Wael Ghonim made a Difference

One of the amazing parts of the revolution in Egypt was the part that 30 year old Wael Ghonim, Google’s Cairo-born head of marketing in the Middle East and North Africa, played in it. Consider this excerpt from an article in The Daily Princetonian:

Ghonim created a Facebook page in late January calling for the first day of protests on Jan. 25. He is by no means the leader of the movement, but without his actions, Mubarak might still be in power. On Feb. 7, he appeared on television after being released by Egyptian authorities, and on Feb. 8, he told the protestors, “We won’t give up.” Three days later, Mubarak did, partly because Ghonim showed up to claim freedom for his country.

This speaks to me about how one person can follow their convictions and change the world. I join Google, echoing their tweet pictured here, and saying well done Wael Ghonim.

Is CPAC Really Relevant?

This weekend conservatives from across the country attended the annual CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) conference in DC to hear conservative political speakers and vote in the CPAC presidential straw poll. Here are the voting results:

• 30% - Texas Congressman Ron Paul;
• 23% - Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney;
• 06% - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie;
  06% - Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson;
• 05% - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich;
• 04% - Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty;
  04% - Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann;
• 04% - Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels;
• 03% - Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin;
• 02% - Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

A few observations about the list of conservative candidates:

• I sadly agree with Donal Trump (a CPAC Speaker) when he says that Ron Paul cannot win the nomination. Paul looks great on paper but does not possess the charisma or the appeal to Independent voters to win.
• Mitt Romney has not been able to emerge from the Ron Paul shadow. He has been running for president for a long time and got a mere 23% - seems like he would have done better with his base. Yet he would probably do better with Independents.
• A lot of these folks have the stigma of being "former". I get the impression that some of these are all about speaking engagements, appearing on talk shows and running for the presidency. Not sure that anyone takes the "formers" seriously.
• No clear electable candidate has really emerged from the pack. Conservatives are splintered and the single digit percentages reflect it.

As a conservative I am not really excited about any of these candidates. I like Governor Chris Christie but have heard him say on many occasions that he will definitely not run in 2012. So, in light of all this, I have to wonder: "Is CPAC Really Relevant?"

What do you think? Will conservatives simply splinter around candidates that cannot win?

Love at Second Sight

Love at Second Sight

What drew me to her I do not know.
Spirit? Soul? Flesh?
A mystery to me still.
On that day I saw her again for the very first time.
Could this be love at second sight?

That day was bright, my heart was dark.
Her skin was fair, my soul was heavy.
A spark ignited and my spirit soared.
Could this be love at second sight?

The summer passed and fall had come.
My mind wandered still to that that day in June,
When my heart was touched by her lovely smile.
Could this be love at second sight?

As grief passed and courage grew,
I saw her again and then I knew.
That my heart longed to know her heart.
Could this be love at second sight?

Mourning exchanged for joy.
Loneliness turned into happiness.
Feelings I can neither explain nor express.
Could this be love at second sight?

Time goes on and passion grows.
Where we'll go who really knows.
My heart and my mind yet question still:
Could this be love at second sight?
I wrote this poem for my Valentine Ann in December 1994 after we had been dating a very short time. I rededicate it to her today. I am so glad that she is in my life.

The Secret Life of Bees | ★★★★★★★★★

This touching movie is about a young girl who is haunted by the death of her mom while she is living with a distant and verbally abusive father. It is set during the civil rights movement in the 60s and beautifully integrates the issues of those times into the story. Lily, the girl nicely played by Dakota Fanning, is taken in by three sisters and begins to find strength and healing as she is loved by these strong African American women. Queen Latifah does a great job playing the eldest sister who teaches Lily about life, courage and bee keeping. The movie brings you back to that turbulent era and really helps you think about what was really going on. The story was great, the acting wonderful and the message inspirational. I highly recommend it and, on a scale of ten, I give it ★★★★★★★★★.

Unity not Uniformity

I love the message of this mock poster. Often those who espouse to believe in "unity" deny that belief by the way that they behave. I think that religious folks can sometimes be the biggest transgressors in this area.. not that I have any first hand knowledge.
Here are a few things that wise people have said on the topic along with my strange and pithy commentary.

"United we stand; divided we fall." -Aesop  [Gotta love the simplicity. I think the heart of unity is all about finding common ground to unite around.]

"The unity of freedom has never relied on uniformity of opinion." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy
[I am glad that unity is not based on my opinions because they change so much.]

"Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking." -Mahatma Gandhi  [Commitment will always be tested. Anyone who has been married for any length of time understands this.]

"I know that my unity with all people cannot be destroyed by national boundaries and government orders." -Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy  [The things that unify us are greater than the things that divide us. Focusing on other things create division and strife.]

"I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent." -Nelson Mandela  [Solving problems can unify opponents like nothing else when the focus is on solutions and not problems.]

"The moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out." -James Baldwin  [The words "break faith" speak to me about why unity is often so hard.]

"We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers." -Martin Luther King, Jr.  [Unity is an art that can only be learned when we acknowledge another as a brother or sister.]

Man vs Machine

On this day in 1996 Deep Blue, a computer developed by IBM, beat chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov. Kasparov rebounded over the next five games, winning three and drawing two, to soundly beat the machine. Next week, 15 years after the chess match, Jeopardy will host a similar Man vs Machine face off on TV. Here is an excerpt from
a write-up in the Kansas City Star:

Two of “Jeopardy’s” biggest brainiacs — Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter — will compete in a three-day event Monday through Feb. 16 for a chance to win $1 million. But it’s the third contestant that makes this showdown different. They’ll be playing Watson, a super computer. That might not sound like a fair fight until you realize “Jeopardy” requires more than just knowledge. Often the answers are provided in the form of puns and other word games. Watson is programmed to understand the word play of human language.

I will be recording these Jeopardy episodes next week. I have always been intrigued by the man vs machine stuff - I loved the Terminator movies and even watched the short lived TV series. One of my favorite Star Trek characters was the android Data. It is probably the geek in me that wonders if man can program a computer to think like a man.

Of course the whole idea of a computer being sentient, or self-aware, is pretty ridiculous. The idea that humans are the sum total of their binary code is hilarious. Many of us admire the intellects of Einstein and Stephen Hawking. That said, I think that few of us would consider them truly human just because of their brain power.

Being human is so much more than our ability to play chess or answer questions, albeit in the form of a question, on a game show. Being human is more about feeling than thinking. It is more about loving and caring for each other. And, for me, being human is all about living from the most non-computerish part of me. How about you?

Winter Weather Woes

Early in January I had to get a jump for my weak battery from my next door neighbor. Fortunately the van was in our warmish heated parking garage.
I replaced the battery that afternoon. Since then I have not had any weather related problems with the van.

Have you needed car help this winter?

You might have OCD if ...

Years ago Ann and I weekly watched Monk, a TV show about a brilliant detective who suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). If you are unfamiliar with OCD I suggest that you read about it at sites like this one.

As I watched Monk on TV I started to identify with some of the things he did. Monk loved even numbers. He was all about symmetry and order. Monk was literally driven by his brain and, in a sense, was very uncomfortable with the issues of the heart. Consider these common OCD symptoms and my commentary:

• Obsessive need for order or symmetry:
  I think that many computer programmers identify with a bit of an obsession for symmetrical order and see beauty in the programs that they write. I can also identify with once thinking that there was some sort of formulaic order to the Bible.
• The inability to discard anything because it "may be needed sometime."
  I can relate to this sort of thinking. On the flip-side - I loved downsizing last year.
  Yet I do wonder if there was even a bit of OCD in that exercise.
• Repeating routine activities for no logical reason.
  I do wonder if some of the things I once considered discipline was more of a compulsion. I am not really sure why I did a few of them.
• Repeatedly checking to see if a door is locked or an appliance is turned off.
  I can relate to turning around, sometimes after I had driven several blocks, and checking if my garage door was closed - and it always was closed.

Looking at my writing above I have to chuckle about how I chose to make a bulleted list. It is so OCD. I hope that you cannot identify with Monk but don't think it bad if you do.

Anybody still using AOL?

Today AOL disclosed plans to acquire online news website Huffington Post for $315 million. It caused me to ask "Does anyone use AOL anymore?" I remember having an AOL account for 90 days back in the 90s when they offered free trials and sent you a special CD to load it up. Do you know of anyone still using AOL?

Super Trivia Quiz

See if you can identify the one item of Super Bowl trivia below that is false:

1. 80 percent of all tickets sold go to corporate sponsors of the NFL and of the SB.
2. The Kansas City Chiefs played in the first SB.
3. The first four Super Bowls weren't called “Super Bowl.” Instead they went by the title “AFL-NFL World Championship Game.”
4. Steeler QB Ben Roethlisberger was, at 23, the youngest quarterback to win a SB.
5. When Super Bowl I was played, you could have bought a ticket for only six dollars.
6. On the Monday after the big game, an average of 6 percent of workers call in sick and antacid sales increase by 20 percent.
7. The Dallas Cowboys have won the most Super Bowls.
8. Super Bowl Sunday is second in food consumption in the USA behind Thanksgiving.
9. Super Bowl I was the only one ever broadcast by 2 different networks (CBS & NBC).
10. The Buffalo Bills have played in the most consecutive Super Bowls.

Let me know which item of trivia you think false.

What are your favorite Superbowl Munchies?

This dish looks way too fancy for me. My favorite football nosh food consists of a nice hot cheese dip replete with some chips to dip. Add to that some bison summer sausage and a few crackers. Finish it off with a bowl of peanut M&Ms and I am about ready for the game.. and a beer or two.
And I might add a few BBQ wings.
What will you eat with the game?

Small Plates

The United Healthcare Insurance Company is very interested in my well being and often emails me helpful information. Consider this outtake from their website where dietitian Melanie Polk speaks to the differences in how we eat:

A portion is the amount of food you choose to eat or drink — or what you're served. Whether it's from a package, plate or buffet, a portion can be a bite or a feast.

A serving size is a standard unit of measuring food — a cup or ounce, for example. The Nutrition Facts on a food label are based on this. The label tells you how many calories are in a single serving of the food. It also lists how much fat, protein, sodium and other nutrients are in that amount.

Years ago Ann and I recognized that we ate less when we served meals on small plates. At first I think that we went back and refilled our plates but eventually got used to the smaller portions. We often extend this thinking to our eating out experiences. We enjoy places that offer a Tapas (small plate) menu and we will usually share an entrée rather than gorge ourselves on two - and we rarely do buffets.

Are you a fan of small plates or do you enjoy buffets and larger servings?

Learning to Laugh at Trouble

Christina Carter listed her top ten laughter quotes for February on her blog today. I especially enjoyed this Edgar Watson Howe quote:

“If you don’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you grow old.”

I have found this to be very true in my life. Now I am not saying that we should cavalierly brush off the sufferings and trials that affect us deeply. My thinking is that we should learn how to flow with difficulties. Here are a few things that I have learned about flowing with trouble:

• Trouble is not permanent. There is a cliché that I don't care for but I think speaks to this. It says "This too shall pass". The months following Ellen's (my fist wife) death were horrible. I felt that my insides were being ripped from within me. Time helped put her death in perspective and I eventually was able to look back and celebrate our memories without experiencing pain.
• Trouble reveals our need. We need others to help us heal. My friend Bob was one of those people. When Ellen died he regularly called me to check in on me. He had lost his wife years before that and really understood what I was going through. I have also helped others who have experienced great loss.
• Trouble exposes our control issues. The scary truth about life is that we have little control over the most important things like health and adult children. Acknowledging this and discerning how to flow with life when bad things happen hit at the heart of how to laugh at trouble.
• Trouble is relative. I cringe writing that. Yet the truth is that my troubles are often magnified because I take myself too seriously. Looking back I am amazed at the things that I considered "important". It does bring a smile to my face though. I am so egocentric. Good to know when you encounter trouble.

When I think about how I have learned to laugh at trouble I remember that life is something to be lived from my heart. When I live it from my head I forget that trouble is not permanent. My egocentric head tells me that I can go it alone. My brain deceives me and tells me that I am in control. Brainy pride causes me to take myself too seriously.

But my heart informs me that I can trust One greater than my trouble - One who loves me and walks through troubles with me. In my life learning to laugh at trouble is all about living from the deep place in me that I call my heart.

What have you learned in your life that has helped you to laugh at trouble.

Top Ten Banned Websites at Work

ZDNet has a list of the top ten websites that are banned at workplaces. I thought that it might be fun, since many of you are snowed in today, to ask you to identify which one of these websites did not make their list:

1. Facebook
2. Blogger
3. MySpace
4. YouTube
5. DoubleClick
6. Twitter
7. Meebo

Does your company restrict websites? Which one of these did not make the top ten?