POTUS and General Dwight D. Eisenhower Warns About the Military-Industrial Complex

What Will You Be for Halloween?

Me as “Tiger Mom” at our local Halloween block party, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011. Happy Halloweeeeeeeeen!

Desiderata: Many Truths in One Small Space

In 1920, Indiana Lawyer, Max Ehrmann, penned this magnificent piece of spiritual prose that has inspired many over the decades. It rings true on many levels and I find myself quoting bits of it to my eight-year-old girl. Which parts speak to you?

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. 

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. 

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. 

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. 

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. 

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. 

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. 

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. 

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. 

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. 

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. 

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. 

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. 

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

—Max Ehrmann, c.1920

Ten Rules for Writing Nonfiction That Doesn’t Stink

1.      Know your audience. Who are you writing to? Sixth graders? A kitty litter association? Microchip manufacturers? Each one requires a different writing style. Write to the wrong audience and you lose the right audience.

2.      Have sympathy for your audience. Do unto your readers as you would have them do unto you. Don’t burden them with too many characters, too many anecdotes, too much jargon, too convoluted a path to the point—anything that would be burdensome. Make their load lighter. Help the reader along.

3.      Be clear. Be as succinct as necessary with sentences and paragraphs in order to avoid confusion and to be clear. Strunk and White had the best description of clarity in writing in their writers’ bible, The Elements of Style.

4.      Use active verbs whenever you can. Passive verbs are popular in scientific and technical writing because they disguise who is doing the action and because they are harder to argue with. “Venus can be observed in the early night sky.” Or “When the lever is pressed, the nozzle pops out.” For those reasons, passive verbs are helpful. For all other uses—and that is the overwhelming majority—use active verbs to avoid sounding namby pamby.

5.      Avoid clichés. Yes, it’s cliché to say “Avoid clichés.” But read a cliché and your mind immediately disengages a little. Read lots of them, and the writing becomes banal and indigestible. Clichés are the opposite of fresh writing. Fresh writing requires more thought but is more powerful and memorable.

6.      Adopt the KISS rule—Keep It Simple Stupid. The engineer who came up with the KISS rule used it to tell other engineers how to write instructions for those who would use their machines. He wasn’t calling anyone stupid—he was saying “simple stupid,” as in “too easy to mess up.” Perhaps Einstein said it best, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” The KISS rule harks back to Rule 2. If you sympathize with your readers, you will not write fluff or meander too long on the way to an important point.

7.      Use anecdotes lightly. Thirty years ago, readers probably would have tolerated anecdote-heavy writing. But in this digital age of nonstop interruptions and entertainment at every juncture, readers will be checking Facebook on their smartphones as fast as you can say, “I knew a woman named Emily who had a German Shepherd.” Anecdotes are foreplay. But eventually a writer needs to get down to the act itself. What is the writing about? Sprinkle anecdotes in lightly, in proportional to the actual content of the writing. Otherwise, you will annoy or even lose your audience.

8.      Consider how your writing sounds. If strings of nouns are hard to say (“Latino lesbian recreational resource referendum”) then break them up or rewrite. This harks back to Rule 2 (Have sympathy for your audience). Alliteration? Sounds fun, but keep it under control. Occasional forays into lyrical writing with repetitive phrases or words, the way ministers deliver sermons, for instance? Okay, but again, keep it under control. Lyrical writing can be powerful, but is like spicy food. In the end, if writing sounds good, it is good.

9.      Outline, outline, and lastly, outline. Outlines are the pathways that guide the reader along and keep them forging ahead. Non-readers don’t have to know that outlines also helps keep writers from getting lost. Outlines rock in many ways. Try writing a long piece without an outline and your writing will become floppy and may fall apart.

10.   Don’t be afraid to summarize, for some redundancy is a good teaching tool. Redundancy in words and phrases should be cut (Rule 6, KISS), by all means, but redundancy by summarization helps the reader focus while emphasizing what’s important.

Addendum: Rule 1 (Know Your Audience) and Rule 2 (Have Sympathy for Your Audience) are primary. Every other rule of non-stinky writing falls directly or indirectly under those two biggies.

by Carolyn Blount Brodersen, ©Copyright 2011

China Marches Forward with Gigantic Military Spending Increase for Third Year in a Row: Does That Sound Comforting to You?

The entire globe is experiencing an economic meltdown, from the super-powers down to the little guys. Suddenly, China announces a double-digit increase in its military spending. Does this sound ominous to anyone besides me? To put it in perspective, China's military spending is still small compared to, um, the U.S. But still. China has been bold about moving rapidly ahead in its defense spending. Perhaps it is playing catch-up with the Western world. Perhaps it has big plans. Perhaps this increase is all part of their economic stimulus package.

Apparently, I am not alone in speculating about this determination on the part of the Chinese. Japan, India, Australia, and Vietnam have all expressed concerns about a more powerful China. Surely Taiwan is quaking in its boots at this development, too.

China to increase defense spending by 12.7 per cent in 2011

China refutes military spending report

China's defense budget to grow 14.9 % in 2009, Xinhua, China

China announces double-digit military spending boost, The Guardian, UK

China boosts military spending, Voice of America