First Blog

  It’s all we ever hear these days.  But did you hear the one about the fellow who was thinking so far outside of the box he got lost ? It happens. Leave behind what you know for too long and you may never recover. So what is it, this thinking outside the box?   A brilliant insight at just the right moment?   A clever explanation served up quickly? A cowboy tap-dance on a difficult problem with the perfect solution, like from outta nowhere?   A new idea to treat some disease? A clever new routing strategy. Figuring who the criminal actually is? All of these? Basically, it is thinking beyond, differently, unconventionally, inferentially, intuitively, or creatively.   Albert Einstein begged the question with this: "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." The “difficulty” happens because we are boxed-in.   The opportunity comes when thinking outside the box.   It has been suggested the term “outside the box” came from the nine-dot puzzle.   Connect all nine dots by

Metaphors for our day: Sandbox, Tank, Swamp.  Think outside the sandbox, they say.   There is nothing more true than with the Republicans.   Indeed, for the Republicans there is a new sandbox of populism.   It is a genuine caring for, not assuming of, the people.   Trump, much to the chagrin of the traditional Republicans, has changed the sandbox in which they should be playing.   For Republicans, gone are the days of trying to relive the era of Ronald Reagan. What has evolved is a new party. A tectonic shift of both parties has taken place.   The New Republican message is populism.   It places Americans first, with their aspirations, dreams, and hopes. Yet, the Democrat sandbox has changed as well.   The New Democrats are now a party appealing to the very rich and supported by the poor.   The former gets the benefits; the latter gets the promises. The big switch: The New Democrats are now a party of big money. The New Republicans are now a party of the people. In c