Early Retirement for Injured Federal Employees
Words chosen bespeak of the artfulness of the one who chooses them, but the true artist remains anonymous and allows for the words themselves — the “artwork” of the word-meister — to make its quiet impact. It is the vehicle of communication; it is the goal of the sentence, […]
What does it mean for the government to “shut down” because the Congress and the President were unable to come to a budgetary agreement? It is often the question that is focused upon, but may be the wrong one. The more relevant issue concerns the events that will occur after the cessation of the shut down. What happens afterwards? […]
Is that what we are all striving for? Is the myth that never occurs the one that urges us on? There are multiple idioms and pithy sayings by which “wisdom” is extracted and thought to be a solid foundation for acting and reacting in certain ways. “No one ever says at the end of one’s life, ‘I spent too much time with my kid’”. “Live for tomorrow and you will regret a month of Sundays”. “Time spent at work is time away from family.” […]
It has been widely commented upon, by naysayers, essayists and various commentators upon life’s winding course of pessimism, cynicism and some rarefied sprinkling of optimism, wherever the “isms” will take us: we are crippled from an early stage of life by being fed Fairytales and Fanciful Fantasies, and then pushed out the door to deal with the reality of the real world, which are NOT like the storybook tale. […]
It is a French film directed by Daniel Auteuil, and depicts an age just before, during, and after the First World War, when rural life still embraced a contempt for modern values, and the pastoral context defined the the quietude of family life yet unblemished but for private shame of family secrets. It is in the title itself which reveals much; for, there is no independence of a person’s name, and the underlying theme throughout encapsulates the right to a surname, the identity of an individual, and how the interconnectedness of one’s essence, being and substantive community is itself defined by the proper ascription of who we are related to, how, and by what legitimacy. […]
It is well that human beings have short attention spans and memories, lest the magnification of residual retentive powers should lead one to act. Despite daily repetition of pain, frustration and humiliation or turmoil, we are ready to repeat the process, and let our memories fade into oblivion. Perhaps it is merely another one of the genetically-engineered traits for survivability within the evolutionary context of epochs of adaptation; or, a more proverbial mis-attribution to P.T. Barnum […]
People often get sidetracked upon irrelevant or peripheral issues of little to no consequence. In the greater order of things important, it is self pride which often inhibits, prevents or otherwise delays the advancement and progression of self-interest. One often hears people boast about never having missed “a day of work” in twenty years, or of the longest streak in some sports about games played, or consecutive appearances; or, that one has never taken a vacation. […]
Of course, the reference recognized unmasks the age or generation from whence one comes, and the formal wording without the apostrophe is to allow spellcheck a rest and curtail the red underline. It is the 1962 Dylan song, representing questions unanswered, answers made complex by society, and sought-after refrains which defy conformity. […]
If value of item determines retention of possession, then few trinkets would survive the test of economic viability; but a quick perusal of one’s home will often discover large caches of sentimental liabilities strewn throughout. What determines value, then? Is it the monetization of an item? Or perhaps the psychological attachment, combined with the economic forces in capitalism of supply and demand? […]