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Category Archives: Random

Tactical Parking: Backing In to Save a Toddler’s Life

10 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in Business, Government, Government Regulation, habits, Lessons of Life, Life, Nevada, parenting, Random, Reno, Respect, Travel, United States, Women

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back in parking, back overs, back up cameras, backing in, front in parking, parking, tactical parking, toddler deaths

Four years ago I wrote a piece on tactical parking. It’s time to revisit the subject. Tactical parking is when a driver backs into a parking space or garage, rather than front-in parking. In 2014, people were making fun of tactical parking. The joke is that it is a ‘guy’ thing. It’s not a joke. It’s about saving children from injury and death.

Tactical Parking: For the sake of every toddler

50 Children a Week

It is estimated that 50 children a week are injured or killed by someone backing hu’s (his or her) car or truck. Two children die every week. Most of these children are about one year old. Backing up a vehicle puts children at risk, and often the victim is the child or the grandchild of the driver.

In 2014, auto manufacturers had until May of this year to install back up cameras on every vehicle, but that does not completely solve the problem. Camera’s have blind spots and cameras require the driver to be focused on the dash, not on what is going on around the car.

Advantages of Tactical Parking

The major advantage of tactical parking (or backing in parking) is driver visibility, both backing in and pulling out. When backing in, the driver has to drive past the parking spot, driveway, or garage allowing a visual inspection of the area through the windshield and side window. This makes is safer for a driver to back in coming from the street or parking lot lane.

The real benefit is that as they pull out, the driver is viewing the area through the windshield, not craning hu’s head around to look out the back window, looking through the rearview mirror, or watching the small screen on the dash. Tactical parking also has the advantage of placing the driver closer to traffic lane when pulling out of a parking space, driveway, or garage.

Backing into a parking space can be a challenge for the inexperienced. It is not something to do when the parking lot is busy and cars are held up; however, tactical parking is only ten to twenty seconds longer that front-in parking.

If a driver can avoid backing completely, that is the optimal situation. In parking lots were two rows of cars park head-to-head, finding a parking spot where the two spaces are empty and the driver can ‘pull through’ is ideal. This allows safe parking and leaves the car facing traffic when it’s time to leave.

Practice, Practice, Practice

I use tactical parking every day and I still don’t do it on the first try. Part of the issue is that I’m anal about being in the middle of the parking space. I also fail to take the time to lower both side mirrors so I can see the parking space lines. The easiest place to practice is usually your own driveway and/or garage. If you live on a busy street, then going to an empty lot to practice is another good option.

The goal is to reduce the amount of backing up a driver has to do. Every hurt or injured child hit by a car backing up is a case of a momentary lapse, or a distraction, or an unexpected move by a child. We can’t eliminate those situations. We can work to have the car facing toward traffic when it moves from a parked postion. That will save a toddler’s life.

Breathe: Inhale to Breakdown Fat, Exhale To Lose It

09 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, All Rights Reserved, exercise, Generational, habits, Health, Lessons of Life, Life, Medicine, Nevada, parenting, Random, Recreation, Reno, Science, Women

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Anna Nalick, breathe, Breathe (2AM), breathing, exercise, fat, fat cells, health, weight, weight loss

Fat is not all bad. In fact, it is absolutely necessary as a body regulator and protects the body from injury and heat loss. It is basically an organic, cushy, multiuse storage unit in the body. The problem is that most of us don’t need all that storage, so we attempt to rid ourselves of it. To accomplish that we need to remember to breathe.

BEAR: Do I look fat to you? Think before you answer.

[NOTE:  This article is based on an article from Live Science, “What’s in a Fat Cell?”]

Fat Has a Purpose, Many Actually

If we ate the same food, and the same amount on a consistent schedule, fat would be less relevant. Fat is a buffer, retaining surplus compounds and releasing them when the body lacks those compounds.

Most people know fat is storage unit, but it is also a hazmat locker when the bloodstream has can’t process toxins in the blood. Fat also is necessary to process certain vitamins so the cells can use them. In addition, fat has two functions that many people overlook. Fat cells are a shock absorber for the body, and certain fat cells break down and generate heat to help regulate the body temperature.

The Big Three of Fat

Fat has three main elements. Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. When fat is ‘burned’ it is a chemical process caused by oxygen interacting with the carbon and hydrogen. The outcome is water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2.) The water is removed from the body through sweat or the digestive tract (urine and feces,) but the carbon dioxide is expelled when we exhale.

This makes the respiratory system critical in the elimination of fat cells. The oxygen inhaled is the oxidizer needed to break down the fat cell, and the carbon dioxide is exhaled. When we lose weight, the waste product is liquid and gas, not solid.

So, just breathe…and exercise…and eat healthily.

My First and Final (gulp) Imaginary Interview With Terry Gross

05 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, All Rights Reserved, Communication, Entertainment, Fiction, Journalism, Life, Marketing, Nevada, Passionate People, Random, Traditional Media, United States, Women

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Don Gonyea, Fresh Air, interview, Kai Ryssdal, npr, Steve Inskeep, Terry Gross, WHYY

[NOTE:  5 April 2038. This imaginary interview with Fresh Air’s host Terry Gross took place in the cafeteria at the National Public Radio (NPR) Senior Care Facility in Washington, D.C., about five blocks from the NPR headquarters.]

Terry Gross WHYY

Fresh Air’s Terry Gross, 1987

Interview with Terry Gross:  Part I

Me:  This is a special guest-host edition of Fresh Air. My guest today is Terry Gross. She has been on radio for 65 years. For over six decades she has been the host of this weekday interview show produced by WHYY in Philadelphia and aired across the nation through National Public Radio stations. She has a degree in English, and a Masters degree in Communication. Among her many honors are a Peabody Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, a Columbia Journalism Award, a 2015 National Humanities Award, and in 2012 she was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. Terry, thank you for allowing me the honor of guest hosting your show, and the honor of interviewing you.

Terry:  You’re welcome.

Me:  You have had a front row seat to the some of the most influential and creative people for over sixty years. Does it ever become boring?

Terry:  Not usually. There is a routine we follow, but each interview is a potential Pandora’s box. We never know what we’ll find until we start talking to the guest. It keeps things edgy.

 Me:  You could have retired decades ago. What has kept you going?

Terry:  A lack of a retirement program. It’s public radio, not “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.”

[Me:  Pause.]

Me:  So you keep working for a paycheck?

Terry:  Not a paycheck. I get to stay here. Woo-hoo.

Me:  I should tell our listeners, that by ‘here’ you mean the NPR Senior Care Facility.

Terry:  Again, woo-hoo. Look over there. That’s Steve Inskeep eating his oatmeal. They still wheel him over to NPR six days a week.

Me:  To record NPR’s Morning Edition.

Terry:  And to clean the bathrooms…and he’s talking to Cokie Roberts. She’s probably explaining to Steve once again why he can’t have prunes in his oatmeal and prune juice. Here, you get one or the other, not both. That man at that table is Kai Ryssdal. He’s so hot. Oh, and over by the coffee machine is Don Gonyea….oh, wait, he’s trying to snort the artificial sweetener again. Excuse me.

Interview with Terry Gross:  Part II

Me:  We’re back talking to the host of Fresh Air, Terry Gross. Is Don okay?

Terry: He’ll be fine. We’ve told them that they can’t keep the artificial sweetener by the coffee. He finds them every time. Now, where were we?

Me:  I think we were talking about your amazing history on the radio. You have connections to generations of well-known people. How do you keep finding the next ‘Tom Hanks.’

Terry:  It’s not that difficult. After so many years, people come to you. You can usually tell they want to be on the show when they start inviting you to their parties.

Me:  But isn’t it exhausting to come up with high-quality interviews every weekday?

Terry:  Not really. We get at least two shows after each interview.

Me:  You mean re-airing the interview with the person releases a new book or movie?

Terry:  Yes, that, and when they die. We discovered long ago that the interview has a bigger audience just after they die.

Me:  Does that make an original interview less meaningful knowing that it will have a smaller audience, than after the person dies?

Terry:  Of course. But it means my show is easy the day after they’ve died. A little intro. A few edits. Bingo, new show. We call the first interview premorties and the final broadcast postmorties. Premorties is the salad, Postmorties is the entree and dessert.

Me:  Uhm…I see. Lately, it seems that most of your shows are postmorties.

Terry:  Yes. We’ve changed our strategy in the last few years. Now we do the interview just for the postmorties. We interview, he or she dies, we broadcast.

Me:  But what about days when no one significant has died?

Terry:  We have a guy.

Me:  What do you mean?

Terry:  Have you ever noticed that a celebrity dies almost every day except Fridays and Saturdays?

[Me:  Choking a little.]

Me:  You don’t…

Terry: Yes, we do.

Me:  So this interview…

Terry:  You’re a postmortie. You didn’t really think you were important enough for me to have on my show.

Me:  I’m going to …die?

Terry:  Spectacularly. It will be a self-driving car hit by California’s high-speed train. We’re trying to get a Tesla, but they’re really hard to find. Jay Leno used to have one, but it caught on fire. I was hoping we could have you also hit by that Tesla Roadster SpaceX launched twenty years ago, but they said the orbit was all wrong.

Me: oh…that would have been nice…I guess. I think I should head home now.

Terry:  Sure, but be careful. Don’t do anything dangerous before Tuesday.

Me:  okay.

Novice Directors Make Theatre Painful

29 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, All Rights Reserved, College, Communication, Directing, Education, Entertainment, Higher Education, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Nevada, Pride, Random, Recreation, Reno, Theatre

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BFA Theatre, Blocking, Directing, give focus, lighting design, Plays, scene changes, set design, Shakespeare, take focus, technical theatre, Theatre, William Shakespeare

For five years we ran a small theatre company. Between children plays and main stage adult plays we produced up to twelve shows a year. I had a BFA in Techincal Theatre; however, the experience as a teacher, director, technical director, actor, and executive director forced me to quickly improve all my skills.

Church and School Plays: How to teach young people to hate theatre

The Theatre Director’s Curse

I’m embarrassed to say how bad our first productions were but my skills I did improve over time. Now, I find watching a play is a constant effort to try and enjoy the action of the stage while suppressing my analysis of the work of the director. I deliberately avoid attending plays because I often can’t enjoy what is happening on stage.

My worst experience as an audience member was when I saw King Lear in Stratford-upon-Avon on a theatre tour in England. A Japanese director had violated several basic responsibilities of staging. While his work had been given high praise by many, I found myself looking for a nice pub after intermission.

What Not To Do

Here are some basic mistakes of novice directors:

Chaotic Blocking

An audience member cannot focus on the entire stage at once. It is the job of the director to guide the audience’s attention. Normally that is to the person talking, but it also includes key actions that give the audience information nonverbally. Blocking is the term used to describe how the director uses the movements of the actors to give focus (release the audience’s attention) and take focus (draw the audience’s focus.)

No movement on stage should be unplanned. If an actor is wandering aimlessly on the stage it is the director’s failure to give clear guidance to the actor. Blocking also requires that a director knows at least five ways for an actor to give and take focus. If they don’t know this, the audience will miss keys lines and action that establish the story.

Plodding Scene Changes

OH…MY…GOD! Any scene change that takes more than ten seconds is a failure. The play is a story and the scene change has NOTHING to do with the story. It actually breaks the concentration of the audience and the actors. The scene change is choreography. Everything must be rehearsed over and over with the lights down. Once the scene change is perfected, it must happen exactly the same way every time.

Bad Actor Management

During the rehearsal process, the director will begin to notice which actors may not be capable of handling their role. It is the job of the director to manage the actors and address performance issues. The director must either coach the actor, cut lines, transfer lines, or take other action to resolve the issue. A bad performance is the director’s fault.

Over Designing the Show

Scenic, costume, and lighting design enhance the play. They do not tell the story, and they can often be distracting. Actors are the alpha and omega of a play. Light them, dress them, surround them with a set to perform on, but never forget that a great actor can play a character on a bare stage, with a candle, in hu’s* underwear.

The Sad Life of a Russian Troll (Печальная жизнь русского тролля)

26 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in All Rights Reserved, Branding, Business, Communication, Donald Trump, Economy, Employee Retention, Ethics, Government, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, jobs, labor, Language, Life, Politicians, Politics, Public Image, Random, Respect, Russian influence, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Technology, Travel, United States, US History, Vladimir Putin, Voting, Website, Writing

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fake identities, fake news, GOP, Russia, Russian, Russian Troll Farms, Soviets, Troll Farms, Trumpsters, USSR, Vladimir Putin, Web Brigade

It is a statement of life in Russia when one of the best jobs to be had is employment to write fake news stories, deceive people, and attempt to create chaos in other countries. Russian Troll Farms, or Web Brigades, as they refer to themselves, tell us more about Russian life, than about Western gullibility. What follows is my own fake story of an interview with a Russian Troll.

Troll – a mythical creature in folklore living in caves or hills or under bridges as either a giant or a dwarf, typically having a very ugly appearance.

Russia Condos

Living Large in Russia: Condos in St. Petersburg

Interview With A Russian Troll

[NOTE: Some language may be inappropriate for young readers.]

Interviewer:  What’s your job? (Кем вы работаете?)

Russian Troll:  I learned to speak English so I could be paid to agitate and influence people in the United States to vote for politicians like we have in Russia. (Я научился говорить по-английски, чтобы мне могли заплатить за то, чтобы агитировать и влиять на людей в Соединенных Штатах, чтобы голосовать за таких политиков, как у нас в России.)

Interviewer:  How does that help Russia? (Как это помогает России?)

Russian Troll:  It doesn’t, but it makes the Americans suffer like we have to suffer in this shithole country. (Это не так, но это заставляет американцев страдать, как мы должны страдать в этой стране.)

Interviewer:  Why do you do it? (Почему ты это делаешь?)

Russian Troll:  I live in Russia. How else can I pay the bills? (Я живу в России. Как еще я могу оплатить счета?)

Interviewer:  The economy of the United States drives the economy of the rest of the world. If you’re successful, aren’t you afraid of a worldwide economic disaster? (Экономика Соединенных Штатов стимулирует экономику остального мира. Если вы добились успеха, разве вы не боитесь мировой экономической катастрофы?)

[Language warning]

Russian Troll:  Don’t tell me about disaster until you’ve seen the crappy place where I live in the middle of winter. Fuck the Americans. Fuck the rest of the world. They all celebrated when Americans landed on the Moon. They all celebrated when the Berlin Wall fell. Fuck them! (Не говори мне о бедствии, пока не увидишь дерьмовое место, где я живу в середине зимы. Ебать американцев. Трахайте весь остальной мир. Все они отмечали, когда американцы высадились на Луну. Все они праздновали, когда упала Берлинская стена. Трахайте их!)

Interviewer:  What about your children? How will your work help them? (Как насчет ваших детей? Как ваша работа поможет им?)

Russian Troll:  Who cares? Did anyone care about me when I was a child? For the last twenty years no one cares, so why should I care? (Какая разница? Кто-нибудь заботился обо мне, когда я был ребенком? За последние двадцать лет никто не заботится, так зачем мне это волновать?)

Interviewer:  You mean the last twenty years when Vladimir Putin has led your country? (Вы имеете в виду последние двадцать лет, когда Владимир Путин привел вашу страну?)

Russian Troll:  Exactly!…No, wait. YOU TRICK ME! (Quickly looks around) No, Putin has been good. I mean Putin has been great. Great! Putin is a great leader! (Точно! .. Нет, подожди. ВЫ ТРЕТЬЕ МЕНЯ! Нет, Путин был хорош. Я имею в виду, что Путин был замечательным. Большой! Путин – великий лидер!)

Interviewer:  What does a Russian troll do after they leave the Farm? (Что делает русский тролль после ухода из фермы?)

Russian Troll:  First of all, we are not a Troll Farm. We are a Web Brigade! We fight a war against the Free Countries of the World! We will bring them to their knees! Second, when I finish here I will be rich! I will never have to work again! I will move to America and be a…how you say,…big?, BIG, yes?, I will be a big man! You will know me by my shiny red sports car! (Прежде всего, мы не Ферма Троллей. Мы – веб-бригада! Мы ведем войну против Свободных стран мира! Мы поставим их на колени! Во-вторых, когда я закончу здесь, я буду богат! Мне больше никогда не придется работать! Я перееду в Америку и буду … как вы говорите, … большой?, БОЛЬШОЙ, да ?, Я буду большим человеком! Ты узнаешь меня своим блестящим красным спортивным автомобилем!)

Five ‘Facts’ About the Equinox?

24 Saturday Feb 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in Astronomy, Random, Science, solar, Space, United States

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2018, Autumnal Equinox, balancing an egg, Equinox, facts, March, no shadow, north pole, south pole, Spring, Vernal Equinox

At 9:15 am PDT on the 20th of March, we will reach the Spring Equinox, or more correctly, the Vernal Equinox. People in the northern hemisphere refer to this as the beginning of Spring. It is also referred to as:

  1. the date when day and night are equal
  2. the date when the Sun shines on both the North Pole and the South Pole
  3. the date when the Sun rises exactly East and sets exactly West at every location on the Earth
  4. the date you can balance an egg on its end
  5. the date you won’t cast a shadow.

Two of these ‘facts’ are false, one is “well, sort of,” fact, one is “mostly true,” and one is true.

Timelapse From Space:  Seasonal Progression of Sunlight on Earth

The Date of Equal Day and Night?

Nope. While the length of day and night are almost equal on the day of the Vernal Equinox, it’s not actually true unless you’re closer to the North or South Pole. At the poles and the farther away from the poles, the less this is true.

For example, in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, in the Arctic Circle, in 2018 the date that comes closest to being equal in day and night hours is the 19th of March (day = 11:58:51 hours long.) In Reno, Nevada, USA, the date day and night are almost equal  is the 16th of March (day = 11:59:28 hours long.) In Sydney, Austrailia that date is the 24th of March (day = 12:00:38 hours long.) In Bogata, Columbia it was the 21st of February (day = 11:59:59 hours long.) 

The Date the Sun Shines on Both Poles?

Yes, and on the North Pole, it spirals up from the horizon, around the viewer until the Summer Solstice when it begins to spiral downward, setting after the Autumnal Equinox in the Fall. The same is true for the South Pole, only the Sun rises at the Autumnal Equinox and sets after the Vernal Equinox.

South Pole sunrise

Sunrise on the South Pole

The Date the Sun Rises Dead East and Sets Dead West?

Mostly true. Its explanation makes my head hurt, but I’ve been able to use pencils on a globe on its axis with a single light source to prove it to myself. You can read multiple descriptions on the Internet but have pain reliever at the ready.

However, there’s a catch. The viewer has to have an unobstructed view of the horizon and be near or at sea level. The Sun’s trajectory is at an angle compared to the horizon and if the view of the true horizon is blocked the Sun will appear to rise or set at a location that is off from true East or West.  

The Date You Can Balance an Egg On Its End?

Long proven to be false…and stupid at the same time.

The Date of No Shadows?

Sort of true, but only if you’re on the equator at exactly high noon. Not many people want to do that…it’s hot at the equator. Who wants to stand out in the Sun at noon just to NOT see your shadow? Besides, the people who might want to do that are still trying to balance an egg on its end.

Forget Stock Market & Bitcoin, Invest in Mendadent Toothpaste

12 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Branding, Business, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Generational, habits, Health, Lessons of Life, Marketing, Pride, Random

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Colgate, Crest, habits, investing, investment, Marketing, Mentadent, packaging, Sales, Selling, stock market, toothpaste

Those who like to invest in non-existent products might want to rethink his or her strategy considering last week’s mini-stock market crash…uhm, correction. The stock market single week 2,000 plus point losses and Bitcoins $6,000 plus single-month losses left investors with a lot less value in a very short time. Time to think toothpaste.

That’s correct, if a person wants to invest in something of increasing value, try toothpaste. Specifically, Mentadent toothpaste.

Amazon Ad

Only $89..99 for a two pack refill of Mentadent toothpaste!

Supply and Demand of Toothpaste

This price is real. Mentadent on Amazon.com is currently selling at $89.99/two pack refills. The reality is that this is the last of the line for Mentadent. They discontinued production of the toothpaste last year and now the last remaining packages are selling at a premium price.

Unfortunately, this price is probably the maximum price of Mentadent on the market. It has a limited shelf life and soon any remaining unsold product will be worthless after its expiration date has passed.

End of a Personal Era

I discovered this ‘investment’ when I was trying to order more for my personal use. When I met my spouse she was using Mentadent because she didn’t like half crumpled tubes of toothpaste sitting on the bathroom sink. I liked the taste of Mentadent and gave up the product I’d been using.

That was 23 years ago. My adoption of Mentadent was driven by my aversion squeeze tubes and to the limited choices on the market. I had always hated Colgate, and I had used Crest or Aim most of my life. The switch to Mentadent felt like ‘sticking it to the Man.’

It has been harder to find Mentadent in the last few years as some retail stores stopped stocking it, but somehow I always managed to locate a new source. Now I have reached the end the Mentadent rope. I have to switch toothpaste. Back to ugly and awkward squeeze tubes.

Damn.

[COUNT TO 500:  501st Article in PAULx]

500th WordPress PAULx Post: Milestone of Words

11 Sunday Feb 2018

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Communication, Eclipse, Education, Ethics, Generational, Higher Education, Journalism, Lessons of Life, Milestone, Opinion, Random, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Universities, Wordpress, Writing

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500, 500th article, 500th post, Communication, life, Relationships, wisdom, Wordpress, writing

I have reached a milestone of writing on this WordPress site. This is the 500th article! It has taken me eight years and a lot of typing. For this occasion, I’m writing 500 words and breaking it down into five topics of 100 words each.

Lunar eclipse 31 JAN 2018

Writing

Writing is a gift that is given to few people. For everyone else writing is learned. After writing 500 articles on this site, and many more words on other sites, I have improved, but I’m still barely a teenager when it comes to writing. Anyone can become a great writer, it just depends on how much you practice the art.

I am not a ravenous reader of books, but I am an admirer of plays. William Shakespeare is a hero of mine. At a time that writing was a rare talent, he became a legend. He created life by using words.

Life

I’m not sure we are meant to understand life. It would be like being given the answers before we take the test. I believe that our life is meant to teach us who we are and in the end, it comes down to a simple question:  Did we avoid being deceivers?

It is easy to determine a person’s inner strength of character based on how honest he or she is to themselves and to others. Rotary’s Four-Way Test is a great guide for determining character. It’s not a matter of saying it. It’s a matter of doing it. Trump can’t.

Four-Way Test

Relationships

I believe life is about positive relationships. Time by yourself is necessary but most your life should be spent engaged with others. Interaction creates a balance. When we are alone we have no alternate view and that is dangerous. The human brain likes to create an idea and then make a cozy nest for that idea to be sheltered from opposing thoughts. That makes for weak thinking.

Relationships force us to expose our ideas to others which either reinforces or challenges them. That makes for a richer life and stronger and more balanced thinking. Negative relationships should be avoided.

Communication

Relationships are based on communication. Not necessarily by words. In fact, I believe the deepest communication occurs through intimacy. Words can be used to deceive and manipulate others. For some people, their primary use of words is to deceive. Intimacy is not easily faked.

When communication is used to express true thoughts and emotion it builds relationships. This doesn’t mean that everyone will accept or agree with those thoughts and emotions, but I believe we are meant to have relationships only with people who are accepting and honest with us. Communication binds us to some and disconnects us from others.

Wisdom

Who am I to talk about wisdom? I do not have a master’s degree, nor a doctorate in any field. I am not a shining example of what to do. I have no great mind that spews forth great thoughts. I am one micro entity in a universe that would not recognize me from a speck of dust.

I do have awareness. I have senses that interpret the world around me. I have life and that gives me experiences to reflect on. Perhaps wisdom is simply the ability to measure our own experiences and understand good outcomes from bad ones.

[COUNT TO 500:  500th Article in PAULx]

Living in the Imminent

27 Tuesday Oct 2015

Posted by Paul Kiser in Government, Honor, Passionate People, Pride, Random, Science, Space, Technology, Travel

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astronauts, cosmonauts, death, ESA, International Space Station, ISS, Japan, NASA, orbit, Russia, scientists, Space, USA

international-space-station-completeSix people near death 

Don’t they know?

They show no fear

They have to know.

They live surrounded by a monster that kills without effort

Yes, in this millisecond they live in peace

In the next they could die in horror

We have no reason to fear walking outside

But these six

They should have reason

Death awaits outside with the tools of the universe

Radiation, heat, cold, or even nothing can kill

These six live where no one should

Yet, these six rob Death

These six live flawlessly where perfection matters

These six know Death and know his tools

Yes, these six know and know the risk

Just before sunrise or just after sunset

We watch them go by

We walk outside and watch them go by

For them, sunrise comes, sunset goes many times a day

But rarely do they go outside to watch

They know what is waiting outside

They know the risk

And three by three they will come and go

Three to rob death, three to come home

Three to look up to, and three to celebrate

Six people near death

But alive and well

Five Rules For Taking Images of Your Children

01 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Lessons of Life, Opinion, parenting, Photography, Random, Recreation, Technology

≈ 2 Comments

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camera, children, D60, digital, Family, how to, Image, Nikon, photo, pictures, portrait

Alexander and JasmineI’m an image horse. From my first film-hungry Nikon FM in the 1970’s to the inexpensive, but utilitarian digital Nikon D60, I’ve recorded life through my camera lens. I’m not a professional, but I’ve logged years with landscape, micro, macro, stellar, animal, model, and most other forms of photography.

The one type of photography I dislike most is the type that parents love to do, take semi-posed pictures of people. Every time I hear a parent say, “Smile! Smile! Come on, SMILE!,” I cringe. I don’t know who started the “Smile” prompting, but it is the worst thing anyone can ask of the subject of an image to do. It is saying to the child (or adult), “We want you to fake an emotion so we can show you faking an emotion to other people.”

Humans don’t fake emotions well. In fact, we are horrible at faking emotions. Children are the worst. A fake smile is marked by a tight facial expression around the mouth, bared teeth, and cringed eyes. Unfortunately, the people who take these horrible images are often rewarded by comments like, “Oh, he looks so handsome,” or “They look like they’re having such a great time!” Of course people are going to compliment your picture-taking ability, they want it to end!

This doesn’t mean people need to take sad or “how-long-do-I-have-to-stand-here?” pictures. There are a few simple rules that will avoid taking fake pictures of people you love.

Image Composition is YOUR Job, Not Their’s
Instead of going for the posed shot, which everyone hates to be involved in, position yourself so that you can take a REAL image of what is happening. From talking to playing children (and adults) in action are much more interesting than a posed shot. You want a recorded image of people engaged in life, not the camera, so you must do the work required of any good photographer, not them.

Does Fake Happy Really Tell The Story?
Sometimes children can be intensely focused on a task, or interacting with others. WHY would you want to stop this intensity and fake a smile for the image? Take the picture that tells the story instead of the fake happy picture that makes them look stupid.

If You Demand Happy, Make It Real
Okay, happy children can be a great image, but if you must have that type of image, make them laugh naturally. Ask questions like, “who’s the stupidest person with a camera?” When they laugh and point at you, take the picture. I guarantee that image will be better than the one where you said, “Smile!”

Be Unseen and Patient
It’s almost always better to hang around for a while before you take the picture. Look for the best composition, the best angle, and become part of the background. They may notice you, but children attention spans are marvelously short and they have a Jedi-like power to ignore a parent, so use that to your advantage.

It’s Digital, Take Lots of Images, Select Few
People sometimes think that every image should be perfect. I’ll admit, in the days of film cameras, when I got my photos back from the developer I used to feel guilty about all the failed images; however, today they are just digital bytes and bad pictures can be deleted. Take ten images and consider yourself a great photographer if there is one good one in the bunch.

Here’s one thing to consider the next time you see someone point a camera at another human:  if they say ‘Smile!’ it’s going to be a bad image.

Stroke of Fate: Time and Tide (Thank You, Basia)

13 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Generational, Health, Lessons of Life, parenting, Random, Relationships, Women

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Basia, Rehabilitation, Renown, Renown Medical Center, stroke, Time and Tide, Wallenberg's Stroke, Wallenberg's Syndrome

Basia's Time and Tide cover

One of my favorite albums is Basia’s Time and Tide. Basia has taken me through many emotional times and I should not be surprised that after this stroke she returned into my life. My brain and body have decided to have a partial trial separation. I know I know they are meant to be together, but now they’re not talking, so with Basia’s help I’m trying to get them back together. Fortunately, I have many people helping us.

Here and now is all it’s about, let’s use it or lose it.
Promises by Basia

Here And Now
Both my daughters live in Colorado. When they heard that I was hospitalized they began talking about coming out. I was ready to discourage it because I couldn’t see the purpose or value of them flying to Reno, Nevada.

I was wrong. I failed to comprehend  the significance of their presence. I have a good close-in support system here with my spouse (Saralinda,) son (Alexander,) and in-laws, but my daughters (Kelli and Katy) added to that support in ways I never could have imagined.

Love is contagious, it’s a part of a chain
Promises by Basia

My temporary home for restart my life

They arrived a few hours before I was transferred from Renown Medical Center to Renown Rehabilitation Hospital. They became an extra lift in the uncertainty of the transfer. Saralinda, Kelli, and Katy, joined forces in becoming an advocate for my recovery and the hospital staff recognized that I was not alone. I don’t fully understand how that impacted my care, but I do know that the staff seemed to appreciate their involvement.

I’ll be there if you need me, I am your helping hand.
New Day For You by Basia

A New Day
Tuesday was an important day in my recovery. On Monday I had a swallow study performed complete with a camera up my nose. From that test I learned that my NG tube would have to remain for the near future because my throat was not working correctly. My swallowing had improved from Saturday’s, but it looked like I was facing at least a week of looking like Mr. Snuffleupagus and the idea of being able to taste food again seemed farther and farther away.  

I still couldn’t walk without falling over, I’d lost temperature and pain sensation over half my body, my right and left eye were each giving me their independent version of the world, my head and body were in a constant state of spin, and I survived by fluid going in my arm or goo going to my stomach via my nose. There was not a lot of good news.

However, all that was blunted by the news that my daughters and one of my granddaughters would be arriving on Tuesday. In the moment it didn’t seem to be that important, but in hindsight, it made my world seem much brighter. It was Tuesday when my life seemed to come back to firm ground. On that day my stroke found out who it was dealing with, and it didn’t expect to be met head on by women of mass reconstruction. It whimpered.

It would be on Wednesday that I…and my stroke, would meet the rest of the team…the medical staff at Renown Rehabilitation Hospital. It was an another good day for me…not so much for my stroke.

We got time, oh baby, there’s no rush
Gonna be a better day for us
Time and Tide by Basia

Stroke of Fate: Day One

11 Saturday Feb 2012

Posted by Paul Kiser in Aging, Health, parenting, Random

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Renown, Renown Medical Center, stroke, Wallenberg's Stroke

All days come from one day, That much you must know
You cannot change what’s over,  But only where you go

Pilgrim by Enya

Last Saturday, February 4, was our 17th wedding anniversary. It was also the day of two six-year-old birthday parties that our son was to attend. The first birthday party was at Fun Quest in the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, NV, USA. At about 3:15 PM I was eating the remnants of the piece of birthday cake that my son barely touched when I felt woozy (a technical medical term.) It felt almost like the way I feel before I become sick, but I wasn’t nauseated. It passed, but I told my spouse that I may need to leave. She became concerned, but the feeling was slowly fading.

Paul Kiser

About five minutes later it happened again, but this time was stronger. My spouse left me, and I assumed that she was getting Alexander and saying our goodbyes. Shortly, Virginia,  the Grandmother of the birthday boy was sitting next to me. She was a nurse and she began asking some questions. Although I wasn’t presenting the classic symptoms of a stroke, I’m guessing that my behavior indicated that something neurological was amiss. Again, the feeling subsided.

In another five minutes it came back stronger. At this point I knew this may be more that just a sudden onset of a flu. Virginia asked me to lay down and I was in no position to disagree;; however, the moment I laid down I felt the I was gong to lose the cake I had eaten, so I stood back up. I don’t know exactly what I said, but I indicated I needed to leave and headed out of the room. My spouse had gathered up Alexander and Virginia came up to me and said to lean on her. I did and the farther we went the more I became reliant on her support as my balance forced me to fall to the right.

We finally got to our car and left for the Emergency Room at Renown Medical Center, which was a few blocks away. There was no wait. My situation seemed obvious to everyone that I needed medical assessment immediately. In ER my symptoms were a loss of balance, a feeling of weakness, extremely high blood pressure, a tingling on the right side of the face, tingly right fingers, and possibly some dropping around my right eye. My spouse summoned our son’s grandparents who came and eventually took Alexander to the next party in hopes of keeping him from becoming drawn into the drama that he couldn’t fully grasp.

Meanwhile the ER staff set about to learn what was going on in order to establish a treatment. As a precaution they were going to give me an aspirin. That’s when we discovered I couldn’t swallow even a sip of water, let alone a pill. A CAT scan was done with no overt indication of a stroke.

The feeling was that it was either a small stroke, or an infection, with a stroke being more likely. I was admitted into the neurological unit and scheduled for a MRI scan on Sunday morning. At this time my vision was still normal, and my strength was good on both sides of my body, but I couldn’t stand, nor swallow. It would be Sunday before the damage was complete and I would know why.

Writing My Obituary

19 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by Paul Kiser in History, Lessons of Life, parenting, Random

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Obituary, Paul Kiser

NOTE: Today is my 54th birthday.  This is not a significant birthday; however, I have decided that this is a good time to tempt fate and write my obituary. I should note that I have no death wish and I hope I live for at least a few decades more, but without further ado, my obituary:

Attitude, attitude, attitude

Paul was born on December 19, 1957, in the evening at a small hospital in Craig, Colorado. His birth interrupted a card game being played by his mother some of her friends. He was the fourth son by his mother, Frances, and father, Vernon, both of whom have passed. His surviving siblings are Ken, Mike, and Roy who still do not understand how someone with Paul’s political belief’s and attitudes could have been born to two nice conservative parents.

Paul Kiser, on the phone, mouth open, per usual

Paul grew up in Craig and spent summers as a young child with his family camping at various work sites where his father was a heavy equipment operator for a local business known as Henderson Construction Company. These summers at Hahn’s Peak in northwestern Colorado and Bridger’s Peak in southwestern Wyoming gave Paul an appreciation for spending time outdoors. He also loved the times that his father would let him ‘walk the Cat’ from one work site to another, or use the Backhoe to dig really deep holes.

Paul and his brother Roy spent many summer afternoons at Hahn’s Peak digging and chipping quartz crystals out of boulders near the family’s summer camp, and built miles of toy-sized roads and canals around the stream that ran by the Airstream Trailer that was the summer home to the Kiser clan.

The bike, the car, 1968

Throughout his childhood Paul participated in the annual rituals of deer and elk seasons that involved large hunting camps, long, cold stretches of sitting on a rock overlooking a valley, and gutting, dragging, and hanging animals on a nearby tree. Eventually the animals were butchered into packages of white, waxed butcher paper that would be labeled with the type of animal and year killed, then placed in one of two freezers.

Paul was taught that while guns in the field were appropriate if used correctly, loaded guns in populated places were never acceptable and later in life found gun proponents concept of gun ownership with the hope of having a legal opportunity to kill another human among the most anti-Christian of conservative thought.

Paul was not a great athlete in his youth; however, he was a better than average cross-country runner in high school, but not by much. He did excel at Frisbee playing late in High School; however, he found that being a cool Frisbee player does not impress small town girls, ….nor should it.

Prom 1976

Paul left Craig after graduation in 1976, and attended the University of Northern Colorado for three years. He was a Student Advisor (SA) in Wiebking Residence Hall for his second and third years to help pay for his college. After changing majors more than his hair style, he left Greeley to live in Colorado Springs for a year where he met his first wife while he worked in Penrose Hospital’s Staffing Office.

Paul moved to Denver shortly before his marriage to work for a temporary medical staffing agency. It was there that he would live the next fifteen years. During that time he worked for two different hospitals in Human Resources. It was also during this time that his two daughters, Kelli and Katy were born. Paul and his first wife divorced after eight years of marriage.

After being laid off in the late 1980’s Paul was given a severance package that included outplacement counseling and testing. Paul was told that he scored in the 90th percentile for logical thinking and independence, but in the 10th percentile in ability to conform. He was advised to seek a career in the arts.

New Year's Eve 2001

Paul worked several jobs in retail and management until he met his second wife, Saralinda. who had a theater degree.  Paul and Saralinda moved to Reno, Nevada in 1995 where he finished his first degree in Business Administration and began his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre. It was during this time that he and Saralinda started a theater company that taught theatre and produced plays and musicals for both children and adult actors.

Kennedy Space Center 2006

Paul joined Rotary in July of 2001 and was an active member until 2010. After closing the theatre in 2003, Paul worked for the University of Nevada and then an IT company in Sparks. In 2005, Alexander, Paul’s third child, and first with Saralinda was born. Both of Paul’s daughters married and Alexander is uncle to three nieces and one nephew. Paul once noted that life is enriched by your children and they are also the only legacy that counts in the end.

Late in his life Paul began writing extensively, as well as traveling for business, which he enjoyed. One of his favorite trips was taken in July 2010 when he went to observe the final launch of the Space Shuttle in Florida.

Kelli, Kelli, Husbands Ellery and Austin, and Grandchildren

Paul aspired to be George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Unreasonable Man’ and his articles often reflect a rejection of the status quo and sought to challenge the paradigms created in the past in favor of adapting to the realities of the present. This almost always caused significant irritation and conflict with those who were comfortable with current methods and ideas.

Paul favored the concept of multiple universes as proposed by string and M-theories, believing that of all possible realities, that he lived one of, if not the best, reality.

Paul Kiser, dead at 54…or not.

Paul Kiser

USA PDT [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype: 775.624.5679]

Five Reasons Why You and I Are Still Here, Post-Rapture

21 Saturday May 2011

Posted by Paul Kiser in Ethics, Lessons of Life, Random

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Armageddon, Harold Camping, May 21 2011, post-Rapture, Rapture, religion

USA PDT [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype: 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

If you’re reading this then you didn’t get saved either. Allow me to offer some reasons why this may be.

Reason One: We didn’t get saved because we’re bad and now we’re going to suffer. I lived through LBJ, Nixon,Reagan and Bush (x2) and heard Sarah Palin speak, so…. been there, done that.

Reason Two: There is no God and all of this is a pointless fantasy of mythology.

Reason Three: God couldn’t find anyone to save so he’s just going to wait until October 21, 2011 and flush us all.

Reason Four: God decided that we’re all saved and this is Heaven. That’s the most disturbing of all of the possibilities.

Reason Five: Harold Camping and his followers have exploited some people’s need to feel anxiety and fear about our lives and our future, even though they would be eventually exposed as frauds.

I’ll leave it for you to choose the reason that works for you, but personally I…..


…and your little dog, too…Words define intent, evil

27 Monday Dec 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Ethics, Lessons of Life, Random

≈ Leave a comment

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Dorothy, Glinda, Toto, Wicked Witch, Wizard of Oz

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

“…and your little dog, too!”

It’s a line that people recognize. Most people can even name who said it and to whom they said it. The words drip with a mortal threat and we seem to know that the person speaking is pure evil.

The original L. Frank Baum book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, did not have that line in it. The 1939 film adaptation of the book is the original source of the quote and those words establish that the Wicked Witch of the West is evil. Don’t take my word. The Wicked Witch is listed No. 4 among the American Film Institute’s Best Villains in film. She ranks behind Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, and Darth Vader. She is the best female villain on the list. But why is she so evil?

Note that in the movie the Wicked Witch’s sister is killed when Dorothy’s house falls on her. Dorothy and her little puff of a dog, Toto, come out of the house and procure the shoes of the corpse. Sure she is encouraged by Glinda, “the Good Witch of the North,” and sweet Glinda, with all the sympathy of a Wells Fargo Bank foreclosure specialist, waves her wand to transfer the shoes to Dorothy’s feet. So Dorothy is innocent of theft…”no, honest officer, the shoes magically appeared on my feet!”

But really, is that an acceptable excuse? Imagine someone in a car killing a pedestrian and upon getting out of the car hears someone say, “…you should take the shoes, man…” and then that person pulls the shoes off the dead man not walking and puts them on the drivers feet. Would that be okay? Of course not! Is there some special precedent in the Oz legal system that makes robbing a corpse legal if they’re under your house?

Glinda, the Good Witch?

So innocent Dorothy and Toto have inadvertently killed the Wicked Witch’s sister and now Dorothy stands there with the dead sister’s shoes on her feet. I think the Wicked Witch of the West has some cause to be ticked at Dorothy. The Wicked Witch, quite reasonably, demands the shoes and Dorothy refuses (again, sweet Glinda is her advisor.) If the Wicked Witch had just said, “I’ll get you, my pretty,” it would seem somewhat justified. In the United State Dorothy could be charged with manslaughter…okay, witchslaughter, and the Wicked Witch should be able to sue for the return of the shoes.

But the Wicked Witch doesn’t stop with a threat against Dorothy. She adds, “…and your little dog, too.” That’s it. The Wicked Witch lives up to her name and threatens the DKD (drop kick dog.) What did Toto do to deserve a threat? His only crime is to be the pet of a witch slayer. But it is with that threat that we learn the witch is evil. Her words betray what is in her heart. We don’t need to see the Wicked Witch set in motion her evil plans, because we know she will not give a fair and/or reasonable response to the little shoe thief. Our sympathies are instantly turned to Dorothy and Toto and any wrong they may have a party to is ignored.

So what is the moral of the story? The evil witches are easy to identify, but beware of the Glinda’s of the world.

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Happy New Year!!!

22 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Random, Science

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

astronomy, northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere, Sun, winter solstice

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

For me, the New Year really begins today (December 22, 2010.) Being a science geek at heart, I tend to see the world slightly different that many and I see the day after the Winter Solstice as a rebirth. Yesterday was the shortest day of the year, so from now until June 21st the days will get longer and that is cause for celebration.

In addition, for the next two weeks the Earth is still getting closer to the Sun. This year the perihelion (Earth closest approach to the Sun) occurs at 11 AM PST on January 3rd, 2011. Sure, it’s a relatively minor difference between perihelion and aphelion (Earth’s farthest distance from the Sun), but it’s still a 3 million mile difference! In the cold and dark of winter I’ll take being even one mile closer to the Sun.

Split image of the Sun's relative size at perihelion and aphelion in 2009. Thanks to NASA, photo by Enrique Luque Cervigón

From now until January 3rd we’re getting closer to the Sun AND the days are getting longer. The fact that Christmas and New Year’s (and Hanukkah in some years) all fall in the same two week period tend to overshadow the science, but it does not diminish that, from an astronomical point of view, there is also good reason to be of good cheer.

That is, of course, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. For our friends south of the Equator today marks the march toward darker days that peak just before the Earth is the farthest away from the Sun. That just doesn’t seem to be as uplifting as our situation. Maybe we shouldn’t say anything to them.

Solar Halo around Sun on Dec. 21, 2010 (Winter Solstice in Reno, NV, USA

So Happy New Year to all of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Brighter, longer days are coming! For our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, uhm… man, is it hot out or what!

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  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service

Our Country and History Related

  • Sandoval/Reid campaign money not a stimulus for Nevada
  • Nevada’s Best Kept Secret: #1 in Crime
  • The Vultures Start Circling on Election Day
  • The Quality of Mercy: Tea Party seeks its pound of flesh
  • I’m not angry, nor am I stupid … and I voted
  • Point of Confusion
  • What I’m not buying this year
  • Nevada: State of Disaster
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico

5 reasons why you shouldn’t title your blog with numbered reasons

03 Friday Dec 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Communication, Information Technology, Random, Social Interactive Media (SIM)

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, Internet, Social Media

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype: kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Article first published as
5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Title Your Blog with Numbered Reasons
on Technorati.com

It seems that bloggers are discovering that using a blog title with a number in it attracts attention.  Here are some that showed up in an email alert from SocialMediaToday:

  • 9  Points on Why…
  • 8  Tips to Get More…
  • 14  Situations When You…
  • 16  Tactics for Building…

I guess that readers want to know that there is a limit to what any given author is going to say.  There is good historical precedent for this practice.  The 10 Commandments is one example. People can’t name them, but they seem to find comfort knowing there are only 10. Still, I think there are five good reasons not to number your reasons.

  1. You could be wrong about the numerical count…and you probably ARE wrong. You may think there are 50 ways to leave your lover, but then Lorena Bobbitt comes along and bam! there is 51.
  2. It makes you sound pedantic (pedantic defined: ostentatious in one’s learning, ostentatious definition: look it up.)
  3. It lacks originality. Just because every other blogger is jumping on the numerical bandwagon doesn’t mean they aren’t eventually going to jump off a cliff…I need to work on my metaphor a little.
  4. It’s silly. I can’t look at a Social Media blog that starts out with a number in the title without chuckling.
  5. A number in your blog title doesn’t make your blog more authoritative. Anyone can come up with a number. For this blog I picked five as my magic number and made my reasons fit the number.
  6. You could miscount…and then where would you be?
There you have it; five reasons not to list your reasons. Any questions?

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I’m not angry, nor am I stupid…and I voted

25 Monday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, History, Internet, Lessons of Life, Passionate People, Politics, Pride, Public Relations, Random, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Taxes, US History, Women

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Christine O'Donnell, Democrats, Election, Election 2010, Elections, Meg Whitman, Mike Steele, Nevada, New Business World, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Republicans, Sharron Angle, Social Media, Tea Party, Vote, Voting, Wackos

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

I have seen the ads for the Democratic candidates that make the claim that their opponents are ‘extremists’. I disagree with this assessment of some of the Republican/Tea Party candidates. They are not extremists, they are just stupid.

  • When the Nevada Republican candidate for Senate, Sharron Angle, suggest’s that ‘some people’ are angry enough to “invoke their Second Amendment Rights”, in an attempt to scare people into voting for her, that’s just stupid.

  • When California Republican candidate for Governor, Meg Whitman, is blaming illegal immigrants for all the problems in her State, but then it’s revealed that she employed an undocumented worker, that’s just stupid.

    Angle: Manning up in stupid

  • When Delaware Republican candidate for Senate, Christine O’Donnell, uses campaign contributions to pay for her personal household expenses that’s just stupid.

  • When Sharron Angle says her opponent should ‘man up’ as if she is some tough cowboy out on the range, it sounds silly, and it’s just stupid.

  • When Meg Whitman, a multi-millionaire and former CEO, is called a ‘whore’ by an unknown person in her opponent’s party and milks it as if she is some poor, defenseless, innocent Southern Bell, whose honor has been violated, that’s just stupid.

O'Donnell: God's Chosen messenger to the US Senate

  • When Christine O’Donnell, who ‘dabbled’ in witchcraft says that she ‘prays God will open people’s eyes’ so they will vote for her that’s just stupid.

  • When the Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican party, expenses his trip to a West Hollywood strip club to party funds, that’s just stupid.

    Michael Steele: RNC Chairman

  • When Republican party candidates blame the economy on our government, instead of the unethical business men who traded our country’s future for profit for themselves and their investors, that’s just stupid.

Today I voted, and I didn’t vote for stupid. I voted for Harry Reid who serves as a statesman for Nevada and for our country and who will be the best possible representative Nevada could hope for in the difficult times ahead.

I voted for Rory Reid because I believe that Nevada must change direction from the low/no tax strategy (no income, corporate, capital gains, inventory taxes) that we have had for decades and now we are the 1st in unemployment, crime, and foreclosures, and among the worst in education.

I also voted YES on all four State Amendments and two local Advisory Questions.

I voted to have the Governor appoint Supreme and District court judges because I don’t like it when judges campaign. The electorate rarely pays attention to judicial offices and I would rather they be vetted in a formal process, not paraded in public like beauty candidates.

I voted YES to have an intermediate court established. In a conversation with a Supreme Court Justice it became apparent that Nevada’s Justice system has a major bottleneck of cases that could be cleared out if we had a system similar to other States.

I voted YES to allow the Legislature to resolve minor conflicts of our tax code with Federal law.

I voted YES to repeal/revise the knee-jerk eminent domain law. It has problems and it needs to be fixed.

I voted YES to ‘beg’ the State to seek the consent of local governments before raiding their revenues.

I voted YES to encourage the consolidation of the Reno/Washoe governments. I wish Sparks was included. We have three government entities in this valley and it is a ridiculous duplication of services.

This year we will learn whether stupid wins the day or not. John F. Kennedy put it the best: ‘you can fool some of the people all the time and you can fool all the people some of the time’. If stupid wins this year, the fools will be running the village. Heaven help us.

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  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
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Knowing when it’s over or beyond over

22 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Internet, Lessons of Life, Passionate People, Random, Relationships, Travel, Women

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, Boston, Customer Loyalty, Female, Garmin, GPS, Maps, New Business World, Nuvi, Nuvi 265, Public Relations, Relationships

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

There comes a time in every relationship when you start suspecting problems, and then there is the point when you know it’s over. In the past two weeks I’ve discovered that I’m in a relationship that is not only over, it’s become adversarial. I can’t say I’ve been unaware that there were problems, but I have become dependent on her and it was just easier to ignore the signs than to confront her. Now she has begun a campaign of sabotage and I’m forced to do something.

I’ve played this game before. It’s always the same story. First she is unbelievably helpful and at times she surprises me with her intelligence. But then I begin to rely on her and that’s when things go south..or sometimes north, but it goes wrong regardless of the direction and then you end up alone in the rain somewhere in the Pacific Coastal range with no cell phone signal…but that’s another story.

It was Father’s Day when we met. Her name is Samantha, and she has a clear, well-enunciated voice. I stayed up late with her that first night and I couldn’t wait to take her for a ride in the car. I was impressed with what she knew and it felt like love. Then came the little mistakes. Little warning signs that should have told me that she wasn’t as perfect as I thought. Then she changed. It seemed like she was deliberately misleading me. I became frustrated, but I told myself that maybe I had expected too much.

Then last week came the proof. This time it was intentional. This time it was malicious. I was driving in the early morning in a Nor-easter rain storm to the Boston airport. It was dark, I was stressed, and my plane was not going to wait for me if I got lost. Still, I was 90% sure of where I was going, but I had her there in the car calmly reassuring me that I was where I needed to be. Then it happened. I knew I had to stay on I-90 through the tunnel to get to Boston’s Logan Airport. The airport is basically on an island so there are not a lot of options on how to get there.

The Other Woman

She said it and I didn’t imagine it. She told me to exit I-90 and go south on a road that would have taken me away from the airport. Had I obediently done as she ordered I would have been scrambling for at least 30 minutes to try to get back (you have to know Boston roads to understand why) to the airport. My sweet, innocent Garmin Nuvi 265 GPS device had turned on me and was deliberately trying to make me miss my flight. She is evil!

Now I know that she is out to get me and it makes driving stressful. Did she give me the right exit, or is she just messing with me again? I know it’s all over between us, but I have a hard time letting her go. Damn you Sam!

If you see me driving and yelling when no one is in the car, be cautious … who knows who is in the driver’s seat.

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  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
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  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
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  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
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Science Related

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Personal Experience Related

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  • Things I didn’t know about being a Father to a four-year-old boy
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service

Our Country and History Related

  • Point of Confusion
  • What I’m not buying this year
  • Nevada: State of Disaster
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico

Point of Confusion

21 Thursday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Communication, Ethics, Government, History, Honor, Lessons of Life, Passionate People, Politics, Pride, Public Relations, Random, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, US History

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

14th Amendment, Blogging, Blogs, Illegal Aliens, LoCOS, Public Image, Republicans, Republicas, Tea Party, undocumented citizens, US Constitution

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Yesterday the USA Today ran an article (by Alia Beard Rau of the Arizona Republic) which reported that Republicans in 15 States were working to change the 14th Amendment to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in the United States if their parents (or parent) could not document their citizenship. That’s correct. If a child is born in the United States of America and the parent is an undocumented citizen the child is without a country.

Now, if that parent wanted to have an abortion these same Christian-loving, God-fearing Republicans would be the first to forbid the medical procedure to ‘protect’ the rights of the unborn child. Apparently they care for the child before it is born, but after it’s born it’s okay to flush the child’s rights as a citizen.

Babies: The great threat to America!

Wow! The lynch mob stupidity just has no end.

The LoCOS (Lack of Critical Observation Skills) seem to have a severe case of ‘Morals of Convenience”. Whatever suits their policy of targeting groups of other racial, religious, or ideological backgrounds is okay in their version of Christianity. It must be a powerful feeling to make up morals as needed. It worked for the Nazis.

More Articles

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  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
  • War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
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  • Mega Executive Pay Leads to Poor Performance
  • Relationships and Thin-Slicing: Why the other person knows what you’re really thinking
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  • WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
  • Starbucks makes a smart move: Free WiFi
  • Foul Play: FIFA shows what less regulation offers to business
  • The Shock of the McChrystal Story: The story is over before the article is published
  • Tony Hayward: The very model of a modern Major General
  • Epic Fail: PR ‘Experts’ don’t get Twitter
  • King of Anything: Social Media vs Traditional Media
  • Twitter is the Thunderstorm of World Thought
  • Signs of the Times
  • How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
  • How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
  • Death of All Salesmen!
  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
  • Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
  • Fear of Public Relations
  • Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
  • Does Anybody Really Understand PR?

Rotary Related

  • What most non-Rotarians don’t know about Rotary
  • Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
  • Rotary@105: Grieving change
  • How Rotary can..must..will plug into Social Media
  • Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!

Science Related

  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know

Personal Experience Related

  • Dear Teresa Laraba, SVP of Southwest Airlines Customer Service
  • Things I didn’t know about being a Father to a four-year-old boy
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service

Our Country and History Related

  • What I’m not buying this year
  • Nevada: State of Disaster
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico


What I’m Not Buying This Year

13 Wednesday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Communication, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, History, Honor, Internet, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Politics, Pride, Public Relations, Random, Re-Imagine!, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Taxes, The Tipping Point, US History

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Blogging, Blogs, Christine O'Donnell, Conservatives, Crime, Depression, Ethics, Executive Management, Good Government, Hispanic, Illegal Aliens, Illegal Immigrants, LoCOS, Management Practices, Mexican Nationals, Mexico, Nevada, New Business World, Political Parties, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Re-Imagine!, Recession, Republicans, Rotary, Sharron Angle, Tea Party, Unemployment, Unethical Business Practices

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Tis the season and there are a lot of political candidates out there selling their version of what is wrong with this country/state/county/city and how they are going to fix what ails us. This year is different from most because it seems that a lynch mob has taken over a prominent role in politics and like most lynch mobs they don’t need facts, they just need someone to be angry at and someone to blame.

It would be easy to label the people behind this political lynch mob as ‘stupid’, but that is probably overly harsh. These people are driven by emotions, not a lack of intelligence, so stupid is not the correct term. I prefer to describe the lynch mob as people who have a Lack Of Critical Observation Skills (LoCOS for short.)  This year the LoCOS are trying to sell a lot of garbage and I’m not buying it. For example:

Nevada: The best at doing it wrong

LoCOS:  Lower taxes will improve the economy
To the LoCOS who are selling the load I have one word. Nevada. Nevada has no Income tax. Nevada has no Capital Gains tax. Nevada has no Corporate tax. Nevada has no Inventory tax. Even conservative business groups rate Nevada as one of the most ‘business-friendly’ states. Nevada is to business what the Bunny Ranch was to male ego.

According the LoCOS argument, Nevada should be awash in new business. Nevada’s economy should be booming. Nevada should be the poster child of the low tax concept.

The fact is that the State exposes the Lo Tax/Mo Biz as a myth. Nevada is Number ONE in unemployment (2nd place Florida is over a full point better than the Silver State.) Nevada is Number ONE in crime. Nevada is Number ONE in housing foreclosures. Nevada is consistently among the lowest in unbiased education rankings. Nevada is proof that lower taxes does not make for a better economy.

(Article: Nevada’s State of Disaster)

LoCOS: Business is better at running our government
Let’s remember that it wasn’t government that put us in a recession but business…BAD business. Government was an enabler, in that it stopped regulating and monitoring the unbridled greed of the incestuous investor-run business world, but at the end of the day it was business people who made all the decisions. The corporate executives chose to ignore the obvious result that would happen from their greed and dove head on into unethical practices that doomed our economy.

Greed is inherent in business. Greed is why business exists. There is no ‘care for fellow citizen’ in the business world. Business is based on competition, winners and losers, and often the losers are not the weakest, but rather loser’s are the one’s with morals. Business only keeps to a moral compass when there is an unbiased arbiter oversees its activities. That is the role of government.

This year we are seeing the perversion of investor-run business with clearer eyes. The Chamber of Commerce has abandoned their mission of promoting good business in the community in favor of attacking local governments and promoting only those candidates that will remove the protections for honest business and our citizens. It is ironic that anyone would suggest that business, with its greed-driven motives and proven track record of unethical practices, should replace good government.

Don’t get me wrong, a strong economy needs good, healthy businesses, but good, healthy businesses need a strong government to create and monitor the rules for which guide and protect all. The leap of logic of the LoCOS, that our government should be run as a business, is as absurd as saying that FIFA needs fewer referees on the soccer field.

LoCOS: The trillion-dollar debt is bad
The LoCOS must have Alzheimer’s.

I’m not in favor of a large deficit, especially when it involves sending US dollars to finance the destruction of another country …. but I’m really not in favor of is a Depression. That is what we faced in early 2009. Business had raped our economy through outrageous, unregulated practices and we were on the brink of an abyss that had no bottom. Again, business, not government caused our economy to fail. Initially, our country let big banks suffer the consequences of what they had done, but it quickly became apparent that what was about to happen was the massive collapse of the entire economic system, which would have forced the United States government to take over the day-to-day operations of almost all of our major financial institutions.

Cheney's Folly: The start of our debt problems

The alternative to a nuclear meltdown of our economy was to lend money to those institutions, help initiate controlled purchases of ailing banks, and invest government money in key assistance programs. Was it a bailout? Yes, but it was investing, not buying, which meant we would get the money back in almost every case.

The government also invested money in the mismanaged auto industry that, if not preserved, would have sent us into Depression-era unemployment overnight. Yes, it increased our nation’s debt. A debt that had gone from surplus in President Clinton’s years, to a deficit under George Bush. It would have been better if we had not spent so much money on Cheney’s overseas folly and already been in the hole when the house of cards of bad business fell, but there was no choice. The decisions made in late 2008 and early 2009 were necessary and save our country from disaster.

Have we recovered? No. But the LoCOS rage over a big deficit is being driven and financed by the major corporations that would prefer the citizen forget what really happened. I wish business hadn’t forced us to use trillions of taxpayer’s dollar to remedy their greed, but we had no choice.

LoCOS: Government is bad
Government is really, really good providing it is run by reasonable people who truly care for the citizens … all the citizens. There is one difference between civilization and anarchy and that is government. Every time I hear the LoCOS point out an example of bad government I can think of a hundred ways that government has made our country great. I mentioned to a person that the airlines need to be regulated again and they pointed out how, under government regulation, an airline was forced to maintain a route to a small city that was not profitable. Yes, that is tough, but what about the scores of lucrative routes that government regulation handed that same airline on a silver platter? I’m really weary of the single exceptions to how great government has been in making this the strongest country in the history of the world. Single exceptions do not make an argument for destroying our country.

Government is the foundation of our society and the only people who don’t benefit from a strong government are the greedy and unethical. When we were in school we would have rather had no teachers telling us what to do, but that wouldn’t have made our education better. It’s time we stopped making the argument of a 5th grader…and time we started respecting what a blessing it is to have a government that keeps our society from devolving into anarchy.

The Face of the LoCO People

LoCOS: Electing stupid people is smart
This one mystifies me. A candidate from any other party would be laughed out of politics for saying or doing something stupid and yet candidates for the LoCOS wear their stupidity like a new hat.
LoCOS candidates are avoiding the media, saying one thing, then changing their story. They scream about illegal aliens and how they are destroying our country, then it’s revealed they were employing them. They dress in Nazi uniforms. They steal other people’s work and claim it as their own. They take campaign money and pay their personal bills with it. They have to explain to people why they are not a witch. They threaten violence on people, yell about almost anything, deceive, and often outright lie…and the LoCOS cheer on.

I know that the quality of candidates of the LoCOS is a reflection of the lack of respect they have for our country and government, but isn’t prima facie evidence that the LoCOS can’t really be trying to improve our country when they are represented by the worst of the worst?

LoCO S: Illegal aliens (=Hispanics) are destroying this country
First, let’s remember that a major portion of the United States (California, Nevada, Utah, southwestern Wyoming, western Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas belonged to Mexico until the mid-1800’s. We took the land from them at gunpoint and paid fifty cents on the dollar for the land. I could make a strong argument that Mexican nationals are not really the illegal aliens in Alta California, Nuevo Mexico, and Tejas, but I will let that dog rest.

(Article: America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico)

Regardless of the history of Mexico and the United States, the fact is that a typical tactic of a lynch mob is to find a symbol (person or group) that has little or no opportunity to defend themselves and present them as evil. This is a tactic used by the KKK, the Nazis, and every ultra-right wing, nationalistic, racist group. It doesn’t matter of whether the targeted group is guilty of anything, just that they, or no one else, is able or willing to stand up and challenge the accusations. Mexican immigrants are the perfect target for a group like the LoCOS.

The facts are that:

  • Most Mexican undocumented immigrants lead quiet, peaceful, law-abiding lives in the United States (a fact that the LoCOS lie about)
  • Mexican undocumented immigrants are working jobs that no American citizen wants to do
  • That the United States is the primary enabler of the drug wars in Mexico (we buy the product and sell them the arms)
  • Mexican undocumented immigrants can’t file for Income Tax refunds (which most would get if they were citizens) so the United States collects and keeps all the money deducted from their pay.

But according to the LoCOS, they are pure evil and responsible for our all our economic and societal ills. In Arizona, a sheriff’s deputy called that he was under attack by Mexican drug smugglers and was shot. He became the hero of the LoCOS.

Deputy Puroll's wound

Despite a massive effort, no drug smugglers were found. Now it turns out that the wound was from a bullet fired at close range (not from 25 yards as he claimed) and likely self-inflicted. Almost no one questioned the story of the deputy at the time, despite the inconsistencies in his account. Why should they, blame it on the Mexicans. Naturally, the story has to be true!

To me, the whole issue of ‘illegal aliens’ is a tornado in search of a trailer park. The damning terminology, the use of single examples, and falsified facts all indicate that the LoCOS need to create a threat and it the Muslims are too far away to pick on so the target is Mexican nationals.

The New Testament of the Bible has clear instructions on how a Christian is behave. Jesus said to love thy neighbor as thyself. The Apostle Paul says, “…as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another..” (1 Thessalonians 4:9). The LoCOS often boast of their devotion to Christ and then desecrate his teachings by their un-Christian attitude towards those of Hispanic descent.

I’m not buying it.

LoCOS: Threatening our government and the electorate with armed rebellion
Several members of the LoCOS, including LoCOS candidates have indicated that ‘some people’ may be mad enough at our government to invoke ‘their Second Amendment Rights’. I don’t care how you say it, to suggest that some people are going to take up arms against their fellow citizens (if the LoCOS don’t get their way) is wrong. In this country we vote, and we don’t take up arms to enforce the LoCOS will on the majority. Anyone who suggests this is a threat to our Constitution and to this country. Mad or not, there is a line that cannot be crossed over.

I know that everything I said here will not make any difference to the LoCOS. In fact, they will be outraged that I spoke out against their unbridled illogical arguments. You can’t reason with a lynch mob. But sometime in the future we will all look back on this and say, “What were the LoCOS thinking?” The problem is that they are not.

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Richmond Embassy Suites: The best at true Hospitality!

01 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Employee Retention, Ethics, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Pride, Public Relations, Random, Re-Imagine!, Recreation, Relationships, Respect, Rotary, Rotary@105, The Tipping Point, Tom Peters, Travel, Women

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Blogging, Blogs, Customer Loyalty, Embassy Suites, Executive Management, Free Internet, Free WiFi, Hospitality, hotels, HR, Internet, Kathleen Lyons, Management Practices, Motels, New Business World, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Re-Imagine!, Richmond, Richmond VA, Rotary, Starbucks, teamwork, Value-added, Virginia

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

In August I stayed in hotels in seven different cities (Dallas, TX; Bloomington, IL; Chicago,IL; Minneapolis, MN; Norfolk, VA; Richmond, VA; and Virginia Beach, VA..) In a previous post I expressed my displeasure with pay-for-Internet at the Millennium Hotel* in Minneapolis, which was slightly unfair as the hotel was a pleasant, although completely expected, experience. As a people warehouse the Millennium Hotel fits the mold that is typical of most business traveler-type hotels. However, out of the seven hotels of which I was a guest, there was one that made a big impression on me, the Embassy Suites in Richmond, Virginia.

(*Millennium Hotel: Go Away)

The main entrance the Embassy Suites in Richmond

The Embassy Suites hotel in Richmond, Virginia is not a flashy, Vegas-type hotel. From the outside it is a modern, yet modest building tucked back from busy streets; however, access to the Interstate is nearby. Like many hotels it is surrounded by a massive asphalt parking lot; however, the entrance is behind a landscaped island of trees. The great thing about the foliage is that it creates the sense from the outside that this hotel is not just a people warehouse like so many others.

After entering the hotel one doesn’t have to hunt for the Registration Desk as it is positioned in such a way that it oversees the entrance area, but it doesn’t intrude into the path of a guest walking to their room from the parking lot.

The Inner Courtyard

The striking feature of the hotel is the inner courtyard. I have seen this design before, but it was a refreshing change from institutional interior designs of most people warehouses. The open interior gives a community feel to the hotel rather than the impression that you just walked into a U-Store-It facility, as is the feel of most hotels. The interior landscaping and flowing water features create a tropical environment. This hotel was number six for me during my August travels and it was a refreshing change from the five previous corporate institutions of I had visited.

My room was also vastly different from my previous guest experiences. This was a true ‘suite’ and not just a room with a bed. There was a clearly defined living space with a television, desk, couch, and bar area. The bedroom was in the rear of the suite with a door that would allow privacy if two people were in the room and one wanted to watch television or work while the other one slept. The bedroom had a counter with running water and its own television. The bathroom was in the transition area between the living room and the bedroom offering easy access from both rooms. The entire suite is a brilliant design.

Of course the Internet was free (my minimum requirement) and I had no problems making a connection. If needed, I could have easily made the suite my home base. It is a comfortable living and working environment. I would have had no concerns about hosting small meetings in my room. I had everything I needed except for my Starbucks Chai Tea.

The Embassy Suite's Dining/Reception Area

One of my issues with most hotels is the assumption that people don’t want to interact with other people when they stay in a hotel. I’m as reclusive as most, but to visit a city and never come out of my hotel room is what creates that ‘warehouse feeling’.

At the Richmond Embassy Suites the open feel of the courtyard was put to good use by encouraging guests to congregate twice a day for a free manager’s reception each evening and free breakfast each morning. The reception offered adult and non-alcoholic beverages along with a variety of choices of snack items (hors devours.) The breakfast was as good or better than the breakfasts I’ve eaten at eaten at most Sunrise Rotary Clubs. Those who have eaten a breakfast at a Rotary Club may think that may not be saying much, but I typically pay $14 to $15 to eat a Rotary breakfast and this was free. The free gatherings were the most ‘value-added’ service I have experienced in a hotel.

From the few interactions I had with the hotel staff it was obvious that the Chief Executive of this property, Kathleen Lyons, and her staff understood the meaning of the word ‘guest’. I was always treated with respect and a smile. It was apparent that they were pleased that I choose their hotel over the other options in Richmond.

Giving great customer service is not that mysterious, but it requires that everyone from the bottom (no offense intended, Ms. Lyons, but in my world that means you) up to the top (the maintenance and housekeeping staff) must enjoy what they do and enjoy working with people. It was clear that the Embassy Suites in Richmond is not run by ‘management’, but managed through leadership. Bravo to Ms. Lyons and her team!

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Nevada: State of Disaster

30 Thursday Sep 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Business, Crisis Management, Ethics, Government, Higher Education, History, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Pride, Public Relations, Random, Respect, Rotary, The Tipping Point, US History

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Executive Management, Management Practices, Nevada, New Business World, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Rotary, Rotary District 5190

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

Among our Country’s 50 States, Nevada has been imploding for several years and is on the brink of complete collapse. Nevada ranks:

  • 1st in Unemployment at 14.4% (over a point higher than the next highest State)
  • 1st in Foreclosures (1 in 84 homes)
  • 1st in Crime (2009 – CQ Press)
  • 44th in 8th Grade Math Scores (2009)
  • 48th in 8th Grade Reading Scores (2009)
  • 49th Smartest State (2004, 2005, and 2007 – based on 21 factors)
  • 45th Healthiest State (2009 – United Health Foundation)

Nevada has managed to take advantage of traditional and non-traditional industries to keep its economy viable, but it has typically been dependent on easily exploited, non-competitive markets (gaming, quickie marriage, quickie divorce, and …quickies.) Unfortunately, in the past decade the strategy of taking advantage of human vices and lusts has failed as other States have decided they’re not as moral as they thought. As one might expect, Nevada’s government has been as precariously designed on a Natural Law type framework where accommodation of business needs supersede governing for and by the people.

Clouds on the Nevada horizon

As the statistics show, all that has now caught up with the Silver State and the result is a failing, under-funded, dysfunctional society that is so deep in a hole that they can’t see the way out. But to understand Nevada, a person needs to understand the history of a State that had a premature birth and since then it has behaved like the bastard child of our Country.

Nevada’s Sordid History
Nevada was founded in 1864, not because it met the minimum requirements for Statehood, but because of a marriage of convenience when; 1) President Abe Lincoln needed more political support and, 2) the residents were trying to rid themselves of Mormon control.

The re-election of Abe Lincoln eight days after Nevada became a State was not a coincidence as the political powers in Nevada openly favored President Lincoln. By giving Nevada Statehood, President Lincoln was assured that his Administration would maintain control as the Civil War reached a crucial stage in the last year of the conflict.

Nevada's State Flag

At the same time, many of the residents of the region were motivated by a distaste for the governance by the Utah Territory authorities as it was being handled by the Church of Latter-Day Saints where all positions were filled by faithful Mormons. Fortunately for the soon-to-be Nevadans, the Church was not in good graces with the U.S. Government and the Mormon Rebellion in 1857-8 (a saber rattling affair) led to the Mormons retreating back into the Salt Lake area, leaving the door open for residents to split off the western two-thirds of existing State as the Nevada Territory. They then pursued Statehood ensure a local government free of Mormon domination.

Although initially rejected, Nevada’s application for Statehood became seductive to the Republicans who sought to outmaneuver political opponents in Washington, D.C. Thus, Nevada’s motto, “Battle Born” is probably more reflective of the political games of the time, rather than the State’s birth during the Civil War.

Open For Business
Though it is the nation’s 7th largest State by area, it is in the bottom third of the Country as measured by population. Eighty-five percent of Nevada’s 2.5 million people live in either Las Vegas or Reno and only 14% of the residents were born in the State.

Because Nevada’s population has always been small and transient, it has been easy for the State government to be controlled by business interests. In the early years mining, ranching, and railroad interests heavily influenced the government and while Railroad owner’s power has faded, the gaming industry has stepped in to take their place.

One example of how the State has been run by and for business men is John Sparks, for which Reno’s sister city is named. John Sparks was a shrewd, unethical man who purchased small parcels of land in Eastern Nevada around water sources and then denied access to other ranchers. In this way he could use public land for grazing his cattle but prevent other ranchers from having access to water for their cattle. He and a partner eventually became mega-land owners through shady manipulation of Homesteading laws.

Although he lost most of his wealth when his company’s cattle died in a severe winter near the end of the 19th Century, he was elected Governor in 1902. In political office he became the darling of the Railroad owners who gave him free train travel from his home south of Reno to his office in Carson City. Governor Sparks political legacy is measured by the favorable railroad legislation produced during his administration. In 1905, the City of Sparks was founded soon after his death and to this day associates itself with its ‘railroad heritage’.

The Road Not Taken

The mining industry has the longest association of political clout with the State and even today enjoys an unusually favorable tax status in Nevada as they pay taxes on net profit. Because the taxes are calculated on net instead of gross profit, the mining corporations can avoid paying taxes in years of high revenue by spending more money on equipment and services. Much of the money spent goes to companies outside the State, leaving the Silver State holding the bag, not the money. Mining companies have major lobbying forces in Nevada that not only promotes their interests with State legislators, but also have been rumored to aggressively go after citizens and groups who oppose their favored tax status.

How favorable is Nevada’s mining tax status? This year mining is projected to contribute on 1.4% of the State’s revenue. That is roughly equal to the total tax paid for renting a car in Nevada OR the tax paid on liquor purchases. It is half the tax collected on cigarette and tobacco sales. Mining is a $1.5 Billion dollar industry in Nevada and contributes one of the smallest portions to the States revenue, but is voraciously defended by senior legislators of both parties at both the State and Federal levels.

In the last half of the 20th Century, gaming interests have assumed a share of influence as almost 25% of the State’s budget is financed by gaming taxes. Because of the massive lobbying efforts of mining, gaming, and Chamber of Commerce groups, the State government is run predominantly by and for conservative business interests. Nevada is ranked as one of the top business-friendly States and is a safe haven for wealthy individuals and corporations who seek to take advantage of Nevada’s lack of corporate, inventory, income and capital gains taxes.

The Failed Argument
Conservatives across the nation have suggested that taxes are killing the free market and all economic ills would disappear if not for the evil of a government-created fair playing field. That argument is proven wrong in Nevada. Despite the State’s business-friendly environment, it has the highest jobless rate in America and businesses are not thriving, but dying. There is no spin anyone can put on Nevada’s grand experiment. Government is not the source of our economic ills.

In a recent political debate in California, the Republican candidate for Governor argued that businesses were leaving California because of more favorable business environments in neighboring western States. She even went so far as to name them. Ironically, the one State she couldn’t add to her list, Nevada, has a more favorable businesses environment than any of the State’s named. If her argument were true, why aren’t businesses flocking to Nevada?

The Disaster Brewing for Decades
Politicians have known for decades that the economy of the Nevada was unsustainable and that economic disaster is a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’. Dependence on only a few industries for the State’s economy has always kept Nevada vulnerable to significant changes in economic and/or business conditions. For years, Nevada’s main source of tourism and gaming revenue have been consistently in decline because of California Indian gaming.

2010 Projected Nevada Tax Revenue

Over reliance on the gaming tax revenue coupled with the lack of traditional tax revenue sources like income taxes have pushed the State to make up for it by having among the highest sales and gasoline taxes in the nation. The lack of corporate and capital gains taxes on wealthier tax payers has pushed the burden on those who are least able to pay.

Epic Failed State
Last year, like many States, Nevada felt the crushing blow of the 2007-09 Recession. Massive cuts (Higher Education was presented with a 36% cut in the Governor’s budget) and a few minor tax increases made it possible for the 2009 Legislature to finalize a budget. But in 2011, the well is dry. No one can predict how the politicians will come up with a budget, but with the Tea Party’s domination of Nevada politics and a hysteria over cutting taxes that don’t even exist it is obvious that any solution will involve gutting programs and shredding the State’s infrastructure. As Nevada is already No. 1 in crime, unemployment, and foreclosures, the continued devolution of the State’s government will mean we can only watch the situation go from worst to Epic Fail.

Poor Role Models: Governor's Dinner in Washington, D.C. - image thanks to 8NewsNow.com

Political Wackos Rule
A rational person would probably look at the current situation in Nevada and determine that this would be the time to find people of high moral character and great thinkers to take control of the crisis. This would also the time to capitalize on those people who are in positions to use their influence and power to act on behalf of the State at all levels of government. Unfortunately, a lynch-mob mentality has besieged the electorate and a blood-hunt by the national Republican Party has poured millions of dollars in an effort that will eviscerate Nevada’s voice in American politics.

There is little reason to believe that anything can prevent Nevada from an economic meltdown along with a catastrophic failure of government infrastructure. The cities and counties will experience the full brunt of the disaster as the Nevada constitution prohibits Home Rule, which means that they cannot take independent action to preserve themselves by isolating and controlling their revenue sources.

There is one positive aspect of this situation. As the nation works to recover from the Recession of 2007-09, every other State in the nation will be able to say, “Well, at least we’re not Nevada.”

More Articles

Our Country and History Related

  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico

Business: Public Relations, Management, and Social Media Related

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  • Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
  • Is it time to fire yourself?
  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
  • Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
  • War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
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  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
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  • Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
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  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
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Science Related

  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know

Personal Experience Related

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  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service

Things I didn’t know about being a Father of a four-year-old Boy

28 Tuesday Sep 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Branding, Lessons of Life, parenting, Passionate People, Pride, Random, Relationships, Respect, Rotary

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

behavior, Blogging, Blogs, boys, Child Development, child-rearing, children, Fatherhood, Parent Development, parenting, Public Image, Public Relations, Rotary, Young boys

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

I am a Father three times over, but my first two were girls, which were relatively simple to raise and well-behaved…at least that is what I choose to remember. But the young boys I have known in my life are anything but well-behaved and I was nervous about being the Father of a boy. My son will turn five in a couple of weeks and I have realized that my nervousness was justified.  Here are a few of the things I didn’t expect about being a Father to a 4 year-old boy:

  • I didn’t know I would have to justify which route I took home from Starbucks. When the little guy in the back seat says, “Dad, why do you go home this way?,” you have to either play the ‘I’m-the-adult-and-that’s-why’ card, or you have to try to explain the subtleties of traffic, time of day, and the desire to travel on surface streets with the sunroof open. Wise or not, I usually try to explain things, because I’m a teacher at my core … but I’m rethinking that approach.

    Why IS the sky blue?

  • I didn’t know I would have to answer questions that force me to defend the stupidity of our language, like, “How come we say the alarm is going off, when it is on?” (i.e.; making noise). It’s a great question. Anyone want to field that one?
  • I didn’t know that going to the bathroom is a wait-until-you-only-have-seconds-before-disaster event and under no circumstances is possible upon suggestion by a parent.
  • I didn’t know little boys really did ask, “Why is the sky blue?” and expect an answer that they can understand. Have you ever tried to be the first person to explain the concept of a planet, the sun, photons, the atmosphere, and light absorption to someone? It is worse if someone else is present because it is like making lasagna, everyone has a better way of doing it.

    Alexander with of his cousin

  • I didn’t know that a four-year-old boy could flirt … and he’s really good at it … when the girl is at least three times his age.
  • I didn’t know how well a boy could manipulate …uhm, his Mom. This one happened today. “Mom, could I have another treat…because you love me?” Fortunately, I’m immune to such ploys!
  • I didn’t know a boy could have such joy over catching grasshoppers and bugs. It seems a cliché about a boy and bugs, but the desire to catch and detain anything smaller than him is hardwired in his behavior.
  • I didn’t know I would become aware of every child around me even when my son is not there. Why should I care? These other kids have parents keeping watch on them, but when I see a child about to do something hazardous the urge to usurp the other parent’s authority is sometimes overwhelming.

    Mowing the lawn is a team effort

  • I didn’t know I would have to wait to mow the lawn until he would be there to ‘help’ me. This was a recent quote, “Dad, I’m glad you waited until I got home to mow the lawn because I would be really angry with you if you had done it when I’m not here.” I have my orders.
  • I didn’t know that I could be attacked and beaten on with such zeal. I’m really hoping he learns to pull his punches before he gets too strong.
  • I didn’t know that a boy could change my attitude … about being the Father of a boy. Still, if you’re about to be a Father of a boy, we need to talk.
More Articles
  • Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophesy a Scientific Possibility?
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
  • Dear Business Person: It’s 2010, please update your brain.
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico
  • Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
  • Rotary@105: Grieving change
  • Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
  • Is it time to fire yourself?
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • How Rotary can..must..will plug into Social Media
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
  • Epic Fail: PR ‘Experts’ don’t get Twitter
  • King of Anything: Social Media vs Traditional Media
  • Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
  • WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
  • Starbucks makes a smart move: Free WiFi
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Foul Play: FIFA shows what less regulation offers to business
  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
  • The Shock of the McChrystal Story: The story is over before the article is published
  • Tony Hayward: The very model of a modern Major General
  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
  • Pay It Middle: The Balance between Too Much and Too Little Compensation
  • Mega Executive Pay Leads to Poor Performance
  • Relationships and Thin-Slicing: Why the other person knows what you’re really thinking
  • Browser Wars: Internet Explorer losing, Google Chrome gaining ground
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Twitter is the Thunderstorm of World Thought
  • Signs of the Times
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
  • How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service
  • Death of All Salesmen!
  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
  • Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
  • Fear of Public Relations
  • Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
  • Does Anybody Really Understand PR?
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!

Negative Time: The Self-fulfilling Prophecy a Scientific Possibility?

27 Monday Sep 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in History, Lessons of Life, Passionate People, Random, Relationships, Science

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Blogging, Blogs, Brian Greene, Double Slit Experiment, M-Theory, Mathematician, Multiple dimensions, Negative Time, one-way time, Physics, Positive Time, Quantum Physics, Science, Space, Space Time, Spacetime, String Theory, The Big Bang, The Fabric of the Universe, Thomas Young, Time, Time Travel

by Paul Kiser
USA PDT  [Twitter: ] [Facebook] [LinkedIn] [Skype:kiserrotary or 775.624.5679]

Paul Kiser

(Warning: This post contains information that may cause brain damage.)

There is a television commercial where an middle-aged couple is watching their son being inaugurated as President, which is followed by a series of scenes working backwards in time:

  • > The ‘President’ is a young boy playing with his Dad
  • > The ‘President’ being born
  • > His parents in their first house
  • > His parents at their wedding
  • > His parents on their first date
  • > And finally a scene where his Dad first sees his Mom on a train that is about to leave and he and uses his phone to buy a ticket so he can meet her.

Positive Time, No-Brainer
This backward view of a series of related events illustrates the concept of negative time, and while the new theories regarding how our micro, micro, micro world works may not yet directly propose it, there is some evidence that time may work both ways. If true, everything we understand about life would be turned upside down.

Time flows only one-way, right?

We take positive time for granted. It is so automatic in our lives that most people can’t even conceive what the opposite of positive time would be like in our universe. It is so basic to our lives that if I were to ask a lay person to define the term ‘positive time’, they might come up with a reasonable definition, but they probably would have to take a moment or two to construct their explanation. If asked for the a definition of negative time, most people would likely be stumped.

Positive time is relatively simple. In our universe time began at the Big Bang, or Big Pop, as I prefer to call it. Theoretical physicists believe that prior to the Big Pop everything in ‘the universe’ was completely ordered and homogeneous. There was no movement, or action, or decay. In essence, no ‘matter’ or substance in the universe, just energy. Time didn’t exist because you must have something changing to measure time, and there wasn’t anything to measure.

At the Big Pop, matter was created out of energy and put in motion. Matter in motion means that it has a beginning point and a direction of movement and that means it can be measured. The moment of the creation of matter was also the creation of Time. From that moment Time moved in a positive direction, meaning that one second follows the next, but in one direction only. We (in our experience of Time) cannot reverse time and go back to a past moment, nor can we figure out a way to have time run backwards. Since we can only observe Positive Time it has been easy to ignore the question, “Why does time always move in one direction?”

One depiction of how time travel might be possible

Time Travel is not Negative Time
Science fiction has toyed with the idea of time travel, but that is not quite the same as negative time. Jumping from the present to the past or future involves skipping over all those seconds between now and then. To be the opposite of positive time, negative time would have to flow backward from one moment to the next, which is how we experience positive time.

So why care about the concept of negative time when it doesn’t seem to exist? Well, maybe it does.

String Theory Shakes Up Our Idea of Space/Time and Dimensions
For most of human history we have assumed we live in a four-dimensional world (three space dimensions, plus the dimension of positive time.) It is all we can observe; therefore, it is fact. But a new view of the Quantum world of the very, very small, called String Theory, we have tangible evidence that beyond the micro, micro world of electrons, muons, and photons is a micro, micro, micro world of vibrating strings, made not of matter, but of energy. Without getting into all the background of the last 30 years of discoveries and theories, the concept of String Theory offers the best and most rational explanation of the raw materials that create the reality we see, sense, hear, and feel around us.

A simplistic view of the 'strings' in String Theory

Along with String Theory has come an acceptance by many in the field that in addition to the three dimensions we know, there must be at least seven or eight additional dimensions that we can’t observe because they are either too small to be detected, or they just are outside our realm of detection by our senses and/or equipment. It may seem odd to have a concept of something outside of our experience and before we can detect it; however, Albert Einstein is only one example of someone who came up with bizarre ideas that were not proven until years after he gave us the theory. In the case of String Theory, mathematicians have used equations to determine what is and is not possible in the micro, micro, micro world and eleven dimensions makes all the puzzle pieces fall together even though we currently lack the technical capability to observe all but three of them.

The Legacy of a 200 year-old Experiment
Note that String Theory does not propose that time works in two directions. In fact, when theoretical physicists discuss the eleven dimensions they often add, ‘and the dimension of time’ as if to reinforce that time is a singular, one-way aspect of reality. The idea that time might flow two ways is not part of the typical String Theory conversation.

The conflicting waves of the Double Slit Experiment

But there is an interesting experiment discussed in Brian Greene’s book, The Fabric of the Cosmos, which challenges our positive time flow assumptions. The experiment is known a the ‘Double Slit Experiment‘ and it was devised over 200 years ago (1801) by Thomas Young. The experiment uses two slits that light passes through to a film that would record the effect of the slits on the path of the light. If the light creates a cluster of points on the film, it is evidence of particle behavior. If the light creates a banded appearance, it is evidence of wave behavior.

The result seemed to prove that light behaved as a wave pattern and for about 150 years that was the accepted point of view, but in the past fifty years light has been proven to be a particle (known as a photon.) So what’s up with Mr. Young’s experiment?

Without delving into Quantum Theory and the Uncertainty Principle, the belief is that a photon travels every possible theoretical route before it travels the only route it is destined to travel and therefore, it shows up as a wave pattern in the classic Double Slit Experiment, but if the experiment is set up to determine the route of the photon it only detects the route that the photon actually travels and all the potential paths disappear…if you head is starting to hurt, I completely understand. The full discussion of this takes up a sizable portion of Mr. Greene’s book, but for now, I ask you to accept this so I can move on to the next concept.

According to Mr. Greene, the detector that identifies the route of the photon does not interfere with the photon reaching the recording film, but because the photon was being observed before it reached the recording film, its behavior changed at the source. In other words, somehow the light sensed the detector and rather than every possible path being recorded on the film, the only thing recorded was the singular photon.

Again, according to Mr. Greene, this was not a case that the detector changed the behavior of the light, but that the behavior of light changed at the source. There are no rational explanations for why this happens, but one possible idea is that time can flow backward, meaning that the photon’s behavior is shaped, not by positive time flow (photon emitted by source, path observed or not by detector), but by negative time (photon observed or not by detector, photon emitted by source.)

Do Final Events Determine the Events that Preceded It?
The concept of negative time is so bizarre and outside our experience that any rational mind has a hard time accepting the possibility of anything that contradicts a world ruled by positive time. But why should time be limited by what we experience? What if our Positive Time experience consists of the result of future events, not of past events?  What if the previously mentioned television commercial has correctly ordered the events? Maybe the boy who becomes President causes all the preceding events all along the timeline? What if our universe is constructed, not by one event followed by another, but by a final event that then construct all the events that led up to the final event?

By now your head may be pounding from trying to understand a concept that is absolutely alien to what we know, or you may decided to reject the idea as absurd, (which it is when taken in the context of our experience,) but if negative time is real then it means that much of what we see as coincidence is not…. and a self-fulfilling prophesy is not just an amusing idea, but a fact of life in Negative Time. It means that what we do now is guided by what we will do in the future.

The ramifications of Negative Time exceed what we can imagine and challenge our foundations of science, philosophy, religion, business, in fact, all aspects of life as we know it. It is a concept that is a long way from becoming provable in our experience of the universe, but the possibility of Time being a two-way phenomenon is exciting…even if it makes my head hurt.

More Articles
  • Thank you, Mr. President
  • Rotary@105: Making Rotary Sexy
  • Dear Business Person: It’s 2010, please update your brain.
  • Riding Reno: The Ladies of Reno
  • America’s Hostile Takeover of Mexico
  • Selling watered-down beer: The best spin campaign in advertising
  • Rotary@105: Grieving change
  • Communication: Repetition of message does not increase awareness
  • Millennium Hotel: Go away, spend your money elsewhere
  • Is it time to fire yourself?
  • Up in the air down in Texas
  • I mow my lawn because…
  • Rogue Flight Attendant shows his arrogance, Airlines dislike for the customer
  • Nevada I-580: An Interstate by any other name
  • How Rotary can..must..will plug into Social Media
  • Physics in 2010: The more we understand, the less we know
  • Nevada’s oldest brewery opens a Reno location
  • Rotary Membership/Public Image Challenge
  • 2Q 2010 Social Media Tools: Facebook/Twitter sail on, LinkedIn/MySpace don’t
  • Epic Fail: PR ‘Experts’ don’t get Twitter
  • King of Anything: Social Media vs Traditional Media
  • Rotary PR: Disrespecting the Club President is a PR/Membership issue
  • WiFi on Southwest Airlines: Is it ‘Shovel Ready’?
  • Starbucks makes a smart move: Free WiFi
  • Two Barbecues and a Wedding
  • Foul Play: FIFA shows what less regulation offers to business
  • Rotary New Year: Retread or Renaissance?
  • The Shock of the McChrystal Story: The story is over before the article is published
  • Tony Hayward: The very model of a modern Major General
  • Rotary@105: A young professionals networking club?
  • One Rotary Center: A home for 1.2 million members
  • War Declared on Social Media: Desperate Acts of Traditional Media
  • Pay It Middle: The Balance between Too Much and Too Little Compensation
  • Mega Executive Pay Leads to Poor Performance
  • Relationships and Thin-Slicing: Why the other person knows what you’re really thinking
  • Browser Wars: Internet Explorer losing, Google Chrome gaining ground
  • Rotary@105:  What BP Could Learn from the 1914 Rotary Code of Ethics
  • Twitter is the Thunderstorm of World Thought
  • Signs of the Times
  • Rotary Magazine Dilemma Reveals the Impact of Social Media
  • How Social Interactive Media Could Transform Higher Education
  • How to Become a Zen Master of Social Media
  • Car Dealership Re-Imagines Customer Service
  • Death of All Salesmen!
  • Aristotle’s General Rules on Social Media
  • Social Media:  What is it and Why Should You Care?
  • Social Media 2020:  Keep it Personal
  • Social Media 2020:  Who Shouldn’t Be Teaching Social Media
  • Social Media 2020:  Public Relations 2001 vs Social Media Relations 2010
  • Social Media 2020: Who Moved My Public Relations?
  • Publishing Industry to End 2012
  • Who uses Facebook, Twitter, MySpace & LinkedIn?
  • Fear of Public Relations
  • Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit
  • Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…Oh My!
  • Does Anybody Really Understand PR?
  • Rotary@105:  April 24th – Donald M. Carter Day
  • Rotary@105:  What kind of animal is Rotary International?
  • Rotary:  The Man in the Yellow Hat as the Ideal Club President?
  • Rotary@105:  Our 1st Rotary Club Dropout
  • Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win
  • Rotary: All Public Relations is Local
  • Best Practices:  Become a Target!
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  • About Paul Kiser
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  • Familius Interruptus: Lessons of a DNA Shocker
  • Moffat County, Colorado: The Story of Two Families
  • Rules on Comments
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