Daily Thoughts & Issues

IN THIS ISSUE:

DECEMBER 23

Days left until the next millennium 01.01.3001

Just a Reminder

December 23 -Independence Day in Japan - The Emperor's Birthday * Bob Hope agrees to entertain US airmen in Alaska for Christmas, beginning nearly 30 years of his Christmas shows for US armed forces around the world. (1942). * Birthday of Joseph Smith (1805), founder of the Mormon Church. He promoted a religion that was rational, egalitarian, and communitarian, and worshipped Deity as a Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. The Mystic's Wheel of the Year * Established the Federal Reserve System (1913) that serves as the nation's central bank and is responsible for execution of monetary policy. It is called on to contribute to the strength and vitality of the US economy, in part by influencing the lending and investing activities of commercial banks and the cost and availability of money and credit. * Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager set a new world record of 216 hours of continuous flight (1987, breaking their over record of 111 hours set in 1986. The flight took 24,986 miles at an official speed of 115 miles per hour. * Congress passed Public Law 94-168, known as the Metric Conversion Act of 1975. This act declares that the International System of Units will be this country's basic system of measurement and establishes the US Metric Board which is responsible for the planning, coordination and implementation of the nation's voluntary conversion to SI. In 1875, the US became one of the original signers of the Treaty of the Metre, which established an international metric system. * Tojo Hideki, prime minister of Japan from 1941 to 1944, was arrested as a war criminal, tried by a military tribunal and sentenced to death in 1948. He was hanged (with six other Japanese wartime military leaders) at Sugamo Prison, Tokyo, 1948. * The transistor was invented 1947, which led to a revolution in communications and electronics. It was smaller, lighter, more durable, more reliable and generated less heat than the vacuum tube that had been used up to this time. * Birthdays: Joseph Smith, Eddie Vedder, Akihito, Jose Greco, James Gregory, Corey Haim, James Joseph (Jim) Harbaugh, Gerald O'Loughlin. And a Special to Robert Bly

DAILY THOUGHTS

The best was in a Ford Explorer at the beach. The cops caught us, but they were kind enough to wait until we were finished. - Gladys, 43 Best of 1001 Sex Secrets Every Man & Woman Should Know

Consider creating a holiday scrapbook or photo album. Favorite holiday cards, photos of friends and relatives, or a program from the school play - things that help make the holiday special are wonderful memories to carry into the new year. Dr. Buff's 365 Day Parenting Calendar

We have to prepare our consciousness for a glimpse of the sacred and eternal. And that requires another level of letting go. We need to change the way we measure time and to relax our insistence on control. New Passages

Christmas Superstitions:  A baby born on Christmas has the gift of prophecy. Girls born on Christmas will be wise, witty and virtuous. Never pick apples or nuts from the ground on Christmas. Never throw ashes out on Christmas, it's bad luck. The Old Farmer's Almanac

When we nurture ourselves and others without a primary concern of finding reward, then we will have become lovable, and the reward of being loved, which we have not sought, will find us. So it is with human love and so it is with God's love. The Road Less Traveled

Running away from something is no way to find what is needed. Defending against loneliness is no way to establish a relationship. We may have to befriend our loneliness and even our loveless life. Soul Mates

Things to Be Happy About:  Eating healthy. A good song title. Family fun night. 14,000 Things to Be Happy About

Just as iron rusts from disuse, so does inaction spoil the intellect. - Leonardo DaVinci Achieve Your Dreams

Just keep going. Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me

It's Christmas Eve and you're run out of wrapping paper. Don't make a mad dash to the store; use your kids' artwork, the art from last year's calendar, or colorful magazine or catalog covers. If Life is a Game, These are the Rules

In 1976, the San Francisco sheriff's department became the first in the US to hire openly gay and lesbian law enforcement officers. Gay & Lesbian Calendar

O to 2: How Love Boosts Brainpower. When we think about the qualities we'd like to instill in our children, our instincts tell us we should try to foster both intelligence and empathy, curiosity and compassion. Aren't reason and emotion separate and competing function that require completely different types of nurturing? New research has found that the highest aspects of mental development can be traced to the same source: a child's loving interaction with their parent in the first years of life. As surprising as it may seem, problem-solving skills are more closely linked to a young child's everyday emotional experiences than they are to playing with blocks or puzzles.  Parents Tips & Tricks

Confirmatory bias is the tendency to find what we believe. Believe that you can overcome your problems and manage your stresses and you will probably find the ability to do so. Stress Busters

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. - Dale Carnegie. To Do Today

La escolta (ehsKOHLtah) Escort. Le puedo dar escolta a la fiesta?  Can I escort you to the party?  Living Language

*SPECIAL Robert Bly, author of Iron John: A book about men and a leader in the men's movement in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Born in Madison, MN (1926.)

TODAY'S ISSUE: SINGLENESS

I am not unbalanced in transition between the centering stability of a relationship. I am single. It is my choice of how to be in the world. - Nett Hart

Balanced singleness is a rare choice today. At early ages we feel pressured to form couples, to live coupled. Architects, engineers, and the Internal Revenue Service all penalize singleness, and our society regards it as a temporary condition. Those of us who can't imagine life unpaired worry about family members who deliberately choose it.

For a person who is at peace with herself or himself, this may be the perfect choices. Singleness doesn't mean either selfishness or solitude; it may mean simply that one feels happy and fulfilled living alone. Those who chafe and worry about single friends or family members may have some unresolved difficulties about their own lives, their own coupledness or their place in the family. Rather than question their own uneasy balance, they project their woes onto someone else. Everyone has different spiritual needs and for some, serenity comes with singleness. Family Feelings

Hey Man: Did you make a difference yesterday? Let us know at Contact Us. Other people's choices don't have to suit me; I can live only one life at a time. Family Feelings Want to make a difference but you don't know where to start?

BOOK OF THE WEEK

The Dumbest Generation: How the digital age stupefies young Americans and jeopardizes our future (0r, don't trust anyone under 30) by Mark Bauerlein. Do the digital diversions of the young cut kids off from history, civics, literature, fine art? Does mounting screen time dumb them down? The author thinks "Yes." And this book was designed to open debate for sober skepticism. It was to counter the sanguine portraits of informed and agile teens at the keyboard with dismaying survey results and illustrations of youth insulation and ignorance, kids shunning books and vaunting their digital nativity. We won't know the full intellectual impact of text messaging, Web 2.0, Facebook and the rest for many years and it will show up in distant measures such as the money firms spend on writing coaches for employees, the number of students in remedial classes, popular demand that politicians elevate their rhetoric, and whether the vocabulary level of newspapers inches downward or upward. This book is definitely a wake-up call. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2009, ISBN 978-1-58542-712-3

 

SPECIAL URLs

 

MENSTUFF COLUMNS BY AUTHOR

  • The Advice Diva - The Advice Diva - relationship and sexuality issues discussed - www.menstuff.org/columns/advicediva/archive.html
  • Peter Alsop - Song of the Month - www.menstuff.org/columns/alsop/archive.html
  • Reid Baer - A Man Overboard - Interview of the Month - www.menstuff.org/columns/overboard/archive.html
  • Reid Baer - Poetry - poetry read on YouTube - www.menstuff.org/columns/baer/archive.html
  • Molly Barrow - Shrink About This - www.menstuff.org/columns/barrow/archive.html
  • Peter Baylies - At Home Dads - on at-home-dad issues that impact fathers who stay at home to raise their kids - www.menstuff.org/columns/baylies/archive.html
  • Tom Blake - Middle-Age Relationships - from an expert on dating after 50. www.menstuff.org/columns/blake/archive.html
  • Mark Brandenburg - Great Fathers - on fathering issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/greatfathers/archive.html
  • Ted Braude - BoysWork - a columnist in the The Detroit Free Press "Body and Mind" section www.menstuff.org/columns/braude/archive.html
  • Armin Brott - A Father's Guide - hosts "Positive Parenting" on radio www.menstuff.org/columns/brott/archive.html
  • Dan Bulf - Get Real - weekly pod cast on men's issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/bulf/archive.html
  • Ken Byers - Transition - on men's life transitions - www.menstuff.org/columns/byers/archive.html
  • Sandra L. Caron - Sex Talk - college students get answers to their questions - www.menstuff.org/columns/sextalk/archive.html
  • Neil Chethik - Relationships - www.menstuff.org/columns/chethik/archive.html
  • Otto & Susie Collins - Susie and Otto - relationship issues discussed - www.menstuff.org/columns/susie&otto/archive.html
  • David Copeland - How to Succeed with Women - www.menstuff.org/columns/howtosucceed/archive.html
  • Forrest Craver - Spirituality & Social Change - www.menstuff.org/columns/craver/archive.html
  • Layne & Paul Cutright - Powerful Partnerships - relationship issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/cutright/archive.html
  • Ron DesMarais - Cavemen in the Kitchen - great recipes for men - www.menstuff.org/columns/desmarais/archive.html
  • Jed Diamond - Irritable Male Syndrome - www.menstuff.org/columns/diamond/archive.html
  • Doc Love - Women Don't Lie, Man Don't Listen - answers to relationship issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/doclov/archive.html
  • Barry Durdant-Hollamby - Creating Change - creating change in your life - www.menstuff.org/columns/durdant/archive.html
  • Irv Engel - The Real Deal - www.menstuff.org/columns/engel/archive.html
  • Nancy Fagan - Expert Dating Advice - with Nancy Fagan - www.menstuf.org/columns/fagan/archive.html
  • Warren Farrell - Men's Issues: Facts and Perspectives www.menstuff.org/columns/farrell/archive.html
  • Leonard Felder - Wake Up or Break Up - www.menstuff.org/columns/felder/archive.html
  • Marty Friedman - Strong Men, Strong Marriage - www.menstuff.org/columns/friedman/archive.html
  • Kim Garretson - Mansgland - using humor to encourage prostate exams - www.menstuff.org/columns/mansgland/archive.html
  • Lion Goodman - How to get Women to Love You - www.menstuff.org/columns/goodman/archive.html
  • Liz Halliday - In a Man's World - www.menstuff.org/columns/halliday/archive.html
  • Rick Hanson - Just One Thing - www.menstuff.org/columns/hanson/archive.html
  • Tim Hartnett - Daddyman Speaks - being a father www.menstuff.org/columns/daddyman/archive.html
  • John Hershey - Blood, Phlegm & Bile: Parenting with Humor - He writes a syndicated biweekly humor column about parenting and family life. www.menstuff.org/columns/hershey/archive.html
  • Gary Hoeber - Psychotherapy as Soul Work, www.menstuff.org/columns/hoeber/archive.html
  • Patrick Houser - Fathers Make a World of Difference, www.menstuff.org/columns/houser/archive.html
  • Paul Joannides - The Guide to Getting It On - on sex - www.menstuff.org/columns/getiton/archive.html
  • Jack Kahn - NOMAS Boston - www.menstuff.org/columns/kahn/archive.html
  • Patrick Kennedy - Seniors - www.menstuff.org/columns/kennedy/archive.html
  • Joe Kort - Gaydar - to increase understanding between gay and het men - www.menstuff.org/columns/kort/archive.html
  • David Kundtz - David Kundtz - presents seminars, workshops, retreats, and conference presentations in the areas of men's emotional health, stress management, and spirituality. www.menstuff.org/columns/kundtz/archive.html
  • Bruce Linton - Dr. Dad - on fathering - www.menstuff.org/columns/drdad/archive.html
  • Ron Louis - How to Succeed with Women - www.menstuff.org/columns/howtosucceed/archive.html
  • Wendy McElroy - Wendy McElroy on Feminism, www.menstuff.org/columns/mcelroy/archive.html
  • Robert N. Minor - Minor Details - on GBT sexuality - www.menstuff.org/columns/minordetails/archive.html
  • Robert L. Moore - Man & Mythology - www.menstuff.org/columns/moore/archive.html
  • Dennis W. Neder - Being a Man - general questions about men's lives - www.menstuff.org/columns/neder/archive.html
  • Marty Nemko - Worklife - general questions about men and work - www.menstuff.org/columns/nemko/archive.html
  • Eli Newberger - Eli Newberger - general information on men's lives - www.menstuff.org/columns/newberger/archive.html
  • Linda Nielsen - Embracing the Father - working with the father/daughter relationship. www.menstuff.org/columns/nielsen/archive.html
  • Kathy Noll - Bullies and Youth Violence - working with schools, teachers and parents to end school violence - www.menstuff.org/columns/noll/archive.html
  • Mark Phillips - Stay-at-Home-Dads - helping men maintain that which makes us men, instead of becoming hairy Mom-substitutes - www.menstuff.org/columns/phillips/archive.html
  • Carey Roberts - Socialism & Feminism - is a social commentator on political correctness. www.menstuff.org/columns/roberts/archive.html
  • Perry Rose - Dating, Relationship, Sex
  • Glenn Sacks - His Side - on fathering - www.menstuff.org/columns/sacks/archive.html
  • Trudy Schuett - Domestic Violence - serving the under-represented www.menstuff.org/columns/schuett/archive.html
  • Carl J. Schutt - Circumcision - social commentator on circumcision - www.menstuff.org/columns/schutt/archive.html
  • Hugo Schwyzer - A Pro-feminist's Response - www.menstuff.org/columns/schwyzer/archive.html
  • Michael Shaffran - Men's Issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/shaffran/archive.html
  • Judith Sherven - Judith & Jim - discussion and answers regarding relationship issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/judith&jim/archive.html
  • Judith Sherven - The New Intimacy - www.menstuff.org/columns/newintimacy/archive.html
  • George Simons - Bellicose Veins - is a US specialist in intercultural and gender communication who hangs out in Mandelieu - la Napoule, France, as well as in Santa Cruz, CA. www.menstuff.org/columns/simons/archive.html
  • Andy Smith - Hard Hat Brotherhood - www.menstuff.org/columns/hardhat/archive.html
  • David B. Smith - Fighting Father Dave - www.menstuff.org/columns/smith/archive.html
  • Jim Sniechowski - Judith & Jim - discussion and answers regarding relationship issues - www.menstuff.org/columns/judith&jim/archive.html
  • Jim Sniechowski - The New Intimacy - www.menstuff.org/columns/newintimacy/archive.html
  • Reena Sommer - Custody - is an internationally recognized relationship and divorce consultant. www.menstuff.org/columns/sommer/archive.html
  • R. Don Steele - Don Steele - relationship questions answered -
    www.menstuff.org/columns/steele/archive.html
  • David Steinberg - Comes Naturally - on sexuality - www.menstuff.org/columns/steinberg/archive.html
  • Mary Lou St Lucas - A Mother's Love - www.menstuf.org/columns/stlucas/archive.html
  • Surprise - Surprise Author - From a new columnist every month - www.menstuff.org/columns/surprise/archive.html
  • Steven Svoboda - Fatherhood, Activism and the Law www.menstuff.org/columns/svoboda/archive.html
  • Michael Taylor - A New Conversation with Men - www.menstuff.org/columns/taylor/archive.html
  • Bruce Van Horn - Yoga for Men - issues around the health benefits of yoga for men - www.menstuff.org/yoga/archive.html
  • Michael Webb - Secrets of Blissful Relationships - on relationship - www.menstuff.org/columns/bliss/archive.html
  • Stuart Wilde - Spirituality - www.menstuff.org/columns/wilde/archive.html
  • Dr.Williams - Sex Health - on sexual health - Dr. Williams, www.menstuff.org/columns/sexhealth/archive.html
  • KC Wilson - On Gender Politics is a social commentator and author. www.menstuff.org/columns/wilson/archive.html

Plus

  • Health Tips - on general health - www.menstuff.org/columns/healthtips/archive.html
  • Independent Means - resources for raising financially fit kids - www.menstuff.org/columns/independentmeans/archive.html
  • Numbers - www.menstuff.org/columns/numbers/archive.html
  • Questions - www.menstuff.org/columns/q&a/archive.html
  • Surprise - from a new columnist every month - www.menstuff.org/columns/surprise/archive.html
  • Words Can Heal - helping children grow up healthy - www.menstuff.org/columns/wordscanheal/archive.html
  • Wuzup?! - National or international events happening this month - www.menstuff.org/columns/whassup/archive.html

AWARENESS EVENTS THIS MONTH

December is Kidstuff month. Also check Toy Safety and Happy Holidaze. Holiday Designated Driver, Colorectal Cancer Education and Awareness; Hug-A-Week for Hearing Impaired; International Calendar Awareness; *National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention; National Stress-Free Family Holidays; Safe Toys and Gifts; Universal Human Rights Month.

11/1-12/13: Merlin's Snug Hugs for Kids, 11/27-12/26: Ramadan. 11/1/00-01/01/01: Tie One on the Safety; 11/4-12/4: Jewish Book Month. 11/26-12/25: Operation Blessing International's 30 Days of Holiday Hope. 12/1-7: National Aplastic Anemia Awareness; Tolerance; 12/10-16: *Human Rights Week. 12/15-21: International Language Week 12/16-24: Posadas.. 12/17-23: Tell Someone They're Doing a Good Job Week. 12/22-29: Chanukah. 12/25-31: It's About Time Week. 12/26-1/1: Kwanzaa. 12/1: Day without Art/*UN World AIDS Day; 12/2: Pan American Health; International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, Advent/Festival of Lights. 12/3: UN International Day of Disabled Persons. 12/5: Bathtub Party; International Volunteer Day for Economy and Social Development Day. 12/7: *National Pearl Harbor Remembrance; UN International Civil Aviation Day. 12/9: UN Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948). 12/10: * Human Rights; International Shareware; UN Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination Day. 12/12: Poinsettia Day. 12/15: *Bill of Rights; Underdog; One Day. 12/17: End Violence Against Sex Workers (International) *Pan American Aviation; Wright Brothers Day. 12/20: Louisiana Purchase; Mudd Day. 12/21: Forefathers'; Humbug; Phileas Fogg Wins a Wager; World Peace Day. 12/25: Christmas, A'phabet Day. 12/26: National Whiner's; Boxing Day. 12/28: Holy Innocents Day. 12/29: UN International Day for Biological Diversity Day. 12/31: Namahage (Japan); Make Up Your Mind Day. World Peace Meditation.

* Means a Presidential Proclamation has been made.

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Men are so competitive that we even "out-die" women in all 15 of the major causes of death in the U.S. Most of these deaths are preventable with a positive change in life-style, eating habits, and/or general health care. Let's not strive so hard to hold on to this record. See what you can change now to live a healthier life.
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