*First appeared in Nov. 26, 2014 edition of the Laurel Chronicle newspaper
When you read this column, you’ll likely be prepping for your annual Thanksgiving tradition, whether that means driving to your parent’s house for home-style cooking (like me) or cooking for your family (not like me) or something else unique to your situation.
Whatever your annual Turkey Day habits, the shared focus of this holiday is a reminder to be grateful for our many blessings.
Being thankful, it turns out, doesn’t just benefit others; it boosts your own personal health, too.
In 2011, researchers at Harvard reviewed the mental health benefits of gratitude and offered some advice on how to cultivate a thankful state of mind.
For starters, they examined the root of gratitude, which has its origins in Latin. The Latin word “gratia” means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness, depending on the context, and in some ways, “gratitude encompasses all of these meanings.”
Researchers conclude that “with gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves…[helping] people connect to something larger.”
Harvard’s examination of gratefulness included a reference to several psychological studies. One study required one set of subjects to write about things they were grateful had happened, and another set of subjects to write about things that displeased and/or irritated them. The result? Those who wrote about their gratitude were, on average, more optimistic than their testing counterparts. The happy group also exercised more and had fewer visits to the doctor.
(To be fair to the unhappy group, I too would be grumpy if someone made me spend my days writing about things that irritate me.)
Other studies have been conducted on couples in relationships, finding that couples that display gratitude between partners are generally happier and have more honest, open communication.
Yet another study conducted by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found that employees felt motivated to work harder after feeling appreciated – that is, after a manager showed gratitude for their efforts.
Studies like these cannot necessarily prove cause and effect, but they do typically support an association between gratitude and an individual’s well-being.
So how do we become more thankful? The Harvard folks advise the following:
Write thank you notes.
Thank someone mentally.
Keep a gratitude journal.
Count your blessings.
Pray.
That seems fairly simple, doesn’t it?
More important than the researchers at Harvard, though, is a divine directive to be thankful. Consider the numerous times when the Bible tells us to have a spirit of gratitude:
Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known His doings among the peoples! (1 Chronicles 16:8)
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 107:1)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)
This Thanksgiving, we can all be thankful there’s no disagreement on what makes us cheerful. Gratitude is, in large part, key to a happy, healthy state of mind.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Someone finally tells the truth about Obamacare, but it’s not pretty
*First appeared in the Nov. 19, 2014 edition of the Laurel Chronicle newspaper
Wonder if Jonathan Gruber regrets adhering to that old adage, “honesty is the best policy?”
You know Gruber. He’s the M.I.T. economist who told the truth about Obamacare, possibly the first supporter of the law to do so.
Here are a few nuggets from his public comments: First, the bill was written in a “tortured way to make sure CBO didn’t score the mandate as taxes,” because if the Congressional Budget Office had done that, the bill would have died. Second, “if you made a law that said healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it wouldn’t have passed, just like lack of transparency is a huge political advantage, and basically, you know, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical to getting the thing passed.”
So why do we care what Jonathan Gruber says about Obamacare? The Washington Post said he played a “central role designing [Obamacare] and shepherding it through Congress” and also convinced the President that “a viable health care reform plan would have to include an individual mandate to buy insurance.” The New York Times has referred to him as “Mr. Mandate.” The Wall Street Journal calls him “an architect of the Affordable Care Act.”
In other words: We can take him at his word when he says the very foundation of the healthcare plan was misleading at best, an outright lie at worst.
In fact, that’s exactly what Ron Fournier (who “openly rooted for Obamacare’s successes”) called this debacle in the National Journal: “I have to admit, as a supporter, that Obamacare was built and sold on a foundation of lies. No way around it.”
Fournier’s not the only detractor – not by a long shot. Tevi Troy writes in the Wall Street Journal: “The all-too-candid MIT economist is not likely to have a hard time paying for his own health care—Mr. Gruber reportedly received $400,000 for advising the Obama administration on the Affordable Care Act. But he is having a hard time explaining his unguarded comments about the law. His views may be obnoxious, but Mr. Gruber has performed a public service by finally telling the truth about ObamaCare.”
March Thiessen writes in the Washington Post that the “reason Democrats are running from Gruber is the same reason conservatives should be thanking him: Gruber has exposed what liberals really think of the American people.”
Not so fast, says President Obama. The President explained that Gruber “never worked on our staff.” (Don’t worry about the fact Gruber was paid nearly $400,000 by the Obama administration as noted above, nor the fact that he is the “intellectual author of the individual mandate,” nor the fact that he personally met in the Oval Office with President Obama and head of the Congressional Budget Office to discuss the healthcare legislation.) Even Nancy Pelosi attempted to distance herself, saying she doesn’t know who Gruber is. This seems odd, given that she referenced him personally during her comments in the Obamacare debate.
Top Democrats seem to think rational Americans like you and me will buy their flimsy excuses, will overlook their previous dealings with Gruber, and will rock on like nothing’s happened.
But what do they think we are – stupid?
Wonder if Jonathan Gruber regrets adhering to that old adage, “honesty is the best policy?”
You know Gruber. He’s the M.I.T. economist who told the truth about Obamacare, possibly the first supporter of the law to do so.
Here are a few nuggets from his public comments: First, the bill was written in a “tortured way to make sure CBO didn’t score the mandate as taxes,” because if the Congressional Budget Office had done that, the bill would have died. Second, “if you made a law that said healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it wouldn’t have passed, just like lack of transparency is a huge political advantage, and basically, you know, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical to getting the thing passed.”
So why do we care what Jonathan Gruber says about Obamacare? The Washington Post said he played a “central role designing [Obamacare] and shepherding it through Congress” and also convinced the President that “a viable health care reform plan would have to include an individual mandate to buy insurance.” The New York Times has referred to him as “Mr. Mandate.” The Wall Street Journal calls him “an architect of the Affordable Care Act.”
In other words: We can take him at his word when he says the very foundation of the healthcare plan was misleading at best, an outright lie at worst.
In fact, that’s exactly what Ron Fournier (who “openly rooted for Obamacare’s successes”) called this debacle in the National Journal: “I have to admit, as a supporter, that Obamacare was built and sold on a foundation of lies. No way around it.”
Fournier’s not the only detractor – not by a long shot. Tevi Troy writes in the Wall Street Journal: “The all-too-candid MIT economist is not likely to have a hard time paying for his own health care—Mr. Gruber reportedly received $400,000 for advising the Obama administration on the Affordable Care Act. But he is having a hard time explaining his unguarded comments about the law. His views may be obnoxious, but Mr. Gruber has performed a public service by finally telling the truth about ObamaCare.”
March Thiessen writes in the Washington Post that the “reason Democrats are running from Gruber is the same reason conservatives should be thanking him: Gruber has exposed what liberals really think of the American people.”
Not so fast, says President Obama. The President explained that Gruber “never worked on our staff.” (Don’t worry about the fact Gruber was paid nearly $400,000 by the Obama administration as noted above, nor the fact that he is the “intellectual author of the individual mandate,” nor the fact that he personally met in the Oval Office with President Obama and head of the Congressional Budget Office to discuss the healthcare legislation.) Even Nancy Pelosi attempted to distance herself, saying she doesn’t know who Gruber is. This seems odd, given that she referenced him personally during her comments in the Obamacare debate.
Top Democrats seem to think rational Americans like you and me will buy their flimsy excuses, will overlook their previous dealings with Gruber, and will rock on like nothing’s happened.
But what do they think we are – stupid?
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Aspirational philosophy takes back seat to immediate gratification
*First appeared in the Nov. 12 edition of the Laurel Chronicle newspaper
I’ve been thinking a lot about space travel.
It started a few weeks ago with the tragedy of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two crashing in the Mohave Desert, killing a test pilot and injuring the other. If you’re not familiar with the company, here’s a primer. Virgin Galactic is the world’s first commercial spaceline – or it intends to be, if commercial space travel becomes a successful venture. The company’s website says it aims to “transform access to outer space.”
I had two competing thoughts upon hearing about the tragedy: The first one, of course, was “what an awful tragedy.” The second, of course, was “man, it would be cool to go to space. I hope they succeed, eventually.”
Fast-forward to last week when I saw the preview for Interstellar (starring Matthew McConaughey who is, coincidentally, also rumored to appear in an upcoming movie about the Free State of Jones). The premise of this movie, or at least what I gleaned from the preview, is that Planet Earth is no longer sustainable, and lead man McConaughey must seek another world inhabitable by humankind. That leads him on a perilous mission to outer space – and leaves the viewer (me) wondering if he succeeds in saving the human race?
I let my mind sort of wander down this path – you know, the scenario in which humanity is no longer able to live on earth and must seek out other planets for long-term lodging. It wasn’t pretty. I concluded that we’d all die here worshipping the gods of immediate gratification.
The American Scholar frames the issue by referencing an old but apparently timeless work from the 1970s: “Our growing self-absorption was starving the idealism and aspirations of the postwar era. The ‘logic of individualism,’ argued [Christopher] Lasch in his 1978 polemic, The Culture of Narcissism, had transformed everyday life into a brutal social competition for affirmation…Yet even [Lasch] had no idea how self-centered mainstream culture would become. Nor could [he] have imagined the degree to which the selfish reflexes of the individual would become the template for an entire society.”
The American Scholar continues, “Our whole socioeconomic system is adopting an almost childlike impulsiveness, wholly obsessed with short-term gain and narrow self-interest and increasingly oblivious to long-term consequences.”
And this final point brings me full circle. If this is an apt description of the current state of our culture, then the Interstellar conundrum isn’t so much a challenge as it is a doomsday scenario.
Our intellectual energies are focused on the here and now. The consumer-driven marketplace is developing products that reflect these larger societal trends. It seems the latest question is: How can I use as little brain as possible when at home? Oh yeah, by purchasing that Amazon Echo thing (a black cylinder that responds to your voice, plays music, answers questions, keeps track of grocery lists, etc.). Because writing your own list is just too taxing.
That’s not what I call progress, you guys. We’re spending far too much time on things that – in my humble opinion – don’t matter. A black cone in your household may make your life easier, but it won’t put a man on Mars.
Sometimes I think aspirational goals like space travel seem far too, well, aspirational for my generation. Are we really too self-centered to care about the future? Have we really lost the vision for scientific exploration, for technological advances that matter?
I’m not sure. I think my generation can overcome its self-absorption, but we’ll need visionary leaders who don’t comply with the social constructs of an impulse society.
I’ll cease my rambling with this quote from the President who championed space travel and captivated an entire nation: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
Will my generation choose to do what is hard or what is easy?
I’ve been thinking a lot about space travel.
It started a few weeks ago with the tragedy of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip Two crashing in the Mohave Desert, killing a test pilot and injuring the other. If you’re not familiar with the company, here’s a primer. Virgin Galactic is the world’s first commercial spaceline – or it intends to be, if commercial space travel becomes a successful venture. The company’s website says it aims to “transform access to outer space.”
I had two competing thoughts upon hearing about the tragedy: The first one, of course, was “what an awful tragedy.” The second, of course, was “man, it would be cool to go to space. I hope they succeed, eventually.”
Fast-forward to last week when I saw the preview for Interstellar (starring Matthew McConaughey who is, coincidentally, also rumored to appear in an upcoming movie about the Free State of Jones). The premise of this movie, or at least what I gleaned from the preview, is that Planet Earth is no longer sustainable, and lead man McConaughey must seek another world inhabitable by humankind. That leads him on a perilous mission to outer space – and leaves the viewer (me) wondering if he succeeds in saving the human race?
I let my mind sort of wander down this path – you know, the scenario in which humanity is no longer able to live on earth and must seek out other planets for long-term lodging. It wasn’t pretty. I concluded that we’d all die here worshipping the gods of immediate gratification.
The American Scholar frames the issue by referencing an old but apparently timeless work from the 1970s: “Our growing self-absorption was starving the idealism and aspirations of the postwar era. The ‘logic of individualism,’ argued [Christopher] Lasch in his 1978 polemic, The Culture of Narcissism, had transformed everyday life into a brutal social competition for affirmation…Yet even [Lasch] had no idea how self-centered mainstream culture would become. Nor could [he] have imagined the degree to which the selfish reflexes of the individual would become the template for an entire society.”
The American Scholar continues, “Our whole socioeconomic system is adopting an almost childlike impulsiveness, wholly obsessed with short-term gain and narrow self-interest and increasingly oblivious to long-term consequences.”
And this final point brings me full circle. If this is an apt description of the current state of our culture, then the Interstellar conundrum isn’t so much a challenge as it is a doomsday scenario.
Our intellectual energies are focused on the here and now. The consumer-driven marketplace is developing products that reflect these larger societal trends. It seems the latest question is: How can I use as little brain as possible when at home? Oh yeah, by purchasing that Amazon Echo thing (a black cylinder that responds to your voice, plays music, answers questions, keeps track of grocery lists, etc.). Because writing your own list is just too taxing.
That’s not what I call progress, you guys. We’re spending far too much time on things that – in my humble opinion – don’t matter. A black cone in your household may make your life easier, but it won’t put a man on Mars.
Sometimes I think aspirational goals like space travel seem far too, well, aspirational for my generation. Are we really too self-centered to care about the future? Have we really lost the vision for scientific exploration, for technological advances that matter?
I’m not sure. I think my generation can overcome its self-absorption, but we’ll need visionary leaders who don’t comply with the social constructs of an impulse society.
I’ll cease my rambling with this quote from the President who championed space travel and captivated an entire nation: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
Will my generation choose to do what is hard or what is easy?
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Hobnobbing an annual tradition that keeps on growing
*First appeared in the Nov. 5, 2014, edition of the Laurel Chronicle newspaper
More than 1,800 business leaders, elected officials, and others in search of a serious networking opportunity attended the 18th Annual Hobnob Mississippi hosted by the Mississippi Economic Council last week.
It was a record crowd that drew folks from all across this fine state.
While the event is usually held in an outdoor location – specifically, under a big tent at the Mississippi Agriculture & Forestry Museum – the political rally-styled event was moved indoors to the Mississippi Coliseum this year. (Organizers opted not to tempt Mother Nature who was threatening inclement weather.)
My hobnobbing started somewhat late this year, and I missed a few of the early speakers. That being said, I’ll give you a recap of the ones I saw, just in case you missed the annual event.
I arrived just in time to see Speaker of the House Philip Gunn deliver comments to the large crowd. Gunn’s comments focused largely on the efforts of the Republican-majority Legislature to improve the quality of education for Mississippi’s kids.
He cited the MEC-led Blueprint report that endorsed charter schools, saying Republicans have implemented charter schools since taking control of the House and Senate.
Charter schools are about making sure parents have a choice in where to send their children to school. “You’re not bound to your hometown for your doctor, your lawyer, your mechanic – but when it comes to schools, you haven’t had that flexibility,” said Gunn of the state’s education system.
He touted the state’s early childhood pilot program and said Republicans had increased teacher pay along with implementing the first-ever performance-based compensation component. Importantly, he noted the Legislature’s funding commitment to education, saying public schools had received significant increases even when other state priorities saw cuts in their operating budgets.
“Don’t let anyone mislead you into questioning” the Legislature’s commitment to public education, Gunn said, a not-so-subtle reference to the current efforts by Democrat-aligned groups to paint Republicans as anti-education.
Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber spoke next with boundless enthusiasm about the city’s future. The Mayor told the business crowd that Jackson plans to lead on several fronts. “Crime is down” and the capital city is “starting a national conversation on infrastructure improvement.” (That was good to hear, since my water color alternates between a watered-down Lipton tea and a more stout Earl Gray.)
Both Travis Childers and Sen. Thad Cochran spoke at the event, but I won’t recount their comments. By the time you read this column, that race will be over…I think.
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves dug in hard at the left-wing policies of the President, saying Obamacare, with its continuous rollout of regulations and fees, was like “death by 1,000 cuts” on Mississippi businesses, causing them to reduce wages, invest less in their company, or sometimes both.
Reeves touted the Republicans’ educational achievements, saying Mississippi “is a leader, not a laggard” on teacher pay. By getting the state’s fiscal house in order, the GOP Legislature has been able to put more money into priority areas like education – to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars more over the last three years.
To make sure our children are ready for the next wave of innovation and jobs, taxpayers expect results from the state’s educational entities. “That’s why reforms must drive our spending,” explained Reeves, who also said educational opportunity should not be dictated by a child’s zip code or the parent’s profession.
If you looked up “fiscal hawk” in the dictionary, you’d likely find a picture of Reeves; so, it’s not surprising he spent a large portion of his speech on financial issues. In the last year, two out of every three state employees have had a pay raise, causing Reeves to ask: Isn’t it time for taxpayers to get a pay raise (through tax cuts)?
He said it would be difficult to do, particularly given that state agencies have already asked for over a billion dollars in new spending for the coming fiscal year. But, he said, “I’m sticking with my conservative principles to get our state’s fiscal house in order, which means having the courage to say no.”
Gov. Phil Bryant spent the majority of his speech combatting any negative perceptions about Mississippi by highlighting positive rankings the state has amassed over the past few months.
Mississippi ranks among the best in the nation for economic development; our cost-of-living is significantly lower (meaning our dollar goes further here than in, say, Washington, D.C.); and we come in at number five in the nation in terms of women-owned businesses. The Magnolia State is even ranked the best county in which to practice medicine (thanks, tort reform!).
Miss Mississippi Jasmine Murray entertained the crowd right before lunch, and that’s when I skirted off to the next thing. Overall, it was a pretty enjoyable Hobnob – so enjoyable, in fact, that I’ll be sure to attend again next year.
More than 1,800 business leaders, elected officials, and others in search of a serious networking opportunity attended the 18th Annual Hobnob Mississippi hosted by the Mississippi Economic Council last week.
It was a record crowd that drew folks from all across this fine state.
While the event is usually held in an outdoor location – specifically, under a big tent at the Mississippi Agriculture & Forestry Museum – the political rally-styled event was moved indoors to the Mississippi Coliseum this year. (Organizers opted not to tempt Mother Nature who was threatening inclement weather.)
My hobnobbing started somewhat late this year, and I missed a few of the early speakers. That being said, I’ll give you a recap of the ones I saw, just in case you missed the annual event.
I arrived just in time to see Speaker of the House Philip Gunn deliver comments to the large crowd. Gunn’s comments focused largely on the efforts of the Republican-majority Legislature to improve the quality of education for Mississippi’s kids.
He cited the MEC-led Blueprint report that endorsed charter schools, saying Republicans have implemented charter schools since taking control of the House and Senate.
Charter schools are about making sure parents have a choice in where to send their children to school. “You’re not bound to your hometown for your doctor, your lawyer, your mechanic – but when it comes to schools, you haven’t had that flexibility,” said Gunn of the state’s education system.
He touted the state’s early childhood pilot program and said Republicans had increased teacher pay along with implementing the first-ever performance-based compensation component. Importantly, he noted the Legislature’s funding commitment to education, saying public schools had received significant increases even when other state priorities saw cuts in their operating budgets.
“Don’t let anyone mislead you into questioning” the Legislature’s commitment to public education, Gunn said, a not-so-subtle reference to the current efforts by Democrat-aligned groups to paint Republicans as anti-education.
Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber spoke next with boundless enthusiasm about the city’s future. The Mayor told the business crowd that Jackson plans to lead on several fronts. “Crime is down” and the capital city is “starting a national conversation on infrastructure improvement.” (That was good to hear, since my water color alternates between a watered-down Lipton tea and a more stout Earl Gray.)
Both Travis Childers and Sen. Thad Cochran spoke at the event, but I won’t recount their comments. By the time you read this column, that race will be over…I think.
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves dug in hard at the left-wing policies of the President, saying Obamacare, with its continuous rollout of regulations and fees, was like “death by 1,000 cuts” on Mississippi businesses, causing them to reduce wages, invest less in their company, or sometimes both.
Reeves touted the Republicans’ educational achievements, saying Mississippi “is a leader, not a laggard” on teacher pay. By getting the state’s fiscal house in order, the GOP Legislature has been able to put more money into priority areas like education – to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars more over the last three years.
To make sure our children are ready for the next wave of innovation and jobs, taxpayers expect results from the state’s educational entities. “That’s why reforms must drive our spending,” explained Reeves, who also said educational opportunity should not be dictated by a child’s zip code or the parent’s profession.
If you looked up “fiscal hawk” in the dictionary, you’d likely find a picture of Reeves; so, it’s not surprising he spent a large portion of his speech on financial issues. In the last year, two out of every three state employees have had a pay raise, causing Reeves to ask: Isn’t it time for taxpayers to get a pay raise (through tax cuts)?
He said it would be difficult to do, particularly given that state agencies have already asked for over a billion dollars in new spending for the coming fiscal year. But, he said, “I’m sticking with my conservative principles to get our state’s fiscal house in order, which means having the courage to say no.”
Gov. Phil Bryant spent the majority of his speech combatting any negative perceptions about Mississippi by highlighting positive rankings the state has amassed over the past few months.
Mississippi ranks among the best in the nation for economic development; our cost-of-living is significantly lower (meaning our dollar goes further here than in, say, Washington, D.C.); and we come in at number five in the nation in terms of women-owned businesses. The Magnolia State is even ranked the best county in which to practice medicine (thanks, tort reform!).
Miss Mississippi Jasmine Murray entertained the crowd right before lunch, and that’s when I skirted off to the next thing. Overall, it was a pretty enjoyable Hobnob – so enjoyable, in fact, that I’ll be sure to attend again next year.
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