EFTA00647467.pdf

From: Gregory Brown < To: undisclosed-recipients:; Bcc: [email protected] Subject: Weekend Offerings from Greg Brown Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2012 14:58:13 +0000 Attachments: YOU_ARE_NOT_SPECIAL_David_McCullough_Jr_Wellesley_Commencement_The_Dail y_Beast_June_9„2012.pdf; The_Myth_of American_Exceptionalism_FP_November 2011.pdf; Another_Bank_Bailout_Paul_Krugman_NYT_June_10,2012.pdf; Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford_Commencement_Address.pdf; Croanding,tEe_next_generation_— four changes that will shake up_the_model_Venture_BeatJune_11,2012.pdf; 's Shift to the Right_Jim_Rutenbergitme_11,_2012.pdf; Americans_saw_wealth_plummet_40_percent_from_20072o_2010,Federal_Reserve_says _TWP June I1, 2012.pdf; HR EL 2011 EN FOTOS (1).ppsm; Spain, 201 2.pdf; John_F„Kennedy_-_15_quotes_on_his_95th_birthday.pdf; The_Political_Contrast_NYT_Jtme_14„2012.pdf; We Don't Need_No Education Paul Krugman_NYT_June_14„2012.pdf; Th; twolacesi:f t1_GOP_Rah M-arcus_TWP_June_14,2012.pdf; DarIT Money_in_P—olitics_Moyer_8; Company_transcriptiune_15„2012.pdf; This —Week in Dark Money Moyers MotherJones 06 15 2012.pdf; .pdf; What_a Seat in_Congress_Costs_Moyers-MotherJones 06 15 2012.pdf; The 1 .Idle lass_Loses_ _a_ _Generation's_ _Worth_ _of_Wahl;_Titeresa_Riley_Moyers 06 1 4=5T2012.1x1f; Americans Continue to Blame_Bush_More_Than_Obama_for Economy_Theresa_Riley_ Moyers_06_14_2012:pa Dear Friends First of Happy Father's Day Let's start this week's offerings with: David McCullough Jr, (son of the renowned historian David McCullough), and a English teacher gave his Massachusetts high school graduates a harsh dose of insight through his keynote speech. "You are Not Special" commencement speech at Wellesley High School this past weekend in Wellesley, Mass As it is good advice for everyone on the planet. See the video below and/or read the attached transcript. 'You're Not Special' McCullough complains about coddled undergraduates these days which is an usual the topic in a commencement addresses. This teacher's address last week at Wellesley High School, (a well regarded Massachusetts institution where many graduates go on to top colleges), has set off much discussion of the topic. The talk is being called the "You're not special" commencement address because of what the speaker -- McCullough said, over and over again. That even a kid who has soccer trophies and glowing report cards, is not EFTA00647467 special or exceptional No matter how often their maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save them ... As such he councils then "you're nothing speciaL" but you can make yourself ifyou try.... SEE VIDEO: http://www.insidehighered.cominews/2012/06/11/commencement-speech-tells-high-school-grads- they-arent-special#ixzzlxbliLcIF In the address he says: "You've been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped. Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You've been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored." He touches on the way this plays out at high schools such as Wellesley, where many students want their transcripts to draw attention to their academic superiority. "We cheapen worthy endeavors, and building a Guatemalan medical clinic becomes more about the application to Bowdoin than the well-being of Guatemalans. It's an epidemic -- and in its way, not even dear old Wellesley High is immune ... one of the best of the 37,000 nationwide, Wellesley High School... where good is no longer good enough, where a B is the new C, and the mid-level curriculum is called Advanced College Placement." While many people focused on McCullough's criticisms, you will see that he closed on a more uplifting note related to his theme: "The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you're not speciaL Because everyone is." McCullough believes that today's youth suffer from a sense of self- importance/entitlement,.and asks that they embrace the challenge of creating whatever they can to make themselves special ENJOY the video below http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IfxYhtfl3o4&feature—player_embedded and http://youtu.beLlfxYhtfao4 itYoullibe gbrown1970 has shared a video with you on YouTube: You Are Not Special Commencement Speech from Wellesley High School Along this same vein, I included an article from FOREIGN POLICY's November 2011 issue, entitled The Myth ofAmerican Exeptionalism. Where the writer points out that nationalism although a powerful force, highlighting a country's virtues while often sugarcoating its less savory aspects. if Americans wants to truly be exceptional, they should start by viewing the whole idea of "American exceptionalism" with a much more skeptical eye and understand that every generation has to create its own specialness Employing one of the mantras in Silicon Valley, "make yourself obsolete before someone else does" otherwise the country as a whole will experience the fate similar to what happened to American consumer electronics manufacturers who fumbled away their technological advantage during the early days of the transistors. "In 1947, Bell Laboratories invented the transistor. Everyone realized that the transistor was going to replace the vacuum tube, especially in EFTA00647468 consumer electronics such as radio and the brand-new television set. Everyone knew this; but nobody did anything about it. The leading manufacturers -- at the time they were all American -- began to study the transistor and to make plansfor conversion to the transistor "sometime around 1970." Till then, they proclaimed, the transistor "would not be ready. " Sony was practically unknown outside of Japan and was not even in consumer electronics at the time. But Akio Morita, Sony's president. read about the transistor in the newspapers. And as a result, he traveled to the United States and bought a license for the new transistor for a ridiculous sum, all of twenty-five thousand dollars. Two years later, Sony brought out the first transistor radio, which weighed less than one-fifth of comparable vacuum tube radios on the market, and costing one-third less. Three years later Sony dominated the market for cheap radios in the United States; and two years after that, the Japanese had captured the radio market all over the world." As individuals or as a company or as a country, we can't live on our laurels. Each individual, administration and generation has to create their own accomplishments,destiny and their own exceptionalism. Along the same theme of Steve Jobs' wonder/inspiring 2005 Stanford Commencement Address; see video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D I R-jKKp3NA or read the attached transcript. We should remind ourselves and others that exceptionalism will be lost.... if the dreams of tomorrow does not match the accomplishments of today because yesterday is just history and not exceptionalism During the past three decades there has been a push by many Conservatives and Libertarians for governments to play a smaller and smaller role in society, without the consideration of the consequences Like most liberals I totally disagree Below are several examples why government with big ideas and big policies can make a big difference in a world where commercial interests and greed will tern a blind eye to the needs of the future THINK - WHEN YOU HEAR CRIES FOR SMALLER GOVERNMENT: In 1948 only 6% of Americans had college educations, by1960 the number of college graduates in America had risen to more than 20%, mostly because of the success of the CI Bill.... So when you hear Conservative critics suggesting that government should be smaller, remember the GI Bill, as well as the Federal-Aid Highway Act signed by President Eisenhower on June 29, 1956 that created the tens of thousands of miles of interstate highway systems that nearly everyone in America benefits from on a day-to-day basis, the Hoover Dam which is without a doubt one of the most successful government projects ever carried out by this or any other nation. Today the electrical power provided by Hoover Dam goes to Southern California, 56%, Arizona, 19%, and Nevada, which gets 25% of the allocation, providing water to over 22,000,000 people in Arizona, California and Nevada and irrigating more than 1,000,000 acres in the United States and 500, 000 acres in Mexico. This greatly enabled the development of the tremendous development of the Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. And the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a federally owned corporation, created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression. The TVA is the result of the efforts of Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska which is a long way from Appalachia. TVA was envisioned not only as a provider, but also as a regional economic development agency that would use federal experts and electricity to rapidly modernize the region's economy and society. Background and benefits: The Tennessee River flooded almost every year. The floods brought additional hardship to the people who lived in southern Appalachia, one of the nation's poorest areas. The TVA constructed a system of dams along the river both to control floods and to generate electricity. The electricity provided cheap power to homes and encouraged industry to move into the area for the cheap electricity. These industries now provides employment for millions, as well as enabling the farmers in the area to produce more crops for less. Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_the_economy_benefit_from_the_Tennessee_Valley_Authority#ixzzlxcIRm BNo In the Washington Post article Americans Saw Wealth Plumet 40 Percent from 2007 to 2010 echos the fact that America's family net worth has drop to level of early '90s, Fed Says EFTA00647469 In ANOTHER BANK BAILOUT, by Paul Krugman, he views Spain's recent bailout is just another bailout for the banks who created the economic crisis that the world is now experiencing... Unlike Greece, the Spanish government did not create the economic crisis in Spain through reckless spending.... The economic crisis in Spain was caused by a housing bubble, that even a six grader could have foreseen.... as prior o the housing crash there were more housing starts in Spain than in the entire rest of the Eurozone. The residential real estate bubble in Spain saw real estate prices rise 201% from 1985 to 2007, E 700 billion in mortgage debt, banks offering 40-year and 50-year mortgages, with the perception that house prices never go down and now 2 million homes are vacant around the country .... This isn't just governments fault in a free market economy Like in America with Liar Loans and mortgage backed securities, the irresponsible lending by Spanish banks and their counterparts in Northern Europe caused their own undoing. The real sin isn't that the bubble happened or that the bank's reckless lending policies led to a crisis It is that Spanish taxpayers are now underwriting the bailout that is bailing out the banks, not only in Spain but in Germany and elsewhere. As a result this will happen again because prior reckless behavior had no consequences, and others being assigned the blame with taxpayers again picking up the tab in the name of austerity... In the New York Times article by Jim Rutenberg, Jeb Bush Questions G.O.R's Shift to the Right, it is about time that a prominent Republican speaks out against the racist incendiary and divisive ideological web issues positions, that the far right have taken the party and the nation.... As such.... I am including this article and applaud Governor Jeb Bush for bringing a call of sanity and compromise to the debate on how we should tackle the serous issues/problems facing our country today. In , THE POLITICAL CONTRAST.... the New York Times points out that although President Obama has not clearly made a strong case for voters to re-elect him, Mitt Romney's entire campaign rest of a foundations of short, utterly false sound bites, without any new vision. In WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION Paul Krugman again points out that the Republican policies gutting federal funding has cause an unprecedented fall in public employment -- with 1.4 million jobs less than it would have been if funding had grown under the same rate as it did under George W,. Bush.... crippling economic growth and Romney's policy of doubling down in more cuts should he be elected will cause more layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police who provide education of our children and public protection in our communities... and further hobble the economic recovery.... as well as further erode our educational competitiveness. In THE TWO FACES OF THE GOP Ruth Marcus contrasts the sober reality of Jeb Bush's recent comments and those of Scott Walker's revisionist history of Regan's tax cuts, without Governor Scott acknowledging that President raised taxes when required. Which leads us back to WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION... because we haven't seen the long term consequence of Scott Walker's squeezing teacher's pensions and other education programs while every educational professional in America will tell you that public education in America is at a tipping point of totally calamity.... leading to a generation of Americans young people who will be less educated than their counterparts in Europe, Asia and in the Indian Sub Continent And this taxing of future generations.... is one that no one is willing to talk about.... FINALLY Moyers & Company: http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-dark-money-in-politics/ As many of you know, in addition to Law & Order, Boss, The Voice, Frontline, 60 Minutes, Real Time with Bill Maher, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, at times Cheaters and most recently Mad Men one of my favorite television shows/series is Moyers & Company, hosted by veteran journalist Bill Moyers I urge everyone to either see the show (link provided above) or read the five attached pieces from this weeks show on how unlimited money is not only corrupting American politics on both the national and local levels, its real insidious danger and harm is how people with money are using their money to push their own personal EFTA00647470 interests/agendas without any limits, transparency or accountability.... which many believe could lead to America being govern by a plutocracy.... Thanks to the Supreme Court and Citizens United, super PACs all the rage among the mega-wealthy. As Bill Moyer says, all it takes is a little paperwork and a wad of cash and presto, you can have, as "The Washington Post" describes it, a "highly customized, highly personalized" political action committee or PAC. Super PACs come in all amounts and affiliations. One doesn't have to spend millions, although a large gift certainly won't be turned aside. Example: Cable TV tycoon Marc Nathanson started a super PAC for his friend, longtime Democratic Congressman Howard Berman from California, and all it cost was $100,000. Down in North Carolina, Republican congressional candidate George Holding received a handsome super PAC that includes $100,000 each from an aunt and uncle and a quarter of a million from a bunch of his cousins. Yes, nothing says family like a great big, homemade batch of campaign contributions by family and close friends. Today a person, group or corporation can start a super PAC on their own or contribute to one that already exists. As such super PACs are available for every kind of race — presidential, congressional or statewide. But there are other ways one can help buy an election. Look at the Wisconsin recall campaign of Republican Governor Scott Walker. At least fourteen billionaires rushed to Walker's side. He out raised his Democratic opponent by nearly eight to one, with most of his money caming from out of state. More than sixty million dollars were spent, and $45 million of it for Walker alone. Here are just a few of the satisfied buyers: Wisconsin billionaire Diane Hendricks contributed more than half a million dollars on Scott Walker's behalf. Fearful the United States might become "a socialistic ideological nation," she's an ardent foe of unions — and against, in her words, "taxing job creators." True to her aversion to taxes, she paid none in 2010, despite being worth, according to "Forbes Magazine,"about $2.8 billion dollars. Before he launched his crusade against the collective bargaining rights of working people, Governor Walker held this conversation with Diane Hendricks. Promising to start with a budget adjustment bill. "The first step is we're going to deal with collective bargainingfor allpublic employee unions, because you use divide and conquer. " These culturally conscience contributors are now afforded respectability in the value-free world of plutocracy - and they can hide the fingerprints on the bleeding corpse of democracy. And this is how the wealthy are now doing their dirty business of using their money to influence elections, policy and the judicary. If you truly believe in the democracy of one man/woman one vote.... I strongly urge that you either view Moyers & Company latest offering: http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-dark-money-in-politics/ or you can read one, more or all of the five attachments: Dark Mony in Politics, This Week in Dark Money, Dark Money in State and Local Elections, What a Seat in Cong►ess Costs By the Hour, The Middle Class Loses a Generation's Worth of Wealth and Americans Continue to Blame Bush More Than Obama for Economy. THIS WEEK'S OTHER OFFERINGS: Please download the attachment - HR EL 2011 EN FOTOS - As it is a powerpoint series of truly wonderful photographs chronicling an amazing year I am sure that you will agree.... Please also enjoy photographer Cameron Michael's four-minute time-laspe tour of the Big Apple. http://www.telegtaph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9326121/New-York-li fe-captured-in-time- lapse.html Also download the attachment - John F Kennedy: 15 quotes celebrating his 95th birthday words of wisdom for everyone John F. Kennedy was assassinated two plus years into his first term of office. Had he lived, there is no telling what the 35th President of the United States would have been able to accomplish. In his short time as Commander in Chief he launched the space program, diffused the Cuban Missile Crisis, and introduced crucial EFTA00647471 Civil Rights legislation. Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917. To mark what would have been his 95th birthday, attached are 15 memorable JFK quotes Please enjoy THIS WEEK'S MUSIC: For What Its Worth - Buffalo Springfield http://www.youtube.corn/watch?v=OHrnZ9ZuqB4M&feature=fvst or http://youtu.be/OHrnZ9Zuq134M The Eve Of Destruction - Barry Mcguire http://www.youtube.com/watch? NR=1 &v=DhEwpRcPozE&feature=endscreen or http://youtu.be/R3npL5fvE4A Forty Acres And a Mule - Oscar Brown Jr. http:/hvww.youtube.com/watch?v=8gzbxPypaoo or http://yout gzbxPypaoo Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan http:/hvww.youtube.com/watch? v=hk3mAX5xdxo or http://youtu.be/hk3mAX5xdxo I hope that you enjoyed this week's offerings and Happy Father's Day Also remember that there are Presidential elections in Greece and Egypt and no matter who wins, few will be satisfied with the results and consequences.... so as bad as we may feel things are here in America.... it easily could be worse.... Sincerely, Greg Brown Gregory Brown Chairman & CEO GlotolCast Fanners. LLC US: Tel: Fax: Sk EFTA00647472