Best Mother's Day message ever!

This MVP award speech by Kevin Durant is not only heartwarming and inspiring, but a testament not to the impressive goodness of the man, but the woman who raised him. I have yet to hear a better tribute to a mom, particularly with less than a week before Mother's Day. It is guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes:

Here is the pertinent segment about his family:

Here is the full speech:

"Smart Phones and Dumb People"

This video contains a wonderfully important message for our tech-crazed world.

Chuck Feeney

Rich people have been given a bad rap lately, some deservedly so, while others not so warranted.

In the latter category is Chuck Feeney,

It is not whether a person has wealth or not that makes the person good or bad, but how they use their wealth. In Chuck's case, he must be very good because he has used his wealth to do much good in the world.

Les Miserables

I tend not to view Broadway and Hollywood as leading centers for doing good in the world. In fact, I see those institutions more inclined towards moral degradation, particularly their alarming sexualizing of children and their embracing sexual perversions, and the proliferation of destructive beliefs.

However, there are rare exceptions to the rule, such as Les Miserables, which conveys and encourages a host of uplifting character traits and values, such as: mercy, forgiveness, love, duty, commitment, honor, honesty, etc.

I don't know about you, but each time I experience this endearing and enduring performance, I leave with renewed commitment to be a better person and to do good, as well as a greater hope for the world in general.

Kudos to Victor Hugo for penning the gripping story, and also to the playwrights, composers, producers, directors, actors, musicians, and production staff that have brought ththis amazing epic to life on stage and screen over the years. Millions have been enriched and changed for the better because of it.

Prank it Forward

Sometimes good things in the world are done in unexpected ways, such as in the form of a prank.

Here is one that brought tears to my eyes, not from laughter, but from joy and appreciation. It was posted at Sharedots:

"Meet Chelsea Roff. An average waitress who raised her sister alone from a very young age, suffered from an eating disorder (weighing only 58 pounds at one point of time) and runs a non profit yoga clinic to help people suffering from the former. Her friends and colleagues step in to trap her in this amazing April fools prank."

Orphanage Internship

Not all countries are as well equipped as the U.S. to handle daunting orphanage problems. So, it is very nice to discover that certain U.S. university programs are lending a helping hand.

One such program is offered by the David M Kennedy Center for International Studies, the Child Development Internship in Romania. It is explained as: "In Romania, students will intern in orphanages and hospitals with children and infants with various physical and psychological disabilities. Students will also immerse themselves in academic cultural reflection as part of their experience."

The facebook page is available HERE.

Here are interns on the road to the orphanage:

These are young people who have spent their own money and dedicated months of their lives doing good in the world and exemplifying the Christ-like precept of caring for the fatherless and poor.

I am pleased to report that my niece, Whitney Englund Robinson, participated in this program several years back (2007), and I am posting notice of this magnanimous service to humanity in her honor.

Liahona Children's Foundation

With all the poverty and starvation throughout the world, my heart warms to see individuals filling in welfare gaps left by large institutions like governments and churches. One such organization is the Liahona Children's Foundation.

May this group be blessed for their charitable contributions, and may we assist them however we can in their cause.

Udacity - Lean Startup

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Evidently, in these challenging financial times, this principle has held true with the blossoming of business startups. There hasn't been a time in our nations history when innovation and entrepreneurship has been more needed and prevalent than the last half decade or so. Regardless of all the governmental  impediments to economic growth, an increasing number of courageous people have taken back control of their financial futures, made daunting sacrifices, put themselves at enormous economic risk, and devoted considerable resources to inventing and developing and rolling out new products and companies.

And, while many of these adventurers may have experience in their respective fields of endeavor, few have expertise in starting and running a business.

To bridge this gap, a group of successful business owners have teamed up, under the direction of Steve Blank, to provide free instruction and assistance for creating repeatable and sustainable and lean startups.

The course is housed at Udacity, and is called, "How to Build a Business."

Additional material is available at Steve Blank's web site HERE.

Good people who are good businessmen doing good things in the world.

Peepoople

In the U.S. we are so accustomed to having access to modern toilets and port-a-potties and even outhouses that we tend to take them for granted and don't give even a first thought to whether human waste disposal may be a problem in other parts of the world.

Besides, who wants to think much about pee and poop?

Well, it is a problem elsewhere. In fact, there are as many as 2.5 million people today who lack access to toilets and basic sanitation (See HERE)

And, fortunately, a group of people have thought long and hard about pee and poop, and have devised an ingenious solution:

Their innovation not only provide effective sanitation, but it also enables safe use of human waste as fertilizer.

Deseret Industries etc.

The concept of recycling has great appeal. Unfortunately, though, much of the recycling these days ends up consuming more energy and resources than it generates. (See HERE and HERE and HERE) The notion may warm the heart, but it often is worse for the environment that it is intended to protect.

However, there are fantastic exceptions to this general rule. Take for instance the several nationwide or regional organizations that not only recycle items like clothing, furniture, appliances, electronics, yard tools, etc., but who provide jobs and inexpensive items for the poor, such as:

It is hard to beat the good they are doing in the world.

Happy!

I just discovered one of the new theme songs for my life. Thanks to Pharrell Williams for bringing this fantastic song into the world.  And thanks to whomever for combining it with some of the happiest dancers in the world (posted HERE).

The lyrics can be read HERE.

[Update 3/27/2014: I just became aware that the United Nations (UN) has designated March 20th as the International Day of Happiness. This is great! However, feel free to join me in celebrating happiness everyday. Here is a link to hours of related videos HERE Very Cool!]

I am adding this to my list along side of Bobby McFerrin's "Don't worry...be happy!"

Catholic Adoption and Foster Care

There are millions of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies in the U.S. each year. (See HERE)

Women and couples deal with these unintended pregnancies in a variety of ways, from abortion to carrying the babies to term.

For the mothers and parents who choose life for their babies, many, and at varied points in the child-rearing process, are not financially and/or emotionally and/or physically able to adequately care for their offspring. (See HERE and HERE)

As such, it is blessed and heartwarming to know that there are organizations willing to step up and take charge of the welfare of the children, particularly all the Catholic adoption and foster care services (see HERE and HERE) like Catholic Adoption Online.

NAMI

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH): "Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year." (See HERE)

And, while some regions may have higher incidences than others, few if any families or close relations remain untouched by the harrowing effects of mental and emotional challenges.

Even though there is an abundance of trained professional at the ready to deal with psychological problems, their services are often cost-prohibitive and not always successful and tend to treat individuals without factoring in contributing environments and support systems.

Filling in this gap is the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), Here is how they briefly describe their efforts: "As the navigator of our nine signature education programs, offered in thousands of communities across America through our NAMI State Organizations NAMI Affiliates, we ensure hundreds of thousands of families, individuals and educators are served. NAMI is tireless in our efforts to equip and train grassroots volunteer facilitators who provide individual and family support groups in thousands of communities across America. Through the toll-free NAMI HelpLine, we respond personally to hundreds of thousands of requests each year, providing free referral, information and support—a much-needed lifeline for many." (See HERE)

Their facebook page is available HERE.

Kudos to this organization for doing so much good in the world.

Dad

Since this is my Dad's birthday, I thought it only right that he be remembered for all the good he brought into the world. He passed away several years ago, but his legacy of good continues in his wife, and children, and grandchildren.

Graveside 3/16/2014

Dad in college:

Doc

My long-time friend, Doc Taylor, put on a wonderful concert along with two of his music buddies. The entire evening was a delight, including a potluck dinner, a broad range of music, and a couple of sing-a-longs.  It is so nice when people like Doc freely share and magnify their talents and make our day.

Here is a poster advertising the concert:

WWP

The men and women in the military have put their lives on the line in order to protect our nation as well as the principles of liberty and freedom it holds dear.

At the very least we owe the military a debt of gratitude, honor, and respect.

However, our sense of responsibility ought to compel us as a nation to also take care of military, particularly those injured in the line of duty.

Since there isn't adequate assistance coming from the government that employed and directed the military into war, it is pleasing to learn that private citizens have stepped up to fill the gap. Figuring large in this way is the Wounded Warrior Project, which has already done an amazing amount of good for our soldiers. Gratefully, there are a number of people who care enough to sacrifice financially for those who have sacrificed limbs and life. Here is a heartfelt salute to them both.

Lifesaving Water

We humans cannot survive without drinkable water for more than three days. (See HERE)

This is why the "extreme drought" in California is of such great concern.

Bloomberg reports that:  "About two-thirds of California, home to 38 million people, is gripped by “extreme” or “exceptional” drought, the most severe conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal website. Ten percent of the state -- all in the San Joaquin Valley -- is considered exceptionally dry..." (See HERE)

What is to be done?

Well, an Israeli company has come to the rescue. According to Bloomberg: "North of San Diego, Israel’s IDE Technologies Ltd. is helping to build what it says will be the largest seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. The facility, when finished in 2016, will be able to provide 50 million gallons of potable water a day. Three smaller plants already operate in California, and 15 more have been proposed." (ibid.)

A Legitimate Job Creator

At a time when the country is struggling economically and jobs are scarce, and politicians on all sides are filling the air with vacuous rhetoric and empty promises, there is an organization that has not only stepped up to the plate in getting America back to work (it employs about 1.4 million people--see HERE), but it has also put $250 billion of its money where its mouth is--dedicating the funds over the next 10 years to increased purchase of goods made in the U.S.

You can read about the Walmart "Investing in American Jobs" project HERE.

Whether you love or hate Walmart (I happen to love the store chain on a number of levels), they are doing a good thing in today's world.

Sadly, as the saying goes, "no good turn goes unpunished," and this is no less true for this Walmart project, as recently discovered by Mike Rowe, host of "Dirty Jobs" and narrator for "Deadliest Catch" TV shows, and creator of the WORKS Foundation (a $250,000 scholarship fund for training in skilled trades), and the celebrity featured in the Walmart ad for this project. (See HERE) 

SCN

Believe it or not, there once was a time (as recently as the turn of the century) when only the fortunate few had access to computers and the Internet. In 2000, only a mere 360 million people, or 6% of the world's population had use of the Internet as compared with 2.4 billion people today, or 34.3% of the world's population. (See HERE)

Back then, this created what was affectionately known as the "digital divide" between the haves and have-nots--where those with technological experience had a decided advantage, in terms of education and career, over those who did not, particularly the poor and disadvantaged.

This struck not a few people in the technologically rich Pacific Northwest as unfair, and so they joined together to bridge the divide and enable broader access to the information highway.

This group was first organized in 1994, and called themselves Seattle Community Network (SCN), and they have continued their non-profit operations even until today (see their website HERE)

Not only does this philanthropic organization provide free Internet access, and website hosting, and email services, and training, but as the name indicates, it also offers an excellent way to draw communities closer together.

The organization describes itself as: "The Seattle Community Network (SCN) is a free public-access computer network for exchanging and accessing information. Beyond that, however, it is a service conceived for community empowerment. Our principles are a series of commitments to help guide the ongoing development and management of the system for both the organizers and participating individuals and organizations."

In 2000 to 2001, I had the pleasure of serving at SCN as a VISTA volunteer. Unfortunately, my on-line journal has since been deleted, though some of my work is still on display (see HERE and HERE and HERE)

From its inception in the mid 1990's until now, there have been an untold number of disadvantage people who have become technologically literate and their chances of success improved because of this great organization, For nearly two decades they have been unselfishly bringing much good into the world.

Economic Bright Spot

While researching in relation to my Leftist LUNC articles on Illegal Immigration I came across a plausible benefit of the down economy. In 2008, when the economy started to tank (see HERE), the number and proportion of undocumented residents in the U.S. dropped, (See HERE)

In 2007, the number of illegal aliens living in the U.S. was 12 million, or 3.9% of the total population, of which 1.4 million had crossed the border that year. Whereas, in 2009, illegal residents dropped to 10.7 million, or 3.5% of the total population, with only 124,000 people entered the country illegally that year, which means that over 850,000 illegals left the country that same year, most of which (582,648) left by choice rather than by deportation.(See HERE and HERE and HERE)

So, there is at least one bright spot and some good coming out of the down economy.

BSA

I don't know if it is a design flaw or not, but for whatever reason, Mother Nature decided to pump teenage boys full of hormones and energy and brawn, while failing to properly equip them with comparable amounts of intelligence and maturity and frontal lobes, thus creating a recipe for disaster.

To make matters worse, Pop Culture has taken these volatile human cocktails and placed them behind the wheels of speedy death machines, held them captive for 6 to 7 hours each week day in close proximity to the objects of their new-found crazed sexual interest, filled them fast and full of junk food, given them access to alcohol and drugs, armed them with technology that bombards them incessantly with crushing pressure to indulge their base inclinations, while also removing many impeding social stigmas and barriers to life-destroying decisions.

Is it any wonder, then, that alarming teens statistics are on the rise? (See HERE)

The good news is, that in addition to the blessed doom-minimizing factors of teen shyness and pimples, there is a dedicated service that adeptly guides boys in their treacherous climb towards manhood.

Few youth organization have been as instrumental as the Boy Scouts of America  in effectively assisting in re-balancing the somewhat warped natural character of teen boys and countering the destructive force of popular culture.

For more than 100 years, and under the charge of the BSA, tens of millions of male youth have been gifted with elevating values like honesty, dedication, respect, honor, and duty, and they have honed life skills like citizenship, lifesaving, first aid, communication, environmentalism, etc., not to mention compiled a treasure trove of outdoor memories.

Granted, the BSA has recently been the target of harsh criticism and negative publicity, but this is to be expected when efforts for good on the part of the BSA clash with the forces of ill and destruction of pop culture.

The grace with which the BSA has handled the public disagreement is a testament to its principles leadership, and deserving of attention for all the good it does in the world.

Divorce

In spite of the many blustering cultural tempests pounding over the years against the traditional family (see HERE and HERE and  HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE), the good news is that the divorce rate in the U.S. has been in decline over the last quarter century or so. (See HERE)

This is very encouraging given the oft long-term havoc that divorce can wreck on couples and particularly the children. (See HERE and  HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and  HERE and HERE and HERE )

Kahn Academy

I admire anyone who takes on the arduous and relatively low paying task of educating our nations children.

Teachers today literally hold our future in their hands.

However, I hold a special place in my heart for teacher who are uniquely gifted in their ability to instruct and inspire.

And, I have often thought how wonderful it would be if there was a way to clone or leverage the best teachers so that so many more students may be blessed.

As it turns out, in my quest to further my own education and brush up on my math and economics and computer programing skills, a friend pointed me to just such a gifted teaching site.

It is called Kahn Academy, and it is self-described as: "...a non-profit educational website created in 2006 by educator Salman Khan, a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School. The stated mission is to provide 'a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.'"

I have only been a student of the academy for about two weeks, but I can already tell from my experience that it goes well beyond living up to its self description, and surpassed my high expectations. The teaching style is interesting, very informative, easy to follow, and more than a match for my learning disabilities. I now understand aspects of algebra and micro economics in a couple of sessions that I failed to fully grasp during whole semesters at college.

And to think that it is freely available to the world, and is a great resource for home schooling and public schools alike.

With all the legitimate concern about the failing U.S. education system, it is good to know that there are individuals like Sal that offer proven solutions, and bring much good into the world.

Fillerup Employment

Over the last half decade, millions of people have not only lost jobs, and run out of longterm unemployment compensation, but they have also become so discourage by the lack of available work, that they have abandoned the workforce and have been left to survive any way they can. (See HERE)

And the people hit hardest have been the poor, causing the number welfare recipients and the amount of government assistance to skyrocket. (See HERE and HERE and HERE)

It seems that wherever we drive these days there is no shortage of people next to the roads holding up signs agreeing to work for food, or some such things.

 
As bleak as the job market appears to be, it is good to know that there are individuals and companies striving to change things for the better, and who offer dignifying assistance.

It is in this vein that I am pleased to mention  Fillerup Employment, which I helped establish in 1996, though I haven't been affiliated with the company for a decade or more.

What makes Fillerup employment so unique is that it provides temporary employment targeted for the impoverished, indigent, Native Americans, homeless, and unskilled labor.

I don't know how things work now, but in the early days, the company owner, Craig Fillerup, would drive his SUV around in the mornings to the homeless shelters, food banks, popular off-ramps, and other place where the downtrodden tended to congregate, and he would gather up as many as he could and take them to jobs he had scrounged up the day before, and put them to work.

This not only made it possible for these good souls to earn enough money that day to feed and take care themselves and their families (the average wage was around $10 an hour at the time), but it wasn't uncommon for the temporary work to turn into full time employment.

Instead of giving handouts, Fillerup Employment provided jobs. Or, in other words, metaphorically, rather than giving people a fish, Fillerup gave them a net and a productive place to cast it.

The company not only provided work for those in need, but it also helped its own employees make a living, not to mention that those they helped no longer required government assistance--which is a major to tax payers since the country hasn't for some time been pay but 2/3rds of its own bills.

I hope I am not alone in being inspired by this kind of bootstrap ingenuity and honorable solution to financial problems.

Power of Words

A good friend of mine, Jim Powell, shared this "Power of Words" video on facebook. It brought tears to my eyes, and I thought the message was not only profound and moving, but also perfect for inaugurating this blog.

Please remember, a seemingly small gesture of kindness may have world-altering impact, but is still worthwhile if it brightens only one persons day.