Next time, get there before them. It's called "PREponderence."

It was 8 months into his presidency. The air traffic controllers across the nation were threatening to strike, an act that might have crippled the struggling economic recovery. Reagan seemed to be willing to work with them if they agreed not to strike, but warned that-as federal employees-he would fire them if they did strike.

They went out and he fired them. It is my opinion that this confrontation soured his view of unions and set and adversarial tone between them and Reagan that lasted for his two terms. Anti-union sentiment rocketed and many businesses copied Reagan's actions to devastating consequence on families and laborers.

This is not a defense of Reagan. It is just the perception of an old man who was alive and voting (for Carter) in those days. I would like to know if the replacement union for the disbanded PATCO ever managed to a) get the newly hired air traffic controllers a raise or b) a reduction in weekly hours.

Part of the problem, IMO, is found in the deep divisions presently found in our country. Most forward progress comes from the network in which people exist (notwithstanding the myth of "rugged individualists" as the secret to success). Our present society is riven with deep divisions along generational, ideological, political, socio-economic, and racial lines. If we want to break out of the present "us vs. them" trap we're in, we have to begin to reach across the divisions in everyway possible. (And I am not suggesting that we give up our differences, only that we reference them only when they are appropriate to the overall welfare of our network/society/culture.)

It's a lengthy quote, but it comes from one of the foremost authorities on democratic leadership, James MacGregor Burns:

"The function of leadership is to engage followers, not merely to activate them, to commingle needs and aspirations and goals in a common enterprise, and in the process to make better citizens of both leaders and followers. To move from manipulation to power-wielding is to move from the arithmetic of everyday contacts and collisions to the geometry of the structure and dynamics of interaction. It is to move from checkers to chess, for in the “game of kings” we estimate the powers of our chessmen and the intentions and calculations and indeed the motives of our adversary. But democratic leadership moves far beyond chess because, as we play the game, the chessmen come alive, the bishops and knights and pawns take part on their own terms and with their own motivations, values, and goals, and the game moves ahead with new momentum, direction, and possibilities. In real life the most practical advice for leaders is not to treat pawns like pawns, nor princes like princes, but all persons like persons." ~Burns, 'Leadership,' (1978)

Edit: typo

""We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

Time for the citizens of OK to speak up.

Edit: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

Obviously, with a name like "Littlejohn," he's a good guy in league with Robin Hood and Friar Tuck and all the other Merry Men. In his defense, Trump did (repeatedly) promise to disclose his IRS tax returns to the public. The man only helped Trump keep a campaign promise. Littlejohn ought to get an award and an all-expense paid vacation at Mar-a-Lago!

Title SHOULD read...

"North Korea launches a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile that can reach distant US bases...ONCE."

NK would be a smoldering pile of radioactive ash before it made a second launch. And Lil' Kim knows it.

Kid in old age, probably: "Yeah, I was working in the Salt Mines at 11. Then they petered out, so I got me a job at the Pepper Mill. By the time I retired, I was first shift at the Olive Garden, doling out shredded cheese like a fiend. Yessir! Them was the days!"

This. Exactly how I ended up married!

(Come to think of it, the honeymoon ran like that, too.) /s

Harry Chapin

Or

Karen Carpenter

(I know, they're kinda sappy but they were on my Playlist when I was young and in love.)

It's not an utter fabrication. There are nieces. There are Chinese nieces. There are Chinese nieces who are kids. There are Chinese nieces who are kids and take naps. Ergo, there are Chinese niece kid nappings. There is a George Santos. See? All better. (Santos's 'Spinner-in-Chief,' probably.)

Actually, when quoting this phrase from "the sayings of Jesus," they would not merely quote "peace on earth" as the saying (above) is rendered meaningless without the entire quote. When Xians (and others) allude to the "peace on earth" phrase (mostly around the Xmas holidays), they are not quoting Jesus but a supposed angelic messenger. Her/His/Its message reads, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." And they'll fight anyone who disagrees with their "saying."

I am in agreement with those who thought it was disappointing. Reminded me of a Disney World where all the "rides" looked intriguing until you got inside and found there were no rides. A bunch of brightly colored, sparkly doors leading nowhere to nothing. (And I am a Jamie Curtis slave, so....it was a hard let-down.)