Category Archives: Golden Rule

The tongue can bring death or life.

We have been talking about gossip. Sometimes, people will say, But what I said is true, like that makes it OK. The truth is you rarely know whats true in the life of someone else. And even if it is true, some things just dont need to be shared.

Remember, whenever we are talking about a situation with somebody who is neither part of the problem nor part of the solution, that is probably gossip, whether it is true or not.

The Golden Rule invites us to Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Would you want other people to share personal, embarrassing or humiliating stories about you or one of your good friends?

The Proverb writer reminds us The tongue can bring death or life. (Proverbs 18:21a)

Our words have incredible power. And a powerful principle for us to remember is that everything that is said must be true, but not everything that is true must be said.

The Apostle James spoke to this idea. He said, If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. (James 1:26)

James compared our tongue to the rudder of a ship. The rudder is really very small in comparison to the size of a boat.

In very simple terms, if a captain wants to turn the boat, he turns a wheel that triggers a lever to move the rudder, which then turns the boat. The captain might make a slight adjustment to the rudder that could completely change the direction of a massive ship.

Since our tongue is like the rudder of a massive ship, we need to be willing to admit were the captain, and it is up to us to choose the direction of the ship.

Just like the rudder steers a ship in the direction the captain wants it to go, our tongue, our words will steer our lives in a specific direction, as well.

Have you ever thought about your tongue like the rudder of a ship? It has the power to direct your spiritual life off course, which is another way of saying away from God.

If God has spoken to you about your mouth, confess your sin (call it what it is) to God. Admit it to some trusted friends. Then ask them and ask the holy spirit to point it out if they see your rudder is causing you to head off in the wrong direction.

Steve Greene is the lead pastor of The Point in Seymour. Read his blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or email him at steve@gotothepoint.com. Send comments to awoods@aimmediaindiana.com.

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Column: Our words have incredible power - Seymour Tribune

By: Josh Sens March 5, 2021

There is no such thing as illegal hole locations, but there certainly are good ones and bad ones.

getty images

Location, location, pin location.

The golden rule of real estate is also a key consideration for golf-course superintendents.

After all, where supers choose to cut their holes, and how often they cut them, can have a profound impact on everything from course difficulty and conditioning to pace of play.

So, what goes into their decisions?

Matt Guilfoil, superintendent of Desert Canyon Golf Course, in Phoenix, and co-host of From the Jingweeds, a podcast devoted to the turf-care trade, takes us through the calculus.

Changing hole locations regularly is important, not only for variety and player enjoyment but also to preserve the health of the greens.

If you get golfers trampling over and over around the same spot, they really do a number on that part of the green, Guilfoil says. Plus, the cup itself gets beat up from so many people reaching their hands into it. (Or even more damaging, using their putter to retrieve the ball from the cup).

The tools of the trade.

getty images

No wonder high-end courses, both public and private, tend to cut new pin positions every morning. At many other properties, though, the frequency depends on a range of factors, including maintenance budgets, turf type and time of year. From early fall, when he overseeds, through June 1, Guilfoil cuts new holes at Desert Canyon every morning. But come summer, he takes Tuesdays and Thursdays off.

Thats partly because the volume of play is down, so his greens arent getting as much wear and tear. But its also a matter of maximizing labor; it takes about four hours for one of his employees to cut new cups (while also setting the tee markers), and sometimes, Guilfoil says, Id just rather have that employee use those four hours to do something else.

Just as golfers have pin sheets, so, too, do superintendents. Many split their greens into numerical sections, which they rotate through from one day to the next.

At Desert Canyon, Guilfoil relies on a what he calls a modified 1, 2, 3 system that works in accordance to the shape of each green. If the green is long and narrow, the numbers refer to front, back and middle.

If the green is wide and shallow, the numbers refer to left, middle and right. By progressing through the sections, Guilfoil ensures that no single section of any green absorbs too much wear and tear.

Contrary to a common misperception, there is no such thing as illegal hole locations (anywhere on the putting surface is allowed). But there certainly are good ones and bad ones.

In the spirit of fairness, Guilfoil always cuts his cups at least one flagstick-length away from the collar, never any closer. Nor does he want a cup cut on a portion of the green with too much slope. How much slope is too much slope? As a rule of thumb, Guilfoil instructs his staff to straddle the hole with their feet and then a drop a ball, at arms length, from where theyre standing. If the ball rolls away when it hits the ground, that pin position sits on too much contour. Time to find a flatter spot.

Difficult pin positions can be perfectly fair positions. But Guilfoil avoids them on weekends and holidays, when the course is especially busy. Otherwise, youre looking at a nightmare in terms of pace of play, he says.

Green speed is also a factor. The same pin position that works on shaggy putting surface can be too extreme when the greens are running lickety-split. We like to get our greens running fast, Guilfoil says. But youve got to be careful. Lets say you get a sudden cold snap, and the grass goes dormant, and just like that the greens are super-quick and hard as a rock. Now that same pin position you thought you had is suddenly impossible.

Every time you cut a new hole, youve got to fill the old one. And while the task isnt brain surgery, it calls for care. If you leave the replacement plug too high, Guilfoils says, the mower will scalp the grass, leaving a bare, circular patch in the putting surface. Conversely, if you set the plug too low, the grass will grow longer, creating a darker discoloration circle that also runs at a different pace than the rest of the green.

On putting surfaces with a lot of grain, replacing the plug in the same orientation that it was cut is also important; otherwise, the grass inside that circle will grow in a different direction than the surrounding turf (a blemish that shows up as little smiley-faces on the green).

At a high-end club where Guilfoil used to work, the staff attached compasses to their hole-cutters to ensure that they replaced plugs in the proper position. At Desert Canyon, Guilfoil doesnt have that luxury, so he relies on a bootstrapping method. Whenever he cuts a hole, he finds a tree as a reference point. And then its time to replace it, I know I have to have the plug positioned in the same relation to that tree, he says.

You cant please all the people all the time. Just ask your local golf course superintendent.

No matter where I cut the holes, Guilfoil says, I can pretty much count on someone coming up to me at some point in the day and saying, Hey, why the hell did you put that hole there?

Well, now you know.

A golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes across all of GOLFs platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.

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The logic behind where golf courses cut their holes, according to a superintendent - Golf.com

After a year of border closures, countrywide restrictions, and stay-at-home orders, hope for the American traveler is finally on the horizon. President Joe Biden says there will be a vaccine for every U.S. adult come May. Countries around the world are cautiously reopening for tourists. And after slashing flight routes last spring, airlines are now adding them back to their schedule. Were on the cusp of being able to go somewhere, and were dying to go this summer: A survey done by luxury travel company Virtuoso found that 60% of respondents planned to take a trip by Labor Day, and travel booking apps like Hopper are seeing a three-digit-percent increase in seasonal searches. Meanwhile, the TSA is preparing itself for the anticipated boom. Recently, it announced a nationwide recruitment effort to hire 6,000 new employees by summers start.

But what will leisure travel look like in a post-pandemic world? Will everything go back to normal, or does a new normal await us instead?

If we expect things to go back exactly as they were in 2019, were all going to be disappointed, says Misty Belles, managing director at Virtuoso. The reality is that much like September 11 forever changed travel, so will COVID-19.

Masks, Belles says, are here to stay. Why? While wealthy countries will be able to vaccinate 75% of their citizens by the end of 2021, itll take developing countries several more years to reach that target. (And even then, the virus will likely still lurk in corners of the globe: COVID-19 will likely be with us forever. Heres how well live with it, read a recent headline in National Geographic.) So facial coverings will still be necessary to stop the spread and protect the most vulnerable among us.

That also means six feet apart will continue to be a golden rule. Hotels that once prided themselves on beautiful and inviting public spaces will likely continue to encourage social distancing by limiting the seating options and opportunities for people to linger, Belles hypothesizes.

Prepare to pack your passport and Pfizer record: Destinations like the Seychelles and Iceland recently announced that vaccinated visitors could enter without quarantining and move without restrictions. Meanwhile, luxury liners like Crystal Cruises require all guests onboard to be fully inoculated. That rule may apply to flights too: In November, Qantas Airlines CEO made waves when he told CNN they might ask people to have a vaccination before they get on the aircraft. Belles expects more countries, and companies, to follow suit. Health passports will likely be required, meaning another document to keep current for traveling abroad, she says. Theres no consensus on what these health passports will look likewhether you need to show a physical card or submit an online formbut proof, in some shape or form, seems likely to be required.

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How Will the Vaccine Change World Travel? - Vogue.com

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By Kwena Manamela

Though law is an interesting career, the realm of law raises several interesting scenarios while the legal profession is under scrutiny.

For example, an attorney may today represent the State but tomorrow represent a client against the State. Simply put, a lawyer may represent an accused as much as a complainant. A legal officer takes instructions from an alleged thief, murderer, hijacker, burglar among others and their complainants thereof.

As we are introduced to the doctrine of law and the golden rule of innocent until proven guilty, the constitution distinguishes the three organs of state as the executive, legislature and judiciary. Though these organs of state are independent, they are also interdependent.

They are like the three legs of a pot wherein without one the State is incomplete or dysfunctional. The three operate separately, that is independently, but with an element of checks and balances or interdependency.

South Africas organs of state are fashioned such that they are pillars of our democracy, owing to years of human rights abuse, trampling on rules of natural justice and the apartheid rule. The country comes from a past where people were arrested without trial, bail, and even not appearing before any court until their release.

It is common knowledge that prior to 1994, South Africas justice system was meant to serve only 20% of the population while post-1994, there was one Department of Justice established to serve 100% of the population.

As our democracy matures, the judiciary has been highly stretched and tested, with individuals and organisations questioning its independence, impartiality, morality and ethics. Further that there are allegations that judges can be bribed to deliver a preferred verdict at the expense of justice with the sacrosanctity of the judiciary even called into question.

Information brought before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector, including organs of state, headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, contains allegations that the State Security Agency (SSA) offered bribes to some judges.

Allegations that there were bribes towards arriving at a particular outcome at the ruling partys 2017 elective conference needs to be formalised by those who are privy to the matter through evidence or further information.

Former Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Professor Dieter Grimm describes judicial independence as, the constitutional safeguard against the threat arising from politicians to the judges proper exercise of their function. Grimm says also, it is directed against attempts to induce judges not to apply the law but to bend to political expectations.

As the country observes Human Rights month, let us continue to build a strong and resilient judiciary that will stand the test of time, jurisprudence and the doctrine of law. A judicial system that will stand out against its peers in the world for the sake of a united, non-racial, democratic and prosperous South Africa.

Addressing the Cape Law Society in November 2012, the late chief justice of South Africa Arthur Chaskalson said: The independence of the judiciary and legal profession are central pillars of our constitutional democracy, and that we should be astute to ensure that there is no erosion of these fundamental principles.

* Kwena Manamela is an author and social commentator.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Sunday Independent or IOL.

Sunday Independent

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Let's continue to build a strong, resilient judiciary that will stand test of time - IOL

He was called Glen by family and friends, and thats what I called him too, for Rodney Glen King was, indeed, a friend of mine.

Born in 1965, King came into the world just before the Watts riots and left as Barack Obama was completing his first term as Americas first Black president. Halfway through Glens all too short life, four Los Angeles Police Department officers beat him nearly to death while amateur video buff George Holliday captured the horror for all to see on coast-to-coast TV.

For the record:

An earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested that King was handcuffed before the beating started. He was handcuffed while on the ground after the beating.

Thirty years ago, on March 3, 1991, Glen King went out drinking and driving with pals until a patrol car spotted his car speeding on the freeway and gave chase. After a short pursuit, Glen parked and climbed out of the car. Then, upon direction from Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, the officers proceeded to pummel Glen, cracking his skull and leaving him with permanent brain damage.

The rest is one of the darker chapters in L.A. history, during which most media joined law enforcement in vilifying Glen as a violent felon on PCP who probably got the beating he deserved. A year later an all-white jury in nearly all-white Simi Valley acquitted Koon and three other cops, triggering the worst race riot since Watts, when 34 people lost their lives and another 1,032 were injured. By comparison, the Rodney King uprising of 1992 cost 63 lives and 2,383 injuries. Damage from Watts came to $40 million; damage after the King verdicts, about $1 billion.

A federal court corrected part of the injustice, convicting two of the four LAPD officers for violating Glens civil rights in 1993. He later sued and won a $3.8-million judgment from the city.

I first met Glen a couple of years after that. Upon recommendation of a mutual acquaintance, he asked me to help him write his autobiography. Mainstream New York publishers were not interested. King was considered a thug a drug-addled Black gangster who got a deserved beating at the hands of police. Such was the prevailing picture painted by rumor, innuendo and the press.

But I had come to know otherwise. The Rodney King I knew had been slowed by brain damage, and yet I never met a kinder, more forgiving and genuinely funny guy. He held no animosity against his attackers or the lawyers who took a big share of the settlement, or the media that misrepresented who he really was. He was human with human failings, but most of the time Glen was a living, breathing practitioner of the golden rule.

When I couldnt sell his book, I offered instead to film his story for a documentary, and thus began a 15-year odyssey. Joining forces with producer Ira Abrams, I met with Glen off and on every year or two, picking up his story told in his own words. I met his mom, his brothers, his friends, neighbors, attorneys, girlfriends, kids and came away amazed at how very, very wrong the world had gotten this gentle, humble man.

I do not discount his drug or alcohol abuse. His father died of boozing before Glens very eyes when he was still a teen. He struggled with addiction. I went to NA and AA meetings with Glen and saw firsthand how semi-celebrity and brain damage can be handicaps for recovery. I have no doubt he was self-medicating every time he picked up a doobie or a drink.

Glen survived and lived another 20 years following his confrontation with L.A.s finest. In 2012, He succumbed to heart arrhythmia in his own swimming pool at age 47.

Nowadays, I wonder what Glen would say about the Black Lives Matter movement. It arguably began when he was still an infant. Following six days of violence in August 1965, when whole city blocks burned to the ground, Gov. Pat Brown ordered the McCone Commission to study its causes. Almost none of the recommendations in the commissions report were implemented. After the King riots, a commission led by Warren Christopher performed a similar inquiry into the LAPD, also with very limited results.

So here we are, 30 years on, and the question Glen asked so many years ago Can we all get along? lingers still. It haunts every video shot by every cellphone user at the site of every police beating, shooting, tasing or pepper spraying in an era when hardly any news cycle ends without yet another report of white cops beating Black citizens.

When Glen made that plea to stop the riots, he also said, Well get our justice. Theyve won the battle, but they havent won the war.

Those words echo at the all-too-routine memorials and at the angry press conferences and courtroom rituals that follow. It remains to be seen, a generation later, whether Glens wish for justice will become reality for those who come after him and others like Trayvon and George and Breonna and Philando and Tamir.

Dennis McDougal, a former staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, is author of 14 books and co-producer of an upcoming documentary on the life of Rodney King.

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Op-Ed: What the world got wrong about Rodney King - Los Angeles Times

Treasure Coast Newspapers Published 4:00 a.m. ET March 7, 2021

The proposed House Bill 839 preempts energy infrastructure regulation, prohibiting local governments from regulating energy infrastructure.

It is distressing that the Republican Party, which once championed true cost accounting and local control of local decisions, now wants to direct county decisions from on high.

Local residents successfully fought a coal-fired power plant proposed for western St. Lucie County in 2005. Preventing citizens from making decisions about such proposals would be a terrible overreach of government.

The cost of carbon-based energy will be borne by Floridians far into the future. Energy lobbyists will saddle our descendants with the expenses of adapting to a degraded environment.

Our freshwater lakes, canals and rivers have fish consumption warnings and limits due to mercury contamination from power plants. Residents who depend most on fishing to put food on the table are often not aware of the danger. As a former teacher I have worried that children from struggling communities where local fish are an important part of the diet are too common in Exceptional Student Education programs. The personal costs to families and individuals notwithstanding, the economic costs of having a higher percentage of our labor force with mental or physical limitations brought about by environmental pollution has an impact now and on future generations.

I have seen sea level rise erode my propertys shoreline. The increase in extreme weather and hurricane damage has been driven by warming oceans. Ocean acidification brought about by increased atmospheric carbon dioxide affects shellfish and the food chain. These are economic impacts that energy production companies do not include in the cost/benefit analysis for economic impacts of energy infrastructure.

Locally elected city and county commissions, who know their communities and are directly responsible to the voters, should have the final say on energy infrastructure decisions.

Kevin Stinnette, Fort Pierce

Bell(Photo: Bell)

Many thanks to Phil Hunter, featured on March 2, for his tireless trash cleanup during his daily 6-mile walks. He truly represents the best in humankind.

What about the rest of us? Can we all be better citizens and demonstrate environmental respect by not littering in the first place? Lets all take care of our own garbage so people like Phil Hunter can hunt for natural beauty during their walks instead of hunting for our trash.

Coleen Oleski, Stuart

One outside-the-box solution to building affordable housing units is to use old or abandoned semi-trailers as shells for individual apartment units.

The trailers can be renovated for basic, clean and safe housing units and situated similar to existing trailer parks. They can be fitted with basic plumbing and cooling at a fraction of the cost of building units from scratch.

Other cities have succeeded in building these transitional housing units for indigent persons who need shelter to begin re-starting their lives.

Robert Savino, Fort Myers

Kathryn Jean Lopez, in her March 4 column, was right on the money when she called the Equality Act a euphemism. Everyone wants equality, so what is not to like? Well, it is an act that tips the balance of equality toward those who ascribe to an extremely liberal ideology. It negates any values that the opposition might hold religious or otherwise. How is that equality?

The bill does not respect parental rights. Do parents have any? It extends the LGBT agenda and, penalizes anyone who objects to it. If anyone wishes to transform his/her gender fine, but he/she should not use the taxpayers' money to fund it. All of us are Americans, and we should all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We all should respect our fellow human beings. Maybe the Golden Rule is too religious?

Mary Lou Rodimer, Sebastian

Dr. Rachel Levine, President Bidens assistant secretary of health nominee, was grilled by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., over her stance on transgender issues on Feb. 25, the same day the House passed the Equality Act.(Photo: Getty)

With all the negative news about vaccine appointments I would like to share a more positive experience.

I used CVS website after weeks of trying unsuccessfully for an appointment on the Publix site.

The website loaded quickly and I was able to obtain appointments for my husband and me within a reasonable driving distance. On the Publix site, the closest appointment offered last week was up in the Panhandle.

The day of our appointment we received a phone call that we could get in earlier as they had a cancelation. So up we go to Fort Pierce.

From the moment we entered the front door and were greeted by a staff member until we exited the premises we were made to feel like we were their friends or family.

Everyone was smiling and helpful: Don't worry we'll take care of you. The check-in process was quick and efficient. There was a lot of laughing and camaraderie between the staff and all of us!

The nurses who were administering the vaccine were top-notch;in fact if I had not felt her hand on my arm, I would not known she had injected me. We waited the allotted time, then checked out. Again, friendly goodbyes and "See you in a few weeks." And this was at almost 7 p.m. after a long day of this clinic.

Both of us were so impressed. We were not expecting this level of efficiency and professionalism.

This group of health care professionals and CVS far exceeded our expectations and we are so grateful to them all.

Neither of us has had the slightest reaction;no soreness at site no weakness/aches or pains .Looking forward to going back. When was the last time anyone thought they would look forward to a vaccination clinic?

Jan Belwood, Palm City

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Letters to the Editor: March 7, 2021 - TCPalm

What should you say to someone who doesnt plan on getting the coronavirus vaccine?

We dont worry much about measles these days, or polio, rubella or diphtheria all diseases that have had a devastating effect on the United States in years past. And the reason? Nearly everyone has been immunized for these diseases; they can no longer be transmitted because of the development of vaccines.

There are now safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19. The first two, Moderna and Pfizer, had to be shown to be safe for tens of thousands of participants in a clinical trial. What is amazing is the vaccines were 94% to 95% efficacious in preventing disease. For example, in the Moderna trial, 185 participants who didnt get the vaccine got sick with COVID-19. Thirty of them had a serious illness with 12 needing hospitalization and one died. In the group that got the vaccine, there were only 11 who were diagnosed with COVID their symptoms were mild and there were no serious infections or hospitalizations.

Now, tens of million more have received the vaccines in the U.S. since the vaccines were cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. There are still no major safety concerns. Serious allergic reactions are very rare: Anaphylaxis has been seen in 2.5 people per million for the Moderna vaccine and 4 people per million for the Pfizer vaccine.

COVID-19 can lead to severe medical complications, and death for some. There is no way to predict how the virus will affect you if you acquire it. Were seeing how COVID-19 affects those who have recovered but still suffer from ongoing symptoms, the long haulers.

Masks, social distancing and quarantine are not enough to get back to normal. The more people who are immune, the fewer can get infected and spread COVID-19 to others. Getting vaccinated is protecting yourself, protecting others and doing your part to finally make COVID-19 as rare as measles, polio, rubella and diphtheria.

The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12: Two people are better off than one because they can help each other succeed. Why not apply these two proverbs to help flatten the curve? After all, with the arrival of the vaccine, our prayers have been answered.

For anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers, risking your own life is one thing, but to put someone else in harms way is another. Nobody chose this virus, but you can make the right choice to get vaccinated so we can achieve immunity for the collective good.

2. If youre a traveler, for work or for vacation, many airlines and countries will require proof of vaccination.

3. COVID-19 can kill. If youre not worried about yourself, think about your family members and friends.

4. You may experience side effects from the vaccine, such as flu-like symptoms, but isnt that better than being on a ventilator or worse? Fact: More than 500,000 people in the United States have died of COVID-19.

5. Do it for a frontline worker. Health care workers who treat COVID-19 patients face the greatest risk of serious illness or death.

6. Lets get our lives back. How good do family gatherings, school, indoor church worship, indoor dining, sporting events, the movies and traveling sound right now?

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Here's what to say to someone afraid of the coronavirus vaccine - yoursun.com

On Sunday, NBCs Meet the Press interviewed Senator Ron Johnson. ABCs This Week interviewed House Minority Whip Steve Scalise. CBSs Face the Nation interviewed Senator Lindsey Graham. Fox News Sunday interviewed Senator Rand Paul. Theyre all Republicans and they had a message for a combined television audience of millions: Donald Trump won.

Not in those exact words, but that was the clear implication. This thing or that thingit didnt really matter what thingmeant in their view* that the former president was robbed and the legitimacy of the current president, Joe Biden, is somehow suspect.

I bring this up not because yesterday was a disaster for journalism and the integrity of the public square (though it was that). I bring this up because it seems to provide an answer to the question that haunts democratic discourse: How does a republic deal with parties that lie so intensely, so voluminously, and so shamelessly? Some say we should afford them the same respect we ourselves would expect. If we call them liars, that might encourage them to lie even more given the outrage of being called liars. Better to check their facts, state the truth and move on in hopes that they behave in kind.

This was certainly the thinking behind Frank Brunis latest, titled Must We Dance on Rush Limbaugh Grave? The Times columnist said Sunday that while the radio broadcaster, who died last week, was a white-power racist, sexist, fear-mongering, homophobic crank (not his words), its crude and rough and, worst of all, screechy to say as much about a man recently killed off by cancer. Its one thing to speak ill of the dead, Bruni wrote, but the pitch of that ill-speak neednt be screechy. The manner of it neednt be savage. It has more credibilityand I think, more impactwhen its neither of these things. And we preserve some crucial measure of civility and grace.

For four decades, Rush Limbaugh had the biggest media megaphone through which he spat poison every day straight into the ears of 20 million Americans. He lied and lied, and he lied and lied. If there were no Limbaugh, there would be no President Trump, who himself told more than 30,500 lies, falsehoods and misleading claims during four years. Their canon of lies includes lies about the covid pandemic, culminating in a death toll now exceeding half a million. Their repertoire of lies includes lies about the election, culminating in the worst attack on our government since September 11, 2001. Their stockpile of lies includes The Big One repeated Sunday by three GOP senators and one GOP House leader to the detriment of millions of television viewers. How does a republic deal with parties that lie nonstop? Theres never been an easy answer. Whatever it is, its not civility and grace alone, because they alone do not work.

Its not that I think Bruni is wrong to remind people to follow the Golden Rule. Hes correct, in a purely abstract sense, to say that, If youre going to fling your opinions at the world, you must be braced for the world to fling its reaction back at you. Those are the terms of the contract. But we are not talking about public morality in the abstract. We are talking about public morality in this place and in this time and in the spirit of defending our republic from ghouls who have conspired, and are still conspiring, to bring it down. Moreover, a Golden Rule thats wholly decontextualized and dehistoricized can be a gag preventing us from speaking the truth and silencing all but the most powerful.

You know who Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) is. During last weeks deep freeze in Texas, she started a fundraiser that has raised, as of publication, nearly $5 million to alleviate hunger and suffering in the Lone Star State. She was doing for Texans what youd think Texans would do for her (and other New Yorkers). But instead of gratitude, the Texas Republican Party answered generosity with slander: The gesture is appreciated, but it doesnt remove the fact that her Green New Deal philosophy failed Texans, wrote Chairman Allen West.

Fact No. 1: The Green New Deal is Ocasio-Cortezs policy idea; its not anything more yet.

Fact No. 2: Texas has nothing to do with her policy idea.

Fact 3: Wind power accounts for 10 percent of energy production in Texas. Conclusion: West is smearing Ocasio-Cortez even as shes trying to help.

This is clear later when he writes that Ocasio-Cortezs charity is not charity. What appears to be the Golden Rule is actually something sinister. West wrote: What Texans found out this week is that wind energy, and solar, are not reliable, dependable, and available energy resources. Therefore, maam [Ocasio-Cortez], youre not going to buy off Texans for your green new deal energy pipe dream for $2 million [my italics]. Ocasio-Cortez did not blame Texas politicians for the straits theyre in. Her pitch has not been screechy, as Frank Bruni wrote. Her manner has not been savage. She has been living up to the Golden Rule according to Brunis advice. But what does she get in return? Lies, slander, contempt, and rancid accusations of trying to buy off Texans.

Ocasio-Cortez (as well as Beto ORourke, whos also raised impressive sums) is modeling what Texans could expect from a government of, by and for the people. Thats a threat to corrupt parties like the Texas GOP. Its therefore in the interest of people like West to run Ocasio-Cortez down, even if he comes off as gauche in the process. Fact is, coming off as gauche might be a good thing, as a lack of manners and etiquette and decorum tends to look like authentic strength, and, when thats set side-by-side with kindness, authentic strength usually wins though its a lie. The real problem, West might as well have said, isnt that Texas is corrupt. The real problem isnt that the states government failed its people. The real problem is carpetbaggers and their New York values coming down here, making us look bad. Thats not nice.

As I said, Bruni isnt wrong in terms of substance. Hes wrong in terms of engagement. Hes so aloof as to be extraterrestrial. This is the world we live in. This is the world we struggle to change. Its not going to change if truth stops at the border of politeness.

*I put view in quotes, because a lie is not an opinion.

**Ted Cruz went to Cancun. Gov. Greg Abbott is AWOL.

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When the Golden Rule is Used to Silence Dissent and Protect the Politically Powerful - Religion Dispatches

The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics by Tim Harford

Published in February of 2021.

For higher ed readers, Tim Harfords The Data Detective arrives at an interesting time. We are all motivated to make data-driven decisions around how our institutions should respond to evolving COVID-19 public health situation.

(Note: After writing this sentence about academic leaders making data-driven decisions, I realize that this is more assumption than fact. Future research might want to look at how colleges and universities made their decisions during the pandemic.)

One idea to help colleges and universities make better decisions about operations during COVID-19 would be to require all decision-makers to read and discuss The Data Detective.

Is it a thing for provosts (or whoever runs the COVID-19 response process) to assign reading? Can we imagine a scenario where a campus group or committee charged with making data-driven recommendations spent one of the meetings talking about a book?

As an academic who spent his formative years mostly teaching, Ive never quite shaken instinct to assign reading. In my perfect imaginary alt-ac career universe, every meeting would be part book-clubbing.

The reason that I think that The Data Detective is well suited for these postsecondary times is that Harford provides the reader with a framework for how to think about statistics. This framework, developed across the books ten chapters as rules (or commandments), is nicely applicable to a broad range of decisions that rely on (or should rely on) data.

Harfords ten rules for using statistics are:

In the final chapter, Harford integrates all these rules with what he calls the golden rule of data-driven analysis. That is the commandment always to be curious.

Of course, sound statistical reasoning in higher ed should not be restricted to our COVID-19 response. Those of us who work in campus units such as centers for teaching and learning (CTLs) and other similar campus units have been pushing for years for more evidence-based choices in the educational technologies and instructional methods that our schools adopt. (See Justin Reichs superb book Failure to Disrupt if you want to check out an entire book on this topic).

Going back to COVID, higher ed, and The Data Detective - we are now at the point where decisions will have to be made about how our colleges and universities will be run in the months ahead.

Possible questions include: At what point will all students come back to campus if that has not already happened? When will face-to-face courses fully return? Will classroom teaching be done differently, how so, and for how long? How might we make decisions about campus face-to-face interactions for immunocompromised students, faculty, and staff? What levels of density will we be comfortable with campus building and at campus events?

The first step in figuring out the post-pandemic university will be figuring out which questions to ask. The Data Detective provides a useful reminder that the areas subjected to statistical analysis are never values neutral. What we choose to measure or gather data on is a reflection of a set of priorities, biases, and beliefs. In making data-driven decisions, we should always be asking what data are missing.

Not all books should be read through a higher ed lens. Not every book should be a tool for helping us figure out how to help navigate our schools through the pandemic. Tim Harford is a wonderful writer. Ive read everything hes written since his first book, The Undercover Economist, which came out in 2005.

Still, at this time, my mind is mostly on how COVID-19 will change higher education. Maybe after we get through this crazy time, Ill turn my thoughts to some other giant challenge. (Leading contender: higher eds response to climate change).

If you are a numbers geek or a statistical nerd - or just like hanging out with these folks - you will enjoy and appreciate The Data Detective. No thinking about the post-pandemic university required.

What are you reading?

Read more:

Reading 'The Data Detective' to Help Us Make Evidence-Based Decisions About the Post-Pandemic University | Learning Innovation - Inside Higher Ed

Gov. Tony Evers delivers his second budget address Tuesday in a prerecorded video, rather than in the traditional address to the Legislature, another change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Jeff Smith | Democratic member, Wisconsin Senate

Budgets are necessary to keep us on track, lay out our priorities and work toward what we want to accomplish. Every two years, the governor introduces a budget that reflects the values of our state. The state budget is a moral document just as much as its a financial map for the years ahead. When state leaders approve the budget, were showing the world who we are and what we stand for.

At a time when America was building back after the social and economic crisis of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt famously said, The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. I consider these words as the golden rule for our states budgeting responsibility.

Gov. Evers appears to already be following the golden rule set by President Roosevelt. Gov. Evers introduced his 2021-23 budget earlier this month, but he set some impressive goals in previous weeks that should make Wisconsinites proud. The governors budget will go a long way toward supporting our small businesses and critical industries, making health care more affordable and helping communities across our state recover from the pandemic.

The budget aims to address many of the issues that were apparent long before the pandemic, but were made even more visible in the past year, including Wisconsins agricultural crisis. The governor prioritized rural prosperity efforts last year and is, once again, committed to strengthening Wisconsins essential industry. His budget proposal invests $43 million to support our farmers, provide additional mental health resources and create partnerships throughout the food supply industry. More than $28 million of this investment will go toward expanding agricultural market opportunities, supporting new and innovating farming practices and strengthening our agricultural workforce.

Link:

Sen. Jeff Smith: Gov. Evers' budget reflects the priorities of the people - Madison.com