Information about me

Chicago, Illinois, United States
I have worked to improve professionals and international interaction centers since the mid-90s. I have worked with organizations to grow newly formed organizations to 300% their initial inflow of customers and support personnel and helped others reduce the life of open issues by 1/3. I have aided multiple start-up ventures through planning and initial phases of opening their doors. Occasionally, I work with individuals on improving their resumes, interviewing skills and professional presentation. I believe in a core principle that you should always be looking for the next rung above you and guiding somebody to make a change in their lives as they approach where you have been. Kaizen is the Japanese principle of continual improvement, I call mine ‘the next one up’.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Personal Safety


I want peace of mind that my family is not only going to be safe but that they can live their lives and pursue their happiness.  I am a Democrat who enjoys the safety and sport of having firearms, an interest shared with my family and many friends.  I want our country to have a discussion about tragic events that occur multiple times a year and the lack of safety it instills in the society.

Dividing Democrats over firearms will disenfranchise a large portion of voters the Republicans crave for the next two elections. I want universal health care and allowing people who love each other to marry, I also want a  sense of safety for my family and that we can help ourselves.  As Miller points out, this is a wedge issue people will leave the party over despite all our other common ground.

Changes in rights and liberties rarely are sweeping and immediate, what seems a reasonable firearm for self protection today could be only one tragedy away from restriction.
  • In the mid-80's less than half of the U.S. states issued conceal Carry permits, Illinois will be the last state to formalize this process in 2013.
  • IN 1920 all women in the United States were allowed to vote, 230 years after New Jersey let them vote.
  • Chicago's reputation as an organized crime capital peaked during the 1930's and 40's under characters like Al Capone but has its roots dating back to the corruption of erecting a city on an unstable mud foundation in the 1850s.
Recognizing rights and infringing on them is not something that happens in a president's single term but I do not want to look back at this presidency and realize this is where fear for our safety gathered significant momentum. 

Our competitive, sensationalizing nation needs to talk about mental health as the impetus to societal impacting violence.  Erdos recommends the MMP for only firearm permit holders and Jacobson believes the use of mental health professionals is optimistic.  Erdos has to narrow of a scope to be impactful.  I agree with Jacobson, there is no fair way to profile, examine and restrict a portion of society.  We need to become a more cohesive society with a safety net.  Violence comes from three mindsets:
  • I want, you have
  • I will be noticed after I do this
  • I don't have and SOMEBODY needs to pay for that
I am left with the opinion reactive politicians want to continue to chase and strip protective tools from responsible individuals in a single political term without laying groundwork to build a society that:
  • Exhibits value in earning wealth through work and responsible wisdom (e.g. Andrew Carnegie, Bill Gates)
  • Lessen the notoriety given to those who infringe on the society or rocket to momentary stardom (e.g. John Wayne Gacy, any Jersey Shore TV personality)
  • Provide reasonable mental/physical health care to those in need and encourage society to help grow and care for each other
I am open and interested in having dialogue about 'personal safety and peace of mind'; 'gun control' is a narrowed focus of a concept the majority of people are in agreement on, we want to feel safe.  It is the fear of the unknown, either misuse of a firearm or violence directed at us, is were the divide continues to exist.