MORE BOOKS TO READ

If you haven't read Thomas Friedman" Hot Flat and Crowded, I have little to say to you. And if you haven't read Jeff Sharlett's The Family, you have little to say to me.

What do I mean by this? There is no point in arguing environment, or job creation, or what the future can hold, or how we boost the development of cheap alternative clean energy, if you haven't read Friedman.

And right now, if you haven't read The Family, you can't discuss with me what I find most interesting, nay fascinating, at the present time. If only Thom Friedman, or anyone who writes with his very readable, very understandable style could rewrite Sharlett's book. He needs a very good editor, so it is a bit of a struggle, ( a number of well placed commas would help), but still, so worth reading. Do so, and get back to me.

MEANINGLESS CHATTER

I find myself spending a lot more time with my friend the TV, especially on rainy days like the present, or early nights like in the winter, and a lot of it is listening to what my lawyer friend refers to as "The talking heads". I am beginning to see what he means. Much of it is meaningless, mindless, chatter, the predictions or viewpoints of people who have proved themselves wrong, so many times, whose grasp of history is so short, and feeling of rightness in their own opinions so great, that I wonder why I listen to them at all. Worse is listening to the "Man on the street' interviews, or the latest polls, as if we had something to learn from these people. Even worse than this is the media, in their effort to be even handed, who publish, or give voice to everything, every side of an issue, even if it is a heap of blatant untruths. I often think back to the following story.

We had Robert St. John, renowned journalist, speak to us many years ago, but he left me with a message I never forgot, and never stop using as a measure when I hear news that tries to be evenhanded, at the expense of truth. His story went like this:

Imagine you are in a windowless newsroom, and a reporter comes in and says, "What a beautiful day, as nice as it gets, the sun is shining, and the temperature is perfect". Minutes later another reporter comes in and says, "What a miserable day, raining cats and dogs and very cold". Now does the newscaster, for the sake of evenhandedness, broadcast both stories, or does he get up off his chair, go out where he can see what is happening, and choose only the correct version?

Our news media seem to have become too lazy to "fact check" everything they hear, and trying so hard to be "fair", they give voice to everything, even if it is totally untrue. As individuals we too often do the same thing, sending on everything we may get over the internet, without checking its validity. Most often our own common sense should have sent us the warning lights, but we either never had any common sense, lost our common sense, or ignore it altogether.

I think we are also a product of a child rearing system that put too much stress on listening to everyone equally, and never applied the yardstick of who was expressing worthwhile ideas, intelligently. We don't seem to have been taught how to ferret out fact from fiction, or distinguish a valid argument from an invalid argument, or even not to compare apples to oranges.

I will give an example from the MSNBC program Morning Joe, (Oct. 16) about New Orleans. It is four years later, progress has been made, especially lately, but much is left to do. But no discussion on the program ever included the fact that much of New Orleans was, and still is, in a maximum danger zone and should not be rebuilt. They got away with living way below sea level for a long, long time, but the truth of the risks involved was always known. The political situation was always bad, apparently city wide and state wide, and how much has that improved? Then the fact that Obama, whose visit brought all this up, was criticized because he did not go to Mississippi, as if there were equal problems to solve there. It was just a few days before, that someone we met from Mississippi, was telling us what a good job his state had done compared to Louisiana. I'll believe him, before Joe Scarborough, who was only trying to make a political point. Then over and over I heard repeated, if the same thing had happened in a wealthy suburb, (and many examples were given), it would not be in the same state four years later. What a stupid statement! People in wealthy suburbs have insurance on their homes; of course they will be repaired and rebuilt as quickly as possible, with little or no federal assistance. We went by some wealthy islands in the Keys that had been wiped by Hurricane Andrew a year before, and the damage was hardly apparent.

To get back to New Orleans, it seems everyone at the studio just wanted to get on the bandwagon and register their sympathies, while disparaging Obama, even though the people on camera, seemed happy about his visit. The fact that he went on to a fundraiser in California, as if New Orleans meant nothing, was played over and over. Guess if Obama didn't want to give Joe fodder for his criticizing mill, he never should have scheduled the visit to New Orleans. Talking heads, talking heads.

WHAT YOU MUST TRY TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN

WHAT YOU MUST TRY TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN

I say, “try”, because these are things children must learn, but you will not always be successful. Some nuts are just too hard to crack, but never give up. They must learn these lessons, and will eventually, if you have been persistent and consistent. It just may not be in your lifetime. I wish I had known more about training children when I started, but a lot of this knowledge didn’t come until we started learning about training horses, and even now on the TV, about training dogs, long after the kids were grown. Sounds crazy, transferring animal training techniques to humans, but we all know, babies are not as smart as young puppies, and all of us, if we are to socialize with one another, animals with other animals, and animals with humans, must learn the same lessons. It’s all about learning to live with each other. It’s about learning how to stay alive, learning how to have joy and give joy, and paying back for what was given to you.

THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE

You as the teacher must be CONSISTENT AND PERSISTENT. I used to avoid this, saying, “Life isn’t consistent.” Big mistake. You simply prolong the time it takes to teach anything, you make it twice as long and twice as hard. BE CONSISTENT!

Children seem to master “procrastination” early on, if allowed to do so. Stop this before it becomes an art. Be firm, be consistent.

You as the parents are the leaders, the teachers, the “he and she who must be obeyed.” A child must not be taught to think the world revolves around him. His parents are the top dogs, and his life revolves about them. They set the schedules, when to eat, when to sleep, when to talk, and when to listen. Too many parents never seem to recognize their role, and in fact reverse this role. The child rules the roost, and everyone suffers. If a large dog doesn’t learn this, he can become dangerous, and so do too many children.

Lastly, your main tool is rewarding good behavior, whether with a hug, with praise, or a treat. So often we are only scolding or punishing the bad behavior, and we ignore all the good behavior. You know if you ever trained a dog to heel or sit, it is done with rewards. The carrot always works better than the stick, but if all else fails, if not learning puts the child or someone else in danger or discomfort, then use the stick. An example: I've read that Indians taught their children what hot meant, by letting them touch something hot. I am sure the lesson never had to be repeated, but if you don't want to take the risk of doing this, maybe a quick slap on the hand might work. Think of something; it is a lesson that must be learn

LESSONS THAT MUST BE LEARNED

PLACE IN THE WORLD: Last place behind everyone older, everyone wiser, everyone in a position of authority. You don’t talk back, you don’t roll your eyes, and you show respect to all, even those you consider your equal, or lower in the pecking order.

STOP AND NO: Among the earliest lessons. Starting with safety, when you say no to a child who is about to put his finger in the light socket, his response must be instantaneous. Ditto the child about to run into the street. If you can achieve this, saying no, and meaning no, and having the child understand that your no is non negotiable, it will eliminate hours of whining and wheedling. Everyone who has to deal with your child, or be around you and your child, will thank you.

MANNERS: Good manners, in all its forms, from please and thank you, to yes ma’am, and no sir, to how to eat, standing up for ladies and elders, opening doors, everything to make living with other people more enjoyable, and to show you know your place in the world, is important. A well-mannered person will be welcomed everywhere, and be respected in turn.

ENVIRONMENTALISM: We live in a world of shrinking resources, and increasing costs. We cannot afford waste, neither power nor water, food or clothing. (Turn off the lights, learn to take a boat shower, don’t throw clothes in the dirty clothesbasket, because it is easier than hanging up). We must respect everything we have, and everything we use. It starts with the room you live in, and the rooms you share. The child must learn to pick up his own mess. If he cannot do this, he cannot hope to clean up the world.

MONEY; How it is made, how it is saved, appropriate spending, choosing wisely, the necessity of giving, cherishing what you have and taking care of it, the difference between our needs and our wants, the inappropriateness of ostentatious display, especially in the world today, the meaning of nouveau riche, and why you don’t want to be one of those, appropriate dressing, and the temporariness of “fashion”, all should be learned. A child’s birthright does not include a car of his own at sixteen. If he drives, and what he drives, and when he drives his own car, is the parent’s decision.

JOBS AND RESPOSIBILITY: Everyone is happier knowing they are important, that they have a job others depend on. The youngest child can learn not to make the mess, and to clean up his own messes, as he gets older. He can be made to feel a necessary part of the household by having assigned tasks, and the older he gets, the more time he can devote. His schooling is his primary job, be serious about this. Paying jobs outside the home teach more than you can imagine. If nothing else, it teaches the value of money, the pleasure that can come from doing something important enough people are willing to pay you to do it, and it teaches responsibility.

MORAL VALUES: A person without moral values is a hazard to the world. I can’t list all the values, just know they are important, nay necessary, and children won’t learn just by observing you. They must be taught. If you don’t choose which values they are taught, they may choose someone like the “Moonies” or other cults, to do it for them.

INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY: Teach them to wonder, teach them the joys of reading, of good music, and good movies, of creativity, give them a passion for something, preferably something lasting they can carry into their adulthood, something that brings joy into their lives wherever they go. An inquiring mind will never be idle, will never be bored.

HOUSEHOLD ARTS: Your children will not be stepping from the arms of a mother who did everything for them, into the arms of a wife or maid who will do everything for them. Chances are Mom worked, and the age of marriage may be prolonged. They must know how to cook and clean, wash clothes, and how to take care of everything. This all fits into jobs and responsibilities, and environmentalism. In fact most of these things work together. By eighteen years old your child should know basic nutrition, how to shop, make a meal, serve and clean up a meal, all basic household tasks, like cleaning a bathroom, rinsing out the sink or toilet if they have left a deposit, how to sweep, dust, and vacuum, and this includes, mop boards, finger marks on doors, and how to schedule these tasks. They should know how to run all the appliances in a home, and the basics oh how to fix things, or how to get them fixed.

THE GOAL AND THE REWARD

Your goal is to make an independent person, and doing it by eighteen years old is a good objective. If they are old enough to vote, they are old enough to do all these things. Furthermore, the earlier you teach them, the easier your life, and the family’s life and their teachers life, in fact the life of all who come in contact with them will be, but most especially, your life. The rewards are worth the efforts you take right from the beginning. So many of the issues the modern day parent faces, were not faced by parents of old. We brought so many of our problems on ourselves, by letting the child dominate our lives in an unhealthy way. We have adulated them. We have let adult conversation come to a halt as we are forced to listen to the prattle of an infant. Of course we want them to learn to express themselves, but how do they learn to be quiet in a classroom, if they think everything they say is as important as what you are trying to teach them.* Yes, they are the focus of our efforts, but not of our total life. What you are doing as an adult, in your job, your duties to your community, to your spouse, is for their benefit, as much or more than for anybody’s, but they must never be led to believe they are the King or Queen Bees.

*I think this subject needs a discussion of its own, and it will follow under a separate heading, probably titled, "MEANINGLESS CHATTER".

WINDPOWER

WINDPOWER

The following is a letter to son Bill, but what it says, I think is important for all of us.

Bill, I want to continue the discussion we had about future power sources. I listen to you promote atomic energy power and a few years ago, you would have had my unqualified agreement. But I want you to think a little bit beyond the box. When you argue that something is not economically the right way to go, you have to always keep in mind what developments in technology can do to the cost of anything. Think of the SAGE buildings like the one in Sioux City. That was state of the art, back when it was conceived. By the time it was being built, it was so far behind times, that most of these units, if they were used, it was only for the shortest time. Now you have more computer space in just one of your office machines, as fitted in that entire building. If you read Hot , Flat and Crowded, you would know this was one of the points he was driving home; keep oil prices up with a a platform under them, or guarantee a market for wind and solar and whatever kind of power, so they can afford to get going, and stand back. The developments that will happen will blow you away. Yes we will need a new power grid, but we need that anyway, and we need jobs right now, and we need to change our economy anyway from just a consumer economy, so what better way than to start focusing on what must be done, developing cheap and clean energy.

What got me thinking about all this today in particular, was listening to Science Friday on NPR, talking about windpower. It is the same thing we have been hearing from friend Herb for years. His credentials for development of new things goes back a lifetime, from the early radars, to the Dew Line, to the atomic bomb, and yes, even to windpower. He was part of the group that put in the first large windpower projects in California. Years ago he told us about light bulbs that were developed, that could save so much energy. This was at least ten years ago, and we are just beginning to see it happen. In places in Europe these bulbs are mandated, but we seem to drag our feet on everything. Not since World War 2 was thrust on us did we ever show how quickly we could get something done, literally the impossible, but it took a Pearl Harbor to shake us out of our lethargy.

Don't just listen to those who want to keep the status quo because it benefits them economically, start looking and thinking ahead to what is being developed so quickly it is hard to keep up. Your fast recharging of the batteries is one of those giant leaps forward, and there are so many new battery developments already up and over the horizon, that it is staggering.

So I am hoping you will take time to listen to this weeks Science Friday, you can get it on the internet, and maybe the talk of what is possible, and is happening with windpower will BLOW your mind away.