Daily Intent

Santa Barbara, CA
Sir Ken Robinson redefined intelligence and education in his speech at a recent TED event.  He challenged our system that consistently tells children, “you’ll never get a job doing that.”  He challenged the system that doesn’t allow children to make mistakes and dare to be wrong.

He contends our intelligence is diverse, dynamic and distinct.

However, school trains us to lose touch with first our toes, then our legs, then our waist,  on upward, with our body ultimately becoming but a vehicle to get one side of our brain around town.

Dramatic?  Maybe.  But founded in many truths?  Definitely.

The current system, he postulates, trains students to be professors that are specialists at living in their heads, but horrible at functioning their own bodies.   In short, turn on the music and watch a room full of professors dance out of rhythm.

When I entered the university, everything was focused on technology.  By the time I graduated, the tech bubble had burst, and start-ups weren’t so glamorous.   However, the financial and housing markets were all the rave.  Hedge Funds were proven ways to invest and garner huge returns.  Millionaires were being made in owning a home.

What does this teach us?

The markets evolve and transform rapidly.  We can no longer teach to industries.  We can no longer tell kids you will never get a job doing that.

What we can do is encourage children to discover their true talents, learn to question, learn to see opportunities.  Be different.

For when we dare to be wrong, when we accept the possibilities of failing, we open ourselves up to being unique and creative.  We live out our true talents.  We invent.  And we better our surroundings. 

Check out the talk:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
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Catalyst - Meeting of the Minds - “Tapping global resources, locally”
Niels Johnson-Lameijer, Corporate and Life Mastery Coach. August 26th. This Wednesday. 12pm.
Buy your ticket today!
 Visit http://www.catalystsb.org/meetingoftheminds
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Buzzword: Circumlocution
1. The use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language.
2. Evasion in speech or writing.
3. A roundabout expression.
4. A style that involves indirect ways of expressing things.
5. An indirect way of expressing something.
www.freedictionary.com

Of late, many politicians and business leaders are on the “circumlocution train”.  The public wants answers and responsibility taken for this economic downturn, yet very few of them want to lose their job or have their legacy tarnished.

  Six Points to Ponder:

   1. Markets. They are back to their recent bullish ways - The Dow is trading at 9571, S&P 500 at 1031 and the Nasdaq is at 2029.  Oil is up almost $10, $75/bbl.
   2. Bernanke Nomination.  Because he “approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom,” President Obama nominated Ben Bernanke for a second term as Federal Reserve Chairman.
   3. Happy Home Prices.   Pent up demand coupled with the government incentives has led to multiple offer situations. Home prices experienced their first quarterly rise, 2.9%, in three years.
   4. Concluding Cash for Clunkers.  Were you one to take advantage of the government clunkers incentive or did you wake up this morning to once again see your neighbor’s dilapidated 1978 Chevy Pick-Up quietly chilling on their front lawn?   The incentives ended yesterday.  You’ll have to deal.   Deal with capitalizing on the “cash for appliances”.
   5. Home Lender Bankrupt.  The 12th largest home lender, Taylor Bean, went bankrupt after the government cutoff their main food supply.  
   6. Little League Dominance.  Have you seen the Chula Vista team?  They dominate.  10 runs or more each game.  10 homeruns in just 2 games.  12 / 13yr olds that look like Albert Pujols.  Scary.

Positives:

    * Many world leaders used this week to proclaim the end to the world recession.  Our very own, Bernanke, came out with “cautiously upbeat” remarks.   Investors, too, have been upbeat.  The housing data, home prices up and news expected out tomorrow about new home sales up 1.6% in July, strengthened their foundation for the positive.
    * Bernanke, a Great Depression expert, has strategically positioned himself, despite the many acquisitions, to be the one that leads our nation out of this recession.
    * If you have money leftover and need a refrigerator that keeps it cool, then you’ll love the government’s latest attempt to heat up the appliance market.  November, it’s believed, appliances will on the cheap.
    * The Little League World Series is one of my favorite times of year.  Some will leave as heroes; international competition; and innocence before they hit middle school. Nostalgia is in full force.

Negatives:

    * Nouriel Roubini, the NYU professor that predicted the subprime meltdown, came out this week expressing high concern for a “double-dip” recession.  The end to government stimuli, monetary and fiscal, will shove our new found spirits back under.  Moreover, Barclays projected foreclosures to peak at 1.15million in mid 2010 as rates increase, ARM loans come due, unemployment remains high, and homeowners get behind on their payments.  Our July foreclosure levels were just over half this number, 688K.  These theorists believe the road ahead continues to look grim.
    * Though I do believe the government needs to infuse the economy with extra spending to support our efforts of stabilization, I would much rather see them incentivize innovation.  Promoting personal spending on appliances, which in turn will lower our nation’s dependence on energy, is nice in theory, but short in vision.  More credit card debt.  Let us expand minds with our money, not debt.
    * Taylor Bean, it is believed, was committing fraud.  The government in response pulled their usual offerings, sinking TBs abilities to sell competitive loan programs.  Almost overnight the company was laying off thousands and shutting their doors. 

Local:

90th Annual SB Kennel Club Dog Show
Where: Earl Warren Show Grounds
When: Friday - Sunday. 8am - 6pm.
Cost: $5 - $20
Why:  “Look at the puppies!” …entertainment at its simplest.

Live and Be Well,

Jeff Bochsler