First Blog

If you cheat to enter a college, you’ll cheat when you get there. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Economists make fortune tellers and astrologers look good.   - Author unknown /////////////////// Never underestimate the power of a well-made argument.   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ To be the best you can be is a journey – of both you and the term.   Your “best” at age 20 is different from your   “best” at age 40 or at age 60. “Best” is at best a moving target when it comes to you and me. /////////////////// Life’s journey is taken in steps, giant, tiny, sideways, backward , forwards, up, down, and stationary. You’ve heard the expressions, all about the steps you take Going Nowhere. Going somewhere. Going Backward. A giant leap... Heading up. Going in circles.

You hear an explanation of something almost everyday.   What do you do?   First of all, you consider it mostly on the surface of the brain.   Some new input, as it were. Then comes the decision.   You can Understand what was explained Believe what was explained Accept what was explained. These three key words, understand, believe, and accept comprise a gross summary. But they typify three principles by which the brain or mind holds explanations. There are variations, exceptions, and exclusions. Just one is important now, and that is you may take the explanation as an example of several others in your mind, none of which have any of the attributes.   It sort of sits there awaiting further processing. Before getting to the picayune details, note that understand, believe, and accept are mostly exclusive, meaning one does not imply the other.   For example, you may accept global warming into the future, but neither understand nor believe it.   Similarly, you ma

If North Korean (NOKO) dictator Kim jong un cared about his people, he would feed them, not go about launching expensive missiles which can do his country no good, except court the enmity of his neighbors and the world. Kim wants his own life more than anything, but I fear if he senses his end is imminent, he may do anything, and I mean anything.  USA and even China should be careful here.  The only possibility to end Kim’s regime is a sudden coup from within. Kim knows this well. What NOKO wants .  Attention, benefit deals, a place on the world stage for Kim.  Possibly a screen for China. What China wants .  A distraction.  As long as NOKO is being the bad boy, outrageous, and blustering, who pays attention to what China is up to – such as building military islands in the South China Sea?  Banking sanctions?  Phooey.  Just move the money around.  China is already prepared for this.  The only peaceful recourse for the USA is to exact tariffs on imported Chinese produced go

The other day while I was listening to a radio show, an advertiser boasted their underwear would make me twice or three times as cool.  Sounds great BUT what does this mean?  Nada.   We have here a mix of the quantitative with the qualitative – seemingly a trend in the misconception of terms.    The new (false) math applies multiples to qualitative objects.  Twice as cool.  Twice as hot. Double your happiness. Ten percent of your brain power.  Loving you three times as much… Dress up your claim with math, and you convince the ignorant.  That so many use these false math claims are made indicates a profound ignorance or misunderstanding of the listening public. Google almost anything and you will get hits.  Google any multiples of anything and get hits again.  Some examples: Double your love life; Triple your risk; Quadruple your happiness – wow!  Can you really "double your pleasure, double your fun," by chewing Double Mint Gum?   Are our students given to doublin