The Dubai Tower (Burj Dubai) located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, when completed, will be the tallest habitable building in the world with a height of 2087 ft on the highest floor and an overall height of 2684 ft. Interestingly, the Dubai Tower was designed by American architects Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill.
Taipei 101 located in Taipei, Taiwan, had been the tallest building in the world since 2004. This was prior to the Dubai Tower surpassing its height of habitable floors in July of 2007.
We lost our World Trade Center towers to middle eastern terrorists. Yet Dubai, a middle eastern country, is not fearing a similar fate and instead has chosen to build the tallest building in the world shattering old records by a comfortable margin.
It's time for America to reach for the skies. We need to show the world that we remain a relevant force and an source of innovation in the world space. The Freedom Towers being built at 1 Trade Center in New York does not do the job. In my opinion we should rebuild the World Trade Center towers and make them taller than before!
The 21st Century will prove to be a defining century for the United States. Our country's infrastructure is in dire need of serious repairs and upgrades as well as substantial capital investment in new technologies for transportation systems and power generation. We, as a nation, must invest in America's future. These projects will not come cheap but the cost of not participating in a meaningful way will prove to be far more devastating to our country's financial future and our citizens prosperity.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Contemporary America
By Robert Merrick
Ever since I was a freshman in college and first studied Abraham Maslow’s theory on humans' hierarchy of needs I have been moved by his concepts and mindful of his theories in my personal observations and experiences.
I first was exposed to this theory in an introductory sociology course that I took at the University of Connecticut with Dr. Sanders. I later encountered this theory in other courses that involved human behavior especially the management and marketing courses I took in business as an upper classman and in graduate school. The hierarchy of needs resurfaced in some of my educational courses as well.
The basic premise of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that there are groups of needs that he relates to levels in a pyramid that move one from an instinctual state of animal behavior toward needs that are clearly unique to humans that focus on self-actualization and spirituality.
The lower the level of the unfulfilled needs in the pyramid, the stronger the individual’s motivation to fulfill that need. The levels Maslow identified were modified but the 5 basic levels were as follows:
Physiological – food, water, sex, sleep, bodily functions
Safety – security of body, place, work, family, health, property
Love/Belonging – friendship, family, sexual intimacy
Esteem – self esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect of self
Self Actualization – morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, understanding of purpose. (Spirituality was recognized by Maslow as being at higher level than self actualization and he published separate works shortly before his death in 1970).
I have found Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to be very valid in my personal experiences and observations since I was first exposed to them over 25 years ago. For instance in my role as a teacher I have witnessed the difficulty of a child trying to learn when their most basic (level 1) needs for food and sleep are not satisfied. No matter how motivating the educational experience a child cannot concentrate if they are hungry and tired.
In fact, education largely depends on a child being at the esteem level (level 4) to derive true understanding of the concepts and exercises taking place in the classroom and move to a higher level. Many of the children struggling in school today have been unable to fulfill their level 2 or 3 needs. Overwhelmingly these children are being raised in “family” situations where the adult caregiver has never fulfilled their level 2 or 3 needs. Alarmingly many of these adult caregivers, mostly women, are living a level 1 existence latching on to any “boyfriend” offering the enticement of fulfilling level 2 and 3 needs. Since level 1 needs are the strongest caregivers in that situation will often act instinctively and hope for the best. This is often done to the detriment of the child or children they are responsible for raising since the “boyfriend” often has no interest in the needs of anyone other than himself and has even less interest in fulfilling the needs of his “girlfriend’s” kids.
It is no surprise that the problem of basic needs of family members not being met has deteriorated since the dismantling of the family unit began in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Prior to those periods it was possible to be poor and have your most basic needs met because the strength of the family unit raised all the members up the hierarchy of needs. Safety came from the security of a father seen as the protector of the family and a mother providing comfort and reassurance. The children developed a sense of belonging as they witnessed their parents’ commitment to them and each other through good times and in bad.
As long as marriage is viewed as an unnecessary and even unfashionable alternative in the decision process of whether or not to have children in popular culture, and the media preys on the vulnerable by luring them with illusions of quick solutions that meet their basic needs, the modern American “civilization” will operate more like the instinctive animal world than a sapient society.
Interesting, yet not surprising, recent studies have shown that the role of a father in a family has been underestimated in a child’s physical and emotional development. According to Ronald Rohner, director of the Center for the Study of Parental Acceptance and Rejection in the School of Family Studies at the University of Connecticut, “What we find surprising and new is that a father’s love is turning out to be just as important as, and sometimes more important than, a mother’s love,” Rohner says. (See AScribe Newswire Fathers’ Role in Raising Children: Misunderstood)
The solution lies in a reawakening of the value of marriage and family. A strong cultural and societal message that communicates the decision to have children is not to be taken lightly and is best suited to the strength of two parents who are in a loving and committed relationship.
Ever since I was a freshman in college and first studied Abraham Maslow’s theory on humans' hierarchy of needs I have been moved by his concepts and mindful of his theories in my personal observations and experiences.
I first was exposed to this theory in an introductory sociology course that I took at the University of Connecticut with Dr. Sanders. I later encountered this theory in other courses that involved human behavior especially the management and marketing courses I took in business as an upper classman and in graduate school. The hierarchy of needs resurfaced in some of my educational courses as well.
The basic premise of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that there are groups of needs that he relates to levels in a pyramid that move one from an instinctual state of animal behavior toward needs that are clearly unique to humans that focus on self-actualization and spirituality.
The lower the level of the unfulfilled needs in the pyramid, the stronger the individual’s motivation to fulfill that need. The levels Maslow identified were modified but the 5 basic levels were as follows:
Physiological – food, water, sex, sleep, bodily functions
Safety – security of body, place, work, family, health, property
Love/Belonging – friendship, family, sexual intimacy
Esteem – self esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect of self
Self Actualization – morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, understanding of purpose. (Spirituality was recognized by Maslow as being at higher level than self actualization and he published separate works shortly before his death in 1970).
I have found Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to be very valid in my personal experiences and observations since I was first exposed to them over 25 years ago. For instance in my role as a teacher I have witnessed the difficulty of a child trying to learn when their most basic (level 1) needs for food and sleep are not satisfied. No matter how motivating the educational experience a child cannot concentrate if they are hungry and tired.
In fact, education largely depends on a child being at the esteem level (level 4) to derive true understanding of the concepts and exercises taking place in the classroom and move to a higher level. Many of the children struggling in school today have been unable to fulfill their level 2 or 3 needs. Overwhelmingly these children are being raised in “family” situations where the adult caregiver has never fulfilled their level 2 or 3 needs. Alarmingly many of these adult caregivers, mostly women, are living a level 1 existence latching on to any “boyfriend” offering the enticement of fulfilling level 2 and 3 needs. Since level 1 needs are the strongest caregivers in that situation will often act instinctively and hope for the best. This is often done to the detriment of the child or children they are responsible for raising since the “boyfriend” often has no interest in the needs of anyone other than himself and has even less interest in fulfilling the needs of his “girlfriend’s” kids.
It is no surprise that the problem of basic needs of family members not being met has deteriorated since the dismantling of the family unit began in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Prior to those periods it was possible to be poor and have your most basic needs met because the strength of the family unit raised all the members up the hierarchy of needs. Safety came from the security of a father seen as the protector of the family and a mother providing comfort and reassurance. The children developed a sense of belonging as they witnessed their parents’ commitment to them and each other through good times and in bad.
As long as marriage is viewed as an unnecessary and even unfashionable alternative in the decision process of whether or not to have children in popular culture, and the media preys on the vulnerable by luring them with illusions of quick solutions that meet their basic needs, the modern American “civilization” will operate more like the instinctive animal world than a sapient society.
Interesting, yet not surprising, recent studies have shown that the role of a father in a family has been underestimated in a child’s physical and emotional development. According to Ronald Rohner, director of the Center for the Study of Parental Acceptance and Rejection in the School of Family Studies at the University of Connecticut, “What we find surprising and new is that a father’s love is turning out to be just as important as, and sometimes more important than, a mother’s love,” Rohner says. (See AScribe Newswire Fathers’ Role in Raising Children: Misunderstood)
The solution lies in a reawakening of the value of marriage and family. A strong cultural and societal message that communicates the decision to have children is not to be taken lightly and is best suited to the strength of two parents who are in a loving and committed relationship.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Hartford Connecticut, The Modern-day Wild West?
This past weekend Hartford reached the dubious milestone of 100 shooting victims so far this year.
One dead and six injured following a parade in Hartford's North End on Saturday. See 1 Dead, 6 Injured in Hartford shootings
In response a teen curfew will start on Thursday with penalties for teens under 18 found on the streets of Dodge, um Hartford, after 9 pm. Not surprisingly our illustrious friend of criminals, the ACLU, is complaining that this curfew is unfair to all the young upstanding members of the community that roam the streets after 9 pm. See ACLU angered by Hartford's planned teen curfew imposed after shootings leave 1 dead, 6 wounded
If you listen to the response of Eziekel Robert's regarding the death of her 21 year-old son you get an understanding of the problem:
"He wasn't a bad kid. OK, he might have got into the wrong crowd, hung with the wrong people," she said. "But ain't none of them perfect. My son, he was bad in his way, too. But he wasn't the baddest."
According to the Courant, Ezekiel Roberts was found guilty on March 3 of accessory to first-degree assault in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Hiram David Colon in East Hartford in 2006, court records show. Roberts was one of six who played a role in the stabbing, but police could not determine who delivered the fatal wound.And Ezekiel Roberts had been arrested four times this summer already — twice for criminal trespass, once for possessing a small amount of marijuana, and once for violating his probation.
It is understandable that a mother would be in grief over the loss of her son. However, it is disconcerting that she doesn't see accessory to murder and continued incidents of lawlessness as being all that bad. This is clearly a problem.
It is also troubling that Eziekel fathered a child at 17. I can only hope that that child has been placed with a decent family so that he has a chance of a future as opposed to many of the children being brought into this violent environment by lawless gangbangers and drug addicts. The cards are stacked 999 to 1 against them as long as they live among criminals.
This behavior is totally unacceptable in American society. It is not a "culture" it is lawlessness. If we need more prisons to handle the mass inflow of low lifes then we should build them. I'm sure we can find a couple of available large, (northern) islands to house the criminals.
One dead and six injured following a parade in Hartford's North End on Saturday. See 1 Dead, 6 Injured in Hartford shootings
In response a teen curfew will start on Thursday with penalties for teens under 18 found on the streets of Dodge, um Hartford, after 9 pm. Not surprisingly our illustrious friend of criminals, the ACLU, is complaining that this curfew is unfair to all the young upstanding members of the community that roam the streets after 9 pm. See ACLU angered by Hartford's planned teen curfew imposed after shootings leave 1 dead, 6 wounded
If you listen to the response of Eziekel Robert's regarding the death of her 21 year-old son you get an understanding of the problem:
"He wasn't a bad kid. OK, he might have got into the wrong crowd, hung with the wrong people," she said. "But ain't none of them perfect. My son, he was bad in his way, too. But he wasn't the baddest."
According to the Courant, Ezekiel Roberts was found guilty on March 3 of accessory to first-degree assault in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Hiram David Colon in East Hartford in 2006, court records show. Roberts was one of six who played a role in the stabbing, but police could not determine who delivered the fatal wound.And Ezekiel Roberts had been arrested four times this summer already — twice for criminal trespass, once for possessing a small amount of marijuana, and once for violating his probation.
It is understandable that a mother would be in grief over the loss of her son. However, it is disconcerting that she doesn't see accessory to murder and continued incidents of lawlessness as being all that bad. This is clearly a problem.
It is also troubling that Eziekel fathered a child at 17. I can only hope that that child has been placed with a decent family so that he has a chance of a future as opposed to many of the children being brought into this violent environment by lawless gangbangers and drug addicts. The cards are stacked 999 to 1 against them as long as they live among criminals.
This behavior is totally unacceptable in American society. It is not a "culture" it is lawlessness. If we need more prisons to handle the mass inflow of low lifes then we should build them. I'm sure we can find a couple of available large, (northern) islands to house the criminals.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
John Edwards, Living a Lie.
Back on December 30, 2007 I posted the following to generate discussion about John Edward's candidacy for president:
John Edwards - Champion of the Working Class or Limousine Liberal ?
Is John Edwards the champion for working-class Americans or is he a limousine liberal, whose extreme wealth and expensive taste and indulgences make his promise for "One America" seem disingenuous?You decide. Make your case one way or the other. Be fair!
To be honest the one thing that I found appealing about Edwards at the time I wrote this was his celebrated commitment to his marriage and family and his visible support of his wife who was suffering from inoperable cancer.
Needless to say I was completely floored by his admission to having an affair with Rielle Hunter, a 42-year old film maker, who worked on his campaign.
Answering my own question I guess that his extreme wealth, expensive tastes and indulgences went beyond the marital promises he made to his wife when the two become one before God.
Obviously, he was being disingenuous as he stood before the American people with a straight face calling for his promise of "One America."
Sadly, the story isn't all that different from the one John McCain has in his past with his previous wife before divorcing and marrying Cindy McCain. Only time will tell what lurks in Barack's past that will be launched on the American people for us to stomach before the election.
Are there any candidates of character and principle anymore or are they all living a lie that even they believe is true?
John Edwards - Champion of the Working Class or Limousine Liberal ?
Is John Edwards the champion for working-class Americans or is he a limousine liberal, whose extreme wealth and expensive taste and indulgences make his promise for "One America" seem disingenuous?You decide. Make your case one way or the other. Be fair!
To be honest the one thing that I found appealing about Edwards at the time I wrote this was his celebrated commitment to his marriage and family and his visible support of his wife who was suffering from inoperable cancer.
Needless to say I was completely floored by his admission to having an affair with Rielle Hunter, a 42-year old film maker, who worked on his campaign.
Answering my own question I guess that his extreme wealth, expensive tastes and indulgences went beyond the marital promises he made to his wife when the two become one before God.
Obviously, he was being disingenuous as he stood before the American people with a straight face calling for his promise of "One America."
Sadly, the story isn't all that different from the one John McCain has in his past with his previous wife before divorcing and marrying Cindy McCain. Only time will tell what lurks in Barack's past that will be launched on the American people for us to stomach before the election.
Are there any candidates of character and principle anymore or are they all living a lie that even they believe is true?
Friday, August 8, 2008
T. Boone Pickens Energy Plan
I watched an interview today with T. Boone Pickens on CNBC. I have been following his plan since it first was announced last month. An editorial I wrote on the Picken's plan is contained on a sister website, http://www.unitebristol.org/ which highlights his plan (http://www.pickensplan.com/) and provides links.
Many critics are skeptical of his motivations as T. Boone Pickens is a legendary oil man who has made billions in crude oil. He also has substantial holdings in natural gas and his new plan calls for creating an natural gas supply chain used to fuel automobiles.
His plan, to utilize a natural wind corridor from Texas to North Dakota to power wind mills has considerable merit in my opinion. This area commonly refered to as Tornado Alley has continuous strong winds that are capable of providing significant power used to generate electricity. Picken's claims that using these wind mills to provide the input power necessary to power electric plants it will free up 22% of our natural gas supply currently used to power electric plants. This freed up power would translate into natural gas available to power 38% of the automobiles currently using gasoline.
T. Boone Pickens indicated today that all the money he has will be left to charity. I personally do not care if it makes him even wealthier as long as it helps us to become energy independent and reduces our carbon emissions. The alternative energy opportunities are vast. As I have written in previous posts and articles America's commitment to developing viable alternative energy sources and products could be the driver that continues our high level of prosperity for the next 50 years or more.
Nothing should be left off the table. Our presidential candidates, our government and the American people need to support the Unite States drive for energy independence. Time is of the essence!
Many critics are skeptical of his motivations as T. Boone Pickens is a legendary oil man who has made billions in crude oil. He also has substantial holdings in natural gas and his new plan calls for creating an natural gas supply chain used to fuel automobiles.
His plan, to utilize a natural wind corridor from Texas to North Dakota to power wind mills has considerable merit in my opinion. This area commonly refered to as Tornado Alley has continuous strong winds that are capable of providing significant power used to generate electricity. Picken's claims that using these wind mills to provide the input power necessary to power electric plants it will free up 22% of our natural gas supply currently used to power electric plants. This freed up power would translate into natural gas available to power 38% of the automobiles currently using gasoline.
T. Boone Pickens indicated today that all the money he has will be left to charity. I personally do not care if it makes him even wealthier as long as it helps us to become energy independent and reduces our carbon emissions. The alternative energy opportunities are vast. As I have written in previous posts and articles America's commitment to developing viable alternative energy sources and products could be the driver that continues our high level of prosperity for the next 50 years or more.
Nothing should be left off the table. Our presidential candidates, our government and the American people need to support the Unite States drive for energy independence. Time is of the essence!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
A Time for Change
John McCain vs Barack Obama. Welcome to the show. It's a verbal cat fight with each candidate harping on some minor statement made by the other, picking on the nuances of the words used or context of the message.
Americans want more. We have serious problems that need to be addressed. Will we have to wait until after their wasteful conventions (Republican Convention / Democratic Convention) to hear anything of substance?
Want some specifics? I put together a little plan that I named A Lincolnian Party Vision for America over 1 1/2 years ago. It's a good starting point for discussion. Perhaps Senator's McCain and Obama can give us a few more details on their plans for our country's future.
Americans want more. We have serious problems that need to be addressed. Will we have to wait until after their wasteful conventions (Republican Convention / Democratic Convention) to hear anything of substance?
Want some specifics? I put together a little plan that I named A Lincolnian Party Vision for America over 1 1/2 years ago. It's a good starting point for discussion. Perhaps Senator's McCain and Obama can give us a few more details on their plans for our country's future.
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