Category: Core thought

A little later than I would have wished!

Jon Lavin.

You will see from the Hello World post at the head of Learning from Dogs that the idea of integrity being a topic for wider discussion arose a while ago. Busy lives (and a big misunderstanding about Blogging!) put off us doing something until Paul got the Blog under way in July, this year.

I still have, thank goodness, plenty of work demands on my time and a busy family life but, at last, will be finding time to explore the importance of integrity.

As I say in About this Blog, I had noticed that businesses that were operating largely with integrity, tended to be happier places, got better results and it was possible to develop levels of awareness within teams that enabled them to work together far more effectively. Levels of self-awareness are important because they allow people to develop closer business relationships with everyone internal and external and this leads to increased levels of trust.

By Jon Lavin

Muslim demographics – an update.

A calm and rational destruction of the Dangerous Demographics YouTube video

On the 20th August, a Post was published on Learning from Dogs called Doing nothing! It was largely an emotional response to the video on YouTube that has been watched by over ten millions and claims that Europe and North America are close to becoming dominated by Muslims. The unspoken implication being that this would be ‘dangerous’ for those present societies. The YouTube film was clearly made with a racist agenda in mind.

The vision of this Blog is to support the notion that integrity is not only a noble inspiration but on a day-to-day basis delivers better outcomes for you and me. Integrity is being true to one’s beliefs, or as defined in the free dictionary, “Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code“. Morals and ethics rely on understanding the truth, as best we can, of the world around us. Thus it is enormous pleasure to find the BBC presenting a statistical rebuttal to the YouTube video.

Please watch it.

The web address is ….. see below

UPDATE NOTE: For some reason the BBC have removed that video. However, the material that debunks the YouTube video may be seen here, and here.

And when you have seen it, if you know of anyone who has emailed you the link to the YouTube video, please email them the link to the truth spoken by the BBC.

As the English philosopher Edmund Burke said,

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.’

By Paul Handover

“You campaign in poetry but govern in prose.”

Edward Luce in the Financial Times reflects on Obama’s miserable August

Obama healthcare Who would ever be a leading politician? It must be a hell of a job.

Edward Luce has a fascinating and, well, touching, commentary in yesterday’s (21st) Financial Times.

Whatever one’s political leanings it’s difficult not to get a feeling for the toughness of the job of leading the Nation.

The quote? Attributed to Mario Cuomo, the former Governor of New York. And Edward Luce is the Washington Bureau chief of the Financial Times. A graduate of Oxford University (politics, philosophy and economics) he is no stranger to the world of politics as his father was the British conservative politician Richard Luce, a noble Lord no less.

By Paul Handover

The stuff of life?

The amino acid glycine is found on a comet.

There’s a fascinating article on Reuters, published on the 18th. It is that scientists have finally proved that an amino

Comet Wild 2 from 147 miles away — Comet Wild 2

acid found on a comet is extraterrestrial in origin and, therefore, supports the theory that life came to Planet Earth from the stars.

Microscopic traces of glycine were discovered in a sample of particles retrieved from the tail of comet Wild 2 by the NASA spacecraft Stardust deep in the solar system some 242 million miles (390 million km) from Earth, in January 2004.

Samples of gas and dust collected on a small dish lined with a super-fluffy material called aerogel were returned to Earth two years later in a canister that detached from the spacecraft and landed by parachute in the Utah desert.

There’s a fuller and more scientific description of the NASA Stardust spacecraft mission here. That site is well worth a visit if you are in the slightest way interested in space.

Stardust completed its 2.88 billion mile round-trip journey to a comet and back, bringing comet and interstellar dust particles back to Earth on January 15, 2006.

So when you next look into the eyes of your loved one,

and see starlight there,

it may not be entirely a romantic notion!

By Paul Handover

Doing nothing!

Freedom and justice needs active participation.

Let me start with an extract from the Henrik Hudson School District Library Media Centre:

Perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders, victims: we can be clear about three of these categories. The bystander, however, is the fulcrum. If there are enough notable exceptions, then protest reaches a critical mass. We don’t usually think of history as being shaped by silence, but, as English philosopher Edmund Burke said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.’ (My source for this is here.)

So what has prompted this Post?

Continue reading “Doing nothing!” →

Well that’s clear then!

Conflicting views about the economic outlook

Here are two extracts:

The first from Prof. Nouriel Roubini in his RGE Monitor of today’s date:

A number of economic and financial variables have exhibited signs of improvement recently even if macro indicators are still mixed. The pace of economic deterioration has slowed significantly, and after four quarters of severe contraction in economic activity, RGE Monitor now forecasts that the U.S. will display positive real GDP growth in the second half of 2009. As discussed below, however, that does not mean that the recession in the U.S. is already over, as many analysts have argued. Indeed, all the variables used by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) to date recessionary periods will continue to contract or display sub-par growth. However, RGE Monitor now anticipates that policy measures and other factors will boost real GDP growth, albeit in a temporary manner, in the second half of 2009. Yet the shape of the recovery (will it be V, U or W?) and other challenges will influence the U.S. economic outlook going forward. According to RGE Monitor, growth will remain well below potential in 2010, while the shape of the recovery will be closer to a U.

The second is from David Rosenberg in yesterday’s Breakfast with Dave:

10:27 August 14th 2009

A glimpse into the soul of a Nation

My view is that this Blog should be (much) less about the lives of the Blog authors and more about the world we live in within the self-imposed theme of the Blog; integrity.

However, what happened at 405 West Congress in Tucson, Arizona, last Friday morning is an exception to the rule.

The entrance to the Courthouse in Tucson

405 West Congress is the address of the Courthouse in Tucson.

So what brings 50 people, family and friends to a court house in Tucson on a Friday morning in August?

The swearing-in of a group of people to be US Citizens or more properly described as the Order of Admission to Citizenship; the actual process of becoming a US Citizen, other than having been born in the Nation.

It gave me an amazing insight into the generosity of the United States of America and, indeed, of all other free countries in the world that welcome incomers.

Let me explain.

Integrity in photography

Integrity in photography is more complicated than one might expect.

Earlier in the week, there were a couple of Posts drawing attention to the outstanding quality and beauty of the land and seascapes from Patrick Smith Photography. This time, the subject of this Post is about integrity in photography.

You attract what you think about!

It is my very great pleasure to introduce a new author to the Learning from Dogs Blog team.

I first met Dapinder Bains when he became a coaching client some 18 months ago. Dapinder was seeking some guidance (not that coaching is guidance in the strict sense of the word) with regard to a new Internet business. That Dapinder really required this coaching was, initially, a puzzle as he was already managing 500 web sites! Clearly a fascinating person.

Anyway, over the months, we have got to know each other well. So when Dapinder expressed an interest in contributing to the Blog there was no hesitation in me welcoming him to the team. Over to him …

Read Dapinder’s first Post

Integrity starts in the soul

“Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.”

This is one of, literally, hundreds of Zen quotes. Of course Zen Buddhism does not have the exclusivity of quotes that stir the heart. Every one of man’s great religions and followings is embroidered with beautiful quotations. Here’s one, more or less at random, from Christianity.

‘Faith is to believe what we do not see;

and the reward of this faith

is to see what we believe.’

Whatever gives you solace, it is important to have something that allows you to be a little retrospective from time to time (and we are not talking alcohol or drugs here!). Remember, you can’t give away what you don’t own!

So when this Blog, ZenHabits, caught my eye, it seemed worthy of mention and of adding to the Blog Roll. We will see if this resonates with you, the reader. Either way, do let me know via your comments.

By Paul Handover

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: