Gift Hub

The Freedom Fence

US mulls fencing border with Canada to prevent US citizens fleeing to freedom, or from it.

The Saving Remnant in the Street

Things we cannot discuss in a public place among strangers:

1. sex

2. politics/power

3. the holy

4. literature and other arts

The language of our society is money and markets, and brands, and spectacle.

We can withdraw into small communities and speak the fuller language of humanity and conviction. But when we congregate in the public space and raise our voice in the fuller language of communion, we are pariahs. Homo Sacer - both sacred and outcast. Again, those who say what we all see, and raise their voice near the Wall Street Bull, are pepper sprayed and jailed. They should have learned the code - white collar crime pays and is ruthless in preserving its priviliges. Pass bye in silence, if you want a clean police record, and a job now or some day. Do they know what they want? Do you? 

My Escutcheon

If your family had a crest, what would be the motto? For me, "Virtue First, Profit Always." Or maybe the other way around.

Smart Mobs and Tea Parties

 

Howard Rheingold addresses his journalism students.

Forbes Richest 2011

Despite the economic woes plaguing many Americans, the net worth of many of the top 10 richest on Forbes’ list grew in 2011. Perhaps, the connection is causal - tilting tax law, political power, and wage bargaining to the rich, causes the rich to be richer. Could that be so? Good to see the Koch Brothers tied for 4th with $25 billion each.

Obama's Work For Almost Free Program

Check out the comments as well as the post. The simmering pot is beginning to whistle. I believe in the rule of law. Durax lex sed lex. The law is hard, but it is the law. To avoid disorder, even an unjust elected regime is preferable to an even more unjust one. And both are preferable to a state of emergency and martial law. As a morals tutor to America's wealthiest families, my main concern is the protection of property rights, per John Locke, whose Treatise, I studied dilegently at Oxford. Liberty is subordinate to ownership. My freedom to throw a stone stops where your windowpane begins. Our poorest citizens will do better as chattel. Owners take care of their property. A free trial for a slave, serf, indentured servant or entry level employee, seems only fair. Mine has lasted in the Big House of Wealth Bondage going on now 50 years. I still hope to be hired for a living wage by grandchildren, having faithfully served their parents and grandparents. Let us preach charity to the young, if we are to be the object of it. Preserving Dynastic Wealth is the highest criterion of success in my noble trade. As long as the Dynasts are a moral family, of course, and are concerned about the common weal. That is where I come in. "If your family had a crest," I ask, "what would be the motto?" Then I give the wording to my starving daughters who prick out the letters in Latin in needlepoint, for almost free. If the clients are at a loss for values, I give them cards. They can pick the values that are right for them. My escutcheon reads, "Always Civil" and shows three monkeys, representing the client advisory team, of morals tutor, attorney, and public relations agent. Now if I could only afford a blue blazer. Well, I can always attach it to my collar. Escutcheon on one side, owner's information on the other. Beg!

Last Supper on Death Row

TX last meal decision disappoints charitable advocates.

In 2007, Tennessee death row inmate Philip Workman, 53, requested that his final meal of vegetarian pizza be donated to a homeless person living near the Nashville prison. After prison officials balked, Nashville homeless shelters were inundated with donated pizzas.

I wish Rick Perry would take this into account.

The Formation of Public Opinion - Will My Being Ordained Help My Philanthropic Career for the Benefit of Humankind?

When markets fall, hunger stalks the land, and the few make out like bandits - in what language do our leaders respond? The language of moral and civic responsibility to those in need and to the commonweal, or in the cold language of accounting? How did what had been the New Deal become the Raw Deal of Cutting Entitlements - which might be considered rights? Some of these questions are raised in this op ed piece in the NY Times by Theodore Marmor and Jerry Mashaw, but others are not raised. To get to the bottom of it would require a detailed discussion of conservative think tanks, their role in "he said she said" journalism, and the often opaque funding of these tanks. Also of interest would be the role of money in campaign finance, and in lobbying. Also of interest would be the decline of the liberal arts, and the reenvisioning of education as teaching to  test imposed by authorities, much like the death penalty, to maintain law and order and profit.

When Roosevelt was challenged to do the right thing, he would say, "You are so right, now go make me do it." In other words, form public opinion.

Walter Lippman argued, per Plato's cave, and Lippman's own experience in publishing and in DC drawing rooms, that public opinion is the opinion of fools and knaves and must be managed by an elite, meeting in safe and closed spaces.

John Dewey replied that the public can be trusted if and only if education prepares them, and the media provide reliable information.

Lippman, as a practical matter, has won this debate. As to the elite, however, my God! And the rabble (demos)? Readily miscued. Funded by those at interest. Most apt in learning hateful untruths and shouting them in public assemblies.

Well, that is nothing to me. My work as a paid liar, and proven sychopant, masquerading as a morals tutor to America's wealthiest families, is going better and better. Once I got the Corleones as Dynastic Wealth Clients, and helped them create their 100 year plan, I have had calls from, hush! Confidentiality is the watchword in these circles; omerta. I flunked the bar exam, so I can't claim attorney client privilige for all the vile things I do for clients, but I do have a certificate of ordination. What happens in Wealth Bondage stays in Wealth Bondage. God wants it that way. Thus, I live a life of service. And your secrets are safe with me. For absolution see my assistant, Simon. Pecunia non olet, as the emperor said of the toilet tax.

Point Blank SEO

Thank you to Jonathan Cooper, of Point Blank SEO, who has volunteered helped me clean up broken links in the sidebar.

Tanya Howe Johnson Steps Down as CEO of PPP

Announced today:

Tanya Howe Johnson, CAE, will step down from her position as president and CEO of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning (PPP) in April 2012 after over 20 years leading the organization. PPPs individual and council members include more than 8,000 fundraisers and financial advisors involved in the process of helping donors plan and make major charitable gifts. A search process will begin in the next few months. Click here for more information.