It's a Small, Small World

I have been here two days. Today was our first real work/training day and it was a killer. I am too tired to blog, so let me just say that it's a small, small world that we live in.

I am at the Atlas Think Tank MBA Training in Virginia, along with 26 other think tank folks from all over the world: Poland, United States, Ghana, El Salvador, Georgia, Spain, Argentina, Belgium, Slovakia, Canada, Turkey, Tanzania, Kyrgyztan, Brazil, Mexico, Nepal, Belarus, Mongolia, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Ecuador.

It's like a grown up Rotary Exchange only shorter (2 weeks) and with the principles of individual liberty, free market economy and limited government instead of the 4-Way test. Or maybe it's more like a mini-United Nations.

Being a freedom fighter is more that a strategic business plan (which is what we are working on this week). Some of these young men and women have had to leave their countries due to death threats - one had to leave Turkey for an entire year and live in England during that time. Their average age is about 28, some have families of their own. They have travelled around the world for this opportunity to train with the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, and I can see why.

It's amazing what we have in the United States and what they don't have in their countries. Restrictions on internet, Facebook and other social pages are banned. Certain web hosting services too. Visa restrictions, travel requirements, and on and on and on.

Conversely, it's amazing what they have in their countries and we don't have in ours. Respect for their elders (Nigeria), the ability to speak only in positive terms (Indonesia), a hunger for freedom that we cannot even fathom...

Life is amazing, liberty is a right, but also a gift, this training is invaluable, Atlas is incredible, the staff and participants are exemplary, the world is suddenly very small and I am grateful to be here - at Atlas, and here - in America. God bless us all and may we be wise enough to work for world peace and freedom.

Disney "It's a Small World"

Blessings

When you look at your life and examine things that have happened as a result of your own decisions or actions, and also as a result of the actions of others, it's simply amazing although sometimes frightening.

Look at us...we live in America. We enjoy freedom. We share the joys of life, liberty and the right to pursue happiness. We have the right to worship God as we please, or not at all. We are truly a blessed people.

Is every day perfect? Do we glide through life effortlessly? Is our nation at peace? Are we completely confident in our leaders? Is the economy strong? No, no, no and no! But we are a nation of opportunity and the pieces are there if we, as a people, choose to work together and complete the puzzle that was started so many years ago by the founding fathers. I am so grateful to live in the United States of America, a nation I consider blessed.

Today I witnessed yet another blessing, another joy of life when my granddaughter, Kierstyn Avarell Jorgensen, was blessed by her Father, JR Jorgensen. What a little doll she is and what a great man he is.

And speaking of blessings, I am not a perfect person. I am what some might refer to as a lazy Mormon - others have referred to me as a reformed Mormon (which actually cracks me up) - but whatever the assigned title, I am and will always be a Mormon, lazy/reformed or not, and more importantly, I hope that I am a good person, a kind person, an honest person - because I am blessed.

Today I was reminded just how grateful I am for the influence so many people had on me just over 30 years ago as I was searching for something to tie my anchor to. I am grateful for the principles taught by many, including the LDS Church - the focus on family, the practice of daily effort to become a better person, the principles of service and sacrifice.

Today was about all of those guiding principles - the eternal truths that make us get up in the morning and face the daily grind once more; our liberty to do so, the life we dream of, our desire of happiness and comforts with our family. Today was an affirming sequence of events with family that underscored the deep-seated truths that I have held close for so many years. Those basic principles of life that give each of us our sense of being, our purpose for living, our work ethic, our desire to push through the hard times and our ability to laugh and love.

It was so fun to be with my kids (4 of them) and grandkids (4 of them) today in Cedar City. I had a wonderful day. Nothing makes me happier than to be around their fun, eager, honest, open personalities. I always learn from them and I always enjoy them.

It's been a great weekend. I was with people I love and people who love me the entire time. Together we pursued happiness and together we found it. Blessings were given and blessings were received.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were lived. The country celebrated the 4th of July. Flags waved on every block and nearly every building. Parades marched down Main Street America. Fireworks exploded in the sky in celebration. Families gathered around bar-b-ques in backyards. Stories were retold. History was made. Laughter was shared. Babies were blessed.

This weekend I lived a blessing and I am grateful. God bless America.

Reprise Quartet "Because I Have Been Given Much"

Madoff Made Off (but he won't make it out)

After all these years Darwin is once again proven right.

It was the survival of the fittest - not the financially secure - the fittest. The good guys won. The fit to be free, the honest, diligent, we-followed-the-rules, apple pie and baseball folks won. Of course, the win was in the courts, we had already lost financially in our retirement accounts. You might think the 150-year sentence of Bernard Madoff for (what I consider) the most selfish crime against Americans BY an American in the history of our country would ring hollow to the throngs of hard-working middle class Americans who lost their life savings, but it didn't. It was a small victory in the face of huge losses, but it was a loud message to others with whom we trust our finances, it was a slice of vengeance, it was due process, it was really all we could get. And we cheered.

Madoff thought he held all the cards and had the game won, he expresses regret now and at 71 with a future of criminal inmates as his social circle, a wardrobe of orange pantsuits and a cell for a home, I am certain he has regrets. But he chose to play the game, and he cheated and he lost...but only after he lost everything for so many.

Madoff may have made off with an unbelievable amount of money that was earned by the sweat of someone else's back while he was sitting in his extravagant office and private jets and plush homes; Madoff may have made off, but in the end, he didn't make out. He is in jail, stripped of assets and silk suits, and lush surroundings; he is down for the count.

Madoff's locked up, and we can be pretty certain he will die there. His wife has $2.5 Mil to survive on for the rest of her life; a lot more than the people he bilked but not even a % worth citing of what they did have. Of course, it was not really their money, it was your money, and mine, and our neighbor's, and our kids'. Madoff made off with millions, but he won't make it out of jail. Jail is a place for those who are unfit to "fit" within society in a positive, productive, honorable role.

Madoff has proven that his is not fit to hang with all of us. He's being separated from us to protect us and there is no "GET OUT OF JAIL, FREE" card in this phase of the game.

There's no doubt that many were injured in this selfish game, but at least we survived.

Go Darwin. Cards down, Madoff. Game over.

Kenny Rogers "The Gambler"