Educational Excellence

It’s Friday, Y’all!  We have another opportunity to be grateful … ALL DAY!  Get with it … TGIF!!

Welp, I’ve seen pretty much ALL of the “reality tv show” starring the scrumps that I need to see!!  Do you remember this: “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive …”?  This is a classic with origins back to Shakespeare, they say.  But that’s been proven to be untrue, too!  The actual author was Sir Walter Scott (1808), a Scottish gent who wrote poems, novels, and plays.  I wonder how many “people” enjoyed that “play” last night from the lawn of the White House, which was built by slaves.  Of course, the reality tv show star never mentioned that while he praised where “he” lives …  As well, this same person never mentioned the shooting of an unarmed African American man in the back, father of three, by the police in Wisconsin.  Jacob Blake is now handcuffed to his bed, his father said.

A 17-year-old white kid from Illinois showed up on the streets of Kenosha, WI driven there by his mother!!  He shot and killed 2 protesters and walked right to the Kenosha police, strapped with a long gun, who later gave bottled water to “militia styled” white men!!!  The Kenosha Police drove past him, telling him to get out of the street!  Once again, this president never mentioned either FACT but continued to tout more than 20 blatant lies to his receptive non-mask wearing, no social distancing audience who clapped like parrots chirp after every one of his lies!

So, this is what those united states of america have become!!  I don’t trust nor particularly like braggarts who base their whole tale on lies!!  Some folks, like at the rally last night, embrace or simply ignore the fact that this person is telling lie after lie while they sit there and clap!!  So many people world-wide witnessed this joke while his family members filled the stage set up in the White House!!  THIS has never been done before!  Now it should be clear why so many countries prefer NOT to be involved with this culprit presenting his “theater of lies”!  Now, you know how stupid those people are who clapped like robots after EACH lie.

Okay, okay … so I am done venting.  I noticed posts on social media from a few friends and former “now grown-up” students of mine.  They are commenting that the racism and dishonesty in the States’ leadership are extremely toxic, evil, and debilitating for a once “functioning” country that now seems to be ready to accept a dictatorship!!  I got one thing to say … “I can’t …”  Stay close to your loved ones, seek the truth, and pray that this evilness and wickedness in the States doesn’t spread to a majority of these pawns of people …

Peace,

John I. Cook, Director

Happy Friday, right?!  RIGHT?!?  Sometimes we have to convince OURSELVES, RIGHT?!?  So, “Just Do It!”.  TGIF!

This week in “world news” has been pretty interesting, to say the least!  Does it look like “things” are ready to implode around here?!  Have you ever been given a “job” that you actually couldn’t do?  How did you handle that?  Did you ask for help … or did you just resign or refuse to accept the position?  … or did you just do a “poor job” until things got so bad that it was clear that you … “couldn’t do the damn job”!??  What a fiasco, heh?!

While I have never felt a “part” of the American Dream, especially when it turns into another “nightmare”, it is sad to see so many folks following or supporting a pure “figment of their imagination” …  Can’t they SEE stuff?!  Are these folks really that blind … or are they just stupid?!  I had this conversation with a friend yesterday as I worked on editing my manuscript.  He agreed:  The people who support a “lying bully” are the same people who were bullied in their youth and have learned to accept that as “power” and “leadership”.  Sad story when a buffoon “looks” like a leader to some because they like being bullied …   Or is it that these folks like seeing people that they don’t LIKE be bullied by someone else … because it makes them feel better?!  Can you see the acceptance of the decline in “humanity”!?  We humans have been using “war” as a “cure-all” for situations that require intelligence, sensitivity … perhaps communication even!!

As I hone in on a bird’s eye view of American Politics today, I see folks literally scrambling to pick a side!  Does it look like “we” humans need to start looking for more peaceful and more plausible answers to our questions and conflicts on Earth?  It looks like that to me!  As the next “party’s” convention shapes up and gets started in the States, get prepared for a huge “sh@t show”, as one friend accurately described a troublesome situation!!  Understand, folks, that “leadership” is a unique quality that not everyone seems to care about … or accept, let alone actually possess!  PLEASE … don’t let the States become just another “banana republic” dictatorship!!  “We ARE better than that!”  – John Robert Lewis

Peace,

John I. Cook, Director

Happy Friday, Y’all!

Come on, things can’t be THAT bad … unless “we” let them, so be grateful … TGIF!

It can be hard to see “clearly” in certain circumstances!  I am sometimes not so “clear” on what is clear!!  Have you ever felt “over-cautious” or had some strange feeling … and “you” didn’t know why?  It could be considered a “premonition”, maybe even a warning of sorts!!  Nowadays, I try to notice the “signs” or messages, if you will, that may steer me “right” or towards my goals …  I try to listen to the soft voice of confidence mixed with peace to determine the best way to handle a given situation.

Well, confidence is important; but confidence based on things that are “good” and work for ALL is paramount.  The interesting phenomenon about the States is that “we” have had opportunities to improve things and now, the new generation of young leaders has the Earth’s future in mind.  If you don’t care about “yourselves”, at least care about your Children and your Children’s children.  We all make mistakes …  Some folks say they are sorry while others would never let those words pass their lips no matter how true they would be!!  Couple that personality trait with dishonesty … and … we have a problem.  Communications couldn’t be worse when dealing with people like this!  It seems that the White House is full of them, spewing lies with no care about who is being deceived and whose lives are being destroyed.

Personally, I try to stay “open for options” at this point in my life.  I feel pretty good because I don’t have to do “anything” except take care of myself!  I don’t have to believe lies, I don’t have to “suck up” to unworthy people … so to speak.  Most of the time, I can call my own “shots” …. coupled with humility and confidence.  “I don’t want to hurt nobody … and I don’t want nobody hurting me and my loved ones!”  Life should be so simple … but it’s not!  We have many choices to make.  I find when I meditate that I can sometimes “choose” what runs through my mind and seek to heal myself both physically and spiritually.  Other times, I’ve got to allow those “not so good thoughts” to travel around my mind until I feel comfortable “letting go” of them, so to speak.

For those in the States, voting in this election will be a “game-changer” for REAL, as the current occupant likes to say when he touts “fake remedies” for an ailing nation.  I’ve come to view myself as I heard in the lyrics of a Santana composition called “Give and Take”.  He says, “Talk about your country … there’s really no such thing for me!  The whole world … THE WHOLE WORLD … is ONE big FAMILY!”  I like this … I embrace this!  Not such a “bad deal”, heh?!?  I write to stay sane and not get sucked into some incredible “drama”.  I try to clarify some thoughts “on paper” that are important to me … and our offspring.  What a concept?!!!  Perhaps, there are some things that “you” can contemplate …

“WE ARE ONE!”  Act like it!!

Peace,

John I. Cook, Director

Happy Friday, All!

It’s a “tough job” but someone’s got to do it, so … TGIF with me!!  BOOM!

Yesterday was the birthday of my Coach for football and basketball at St. Paul’s School, Concord, NH. He was also the athletic director.  I’m thinking 96-ish, right “Coach” … pret’ near a century, Man!!  He’s been a friend since I left boarding school in New Hampshire, though we lost contact for a while, and he had been a part of the US Navy … if I’m not mistaken … in the defeat of the Nazis in WWII!  This is the importance of learning about “American History” and how these “men” in particular overlooked or accepted cultural differences to actually win a “war” … together!!

We are in a time when many people say many things … “just to throw a wrench into the engine” with these hilarious “suggestions” like COVID 19 isn’t real!  I always want to ask these people, “Do you think all of these people are really dead?”  Then wait for it … ’cause it’s coming!!  I played “team sports” most of my young adult life.  “Sports” teach and demonstrate the need to cooperate as a “winning team” … not a boisterous, big-mouthed individual sowing fear and hatred between the citizens of the SAME “team”.  Shucks, “we” could even spread the concepts to the world that the USA once held dear!  When I communicate with Coach Blake, he is sometimes a bit sorrowful for the depths the country has fallen to in four excruciating years … world-wide, and since he fought valiantly for the nation!

So, last week, I realized again how important “communication and cooperation” are between just two people for their success as a unit.  In my days playing “organized sports” and playing a leadership role in various organizations, I learned to “work together” with people.  I had gone to a “beach party” (social distancing is possible on beaches in Costa Rica!) last Thursday night with a cool new friend, “Magdalena”.  On our way back to her car in the dark, we had to cross a tributary flowing into the ocean.  Magda had her cellphone light on leading the way until I felt BOTH of my feet get stuck in the sand below in waist-deep water that caused me to fall into the water, bags and all!!  My friend simultaneously held the light above the water, extended her hand to me so I could pull my feet out of the sand … and get out of that little tributary that had swollen under the light of the Full Moon!

So, here’s a hopefully heartwarming message … “be a team player, not an idiot isolationist”.  I think that “we” will come out better!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Peace,

John I. Cook. Director