...you just gotta get the truth out there.
"Meanwhile, Alderman Dan Piton also filed a communication, to put an item on the Finance Committee’s agenda. Piton wants the committee to discuss the costs so far, and possible future costs, of Vander Leest’s $1 million lawsuit against the city of Green Bay..."
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Literacy Green Bay and Happy Joe's
"Reading is a ladder out of poverty. It is probably
one of the best anti-poverty, anti-depravation, anti-crime, anti-vandalism policies you can think of." U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, launching the National Year of Reading 2008
Seems to me that Prime Minister Brown is probably right. If you agree, please support Literacy Green Bay by printing out this flier and bringing it along to dinner at Happy Joe's on Wednesday, December 2.
A big thank you to Happy Joe's for donating 20% of their sales that night for customers who bring a flier! Hope to see you there!
one of the best anti-poverty, anti-depravation, anti-crime, anti-vandalism policies you can think of." U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, launching the National Year of Reading 2008
Seems to me that Prime Minister Brown is probably right. If you agree, please support Literacy Green Bay by printing out this flier and bringing it along to dinner at Happy Joe's on Wednesday, December 2.
A big thank you to Happy Joe's for donating 20% of their sales that night for customers who bring a flier! Hope to see you there!
Monday, November 16, 2009
The War Against Boys, Chapter 1
I'm not sure how I stumbled across this (NY Times, login required) but once I started reading I had to finish. When pointed out, the overwhelming anecdotes seems obvious. Boys do drop out and get expelled more. More girls do go seem to continue on to college. There's no doubt in my mind that an organization pushing their cause can unintentionally hurt others. I wonder if that really is the case here? I'd love to read more on the opposing side, especially if they work to respond directly to this book.
Aside: While not closed yet, I understand the gender equity gap in salary is slowly shrinking. I also understand that women are weathering this recession far better than men. I wonder, how will expectations and customs change if women end up bringing more home more often than not? Could that happen before real job creation starts up again in this country? Will the waitress start setting the bill next to my wife instead of me in a few years? Will wedding officiators eventually say, Mrs. and Mr. when presenting the groom and bride? Could we find a better balance along the way or will the social pendulum over-swing first as it often does?
Bringing this back to education, I guess it makes sense to me that you should gather information on groups. But use that information to address the needs of individuals. After all, the primary goal of schools should be to produce well educated individuals. Right?
http://danslotd.blogspot.com
Aside: While not closed yet, I understand the gender equity gap in salary is slowly shrinking. I also understand that women are weathering this recession far better than men. I wonder, how will expectations and customs change if women end up bringing more home more often than not? Could that happen before real job creation starts up again in this country? Will the waitress start setting the bill next to my wife instead of me in a few years? Will wedding officiators eventually say, Mrs. and Mr. when presenting the groom and bride? Could we find a better balance along the way or will the social pendulum over-swing first as it often does?
Bringing this back to education, I guess it makes sense to me that you should gather information on groups. But use that information to address the needs of individuals. After all, the primary goal of schools should be to produce well educated individuals. Right?
http://danslotd.blogspot.com
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Balance and Choices
I recently attended People Supporting People. It was a great experience. My sincere thanks to everyone who participated and especially to those that made it happen.
Note: This is far more introspective and wordy than my normal LOTD fare so stop reading now if you don't want to read me naval gazing.
There were many insights and lessons to be gained. Some I already knew, many I recognized as things I could improve. One that's been stuck bouncing around my brain is that you have to take care of yourself before you take care of others. Since my brain seems to be stuck on that theme, I'm going to put down a few thoughts...
One thing I already knew is that serving others-- taking care of someone else's needs-- makes me feel good. It is fulfilling. Those rewarding moments can make me put up with a big pile of downside.
But a few corollaries to the rule also occurred to me:
* Sometimes the action desired or given isn't positive for the giver and/or the receiver. People do hurtful and self destructive things all the time.
* Self before others already implies that there is not enough of oneself to to meet all needs. It follows that even when you put yourself first, you still have to choose between other competing needs.
Time is the most limited commodity in my life. I have to prioritize things. (BTW, thanks for Steve and Linda for their part in helping this lesson to hit home when we went out for Pizza.) Balancing day job, night job, self, family and friends simply isn't possible sometimes. Those last three seem to suffer the most, unfortunately. One friend has half jokingly told me multiple times that I should hire a scheduler. What a wonderful thought but not really practical.
* Taking care of yourself first can involve taking care of others at the same time.
Asking my wife to attend an event with me is a positive for the organization, my wife and me. But sometimes skipping that event and staying home to play Civilization together for hours is a better choice. (Yes, even when I end up with cities razed and her gifting me troops to keep my country from being overrun.) Spending time with others, especially family, is also a part of taking care of yourself.
Do I have an answer? Well, this moment is a fine example. I sit here writing this. After I hit save, I'll probably get in to the budget book and packet to prepare for meetings next week. I also have a test environment on this laptop that should have been finished on Friday that isn't going to get done this weekend as I hoped. And never you mind the two levels of Dungeon Keeper II I tore through today instead of mowing the lawn. I guess sometimes meeting your own needs can be self destructive too. So, no, I have no answers. Sleep is a need too.
One conclusion I've come to is that I need to make better choices for myself. I am self destructive too often. Another is that to take care of myself I also need to be more selective about how I take care of others.
PSP is an excellent program helping people understand each other and get along. For me it has helped me analyze this area of concern in my life. I have already started making changes. I will continue to make changes. Some easy, some difficult. I will continue to serve others but I must also take care of myself.
Since you made it this far, thanks for reading!
Note: This is far more introspective and wordy than my normal LOTD fare so stop reading now if you don't want to read me naval gazing.
There were many insights and lessons to be gained. Some I already knew, many I recognized as things I could improve. One that's been stuck bouncing around my brain is that you have to take care of yourself before you take care of others. Since my brain seems to be stuck on that theme, I'm going to put down a few thoughts...
One thing I already knew is that serving others-- taking care of someone else's needs-- makes me feel good. It is fulfilling. Those rewarding moments can make me put up with a big pile of downside.
But a few corollaries to the rule also occurred to me:
* Sometimes the action desired or given isn't positive for the giver and/or the receiver. People do hurtful and self destructive things all the time.
* Self before others already implies that there is not enough of oneself to to meet all needs. It follows that even when you put yourself first, you still have to choose between other competing needs.
Time is the most limited commodity in my life. I have to prioritize things. (BTW, thanks for Steve and Linda for their part in helping this lesson to hit home when we went out for Pizza.) Balancing day job, night job, self, family and friends simply isn't possible sometimes. Those last three seem to suffer the most, unfortunately. One friend has half jokingly told me multiple times that I should hire a scheduler. What a wonderful thought but not really practical.
* Taking care of yourself first can involve taking care of others at the same time.
Asking my wife to attend an event with me is a positive for the organization, my wife and me. But sometimes skipping that event and staying home to play Civilization together for hours is a better choice. (Yes, even when I end up with cities razed and her gifting me troops to keep my country from being overrun.) Spending time with others, especially family, is also a part of taking care of yourself.
Do I have an answer? Well, this moment is a fine example. I sit here writing this. After I hit save, I'll probably get in to the budget book and packet to prepare for meetings next week. I also have a test environment on this laptop that should have been finished on Friday that isn't going to get done this weekend as I hoped. And never you mind the two levels of Dungeon Keeper II I tore through today instead of mowing the lawn. I guess sometimes meeting your own needs can be self destructive too. So, no, I have no answers. Sleep is a need too.
One conclusion I've come to is that I need to make better choices for myself. I am self destructive too often. Another is that to take care of myself I also need to be more selective about how I take care of others.
PSP is an excellent program helping people understand each other and get along. For me it has helped me analyze this area of concern in my life. I have already started making changes. I will continue to make changes. Some easy, some difficult. I will continue to serve others but I must also take care of myself.
Since you made it this far, thanks for reading!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Business and Engineering Ethics
Be warned: I saw an f-bomb on the page in a quote from the CEO. I'd imagine it's also in the video if you watch it.
"Mafia Wars CEO Brags About Scamming Users From Day One" from The Consumerist
Perhaps this company and others are shamed in to more polite and ethical behavior once they are popular. Even so, why risk it when you know they still spam your friends without your knowledge and admit to previously installing code that steals your network bandwidth and computer cycles? Both are outside the bounds of moral and ethical behavior in my book.
http://danslotd.blogspot.com
"Mafia Wars CEO Brags About Scamming Users From Day One" from The Consumerist
Perhaps this company and others are shamed in to more polite and ethical behavior once they are popular. Even so, why risk it when you know they still spam your friends without your knowledge and admit to previously installing code that steals your network bandwidth and computer cycles? Both are outside the bounds of moral and ethical behavior in my book.
http://danslotd.blogspot.com
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Budget Time!
The mayor's proposed 2010 budget is up. All comments, opinions and thoughts welcome!
The Hispanic/Latino diversity outreach position at the police department is out. Methinks that one deserves a vote from the floor. What do you see?
http://danslotd.blogspot.com
The Hispanic/Latino diversity outreach position at the police department is out. Methinks that one deserves a vote from the floor. What do you see?
http://danslotd.blogspot.com
Monday, November 9, 2009
County Amnesty Days
Know someone who has an outstanding county warrant? Maybe you were unable to pay that non-criminal ticket and never showed up in court? If so there is an opportunity to solve the problem without going to jail:
Amnesty times are:
* 1 p.m., Friday, in Branch 2, Judge Mark Warpinski, 100 S. Jefferson St., Green Bay, (920) 448-4112
* 1 p.m., Nov. 20, in Branch 5, Judge Marc Hammer, 100 S. Jefferson St., Green Bay, (920) 448-4118
I'm guessing Friday is this Friday, Nov 13. The 20th is the next Friday. 100 S. Jefferson is the court house downtown.
Amnesty times are:
* 1 p.m., Friday, in Branch 2, Judge Mark Warpinski, 100 S. Jefferson St., Green Bay, (920) 448-4112
* 1 p.m., Nov. 20, in Branch 5, Judge Marc Hammer, 100 S. Jefferson St., Green Bay, (920) 448-4118
I'm guessing Friday is this Friday, Nov 13. The 20th is the next Friday. 100 S. Jefferson is the court house downtown.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
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