Ole Miss Provides A Serene Think.

Let's give it to Ole Miss for the hospitality shown to all the participants for the first Presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. That audience showed restraint, poise, and reflection. They were silent.
They greeted the candidates warmly when they were introduced on stage and when they exited. Yet, they remained silent during the exchange. Their silence spoke volumes.
The silence indicated they watched, listened and measured. It spoke of a new time, a new attitude and new determination to understand character, principles, demeanor, patience, tolerance, personality, mentality, discipline, transparency, profile, projection, intellect, knowledge, perspective, insight and vision. That silence represented a "good think."
Their serene silence beckoned the world to seriously think this time.
NewsJReview

Lifting the Veil of Tradition

A defining moment for Oprah."Saudi women say they are drawn to Ms. Winfrey not only because she openly addresses subjects considered taboo locally, but also because she speaks of self-empowerment and change." Sometimes it takes just a small voice on the world stage to make a big difference. The difference here is to lift the veil of tradition in a non-threatening way that invites women to the table, "come let us reason to together about the hopes and aspirations of all our daughters." We love our sons, the very image of God, that's for sure and we, no less, love our daughters; God's love and beauty incarnate. I recall in the early days of CNN we worried how our message would fall on the eyes and ears of ancient cultures. We were careful not to sensationalize or to judge or take sides. It was new territory and there was reason and purpose to the methods used...The author of the NyTimes article "Saudi Women Find an Unlikely Role Model: Oprah" has delicately penned a story of a particular cry for freedom...and it gives me pause that we are right to worry about the sensitivity of our messages broadcast and beamed outside the U.S. and inside as well, and at the same time to know and to be ready to share "light, much more light."
NewsJReview

An Old Standard for a New Style Candidate

With my cup of Joe this morning I read Reuters News and came across a short blurb that said Barbara Streisand would sing for Mr. Obama at a Los Angeles fundraiser. There is no end to her repertoire of song lyrics...but I hope she dedicates an "oldie but goodie" to him.
I hope she sings People…People Who Need People Are the Luckiest People in the World, as only she can sing it. I think Senator Obama’s presidential campaign demonstrates a new openness to level with people in a thoughtful and sincere dialogue, discourse about their concerns, and what it will take to turn things around. Rugged individualism is to be admired, but sometimes we do indeed need each other. There is nothing weak about that. It can be hard dealing straight up with each other. To do so, we may have to actually face some ugly truths about ourselves, some of our perceptions and commit to struggle to come to grips with differences in ideas, and new ways of doing things. Truly, what is our choice? Is it always war? The world is made up of big and small people, and they are interdependent...respectful neighbors.
NewsJReview

Least We Forget the 2008 Paralympians

China, for a few precious days, calls attention to the attributes and achievements of Paralympians.
This year's theme, "One World, One Dream," puts a light on human resolve that speaks volumes..." spirit triumphs over matter!"
No doubt many taboos that exist in countries concerning citizens with disabilities will be broken because of these games, which comprise of forty-two-hundred athletes from one-hundred-forty-eight nations.
Check out NBC's highlights reel, which includes the opening ceremony at the Bird's Nest in Beijing; absolutely awesome.
NewsJReview

It Takes Exceptional Thought To Lead

Cuts to Special Education budgets are shortsighted. People with disabilities make up the largest pool of willing and ready to work individuals, yet they are 70 percent unemployed. A cut on the front end of special education certainly spells a downward spiral in what is already a dismal position in a society that promotes itself on a strong work ethic.
Do we care? Shouldn't our leaders care and act appropriately?
In the last thirty years investments in special education students to spending on regular education students have declined.
Some will argue that spending has not gone down, but rather, school enrollment has gone up, as people with disabilities become more engaged in their communities, as is their right. This includes access to a quality education that can lead to the dignity of work for people with every type of disability—physical, developmental, sensory, mental, cognitive and intellectual.
And there are large companies, among them some subsidiaries of Walgreen’s, The Home Depot, supports athletes with disabilities to compete in the Paralympics, IHG-(InterContinental Hotels Group), WalMart’s and SunTrust Banks, have made it policy to hire people with disabilities, not as a matter of charity, but because they see clearly the value and strength gained in bottom line performance, output, profit and taxes. Special Education is about an investment in the future and a genuine uplift in real lives.
Exceptional leadership needs to have this understanding.
NewsJReview

Gustav Knows No Politics

Gustav, the hurricane that washed political debate off the airwaves, may have finally got our attention as Americans. "We are in deep trouble."
Our decisions are not long thought out. Didn't Katrina tell us emphatically you can not build in low lying areas and flood zones and carry on the "business as usual" scheme? Didn't Katrina tell us that there are no barriers in the sea to protect oil rigs and pipe that when offline, send oil prices surging? Didn't Katrina tell us we need to recover our wetlands?
And, yet some will say let us debate what our eyes have seen, the validity of the cries of those who have suffered under the special interest and political policy decisions that contribute to their fate. Yes, let us debate who told the story best that often carry subtle analysis that contribute to citizens belief that the technology that is in place to warn of danger can also somehow alter it as well. Our good sense must break through and come to the fore. Gustav today rages. And, it is not the last storm on the horizon. More lives lost, more property, more money, more excuses, more debate are still a part of the resettlement plan. Our arms are figuratively and literally to short to box with God. Real leadership understands this and it knows no politics.
NewsJReview