Category: Politics
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Howard Schultz on Human Needs: Community and Health Care
I keep coming across inspiring references to Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks. Last week, I discovered a recent interview in KNOW Magazine entitled The Art of Creating Passionate Consumers, which included the following quotes: … consumers are demanding more. They want products or services that create a powerful and enduring emotional connection. The fracturing…
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The Health of our Nation: CodeBlueNow
The Seattle Times printed an opinion piece today from two former governors on "Re-creating our health care system". Arne H. Carlson, a Republican and former governor of Minnesota, and Booth Gardner, a Democrat and former governor of Washington, highlight the instability in our current health care system in the US and the risks such instability…
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Guns and Levees
This week’s CounterSpin includes an interview with Will Bunch about the diversion of federal government funding from levee projects in southern Louisiana to the war effort in Iraq: New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with…
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Will Pat Robertson be kept out of the UK?
Pat Robertson recently made some remarks condoning the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: "If he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it … We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability." If…
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Calvinball in the U.S. Congress
Recent discussions and actions regarding rule changes in the U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee (over alleged improprieties by Representative Tom DeLay) and the U.S. Senate (over filibuster and cloture) remind me of one of my favorite comic strips, Calvin and Hobbes. One of the recurring themes in the strip was calvinball, a game wherein…
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Socially Responsible Investing: Making Money vs. Making Meaning
Paul Hawken, founder of the Natural Capital Institute, recently asked “Is Your Money Where Your Heart Is? (The Truth about SRI Funds)” in an Evergreen Monthly article criticizing many of the so-called "socially responsible investment" (SRI) mutual funds for a lack of standards, definitions and [social] accountability. Investors who want to put their money where…
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The Politics of the Apology
Liz Lawley recently posted an interesting piece on the art of the apology, highlighting how apologizing can be a simple and effective strategy for maintaining good relations among people and organizations. She showed great restraint by not going into the politics of the apology, or mentioning U.S. President George W. Bush, whose unwillingness to even…
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GWB, FDR, HST, JFK … and LBJ
In a speech today, U.S. President George W. Bush invoked a lineage of Democratic presidents: The party of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and John Kennedy is rightly remembered for confidence and resolve in times of war and hours of crisis. Senator Kerry has turned his back on “pay any price,” and “bear any burden.”…
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CSN @ CSM
I went to see Crosby, Stills & Nash at Chateau Ste. Michelle last night with Amy, Bruce & Mary; it was the last concert of the season for both the band and the winery. Bruce arrived when they opened the gates and braved the rain to secure fabulous, front-row, center, lawn seats for us. By…
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Bush on Clarity, Consistency and Service
On the way home tonight, I heard excerpts from a speech given by George W. Bush to the National Guard Association meeting in Las Vegas. I’ve been trying to refrain from overtly political posts on this blog, but the statements I heard tonight just pushed me over the edge. I heard our president say “What’s…