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SECRET VOTES: SCHOOL, SAFETY, HEALTH CARE

During election years voters pick their horse, their favorite. No secret votes at the start. If they turn out they way they say they’ll turn out, good job in the ballot box. If they don’t they have a built in excuse: “I’m the lesser of two evils.” No one runs a campaign based on being […]

SMARTER, HEALTHIER, READER REACH OUT TODAY

Reader reach out to Canada, China, and India? Breaking down walls that separate people? Good reading and good readers get a jump start. Education stops when readers stop reading and only listen to what they’re told. The inquiring mind searches further. It’s all part of training. If you hear something that doesn’t sound correct? Start […]

MARK ZUCKERBERG BUILDS PURPOSE ON FACEBOOK WALL

    For big life questions, Mark Zuckerberg has big answers. From his Harvard commencement address: Today I want to talk about purpose. But I’m not here to give you the standard commencement about finding your purpose. We’re millennials. We’ll try to do that instinctively. Instead, I’m here to tell you finding your purpose isn’t […]

MOTIVATED LIFE: FEAR, ANGER, BIG FINISH

    From day one America grew an attitude of the picked on little brother. Instead of walking the plank of tradition and custom in the old country, early explorers took off for the new to live a motivated life. I hear Monty Python’s French accented, “Weee, doon’t neeeed yoooou.” That’s the enduring American story, […]

ASPIRATIONAL EDUCATION GOAL CALLED THE 40-40-20 PLAN, NOT 420

  40-40-20 Plan called an Aspirational Goal, like a wish list From The Oregonian in 2012: 40 percent of the state’s adults with four-year college degrees, 40 percent with two-year degrees or the equivalent, and the remaining 20 percent with high school degrees. It would be an impressive advance, since the four-year number is now […]

OREGON vs CAROLINA FINAL FOUR: THE CITIES

    Sports show off the cities when teams meet on the biggest stage. And who doesn’t like learning about new places? A game like an Oregon vs Carolina Final Four gives fans a chance to play Would You Rather. Would you rather live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, or live in Eugene, Oregon? A […]

LEARNING FROM WHERE YOU LIVE, PT.1: NORTH BEND

    Ask the North Bend question. In a reflective moment that soon passed, I asked my Dad which of us grew up in a rougher town. I felt certain he’d say his town, Ryderwood. Ryderwood was a logging camp town, a company town with a company store. The one thing all logging company towns […]

PERSONAL PRIDE vs MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS

Go ahead and be selfish just this once, keep your personal pride personal.   Who among us admits personal pride? Raise a hand. All up? Good. Pride for you and yours is a cornerstone of civilization, something to build on. You can tell personal pride people when you see them in full blossom. They wear […]

WRITERS, WRITING CLASSES, ENGLISH DEPARTMENTS

Best advice from writing classes?   College freshman might change their major. More than once. But over and over? Relax, it happens. And it’s not pretty. Finding yourself in college is expensive. Even if Major Changer milks it long enough they finish with a degree others call worthless, as in, “what were you thinking?” That’s […]

ANTICIPATION VS PARTICIPATION pt 1: LEARNING

Don’t let anticipation ruin participation.   Here’s the situation: you have a plan to do something you’ve never done before. This is when every past failure shows up saying, “Who do you think you are?” Past success whispers, “You’re ready for this.” Of course we always listen to the reasonable voice, either one. No matter […]