"You cannot run away from weakness; you must some time fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now, and where you stand?"  - Robert Louis Stevenson

 

“Anxiety is the essential condition of intellectual and artistic creation.” – Charles Frankel

American women are emerging as a major topic in political conversation.  No, there aren’t hordes of women running for office and there is no woman still in the race for president.  But there is a trend for men trying to ‘Woman Up.’ This is contrast to the last campaign cycle when women regularly used the phrase ‘Man Up’.  Today, it is common knowledge that the most dependable of the electorate are women voters.  Both political parties have turned into dueling bands for the ‘Who Loves You Baby’ prize.  Each band is fronted by an array of Super Women including wives, anchor women, spokespersons, reporters and female pundits of various ages, backgrounds and ethnic origins.

I have always specialized in hostile or militant audiences but from time to time even I have to step back and pause for a second.  Current events are always “fair game” in my workshops; it is what makes my sessions current, electric and never boring.  Recent moments of truth in my sessions lead me to pen this article.  Comments like – “Rodney King had it coming!” and “Tayvon Martin, who cares,” just get my motor running.  My recent favorite – “Secret Service Agents are fools, they just got caught, just pay….”  Wow! Right?  What struck me the most – the rest of the participants in the room did not even flinch.  Oh, and these comments were coming from the police officers in the room (sworn professionals).  In other words – the silence was deafening.  How do the individuals who made these remarks interpret the silence of their peers?  Tacit support?  How about an “ouch” or “wow” or even a nonverbal reaction (facial expression, hand or body gesture) – some anonymous action to show disapproval?

Muse on nature  (5 poems)

change of sea color,
is sky’s mood
however far they are
however close they were

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Much of the electricity infrastructure in operation today is antiquated, highly inefficient, and cannot reliably manage the loads of today and tomorrow without significant upgrades taking place. With climate change high on the political agenda and utilities keen to increase operational efficiencies, there is an obvious and pressing need for a complete overhaul of all aspects of the grid in order to make it smarter. To this end, work has begun on ensuring that the smart grid will soon become a reality with large-scale smart metering deployments, which are the most visible example of these efforts.

Are you watching the televised protest march in Florida demanding the arrest of Trayvon Martin’s killer?  It’s a déjà vu moment for this old member of the civil rights community with many familiar African American organizations and leaders addressing the public.  It was 1964 when I first participated in a Civil Rights march.  I was 16 years old, female, white and living in an upper middle class neighborhood.  Crossing economic class, race and gender was part of doing the right thing and it fueled decades of altruism, activism and idealism in a diverse coalition.  Can that altruism happen againand be sustained beyond the modest attention span of social networking?

American Diversity Report announces the latest in its creative cultural diversity training resources.  The RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY KIT is a 4-part training CD that is must-have for the diverse workplace and community.

Hans Kung
"There will be peace on earth when there is peace among the world religions."

Albert Einstein

"The wiser you are, the more you believe in equality, because the difference between what the most and the least learned people know is inexpressibly trivial in relation to all that is unknown."