On the Grid w/Some Brief Personal Thoughts....

It has been quite a challenging and tragic week.   As such, I refrained from sharing some personal thoughts on the one year anniversary of the Daily Outsider Twitter Channel.     It truly blew me away as I helped to launch the Daily Outsider Twitter Channel that has been at it for a year--to do what can be done to give back, to encourage and to empower as much as possible.     What a journey it has been so far!!!

I will be "taking it easy" for a few days over my own Twitter Feed for some personal introspection as I also work away on some pressing projects.     The #Outsider team will be continuing with the Daily Twitter Curation as it prepares for the Friday Musical Interlude.     We also had some excitement here in South Orange County as a fire was going on south of Laguna Niguel.    A helicopter just flew over me as it went down to get water from Laguna Niguel Lake to fight the fire.      

As I go dark here in these pages over the ensuing days,   I hope all enjoy the periodic #quote on my Personal Twitter Feed and the Latest that is published for me by the team at Paper Li, I saw this that truly spoke to me:

A mid-wk "view of the wk" hope all enjoy as I wish all a grt rest of the wk https://t.co/toRcJsiQ3B

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) June 15, 2016

Being thankful, taking care of oneself, working hard  and giving back is resonating ever more.    It has been the driving force behind #outsiders--it has been a challenging journey and doubts have persisted as I have seen the at times what I'm up against.    But if the great Diane Nyad at the age of 64 was able to overcome the challenges as she did, so can I!!

Onward!!!!

On the Prowl For the Day w/Thoughts on our World, The US Campaign & Staying Hopeful....

I had the pleasure to attend a lecture at the Soka University of America last night on the final day of a summit held at Soka to fulfill a vision that the founder of Soka, Dr. Ikeda, had on being Global Citizens and how there needed to be a sense of transformation vital to our future.   This is as I saw this during my morning review from the Fortune's Alan Murray on his CEO Daily newsletter this morning: 

Underlying these trends is a general revolt against the elite - with business leaders as well as political leaders included in that tent. That's the real lesson of the Brexit vote, as well as the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the U.S. And it's probably the biggest challenge leaders of large global companies face in the years ahead. They need to find a way to restore the public's trust in their businesses and in the global economic system, or see that system continue to erode. No small task.

I was on the prowl last night as I was trying to understand Donald Trump's "ban" on the Washington Post after a speech he gave yesterday that was just absolutely beyond the pale in terms of conspiracy theories.     The blame game and even having the nerve to implicate the President was mind-boggling especially as his misstatements continue--Joe Scarborough called it lies--and I for one was grateful to hin as an ordinary face.    One reality in the United States was brought to bear in this Sydney Morning Herald Column which I made it a point of tagging the GOP on.     The last 24 hours underscores a simple fact I have underscored:   unless something drastic happens, Hillary Clinton will be the next President of the United States.

 As I have been assessing our World and supporting the work on #Outsiders over the ensuing days, there is a very interesting news about how the Democratic National Committee having been hacked by Russians and supposedly having had data on Donald Trump stolen.      There are two very interesting developments  in Technology that the #Outsiders Team team will be assessing:  the Microsoft/LinkedIn Purchase and how a Federal Appeals Court has upheld the Obama Administration's net neutrality rules--that I personally view as  hopeful for startups like the Daily Outsider.

As I finish off these thoughts, I took comfort in this thought: 

15 Uplifting Quotes for Positive Vibes Positive mind. Positive life. Read more →

.

Onward.....

Quite A Day: Working Away @DailyOutsider w/Thoughts on #Orlando & the Campaign....

It has been a busy Monday @ #Outsiders as we have beeen busy w/the Daily Twitter Curation (and I have also been a bit busy on my Personal Twitter Feed).    It was gratifying to see how the World has come together as epitomized by Paris tonight remembering the fallen in Orlando:  

#ParisStandsWithOrlando #LoveWins pic.twitter.com/2OISfTuKxB

— La tour Eiffel (@LaTourEiffel) June 13, 2016

The political battles though have already begun as Mr. Trump made his major speech calling for a ban and being tough.    He also went on an extended attack against Mrs. Clinton as he also came out yet again strongly in favor of his view of the 2nd Amendment.   As he on the one hand said that the "muslims have to cooperate", he also noted how he would support all.

It was also interesting how he came out with this as reported by the Washington Examiner:    

News from WashingtonExaminer.com

Trump revokes Washington Post's access to his campaign June 13, 2016 04:51 PM By Gabby Morrongiello Donald Trump has blocked Washington Post reporters from receiving press credentials to his campaign events, citing the publication's "incredibly inaccurate coverage." "Based on the incredibly inaccurate coverage and reporting of the record setting Trump campaign, we are hereby revoking the press credentials of the phony and dishonest Washington Post ," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee wrote on his Facebook page Monday. Read the full story here >. I made it a point of sending  a quick tweet to Jeff Bezos to note how I hope The Washington Post team wore this revocation as a badge of honor.    I suppose +USA TODAY and +The New York Times are next especially after their stories about how Mr. Trump's business dealings have left such a trail of destruction for   many small businesses.   I wonder if and when their turn will come as the Washington Post did its' job: Truly interesting times....

Working Away w/Notations For the W-End: on #Iran, @POTUS, #Yazidis & Other Thoughts.....

It was another insightful day of service and reflection.    For me, it began as I joined the youth of the Aliso Niguel Second Harvest Food Bank Club on a morning of service as we helped harvest onions, squash,  and green beans:



As I worked away, it was a marvel to be witness to how people come out as they are supporting the Second Harvest Food Bank's Incredible Edible Farm.     I have learnt so much about farming from the Second Harvest' Raul in understanding the basics of farming--I don't mind noting that I was exhausted after the 2 hours I spent there.

After pulling myself together, I worked away doing some work at the Daily Outsider and other projects before heading out to attend a lecture by Professor Touraj Darayee of UC Irvine--one of the preeminent scholars of Iranian History.   The insights he shared with the audience blew me away--stories that have to be told.    We have to embrace history and be prepared for it to evolve--I could not agree with him more.

As Pandora plays in the  background, I also had a chance to pick up President Obama's commencement address at Howard University: 

He was in his element--for sure.         If anyone has 45 minutes, it is worth listening to.   For me, though, what I found especially heartening as I worked away was the courageous stance by Mitt Romney that he has taken against Donald Trump.      I made it a point of visiting Mitt Romney's Facebook wall to thank him for the courageous stance he has taken.   It is true that he praised Donald Trump in 2012--however as Professor Daraye reminded us, we have to be prepared for history to evolve.       What is problematic about Mr. Trump is what Mr. Romney noted as "trickle down racism" that is at the heart of the campaign as Mr. Trump has been relentless in attacks against all and asking the GOP to "Man Up".

As I finish off these thoughts, what continues to sustain me and give me hope is to be witness to what I saw today at The Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County's Incredible Edible Farm and what I saw today at Professor Darayee's Lecture.       It was thereafter quite timely as this hit the inbox for #Outsiders which I wanted to share--and the image put forth by +Jonathan Huie and his team as this was sent out was from a Yazidi Refugee Camp (and I was so glad to see that Amal Clooney will be bringing a case before the International Criminal Court to highlight the plight of the Yazidis):

 

I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing,

than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.

- Robert E. Lee

'Tis the business of little minds to shrink,

but they whose heart is firm,

and whose conscience approves their conduct,

will pursue their principles unto death.

- Thomas Paine

The man who has won millions at the cost of his conscience is a failure.

- B. C. Forbes

There are only two ways to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball.

One is to have a clear conscience,

and the other is to have no conscience at all.

- Ogden Nash (paraphrase)

Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?

Expediency asks the question - is it politic?

Vanity asks the question - is it popular?

But conscience asks the question - is it right?

And there comes a time when one must take a position

that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular;

but one must take it BECAUSE it is right.

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Onward to the new week with all its' possiblities.....

On the Eve of the W-End: On Community Spirit, the Art of the Possible & Muhammad Ali.....

It is "officially" summer for me as School has ended.   I will be again on the road Saturday on Community Initiatives.

It was quite a week as I was witness to Democracy in Action and the spirit of the Community in action as selfless souls came together to help with the Aliso Niguel High School Graduation Night.    Selfless souls came together starting at 7:30 PM to check over 300 newly minted graduates as they spent graduation night at Dave & Busters playing the night away!!  

As I saw the selfless acts of the dedicated souls, it reminded me of this thought from the great Rumi:



I saw that this week in how all the election Volunteers, the School Volunteers and all others who do such fabulous work make America great as it is.       They do plant the seeds of compassion and love beyond what I can ever imagine.

As I continued supporting the work of #outsiders as well through the daily curation on the Social Grid and helped with the Friday Musical Interlude,  this featured on the Interlude today is something that truly inspired me:

Billy Crystal's Muhammad Ali tribute - 15 Rounds (1979) from Face Productions on Vimeo.

This is as I listened to this moving speech he gave:

Anything is possible!!

Onward to the Weekend.....

View of the Week: Jon Stewart Talks w/ David Axelord

I have been working away on projects as I picked this up which blew me away.    How he is ever so missed!!

On the Prowl : Personal Thoughts On the #USElections re: @HillaryClinton, @realDonaldTrump & @POTUS....

I had the pleasure to once again serve as an Elections Coordinator for Orange County.  It was fun to be witness to Democracy in Action.   The spirit of volunteerism that I saw left me yet ever so hopeful as we in the United States begin the election season.

On the political front,  It has been quite a week in the United States as Hillary Clinton has secured for all intent and purpose the Democratic Nomination For President.   She spoke about this Tuesday night:

This came out to supporters as she geared up to take on Trump and she gears up for her search for a running mate: 


As the General Elections Campaign is taking shape, this from Priorities USA started hitting the airwaves:

& this came out from the New York Times:





As I was working away,  I saw Senator Sanders speaking after a meeting at the White House with the President.      He said that he would everything in his power to make sure Donald Trump is not elected President of the United States and looked forward to working closely with Secretary Clinton.   This is as the Conservative Establishment has been busy trying to make sure that Trump is "Tamed":

Crooked Hillary Clinton will be a disaster on jobs, the economy, trade, healthcare, the military, guns and just about all else. Obama plus!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2016

     

With the power of the President and the Vice President, the expected support of Bernie Sanders and his movement he represents, Hillary Clinton will have the wind at his back as he looks to the General Election.   The people over at Fox continue to believe that Trump will be "formidable" as he adopts a more Presidential tone.      The Vox' Matthew Ygelasis was very perceptive in how Clinton will win.   This just hit the airwaves--and to me this is clear--not withstanding any unforeseen calamity, Hillary Clinton will be the next President of the United States: 

 

On The Eve of A New Week: On @LagunaNiguelCty, #Service & #Hope....

It has been quite a week in Laguna Niguel.     The week began with Memorial Day at the Sea Country Center as the City honored the fallen on Memorial Day 2016:

I had the pleasure to be witness to  this afternoon of service joining members of Troop 772 that I have the privilege to serve as a Committee Member and edit the Website.     Members of the City Council joined by our local State Senator, former Supervisor and State Assembly Member Pat Bates joined in this day of service that featured honoring former Mayor McClosky who passed away.    The week  culminated in a day of service as our Troop held a day of training for the Scouts on their way to reach their Eagle Scout Status.   I worked on capturing a Visual Essay of the day:

t

How all the Scouters (who we in the Scouting movement refer to as adult leaders) came together was absolutely beautiful to be witness to.     The culmination of this amazing day for me was to have joined  the City of Laguna Niguel's Annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner where the City's 2015 citizen of the year was selected:  Betty Paquette.   She has been a resident of Laguna Niguel for over 40 years and as the list of her contributions was shared, I was in awe!!   I had the privilege to shake her hand to simply say thanks--it is all that can be done for such selfless souls.  

Being witness to such that rekindles my faith daily about a future that is bright beyond our wildest dreams.     

On the Greatest of All: Muhammad Ali - Impossible Is Nothing

Mohammad Ali passed away late last night.     The tributes have been coming in fast and furious.    What has stayed with me is his simple admonition that 'Impossible is Nothing...".    This is as I saw this beautiful tribute to the Champ from Professor Dabashi of Columbia that gave an eloquent voice to what many of us truly believe:

 

This is also ever so critical for us all to embrace:




Rest in Peace Champ--You made a difference.

On an Interesting Week: On @elonmusk, #India, @NBA & Other thoughts...

It has been a   challenging few days around our World  as we were witness to a tragic shooting at UCLA,  the inferno in Syria seemed to have no end in sight and Iraq continues to be on the brink.  I did find it laughable as Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton was at it again in regards to the Iran Deal after his discredited move over the infamous letter that was ridiculed by of all people, The Foreign Minister of Iran.   

As I am working away on these thoughts, I am listening to live feed from NDTV on riots in one of the largest states in India, Uttar Pradesh.  I also found it   distressing as two senior Police Officers lost their lives--It is always tragic when law enforcement officers give their life no matter where they live.    I am also seeing reports from Paris about the River Seine swelling to levels not seen since the 1930's which has forced the Louvre to close and for priceless art to be moved to higher ground.  

It is not easy to be positive. The alternative is simply not acceptable.    It is in this spirit that I supported the #Outsiders team as the latest Thought For the Week was published and the Friday Musical Interlude was also released.   ut, I wanted to make sure a sense of positive momentum continued as #outsiders 2.x featured the latest edition of Thought For the Week and the Friday Musical Interlude.

As I have been assessing our World, I was quite amazed by a bit of a reaffirmation on the need for true "soft skills" necessary for our World as outlined by Geoff Colvin of Fortune with this advice to College Graduates: 

Daily insights on leaders and leadership By Geoff Colvin

June 2, 2016

To all the brand new college graduates who majored in a liberal arts field, I have a message: If you want to be a leader, you did the right thing. This is a controversial message at a time when every village and town seems to be offering coding classes for kindergarteners and America’s dearth of STEM majors is conventionally viewed as a serious problem. None of that is wrong. Coding is becoming the literacy of the modern economy, and everyone should be conversant with it. Companies in energy, IT, and other fields want to hire more good STEM majors than they can find; of course they want a larger supply. Along the way, liberal arts have become desperately uncool except among a band of earnest evangelists who argue that it’s a solid foundation for whatever else a young person may want to do. The thing is, the evangelists are right, especially with regard to leadership. “Look, the Army for a long time, many of the services have been looking for some very technical-type majors coming out of schools to deal with the technically advanced army that we have,” Lt. Col. Peter Godfrin, who heads Harvard’s Army ROTC program, told the Harvard Gazette recently. “But just from the conflicts that we’ve seen in recent years, the technological advances only get us so far. We need to be able to communicate and negotiate with folks; we need folks at the highest levels who can think through complex problems because … unfortunately, warfare is a human endeavor.” Colin Dickinson, a Navy officer who majored in economics, told the Gazette, “I can honestly say that I have drawn upon my learning in everything from marine biology to the tales of Homer in my attempt to best serve my sailors and lead them to success.” What’s true for the military is true more broadly. David Kalt, an entrepreneur whose latest venture is an online musical instruments exchange called Reverb.com, wrote yesterday in the Wall Street Journal that “our chief operating officer is a brilliant, self­-taught engineer with a degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago. His determination and critical-thinking skills empower him to leverage the power of technology without getting bogged down by it. His background gives him the soft skills – the people skills – that make him stand out as someone who understands our customers and knows how to bring the staff along.” Kalt spent years urging students to major in computer science and engineering rather than liberal arts. But his recent article is called “Why I Was Wrong About Liberal-Arts Majors.” Advice on choosing a major obviously isn’t useful for new graduates, so here’s a message for students about to enter college: College isn’t trade school. Whether you major in a liberal arts field or STEM or anything else, you emerge not with the skills that will make you successful at a specific company but rather with a foundation for more learning. As advancing technology takes over more of the world’s left-brain work, the skills of deep human interaction, of leadership, are increasingly in demand. What a liberal arts education gives you – critical thinking, clear communication, the lessons of Homer – is growing more valuable, not less.

As I was trying to think through these thoughts, I got hit with this from the Code Conference on what Elon Musk said.     Elon Musk is one of those guys I always listen to as he outlined his vision of the future during this one hour with the co-founders of Re/Code:

Recode interview with @karaswisher and @waltmossberg https://t.co/BDqQ7RreV2 via @YouTube

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2016

It is also the NBA Finals.    The team at Pandora sent this out to all the subscribers and I thought this might be cool for all to enjoy as the fight between The Warriors and the Cavaliers ensues as I wish all a fabulous weekend:  

Partying for the NBA finals? These stations are a swish for any gameday event.

Dub Nation All In 216

Rap & Hip Hop Pre-Game GameDay Country

Working Away w/some mid-week thoughts on @realDonaldTrump; #California & #mistakes......

June has begun.  I can't help but wonder where the year has gone.    As we were witness to the horrific events in Houston with the shootings, today was no different--this was also as I saw reports of some 60 people being shot in Chicago over the Memorial Day Week-End.

 As I was working away this morning, I saw that UCLA was on lockdown after reports of a shooting.   I fired off a quick email to my cousin who serves as  Counselor there to make sure she was OK--thankfully she was as she noted that she had moved to a secure building until things were secure.    I fired off a quick personal tweet tagging the twitter handle of the Republican Party and the office of the House Speaker with the simple question:  How much is enough.   This is as Trump  his unqualified support for the 2nd Amendment as he seems to not have much patience for other elements of the Bill of Rights.    I was horrified when I saw his tirade against the Press yesterday for questioning him about his claims on monies raised for Veterans as he also went after a Federal District Judge--something that his spokesperson reiterated on appearances last week.   He put the press on notice:  It will like this when he makes it the White House. If that does not give people pause, I don't know what will.

What I found interesting this morning was how the trials of Donald Trump made the front page of the New York Times--yet the Wall Street Journal took a soft approach.   To the Wall Street Journal's credit, though, it was yet again tough on him on the Editorial Page Today especially on his attack on the Federal District Judge.          The Wall Street Journal was supportive of his speech on Energy Policy in North Dakota--although his speech was basically dismissed by analysts as underscored by this from the New York Times: 

Experts on @realDonaldTrump's energy plan: "I don't think he has any knowledge of global energy markets." https://t.co/ZQI5qSGzy6

— Coral Davenport (@CoralMDavenport) May 28, 2016

What I found even more laughable was Trump's comments that there was no drought in California.   As someone who was witness to it all, it was needless to say disappointing.   The New Yorker's Andy Borowitz though said this on his Facebook wall that made me fall out of my chair in laughter:



The rather feeble attempts by Bill Kristol to mount a 3rd Party Challenger is at best will make one or two news cycles--the interesting story though is what the libertarian ticket of Gary Johnson and William Weld will do.

As I finish off these thoughts and support the on-going development of #outsiders, I ran across this which I took comfort in as I remind myself of what the Great Diane Nyad always says-Onward:

“Some people cannot accept mistakes.
Everything has to be perfect from the start.
They think others will look down on them
if they appear to be flawed.
These people are frequently stressed.
The happiest and most successful people
focus on improvement.
They love mistakes and flaws,
because they see them as opportunities to grow.
Learn from these people.
Have lofty goals,
but have realistic standards.
Don’t judge yourself based on the results of your action.
See them as feedback,
and seek improvement from there.”
~ Blon Lee