I attended one of my sons' high school graduation ceremonies on Tuesday night. It was a big class so the event was held at Wells Fargo Arena and over 500 students walked into the building as young ambitious kids and left a few hours later as new young adults.
The speeches were the kind you would hear at an event like this. Words like “hope”, “future,” “memories,” and “achievement” spilled out among the talk. But in each speech where students spoke, the theme that wrapped around each person was to go find something you really wanted to do with your life, and then go do it. It seems so simple.
Somehow, we sometimes lose that goal when we travel that journey of everyday living. And each day becomes more of a chore than a love. So I really embraced the enthusiasm that the students had to have passion for “something” in their new beginnings.
The world will change for all of them as they go down different roads. Either furthering their education, joining the military, or simply starting a path of work now. The “hope” is that regardless of the path they choose that they develop a passion to embrace and believe in. To make a difference in their own lives by choosing the road less taken by others.
I feel the symbolism of throwing your caps into the air is special for anyone who has done that at least once in their lives. The memory of a time long past that is still cherished by most. As I walked out, I couldn’t help but think that there is always a time to start over for each of us. To grab back onto a vision that might have escaped us until now. One that may have been put off by the events of time. Graduations aren’t just for the graduates, rather they are chance for all of us to redefine our own lives and make sure we are trying to find that thing that can make us all tick differently and make us happy.
So for my son, who enters into a new world, I hope he embraced the words that were spoken that night. Find the one thing that you love, and go for it. That is the greatest satisfaction I can have as a parent as he journeys into a new life.
And for me, while I feel I have found my passion in life, I’ll try to wake each day to make that passion real, authentic and balanced.
Hmmm...who knew you could learn so much from a night out with the kids?
Jeff
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Jeff's Commentary - 5/13 - Boycott California
L.A. OK’s Boycott over SB1070 in Arizona
Los Angeles on Wednesday became the largest city yet to boycott Arizona over our tough new law targeting illegal immigration. Los Angeles and California - one giant glass house.
What a bunch of hooey. Here’s what this is really about. Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who co-authored the resolution, also stated; “Maybe some of those jobs and businesses could come back to L.A. and California.” Hum...politics as usual. This is about money and jobs which have deserted California because the state has become a dump of ineffective leadership and spending.
I lived in L.A. for a number of years. I left because of the pollution, traffic congestion, bums on the streets and the fact that it is an overall horrible place to raise children. The drug trade is pathetically everywhere. You think you could walk down downtown L.A. at midnight without getting knifed or mugged…..good luck with that. The beaches at Santa Monica and along the boardwalk…..full of garbage, transients, pimps, trolls….all the family types you would want your kids to be exposed too. Right. Have you seen “Boyz N the Hood”? It’s worse today than it has ever been with racial tensions in the inner city on high alert. Have you forgotten the riots? I didn’t. The value of my home fell so fast because nobody felt safe anymore. So while the politically correct politicians in California spout about leaving Arizona, have at it. California’s lack of any immigration policy is the heart of their state out of control spending problems. Somehow I feel those U-hauls will continue to cross state lines coming into Arizona and getting out of California and the crime and chaos that exists in those neighborhoods.
While I do not feel SB1070 was written very well, I do feel the “due process” of our system will fix the measure to be agreeable to all. That will come from citizens and politicians within Arizona, not a bunch of yahoos in a state so close to bankruptcy they can’t pay their tax refunds without IOU’s. The immigration issue needs to be addressed in Arizona. And federal politicians have not had the guts to do so over many many years.
I’m tired of this back lash against our state. I don’t want to live like they do in California. That’s why I left. So to Councilwoman Janice Hahn I say forget Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World, and the beaches of San Diego. If California folk don’t want to do business with us, there are many areas of neighboring states Arizona citizens can visit or simply spending our hard earned money right here in Arizona is fine for me. Councilwoman Hahn, as Thomas Paine stated in 1778 as the country was being formed, “He who lives in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones."
Jeff
Los Angeles on Wednesday became the largest city yet to boycott Arizona over our tough new law targeting illegal immigration. Los Angeles and California - one giant glass house.
What a bunch of hooey. Here’s what this is really about. Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who co-authored the resolution, also stated; “Maybe some of those jobs and businesses could come back to L.A. and California.” Hum...politics as usual. This is about money and jobs which have deserted California because the state has become a dump of ineffective leadership and spending.
I lived in L.A. for a number of years. I left because of the pollution, traffic congestion, bums on the streets and the fact that it is an overall horrible place to raise children. The drug trade is pathetically everywhere. You think you could walk down downtown L.A. at midnight without getting knifed or mugged…..good luck with that. The beaches at Santa Monica and along the boardwalk…..full of garbage, transients, pimps, trolls….all the family types you would want your kids to be exposed too. Right. Have you seen “Boyz N the Hood”? It’s worse today than it has ever been with racial tensions in the inner city on high alert. Have you forgotten the riots? I didn’t. The value of my home fell so fast because nobody felt safe anymore. So while the politically correct politicians in California spout about leaving Arizona, have at it. California’s lack of any immigration policy is the heart of their state out of control spending problems. Somehow I feel those U-hauls will continue to cross state lines coming into Arizona and getting out of California and the crime and chaos that exists in those neighborhoods.
While I do not feel SB1070 was written very well, I do feel the “due process” of our system will fix the measure to be agreeable to all. That will come from citizens and politicians within Arizona, not a bunch of yahoos in a state so close to bankruptcy they can’t pay their tax refunds without IOU’s. The immigration issue needs to be addressed in Arizona. And federal politicians have not had the guts to do so over many many years.
I’m tired of this back lash against our state. I don’t want to live like they do in California. That’s why I left. So to Councilwoman Janice Hahn I say forget Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World, and the beaches of San Diego. If California folk don’t want to do business with us, there are many areas of neighboring states Arizona citizens can visit or simply spending our hard earned money right here in Arizona is fine for me. Councilwoman Hahn, as Thomas Paine stated in 1778 as the country was being formed, “He who lives in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones."
Jeff
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Jeff's Commentary - 5/11 - Project Civil Discourse
Meghan McCain wrote an article in the Daily Beast this past week on how she and her mother were out shopping in a mall and a man rudely came up to them and yelled at her mother that “your husband needs to be more conservative” before storming off.
We are quickly becoming known as the state of hate across the country.
I was around the last time our country went through a very turbulent time in the late '60s and early '70s and I think Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young might be able to remix “Four Dead in Ohio” for an Arizona version.
Never before have sides been so divided as they are on Prop 100 and now our new 1070 law. What’s changed is the tone and tenor. No one simply talks about any of this. Both sides posture, yell and spew fear and hatred across both sides of the isle.
Meghan McCain goes on to say that “it’s almost as if to be taken seriously in politics, a certain level of anger and incivility is required. I am not saying I am not angry about many things that are going on in this country, but I do believe we can discuss our differences with respect.”
I was invited to attend Project Civil Discourse last week. It was put on with a collaboration of the Arizona Republican, Democratic and Libertarian Parties. The “Town Hall” focused on Arizona’s Sales Tax Referendum under the premise of a civil dialogue and discussion. We were put at tables of ten and after hearing a non-partisan presentation of the state economic situation and what the tax would and would not do, a team facilitator conducted a dialogue on the pros and cons. It was a refreshing idea and for the people that attended…it worked.
Of the 100 or so that were there, only three changed their minds on how they were going to vote by the nights end, but the forum showed that you can have disagreement and discourse that doesn’t include shouting and insults. We learned more about each other’s views and emotions. Empathy actually took place. There were a lot of “I see where you are coming from” in those discussions. As I said, few minds were changed, but I think there was a greater sense of “why people think the way they do” and how to walk away respecting the other sides ideals.
This group is teeing up another meeting on 1070 and I want to be there for that. The passions run much deeper on that situation and I am curious if the same kind of respect for opinion can be had at that town hall.
For now, I send Meghan McCain the message to hang in there and continue to work at reaching out to make the political process less fearful and more accepting of each other’s opinions. She finished her blog by saying “if politicians aren’t inspiring people when they are young, what hope is there that they will care when they are older.”
Project Civil Discourse takes that first step to get back to when we can talk, learn and accept each other so that we can focus on future actions rather than past events.
Jeff
We are quickly becoming known as the state of hate across the country.
I was around the last time our country went through a very turbulent time in the late '60s and early '70s and I think Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young might be able to remix “Four Dead in Ohio” for an Arizona version.
Never before have sides been so divided as they are on Prop 100 and now our new 1070 law. What’s changed is the tone and tenor. No one simply talks about any of this. Both sides posture, yell and spew fear and hatred across both sides of the isle.
Meghan McCain goes on to say that “it’s almost as if to be taken seriously in politics, a certain level of anger and incivility is required. I am not saying I am not angry about many things that are going on in this country, but I do believe we can discuss our differences with respect.”
I was invited to attend Project Civil Discourse last week. It was put on with a collaboration of the Arizona Republican, Democratic and Libertarian Parties. The “Town Hall” focused on Arizona’s Sales Tax Referendum under the premise of a civil dialogue and discussion. We were put at tables of ten and after hearing a non-partisan presentation of the state economic situation and what the tax would and would not do, a team facilitator conducted a dialogue on the pros and cons. It was a refreshing idea and for the people that attended…it worked.
Of the 100 or so that were there, only three changed their minds on how they were going to vote by the nights end, but the forum showed that you can have disagreement and discourse that doesn’t include shouting and insults. We learned more about each other’s views and emotions. Empathy actually took place. There were a lot of “I see where you are coming from” in those discussions. As I said, few minds were changed, but I think there was a greater sense of “why people think the way they do” and how to walk away respecting the other sides ideals.
This group is teeing up another meeting on 1070 and I want to be there for that. The passions run much deeper on that situation and I am curious if the same kind of respect for opinion can be had at that town hall.
For now, I send Meghan McCain the message to hang in there and continue to work at reaching out to make the political process less fearful and more accepting of each other’s opinions. She finished her blog by saying “if politicians aren’t inspiring people when they are young, what hope is there that they will care when they are older.”
Project Civil Discourse takes that first step to get back to when we can talk, learn and accept each other so that we can focus on future actions rather than past events.
Jeff
Monday, May 3, 2010
Jeff's Commentary - 5/3 - The Immigration Law in AZ
The story of the week in Arizona and around the U.S. has been the new immigration law signed by the Governor last Friday. While I am not happy about the law and its complicated ramifications, I am tired of the new baggage from around the country that arrives via the media daily.
First the fine folks of San Francisco throw in their ten cents worth. Ban travel to Arizona.
Then entertainers like Shakira come to town and you’d think the Pope was speaking. Didn’t realize she was such a policy wank.
Protesters lined up at Wrigley Field last weekend to boycott the Diamondbacks. I lived many years in Chicago and the racial issues in that city are enormous. And they can’t fix a pot hole to save themselves.
Here’s the reality. Arizona is a mess. The tax base has been shredded by the recession, the housing market continues to implode and the unemployment rate still hovers around 9.6%. Immigration issues and the substantial costs with the lack of any policy are a part of all of those problems.
We have the nation’s number one status in kidnapping and immigration exploitation in the country.
Yes, we have a sheriff who goes out and rounds up simple working people like maintenance crews and gardeners but avoids the tough stuff like attacking the drug issues, human smuggling and gang growth that plague the Hispanic and other neighborhoods. No headlines in that.
Has anyone from San Francisco or Shakira been in one of Arizona’s emergency room’s on a Friday or Saturday night with a true injury? The wards are full of immigrants who have no health care but seek service. Has Shakira ever been to a over crowded class room in the inner city to realize there has to be a plan established to figure out how to first accommodate those that want to learn and then how to pay for it?
For what its worth, Shakira is from Columbia. That country is responsible for more pain and suffering around the globe due to the excessive cocaine market that comes directly out of their back yard. I don’t see Shakira down there screaming of the horrors of that business and the daily murders that take place when you get in way. You know why? The Columbian drug lords would probably kill her if she did. So she postures in Arizona like some saint from heaven above. Please fix your own homeland problems before looking into ours.
The Diamondbacks are excellent corporate citizens and have done more with inner city charities and fund drives than most professional sports teams across the country.
For anyone from California to even talk about other state issues, they need look no further than the incompetence of leadership in their own state. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Earthquakes won’t be needed to push them into the ocean. Their lack of any vision in handling their own budget and immigration law is enough to bankrupt them for years.
The new immigration law in Arizona is a work in progress. It will be reworked and redefined as we move forward. The debate is good. It’s a joke that the federal government has avoided this issue year in and out, Republican and Democratic administrations. It’s a tough battle with no winners. But something has to be addressed.
And at least Arizona has stepped out and has tried to start the debate. The courts are a good play to challenge any constitutional issues. That’s why we have “a system”. The voters here can decide in the 2010 and 2012 elections if they like the direction of our current leaders. If not, get rid of them and change the agenda.
But for today, I’m sick of California, Shakira and the protesters in Chicago.
As my father used to say when the kids in our family went over the line in importance…”who died and made you boss?”
Jeff
First the fine folks of San Francisco throw in their ten cents worth. Ban travel to Arizona.
Then entertainers like Shakira come to town and you’d think the Pope was speaking. Didn’t realize she was such a policy wank.
Protesters lined up at Wrigley Field last weekend to boycott the Diamondbacks. I lived many years in Chicago and the racial issues in that city are enormous. And they can’t fix a pot hole to save themselves.
Here’s the reality. Arizona is a mess. The tax base has been shredded by the recession, the housing market continues to implode and the unemployment rate still hovers around 9.6%. Immigration issues and the substantial costs with the lack of any policy are a part of all of those problems.
We have the nation’s number one status in kidnapping and immigration exploitation in the country.
Yes, we have a sheriff who goes out and rounds up simple working people like maintenance crews and gardeners but avoids the tough stuff like attacking the drug issues, human smuggling and gang growth that plague the Hispanic and other neighborhoods. No headlines in that.
Has anyone from San Francisco or Shakira been in one of Arizona’s emergency room’s on a Friday or Saturday night with a true injury? The wards are full of immigrants who have no health care but seek service. Has Shakira ever been to a over crowded class room in the inner city to realize there has to be a plan established to figure out how to first accommodate those that want to learn and then how to pay for it?
For what its worth, Shakira is from Columbia. That country is responsible for more pain and suffering around the globe due to the excessive cocaine market that comes directly out of their back yard. I don’t see Shakira down there screaming of the horrors of that business and the daily murders that take place when you get in way. You know why? The Columbian drug lords would probably kill her if she did. So she postures in Arizona like some saint from heaven above. Please fix your own homeland problems before looking into ours.
The Diamondbacks are excellent corporate citizens and have done more with inner city charities and fund drives than most professional sports teams across the country.
For anyone from California to even talk about other state issues, they need look no further than the incompetence of leadership in their own state. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Earthquakes won’t be needed to push them into the ocean. Their lack of any vision in handling their own budget and immigration law is enough to bankrupt them for years.
The new immigration law in Arizona is a work in progress. It will be reworked and redefined as we move forward. The debate is good. It’s a joke that the federal government has avoided this issue year in and out, Republican and Democratic administrations. It’s a tough battle with no winners. But something has to be addressed.
And at least Arizona has stepped out and has tried to start the debate. The courts are a good play to challenge any constitutional issues. That’s why we have “a system”. The voters here can decide in the 2010 and 2012 elections if they like the direction of our current leaders. If not, get rid of them and change the agenda.
But for today, I’m sick of California, Shakira and the protesters in Chicago.
As my father used to say when the kids in our family went over the line in importance…”who died and made you boss?”
Jeff
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