Author: Simon

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Codger Divers

A few years ago we organized a trip to Roatan.  Six people went and we had a good time so the next year eight of us went to Grand Cayman.  The company and the diving were terrific.  Last year we went to Belize and among other things we dove deep in the Blue Hole.  It was a great experience.  This year we are headed for Bonaire.  The group tends to change over time but it is all men and mostly over 40.  We are all friends of friends and the mix of a couple of diving activities each day and evenings spent laughing, eating and telling stories is great.  I’ve posted some pictures of each trip and a little information on where we stayed and dove

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Democracy is Temporary

 At about the time our original 13 states adopted
their new constitution, in the year 1787, Alexander
Tyler (a Scottish history professor at The
University of Edinborough) had this to say about
“The Fall of The Athenian Republic” some 2,000 years prior.
 
    “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it
simply cannot exist as a permanent form of
government. A democracy will continue to exist up
until the time that voters discover that they can
vote themselves generous gifts from the public
treasury. From that moment on, the majority always
votes for the candidates who promise the most
benefits from the public treasury, with the result
that every democracy will finally collapse due to
loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a
dictatorship.”
 
    “The average age of the worlds greatest
civilizations from the beginning of history, has
been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these
nations always progressed through the following
sequence:
  
   From Bondage to spiritual faith;
 
   From spiritual faith to great courage;
 
   From courage to liberty;

   From liberty to abundance;
 
   From abundance to complacency;
 
   From complacency to apathy;
 
   From apathy to dependence;
 
   From dependence back into bondage.”

Where in the sequence do you think US democracy is?

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The Lottery

“Couple wins Millions in Lottery”
            Headline in the Pasadena Star News January 7, 2006

“Millions lose Couple in Lottery”
            The story they didn’t cover in the Pasadena Star News

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Human Migration the Movie

Scene One           “It is the Right of the State”

In this scene it is 1730 in central Europe.  There are two families huddled on the village green.  A man in an official looking uniform is speaking to them “I’m sorry” he says “the King has ruled that you will not be allowed to settle in the kingdom.  You will have to leave.”

Should be clearly wrong, ugly but not violent.

Scene Two

            “The SS St Louis Story”

The SS St Louis left Nazi Germany with 1000 passengers mostly Jewish women and children.  It was bound for Cuba but was denied entry there and then in the USA and other nations.  Finally it was forced to return to Europe where hundreds of the passengers died at the hands of the Nazis. 

There is a independent film about this story.  Get one of the survivors to speak.

Scene Three

            “Free to Live”

It is Detroit and a black family is being kept from living in an all white suburb. 

There is an important movie and or book about this story.

Scene Four

          “Dying at Borders”

Black Africa.  This scene shows the misery of the camps on the Rwanda border.  Perhaps with voice over from an aid worker talking about how people were turned back to their deaths.

Scene Five

            “Dying in the Desert”

Perhaps a series of interviews with survivors of the US/Mexico crossing saying how risky the crossing was is and why they attempted it.  Show video and stills of the death

Scene Six

              “A Call to Action”

Oppose vigilanties (show Minuteman videos)

The underground railroad analogy?

Civil Disobedience.  Stop the Wall! 

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Being Reliable

When a customer or potential customer is pressing you for a faster delivery date on a particular order, try using this story:

Imagine that one morning you start your car and at the first intersection you find you are in serious need of brakes.  You have an option of calling one of two mechanics that you have used in the past.  The first mechanic always says, “Bring the car right down, I’ll have it for you in the afternoon.”  Sometimes he has it finished, and sometimes he doesn’t, depending on his workload.  The other mechanic sometimes says, “Bring the car right down.”  Sometimes he says, “I’m sorry, I can’t even look at it today, I’m too busy.  If you bring it down I can fix the brakes tomorrow for sure.”  He gives you a definitive answer as to when he can even look at your car, but he is always 100% reliable when he makes the promise. The question is which mechanic do you call first?  Almost everybody I have spoken to would choose to call the one who is reliable first, even if he charges more money.  If he says he can’t look at your car today, then you can still take it to the other guy and take your chances.  Or you wait until the reliable mechanic can actually fix your car.The moral of the story is that being reliable gives you more business to look at and choose from.  Being unreliable means you get the business that the reliable guy doesn’t want.