Money: While watching the ballplayers, there was the Rockies third baseman who bats around .270. He is considered a bargain because he only makes $2 million a year. Then there was Troy Tulowitzki who makes $15 million. If you think about it, his one year salary is like being paid $250,000 a year for 60 years. Rush makes $50 million per year. Hmmmm.

Working at it: Practice makes perfect. My young priest buddy was commenting on what it takes to be a good Catholic or any religion for that matter. Do you just listen to what the higher ups say and if you agree with them, you will be saved ? Or do you really work at it. Questioning, thinking and trying to get it right. I am wondering if the same holds true in being a husband, a father, an American? I think so.

Golf: The game of golf is more than interesting. If you know my swing you know why. But you know what? It usually lands in the fairway. What’s better is just watching your fellow players. You can learn a lot about a person in 18 holes. How does he handle success? Adversity?

Is it a walk in the sun or a testosterone test? You have the club announcer? After every great shot he proudly calls out in amazement what club he hit. The bad ones …well you know I was distracted by you picking your nose. How well do you treat the caddy or bag boy? Especially if you have had a bad day.

Enter the scraper. He hits his putt within four feet and picks it up with disdain that he didn’t get a birdie or par. Ahem! Didn’t you forget something? Oh you know, “I always make those.” No wonder his handicap is low. And of course the cheat. User of the leather wedge. Let him go. It ain’t worth the effort.

Jobs,Jobs,Jobs:  Cure to joblessness. Dog Grooming. We don’t own a dog now and when we did, Mason the Wonder Dog was never coiffed. But we were watching Mr. Magoo for our neighbors and of course I forgot to bring him for his appointment. I casually called and they said to call back In three days and they would see if they could work him in. I then proceeded to call every pooch salon in the Yellow Pages and was told by one, she was not taking on any new clients. Puuulease. It’s a friggin’ dog!

Sweets: Ice cream maker. I am really getting carried away with this. At first it was for the grandkids. Now I am a mad scientist. I can put Bailey’s, Meyers Rum, Cookies, raisins or chocolate chips in just about anything. I have mixings to freezer down to about 30 minutes. Cleanup is another story.

Medical Waste: A friend told me this morning that he had heart problems and was kept over night for observation and a procedure. Total bill: $51,000. I work in a home where one wing is hospice and the other is senior critical care. The hospice people know when they are leaving. The old folks just linger on, staring into space. I guess this is what you call Quality of Life.

Anniversary: The 9/11 anniversary that is looming. My daughter was married on 9/15. We were in Colorado. I used to walk every day through the WTC. I knew 21 of those poor souls that perished. I watched the TV screen in my living room overlooking the turning aspens as many of their pictures flashed by. One was Fred Kelly who sat next to me on the trading desk for many years. Two others I had given their first job on Wall Street.

We were all one no matter where we were. People stayed in their homes. We prayed for survivors not vengeance in those early days. Flags flew everywhere. Tears flowed easily. We hugged. We talked. The skies were silent. Where did those days go? Will we ever be one again? Will it be too late?

As Always

Ted The Great

Factoids:

The Fed made emergency loans during the financial crisis to several banks totaling $1.2 trillion dollars. Unbeknownst to any one. That’s roughly the same amount involved in 6.5 million delinquent mortgages.

Tom Brady makes $31 million a year. His super model wife beats him out by earning $45 million per year. I can’t throw a football so I better lose weight. Look out Fabio.

62 % of American households own a pet. There 86 million cats and 78 million dogs. Last year we spent as a nation $50.84 billion on pet care.

We pay the members of congress approximately $235,000 of salary and benefits per year. In the last 10 years, this is up 89%. The rate of inflation has been 26% over that time period.

Interesting:

It costs US $ 5.21 mill to run the majority and minority leaders offices in the Senate. $5.07 million to run the Speaker of the House offices. We spend $94 mill in printing costs. The chaplain’s office in the House costs $179,000. The Senate chaplain’s office is funded at $415,000. Go figure.

Whenever I get to thinking, the first place I go is to the dictionary. Leadership is the ability influence people and get them to accomplish an objective or common goal. Fair enough. I think this begs the first question as to the common goal.

We live in a country that is wildly diverse. We should be probably four or five countries in reality. Ethnicity, spiritual values and economic goals all stir the pot. So let’s at least try to come up with a common goal.

Prosperity should be a start. Then what is your version of prosperity? Let’s just say economically it covers obscene wealth to subsistence. It should also be living in peace and some sense of security. Dems and Republicans have different ways to get there but let’s leave it there for now.

Now we need a leader or leaders. I say leaders because we have to encompass industry, spirituality, government and military to name a few. But who is she or he?

I’d say the person must have clearly defined goals and understand those goals implicitly. Have them down cold. Bolstered in their beliefs they must communicate them clearly to their flock. They must lead by example. Walk the walk. They must take care of their entire people. They expect excellence not perfection. They are humble and of strong character. Know anybody?

The masses will be eyeballing your sincerity as well as your knowledge. If they are going to commit to you they want to really feel it from the heart. Ambivalence has no quarter. They will look how you stay on message and how easily you are swayed by man. money and fame. They will pore over your weak points and attributes alike.

But the undeniable fact is that we cry out for leaders. I am not always sure why. Are we really lemmings or sheep? Why do some of us wait to step forward ? Are we really afraid? I think on this end we like the security of the crowd. We want to be loved so why take a chance? Deep down we may fear success but that’s enough of that.

But it is interesting that a team of high achievers still looks for a leader. The current race for a Republican nominee is outstanding for its breadth as well as its outcomes. A football team is lost without their star quarterback. A company loses its way because a CEO moves on. A country club goes down hill by the action or lack thereof of a board. Fascinating when you think about it.

I think of Obama. He really had people going for him. He was selling the crack of Hope and Change. And the country lined up.

Did he know his product cold? B. Did he communicate it? During the election B+. Afterwards C-. Was he humble? C- On transparency…D. On resisting outside influence C-. On staying true to his school…C- Not exactly the Dean’s List.

I think his plan was scattershot that was further exacerbated by a crappy economy and a pursuit of healthcare reform at the absolute worst times. He relied on guys like Emanuel who were old school hard nosed. His rhetoric went from exciting to professorial. He showed no humility. He wanted to change Washington but he got sucked up in the vortex of the Beltway and reelection.

My critique is academic not political. It goes hand in hand with who the hell else is out there. I could go through Congress but I don’t see anyone there. Correction. I do see some there but the upcoming elections and normal course of business disqualifies them. We need lovers not fighters. It ain’t there now.

We have Jamie Dimon but to me he is suspect. Warren Buffet, Bill Gates seem close. But where are the MLK’s, Pope John XXIII‘s, the Gandhis, the Regans, the Billy Grahams, the Eisenhowers and the FDR’s ? Who would you rather have? Joe Torre or Mitch McConnell? Joe Montana or Harry Reid? I just don’t see them out there.

Maybe you can’t be a leader of the people. Maybe we are too fractured. In trying to build consensus we are barraged by the talk show hosts playing to their corps. We are discouraged. We don’t see the answer. No one has dreams right now.

Maybe we just have to lead ourselves. Maybe we all have to speak out at once. Not necessarily in unison except in the pursuit of action. The president of Starbucks just came out and challenged all of us to withhold any donations of any kind to incumbents whether they be corporate or personal until the Congress and the President get a viable solution to the budget and deficit mess.

Cut off the PACs. Cut off the lobbying. My vote is the cattle will low in the fields and keep on grazing. My bet is that we don’t have the balls. And that is too bad. We could show leadership in ourselves. Oh well. What time are cocktails? Do you want to hear about my golf game today? Wonder how my stocks are doing.

As Always

Ted The Great.

Factoids:

The human heart weighs 10ozs. Some of you remember when LBJ came on and said, My fellow Americans, I come to you with a heavy heart. How heavy?

Men have 1.5 gals of blood in their body. Women have .9 gals.

Draw your own conclusions

Sign language users actually sign in their sleep.

The average person grows 590 miles of hair in their lifetime. I must have really been speeding as a kid.

The largest hog, Big Boy, weighed in at 1904 pounds. I feel skinnier already.

Someone asked me the other day what my blog is about. I said that I wished I could tell them. I literally have hundreds of ideas floating around my little Irish brain. My poor wife will ask me as we are driving what in God’s name is going through my mind? Now or twenty seconds ago?

Some things are more than obvious. Over the last few weeks I could dedicate my creative time to the National Debt, the Congress, the President, Syria, Somalia, space, nature, catastrophes, Muslims, healthcare, God, friends, Tiger Woods, hospice and Wall Street. That was easy.

I am currently reading “Money Driven Medicine,” “Bought and Paid For” by Charlie Gasparino, “Unbroken” and “The Jesuit’s Guide to Just About Everything,” I watch all the Sunday talk shows on tape and PBS News every Evening. I especially like Brooks and Shields on Fridays and try to tape Charlie Rose most nights.

I try to spend some of my time talking to young people. I want to hear their dreams as well as their problems. I take them on to try and help as well as learn. I am fascinated by how many times our lives are parallel and how often we are worlds apart. I have to constantly remind myself that there are many roads to travel to get to the same point.

I find myself planning more and more. This is not my forte. I usually figure what is going to happen in my day about twenty minutes before I have to do it. Some of my greatest buddies plan weeks, months even years ahead. That sort of panics me.

As you get older you have to plan. I know many of you are well heeled and your biggest worry is to keep breathing. I know some of you are young enough where planning is a waste of time. But basically I just want to figure out a game plan for the next thirty years. There is longevity in the family but Kathy is hoping that gene therapy will have totally different result. I am hiring a taster.

Physically I want to be in decent enough shape to be able to play golf with my grandkids into their late teens early twenties. I want to dance at their weddings or at least not be drooling in a corner. I was doing cannon balls off the diving board a few weeks ago to the delight of the grandkids. So we will see.

I want to have enough money to make sure we are comfortable. We all might have a different concept of comfortable but Kathy and mine is pretty simple. We have three or four world trips we want to take and be able to pay for them. Cars are just transportation right now. We are not really into making a statement.

I hope I go out of our house feet first. Kathy and I have had 29 real estate closings in forty years of marriage. I think I would be really pushing it with one more. The grandkids seem to dig it. They all have their own personal water guns provided by yours truly. The front porch will always be there day and night. Life is good.

When I am at a dinner I always like to ask the qestion of people as to how old they feel? The answers are interesting. Me? I literally feel like I am in my late thirties ,early forties. Kathy says some times  I act like a two year old. I hope so.

Ted’s Head thinks about life, love, the world and of course all of you. It really humbles me that people would think I have something to say. I really try not to play to the audience but speak what is on my mind.

Someone said I was a screaming liberal. Someone said I was way too conservative. A few of you have said I am thoughtful. Some have said I raise something in their soul. I hope a little of all of the above is true.

I hope you will strike back if you feel offended. I hope you bring me down if I pontificate. I hope as always that I just get you to think. In my writing as in other things I think all the time. It is my way of being alive. My way of being real. Thank you all for being part of it.

As Always

Ted The Great

Factoids:

This is the 37^th edition of Ted’s Head.

There are about 110 hardy souls that read it on a regular basis. I hope if you are committed due to severe brain damage they will still let you have a computer.

There are just under 4,000 hits so far in our little journey together. Just bring it up. You don’t have to read it. It’s good for the stats.

There have been 27 comments on the blog. I love them so keep them coming. Except for the guy that keeps booing from the cheap seats. Just kidding.

Always feel free to pass it along. Especially anonymously. I understand

This was quite a weekend. Hot is the watchword here but it is true everywhere these days. We were invited to a concert on Friday night by some great friends. It took place at the Denver Botanical Gardens. It is but a few short blocks from our “house in the city.” The day’s heat gave way to a balmy and gorgeous evening.

The venue is an idyllic one. In their wisdom, the Garden cognoscenti placed a grass amphitheater with the stage in the center of these plants and fountains. Open air, it holds probably 3500-4000 people. You can bring a picnic dinner and of course some vino. Pull up a blanket or a folding chair. It really doesn’t get much better.

The star attraction was Roseanne Cash(Johnnie’s daughter). The apple didn’t fall far. She had a sophisticated but mellow way about her. She is not unlike Norah Jones. A little jazz. A little C and W. Just right for a night like this. Very cool.

We couldn’t help but notice a group nearby who had set up a table full of this and that. There was a woman in a wheelchair and they all seemed to be doting on her. Several friends tended to her every want. They were at the top of the rise so she could have easy access to the hardened exit path.

As the concert wore on, they packed up their wares but lingered on the walkway. Two of the women were dancing as others did. Then they took the hands of their friend who was trapped in her chair. Stationary as she was, they twirled and laughed.

I stepped over and asked if they minded if I cut in. I did my best American Bandstand moves and she was obviously delighted. When a pretty girl smiles at me I have to keep going. I gave her a big kiss and thanked her for the dance. She thanked me for flirting with a helpless old woman. Not the case. We both laughed.

I spoke with her friends and found out that Nola was 66. She was diagnosed with ALS(Lou Gehrig’s Disease) three years ago. She obviously had been an athlete. They thanked me. I said the pleasure was all mine. I have thought about her so many times this weekend.

Saturday there was golf and other distractions from the fiasco in DC. Sunday morning brought me to 7:30 mass. There is a great young priest named Pat Dolan. He really has a way about him. Relaxed and forthright he truly gets you to thinking. In today’s world his homily was about critical thinking.

He simply stated that we should get away from celebrity thinking. Just because so and so who is famous thinks this way or that it doesn’t mean we have to take it as gospel truth. Harry Reid. John Boehner. Mitch McConnell. Barack Obama. Maybe even the Pope. I said that. He didn’t. But think for your self. I am trying.

After church I went to Porter Hospital. I may have mentioned one of my goals has been to get into hospice work. My task today was to help out on Butterfly. It is for those under 18 who are dying or suffer a life threatening disease. This was a day long program. It was for patients and their siblings. It was there I met my other girl friend for the weekend. She was eight years old.

She was a sibling and she told me her sister had gone to heaven. I asked her when and she simply replied, “Last week”. She said the shoes she had on were the ones she had worn to the funeral. She was calm and loving and almost matter of fact. Her acceptance of life and death blew me away.

I can’t go into details but suffice this day, although exhausting, shook me out of the sameness of everyday life. Hospice has a way of doing that. It reminded me of Fr. Pat a couple of weeks ago. He asked if we were bugged by the government ? The heat? The stock market? Your golf game? “How dare you” was his retort. “How dare you!” Think of where we are in relation to the rest of the world.

I am not on a religious kick but I am on a spiritual one. For the four hundredth and thirty ninth time I am taking stock. I look around me. I really wonder how long I can take all I have and not be incredibly grateful. Maybe you all give thanks but I do such a lousy job at it.

This weekend finished with a special on Somalia. Seven million human beings are in true danger of starving to death. I am amazed at the Doctors Without Borders and the women of this worldwide help program or that. They are beyond compassionate and devoted human beings. Whatever I do is a drop in the ocean. I have got to do more.

A friend called earlier. I was not in a bad mood but a very contemplative one. I was trying to find the right words to say. The only way I could was by putting pen to paper. I hope it comes across as honest and frank talk. It’s all I got.

Those women at the concert and Porter Hospital and in Somalia got to me. I wonder if they know they are in in my head. I am in a funny time where everything around me affects my ideas and actions. Some for the better. Some for the worse. What a marvelous world. Thank you ladies.

As Always

Ted The Great

Factoids:

There are hundreds of jobs in the administration that have yet been filled due to Congressional oversight or lack thereof.

The FAA had to furlough thousands and stop several construction projects (which employ people) because the Congress can’t pass an authorizing bill that most agree upon.

Barclay’s and HSBC stock goes up because they are firing people. Stock market goes down because unemployment is up and personal incomes are down.

Ever since the threat of a downgrade by Moody’s and S and P the yield on the ten year US Treasury bond has gone down over the last three months from 3.3% to 2.7% making it in essence more valuable.

If we sold all of the gold in Fort Knox the gold price would plunge at a dizzying rate possibly making the dollar worth more.

I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer but does any of this make any sense to anyone?

After Monday’s speech and Republican reply I would like to humbly submit the following:

President Obama..Take Two

Good Evening.

However gut wrenching, the position we find ourselves in this evening was almost inevitable. It really is a number of people trying to take the “cure” after twenty years of binge spending. Not just the government but all of us.

Much of these problems started in the nineties. We had a valiant effort to make home ownership a significant part of the American dream. A noble concept but one fraught with danger. It required restraint and common sense for every one involved. Very little was evident. We all chased profit. We were all complicit.

Congress and the Executive branch curried favor with the electorate. People knowingly lied on applications. We made zero down an absurdity. Appraisers lied. Banks looked the other way. Rating agencies failed. Wall Street made money hand over fist, knowing the untenable substructure was without value.

At its height it provided a heady feeling all the way around. We boasted of a surplus but it was ill timed. 9/11 arrived with all its hate and fury. Our psyche was savagely attacked as was our homeland. Revenge became a stupid reaction. We went in deep on flimsy grounds.

We didn’t look for a way to fund these hostilities. As a matter of fact we increased spending “like drunken sailors” according to John McCain. And his party was in power. We passed a huge prescription drug bill. The coup de grace of sorts were the tax cuts. What were we thinking?

Not to be outdone the Dems came into power. They couldn’t wait to fund pet programs of welfare of all sorts. Yes, I too pushed a health care bill that should not have been. At least not at that particular period. The malpractice of government continued unabated.

Now the chickens were coming to roost. Wall Street crumbled. America shut down. Foreclosures were the obvious outcome. We despaired financially and in our soul. We tried to stimulate the economy. We borrowed more. We fell deeper. And Washington as guardians of the national trust fund failed miserably.

This day was inevitable. The Tea Party was not wrong in their heart but in their intransigence. We as a government and a nation had lost our compass. But then incredibly we renewed those cuts for everyone. The idiocy in the hope of reelection continued.

Part of the cure is hitting rock bottom. You know you have to do something. You look in the mirror. The games stop. Right now we have to decide as a government which master we want to serve. Our local precinct or the common good.

The talk seems to revolve around the 2012 election. Let me take my hat out of the ring momentarily. I made a decision that entitlements had to be on the table. That does not play well to my base. But it was obvious it had to be. John Boehner also put revenue increases on the table. He also was not greeted with open arms.

I made a big mistake in not taking the Joint Commission’s report on the deficit more seriously. I and the Republicans thought it would never play well in Peoria. We failed to realize how pertinent and workable a document it was. Bipartisan, it should have and should now be our blueprint.

I call on John to join me one more time. We will cut spending deeply. Not just with realigning ledgers. We are fat and obscene. We will raise taxes on those making more than $500,000 and by closing obvious loopholes.

We will all act like adults. We will put reelection on the back burner. I am ready to say the Executive Branch will no longer be under a separate pension fund. We will go into Social Security and transfer our funds there. We will seek out medical insurance like the rest of America. We will make any retirement benefits commensurate with time served. I ask the Legislative and Judicial branches to do the same. Let’s all have skin in the game.

I’d like to say this is a trial balloon. That we have choice. We really don’t. I am ready to face reality. I hope you are too.

Thank you for your time and God bless America….fade to black

Speaker Boehner: Take Two

Thank you Mr. President. I had an entirely different response planned. Listening to you I realized we are all at fault. Every man woman and child in this country. I join you in spirit of cooperation.

I will do so on the strict understanding of the Republican’s overall philosophy. We want less, not more government. We continue to believe government cannot not be the panacea some believe. We understand the need to tax but not to increase spending. We fear that is an underlying theme.

Let’s get on this first thing in the morning. Let’s do something that America and the world can be proud of. I will pledge to sit down until we reach a compromise.

I think your tenor and the history you laid out show we are ALL in this. Let’s just admit this from the start and move on. I will make sure I bring the support of the Republicans and you of the Democrats. That is why we are leaders. It really is time to move forward. We won’t let the country down. We are together.

May God Bless America…..fade to black

As always

Ted The Great

Factoids:

The US Navy has 230 ships at sea. It has 278 admirals. Admirals don’t serve on ships. In WWII there was one admiral for 130 ships.

The head chaplain of the Navy is a two star admiral. He has two admirals under him.

Each admiral cost about $240,000 in salary and benefits.

It is estimated that to get from the Secretary of the Navy to a line officer in the fleet, one has to go through 30 layers of bureaucracy.

The US Navy is but one piece of the defense establishment that is just one part of the US budget. Think of all the agencies and then imagine the waste in each one. Medicare. Education. Agriculture etc. Case Closed