Helping My Wife Speak To Crowds

OK, so here I am sick with some kind of flu-like-crud and my darling wife tells me that one of her groups has asked her to be President next year.

If you knew her, than you would know that she is very meticulous and conscientious. I really don't know if that is a trait shared by all women, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was. Some women take it to a level that borders being anal retentive, while some don't go that far. I am thankful that my wife doesn't take it that far.

Yes she is very aware of what she does and because of that I'm sure she would be a great President. There is only two glitches to getting her to run for the position. First she sees herself as a "Helper" and really doesn't care for being the center of attention, and second she tells me that she has turned it down in the past because she has a fear of talking to large crowds.

Beings that I was once a Marine Platoon Sergeant, talking to crowds comes easy for me. Having to get my message across to an entire Platoon in a clear and concise manner was easy because all I had to do was to imitate my former Platoon Sergeants and I was OK.

The secret is knowing what you want to say, keeping things concise, and projecting your voice over distance. When marching the troops during Drill, it was all about projection and crisp commands.

Unlike writing where I can veer of track a bit and then come back, I found speaking to crowds to be more instructional and subsequently keeping it short was the best bet.

My wife has a quiet voice. She speaks low tones usually, and yes I'm hard of hearing so I know this real well. And yes, half the time I can't hear her so I figured that it would be a challenge to get her to project her voice.

I was thinking of analogies that I could use and I remembered coordinating the security for a Motivational Speaker who was giving a seminar to a large crowd in an auditorium in Oakland many years ago. If I remember right I think it was one of those "Get Rich In 30 Minutes By Giving Me Your Money" sort of things. The same sort of things on late night television.

Well during his presentation the Speaker's microphone went out. Yes, it was as dead as a doorbell! So he and a stagehand monkeyed with it for a while before he just gave up and jumped back into his medicine show selling all the snake oil that anyone would want. Without missing a beat, he hollered the whole thing!

At first the people in the back could hear him, but as his voice waned people started leaving. And yes before you knew it, there were only about 12 die hard enthusiast in the entire auditorium still listening to his now almost completely hoarse presentation.

I told my wife about this story and she laughed a little, then she asked me what was the message to the story?

I had to admit that there was no real massage really other than what not to do. In fact I told it her just because I liked remembering how that Con Artist looked up there on stage turning beet red and slowing losing his voice completely.

What that story does do is to lead me right into my real advice for the Speaker out there who is like my wife. First, do what was told to me years ago as a young Marine, project your voice as clearly as possible. Microphones make projecting your voice much easier, that is if you happen to have one handy.

Second, unlike with being a Marine Sergeant, project your voice in a manner that is both friendly and accepting. And of course, remember to be gracious! If there is one thing that I do know about people, it is that no one likes the feeling of someone talking down to you.

People are really pretty forgiving  unless they feel like someone is wasting their time or trying to pull one over on them. Most people will ignore the novice Speaker's mistakes. Most people know that there are really bigger things to worry about in this world.

Lastly, for you the Speaker, have a real message and know what you want to say. If you need to inform a group about something, do it in the beginning of your message when people are still eager to listen. And keep it to the point, but make sure it has substance without being boring. When it's over, it is all about what you said and how you said it. After all that's what people will remember in the long run.

Of course there is that thing that all Speakers can do when they have no substance to their message and all they're doing is rambling, just scream out,

"YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!"

We Need Term Limits

I received an e-mail calling for a proposed Amendment to the United States Constitution mandating Term Limits for members of Congress. After reading it, it makes too much sense not to pass it along as something that Americans should demand be looked into.
 

For one reason that it should be given some consideration is that I do not believe that our system was designed for "Professional Politicians" who view legislating and politics as a career. And second, the fact that there is just too much temptation to bite at the apple of corruption.  

The abuse of power is a human weakness. It does not happen to all, but it does some.  Some know how to accept the authority that they have been given and use it wisely, while there are others who take their new found power and run amok changing things that were never theirs to change.

And no, I'm not just talking about President Obama, Harry Reid, or Nancy Pelosi .

We've all seen the Coach or High School Teacher who demands things of the children in their charge that was definitely not in their scope of authority. Many of us have known a Police Officer who decided that because he wears a badge that he is above the law and flaunts his power.

I once had a teenager working for me who cleaned my stables and fed my horses. There was that day when she showed up in tears and said that her High School teacher decided to mock her and make her look like a fool in front of the other kids just because she was a Christian. The teacher who obviously wasn't one was merciless in his criticism of her chosen faith.

Complaining to the school administration did not help, and in fact the administration warned the teenager not be so open with her religious beliefs as there were people in school who they were sure was being offended. 

No kidding! I was amazed to hear that wearing a cross or saying a prayer before you eat your lunch was thought to be "offensive" by the High School administration at the time. To me, the entire administration over-stepped their authority. Especially in telling the young gal how not to practice her faith. 

So how about Congress, the federal government, can they tell you what to do and when with no regard to your rights as a citizen? Have they over-stepped their authority while being OUR representatives? And if so, why? Is it because some have been on the job so long that they have forgotten who they work for and why they are there?

At one point in man's existence, we figured out that we needed rules. We do know that religions played a huge role in creating rules and including the Ten Commandments which came many of the rules and subsequent laws that were needed to govern people for a healthy society. After all from rules came laws, and with laws came people to make them, and with that came those who enforced them, and of course with that there were those who broke the laws. Then the cycle repeats itself.

Now we have Legislators who constantly make laws, so much to the point that citizens almost cannot help but break some law and some point. 

And what does any of this have to do with Congress and the need for Term Limits? Well, it seems to me that the intent of the Founding Fathers was to have representatives of the people present so that so many laws weren't necessarily needed. By way of compromise our representatives would be able to hash out what was needed without burdening the public with unnecessary laws or regulations. Our representatives were supposed to be their on our behalf.

The United States Constitution was not written to govern the people. It was written by the people to govern Government. It is there to tell government what it can and cannot do. No kidding!

Today it seems that there are some in Congress who believe that they are there for themselves and that they are not there to represent you but instead to help control you. That my friends is an abuse of power.

Actually to my way of thinking, it is as much or worse than any other abuse of power. It's worse than if they would be gaining special favors or monetary gain of some sort. It is worse because it goes against the fabric of our soul as a Nation. To want to control the American people out of a sense of power is not only an abuse, it's anti-Americanism. 

When our representatives get to the point when they feel that's it's OK to be like the bad Cop because they wear a badge that they are above the law, well that's bad enough. And when they think and act like that ignorant High school teacher mocking and being critical of someone's Christian faith all because they are not or they owe their status to Atheist, then that is horrible indeed.

But to me, the worse abuse of power is that shown by our representatives -- whether it's a local Supervisor or a Senator or the President -- when they start to act as though he or she is not there on your behave but instead is there on behave of the government to control you.

Well then friends if that is the case than that is the abuse of power that must be dealt with before all of our liberties are taken from us in the name of some sort of oligarchy where only the powerful control the government.

Here's the proposal for Congressional Term limits that was sent to me. To me, it makes sense.

Proposal for a Congressional Reform Act of 2011

 

1. Term Limits.

12 years only, one of the possible options below.

·        Two Six-year Senate Terms

·        Six Two-year House Terms

·        One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2.  No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3.  Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

All monies in the old Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately.  All future funds continue to flow into the Social Security system, and all Congress (past & present) participates with the American people.

4.  Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5.  Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.  Congressional pay will rise only by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6.  Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7.  All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective upon date of ratification.

I agree with those who say that serving in Congress is an honor and should not be looked at as a lifelong career move. The Founding Fathers had envisioned Citizen Legislators in a legislature with citizen participation.  A citizen legislature is one made up primarily of citizens who have full-time occupations besides that of being a legislator. They did not envision what is happening today.

James Madison wrote that "legislators should be called for the most part from pursuits of a private nature and continue in appointment for a short period of office."

We should adhere to his wisdom.

Kind of a “Life Stew”

Since starting this Blog last month, I've used a shotgun approach at what I wanted to write about.

The shotgun approach is the concept that with a big enough spread I might hit something that my friends might find interesting.

To my way of thinking, a rifle or bullet approach would have meant pin pointing a particular field and area of concern like say politics and focus my writing only on that subject.

I didn't really want to do that for a couple of reasons. First, like you, I'm concerned about what's happening to our country politically, and yes I have opinions on what's going on - but just like you, I'm no Politician or Political Analyst.

I am just a concerned Citizen. 

The second reason is that I truly love people on the overall. I've always loved hearing about what my friends have done in their lives. I've always enjoyed their stories of the great things that they've experienced both big and small.

I love watching their expressions change with every infliction of their voice. It's something that I've enjoyed since I was a kid growing up in Hawaii where "talking story" is an old tradition and a way of life.

Sure, I've met some people in my life who were so mean and nasty that they give the rest of mankind a bad name.

And sure, some folks are just no good no matter what! Working in some of the lines or work that I have can sometimes jade a person. And being real honest with you and myself, I think for a while there I thought it had.

It took effort on my part to shake that sort of attitude and again give people the benefit of the doubt.

I find that it's sometimes not easy to believe something good about someone, rather than something bad, especially when their worse side keeps popping up over and over again and we see who they really are.

And no, I'm not talking about just Liberals and Democrats.

Lastly, I like stories about almost everything. From the ones that others have told me to the one's that I've lived, I like them all. 

It's true. From the story about landing a marlin in Baja just under 15 minutes, to getting drunk with a monkey in the Philippines as a young Marine. From seeing my first huge herd of buffalo, to watching a dolphin trainer at Sea Life Park in Hawaii do her magic.

From finding the ruins of my grandfather's old CCC ranch in Kunia on Oahu, to my trying to hunt for gold in a creek in the Sierra Mountains, to my building horse stalls as it's starting to snow. Yes, I love it all. 

From bears scrounging around in camp at two in the morning, to a story about a mule that was a true man killer. From telling others about buying a new saddle from someone who didn't know that saddles have sizes, and to my wife's new horse Tango, and more.

Yes, I love stories about our lives.

A great long time friend, who has known me through all sorts of ups and downs, wrote me this: "I’m getting a kick out of the writings.  Kind of a “life stew” concept that takes a little bit of everything and brings it together in a serving of satisfaction."

That is one of the nicest things that I've ever been told. It's nice to hear that I'm on the right track as to what I set out to do. It is exactly what I've intended. 

I hope you find the same feeling as you read some of these stories and opinions. 

And by the way, I know some stories are funny while some are not, and yes some are too strange to be thought true. 

For me, I always try to go with what my Grandfather once told me, "Tell 'em the truth, because they'll never believe it anyways!"

Until later, enjoy the stew! 

I love this picture. To me, it really shows what life's about.

Full of the unexpected!

Hopefully, like the armed Cowboy,

I hope you're ready for what you might meet coming around a blind corner.

George Washington Banned From NAACP Rally

This is unbelievable and if I hadn't checked it out for myself, I wouldn't believe it.

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. observance at the state house in Columbia, South Carolina, had an interesting twist this year. The event was held on the north side steps of the Statehouse on Monday, January 17th.

Prominent at that location is a large bronze statue of George Washington. But some did not want to look at the grand statue of George Washington, instead the NAACP organizers constructed a "box" around the front and sides of the statue of Washington to hide him from view.

Why you ask? Well the answer is that the NAACP did not want the people attending their rally to be offended by Washington's presence. No kidding! Offended by Washington's presence, imagine that?

It does not matter to those people that George Washington is the Father of Our Country, nor does it matter to them that our freedoms were bought and paid for by Washington and other men like him over 200 years ago.

It obviously did not matter to the NAACP organizers who had a "box" built around that statue just how offensive their actions are to the rest of America.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Actions like building a "box" around a statue of George Washington so that "they" wouldn't be offended by Washington's presence might seem childish and ignorant to some. Maybe it is that? But it does make me wonder if those people from the NAACP truly understand what King was saying?

Probably not, but that doesn't matter because even their stupidity and ignorant behavior can't make up for their disgusting actions.

And after all, I don't judge those people by the color of their skin but instead I judge them as I do all people -- and that's by the content of their character just as Martin Luther King Jr would have wanted.

And yes, their character is just shameful.