WORTH READING: Enough is enough: Fed-up Americans crave unity amid violence

Enough is enough: Fed-up Americans crave unity amid violence By CLAIRE GALOFARO and MARGERY A. BECK LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — She flipped through television channels and radio stations, scanning from conservative to liberal media, searching for any sign that the polarized nation had finally reached its tipping point. For days, Elisa Karem Parker had been seeing updates in the news: …

Governor Robert D. Ray: A Champion of CHARACTER COUNTS!

It’s with a heavy heart that we share the news that Governor Robert D. Ray has passed away earlier this week. Governor Robert D. Ray played a major role in bringing the CHARACTER COUNTS! program to Iowa which is now headquartered at The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University. The Character Counts‘ team sends our deepest regards to the Ray family …

FROM SKEPTIC TO DRUG PUSHER

FROM SKEPTIC TO DRUG PUSHER Despite my generation’s paranoia about cannabis being a gateway drug leading to reefer madness, I’ve transformed from a skeptic to a zealot. It’s a bit like being bit by a zombie and turning into one. My announcement the other day on my personal Facebook page that, at the urging of my wise and caring adult …

Brave Women

BRAVE WOMEN. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina’s message to dozens of female victims who were molested by official USA Gymnastics doctor during sentencing hearing in Michigan: “You are not broken. You are strong. You are the voice of so many people. … You are not a victim any longer. Do not let it define you. Go out and do great things in …

CNN Heroes Awards

With all dark news that promotes cynicism CNN Heroes Awards is uplifting. Watch or read about these good people who are making a difference. I will donate to all finalists who are working to heal the world. I hope you do so to.

Vulnerability: Loss of Power at Atlanta Airport

Loss of power at Atlanta airport causing travel crisis, regardless of cause, shows us how vulnerable we are to cyber-attack. Congress must make a concerted effort and major investment to quickly understand the vulnerabilities and devise solid solutions. The Russian election shenanigans (a benevolent sounding term for an act of war) could be just the tip off the ice berg. …

Good Ethics is Enough

“Good ethics may not always be good business but it is always good ethics and for a company or person of character — that’s enough.” – Michael Josephson Find a worthwhile article from the Harvard Business Review below: I’ve been a consultant for almost 20 years, advising companies on complex challenges in ethics, risk, and responsibility. Each year several clients …

Thoughts on Las Vegas: The Caring of Strangers

When terrible things happen often all that can protect us or ease our pain is the caring of strangers and the commitment and skill of EMTs, ambulance drivers, police and doctors and nurses. We must celebrate and encourage the best that is in us, not demean our potential with easy cynicism. Human nature is complex but it can be grand …

Thoughts on Las Vegas: We Need Love for All Humanity

The best of human nature always reveals itself in response to the worst. Compassion, service and a genuine sense of community is the most powerful antidote to the disease of hatred. Our condolences and words of support to those most injured by the Las Vegas tragedy are sadly without power. Only persistent and direct love for all humanity – irrespective …

WORTH READING: The Moral Bucket List

by David Brooks When you meet someone that truly inspires you and you deeply admire, many people may wonder how this individual became such an upstanding person. David Brooks, an author for the The New York Times, wondered this same thing when he came across people in his life that radiated goodness, gratitude and virtue. Brooks came to the conclusion that …

What Will Matter: Teachers Edition

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too your hopes, ambitions, plans, …

The Honor Comes in Giving

“It is your depth of commitment, your quality of service, the product of your devotion — these are the things that count in a life. When you give purely, the honor comes in the giving, and that is honor enough.” Scott O’Grady, Air Force pilot (1995).

Worth Reading: Passover & The Meaning of Freedom

Courtesy of Aish.com Viktor Frankl, Passover, and the Meaning of Freedom Taste the power of true freedom. by Rabbi Yaakov Cohen Passover. The holiday that celebrates what it means to be truly free. But what is Freedom? Victor Frankl, a prominent Jewish psychologist, was a survivor of two concentration camps. When he was liberated in April 1945, almost everyone in …

COMMENTARY: Converting Pessimists Into Optimists

Every full life has its bright days and its dark days, its triumphs and defeats, its calm and stormy seas. All these high and low experiences could justify viewing the past through the lens of gratitude or disappointment. And the way we characterize our history will determine whether we look toward our future with hopeful expectations or anxious trepidation.