CarusoBlog

Would You Vote For a Blind President?

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

Thanks to some alleged bad behavior by Eliot Spitzer, his Lt. Governor David Paterson has become the next Governor of New York.

Paterson is the first African-American Governor of the state and amazingly, only the fourth African American Governor in history. 

By all accounts, David Paterson is an exceptional person.  According to the Huffington Post, he is a former State Senator, he ran the New York City Marathon in 1999 and he was born legally blind. 

Does this mean if Mr. Paterson uses an escort service the girls won't necessarily be pretty? 

Public expectations of politicians remains at an all-time low.  It'll take some real elbow grease to restore our faith in elected officials.

Meanwhile, a blind Governor raises an interesting question.  Paterson became leader of his state by default.  Would citizens elect a blind Governor? 

An even more interesting question is  "Would citizens elect a blind President?"  Some would say we've already elected a few dumb ones.

Would you vote for a blind President?

Do Women Behave Better Than Men?

Composed at Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois--

Here's something that women do much better than men:  stay out of trouble.

American prisons hold a very small percentage of women compared to men.  There are about 115,000 women in prison and close to 1,500,000 men behind bars.

Of course, before men go to jail, they usually behave badly and three of our top citizens are being investigated for serious and surprising charges.

The former Governor of New York, Eliott Spitzer, resigned after being linked to a prostitute.  The Democrats like nothing better than to pull down the paragon of Republican virtue during an election year.  David Patterson, as one of his first official duties, confessed to marital infidelity.  Yikes!  What's going on here?

The Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, is trying to hold onto his job amidst allegations of financial impropriety and marital infidelity.  He's now been indicted.

Kilpatrick's shenanigans have so far cost the city of Detroit about $10 million.  This is $10 million more than the city can afford to spend investigating its Mayor and defending lawsuits from former city employees.  Many people have lost their jobs because they spoke out against Kilpatrick's alleged misdeeds. 

Judging by his righteous comments in the media, Kilpatrick has no intention of retiring.

I've met Kwame and he is very charismatic, but I'm not sure that charm and charisma will serve him during the trial.

Talal Chahine may top the list of bad men in the news.  I met him when I was in Lebanon in 2001.  Chahine is the restaurant impresario who's world has come crashing down amidst tons of bad news, including:

• The conviction of his high-school age son, who killed another man over a woman
• Jury tampering suspicion when authorities found out Chahine was looking to defend his kid in possibly illegal ways
• Multiple children with multiple women, apparently not all of the relationships worked out well
• Alleged links to the terrorist organization Hezbolla
• May have grafted as much as $20 million from his from his restaurant business, which was shut down a week ago, leaving over 300 people out of work
• An emergency trip to Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with the United States

Many older boys never seem to grow out of bad behavior. 

Do you agree that women behave better than men?

Idiot Proof Recipe for 100% Accountability

Composed in Akron, Ohio--

I am the problem.

I am the solution.

The Democrats, the Republicans and the Suprise Party?

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

So the Republicans have made up their mind, but the Democrats are lagging months behind.  While Senator John McCain visits foreign countries acting Presidential, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continue to deliver the same tired debate in state after repetitive state.

Despite appearances, the Democratic race has become less of a race.  Jay Leno joked, "Behind every good man, there is a woman.  The man is Barack Obama and the woman is Hillary Clinton."

"Obama is beating the pantsuit off her," Leno quips.

Much has been made about the "first" female Presidential candidate. 

There have actually been 26 female candidates for the United States' Presidency.  The first was a stockbroker and publisher named Victoria Woodhull. 

She ran an unsuccessful campaign against Ulysses S. Grant in 1872.

Women who have run for President are sometimes forgotten because they were affiliated with obscure political platforms such as The Citizens Party, The Looking Back Party and (no kidding) The Surprise Party. 

Should Information Be Free?

Composed in Las Vegas, Nevada--

I'm listening to an awesome audio program titled, The Great Courses:  Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition.  Part 1 highlights the great philosophers from Socrates to Cicero.

Attendees at my conference here in Vegas are learning how to be speakers, authors and consultants, but they're also being exposed to information from The Great Courses.  Because it's on my mind, it's in the lesson.

Most people know that Socrates was a Greek teacher famous for asking lots of questions, but here's something you may not know. 

He did not charge for this service.  This is probably fair because if you learned something from Socrates, you probably did most of the work. 

It turns out that Socrates never wrote anything down.  One of his students, a guy named Plato, captured the essence of Socrates after the great one was put to death.

The leaders of the day killed Socrates for asking too many questions.  In fact, his last words were a question.   Someone handed him a cup of poison hemlock and Socrates asked, "What's this?"

Anyway, after the Greeks tired of the question routine, a technique known as "Socratic dialog," a group of philosophers called the sophists came forward.  The sophists believed that information was worth something.  Socrates may have donated his intellectual services, but the sophists wanted to be paid. 

I'm trying to convince the people at my conference that they should be compensated for their knowledge.  My friend Dan Poynter says, "Everyone has a book in them."   

I agree and that book is worth something, so don't be shy about naming a fair price.

My Bedroom Saw a Lot of Action in January

Posted from Akron, Ohio--

I received an interesting phone call right after the first of the year.  The caller identified himself as a local advertising executive.  He said he heard I had a nice house and wondered if I would host a photo session for one of his clients, the Steve Harvey clothing line. 

Steve Harvey is the popular comedian known for his flashy, colorful suits and his current "Fly and 50" slogan. 

"What's involved?" I asked.

Makeup artists, photographers, assistants, a videographer, stylists and models.  Ten hours on a Saturday.  People in and out all day. 

"I don't know," I said.  "It sounds . . . involved."

"One of the models has posed for Playboy," the man said.

"Which Saturday works best for you?" I asked.

The event was fun and I met some cool people.  A video that highlights the day is posted on YouTube.  Watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sWijRaS1l8.  The Playboy model is in my bed!  I'm not in my bed, but the Playboy model is in my bed.

Are Women as Funny as Men?

Composed in Chicago, Illinois--

Humor is a great way to cope with life.  To some extent, every person has a sense of humor, but not everyone is funny.  Here's a question:  Are women as funny as men?

The April issue of Vanity Fair poses the question in its well-researched cover story.  The issue sparked when Christopher Hitchens, who is brilliant, but humorless, wrote a column a while back opining that women are not funny.  At all. 

While harsh, this does raise an interesting issue.  An overwhelming number of professional comedians are men.  The comics who make the most money are men. 

Why is this?

Do you know many women who can tell a joke?

I think that in general, men are funnier than women, but here are some women who are as funny or even funnier than the top male comics:

Lisa Lampanelli is "belly laugh" funny.

Tina Fey, of NBC's 30 Rock, is "cute" funny.

Carrie Fisher is "clever" funny.

Finally, even if women aren't as funny as men, don't despair ladies.  You do many things much better than men. 

What do you think women do better than men?

The First Test Every Human Must Take

A while back, I read The Big MOO—Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable, written by an author referred to as "the Group of 33."  Essentially, marketing wiz Seth Godin asked 33 of his pals to contribute a section to the book. 

One of my favorite lessons from The Big Moo is on Dr. Virginia Apgar.  In 1952, she and another physician invented the Newborn Scoring System, also known as “APGAR.”

APGAR stands for Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity and Respiratory.  It’s the first of many tests we take as human beings. 

This test is not graded on a curve and you must pass this test before taking any others.  Thanks, Dr. Apgar!

(These photos look funny in the same posting, eh?)

Perspective From a Bad Airplane Trip

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

I've just returned from keynoting a conference at the fabulous Virginia Crossings Resort in Glen Allen, Virginia.  What a great place!

Unfortunately, I was treated badly by my favorite airline, Northwest Airlines on the way there and on the return.  I spent over 16 hours at the Detroit and Richmond during this short trip.  Security issues and bad timing at the Richmond Airport got the best of me and I was about to lose my temper with TSA official when he said something that really put things in perspective for me.

I had complained about the quality of food on the secure side of the concourse.  The uniformed agent looked at me and said, "Sorry sir, I wouldn't know about the airport food.  I can't afford to eat here."

Wow.  I shut right up after that.  A little perspective is a wonderful thing.

The Virginia Crossings Resort is a former corporate headquarters for some business that left town long ago.  The property features three buildings named after  three United States Presidents: Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.

Both Jefferson and Madison died bankrupt.  Jefferson, of course, made an extensive hobby of criticizing
 Alexander Hamilton's concept of a central bank.  Hamilton was the country's first Secretary of the Treasury.  You carry his picture in your wallet on the $10 bill.

A man who couldn't manage his own money criticizing a man managing the money of an entire country.  A little perspective is a wonderful thing.

The Best Book on Happiness

Composed in Glen Allen, Virginia--

What's the best book on happiness you've ever read?  Post your response by clicking "comment" below.

Happiness has always been a hot issue.  Everyone wants it, but surprisingly few people actually achieve it.  Some people are happy for short bursts of time, but hardly anyone claims to be happy over the long stretch.

So books on happiness keep getting published and purchased.  I recently read Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert.

Happiness is a fascinating concept. It’s such a deep and personal subject that we can’t even agree on how to define it. Daniel Gilbert has studied why most malcontents seem to avoid happiness, even though they know how to best achieve it. 

It turns out that human beings have several issues that keep them from being happy. First, we simply aren’t very good at predicting our future emotions. Gilbert cites research that many people feel they would be happier living in California, yet researchers have proven that Californians are no happier than Iowans.   

Many married couples conceive children because they think kids will make the couple happier. In truth, parents are on balance no happier than other people, until the children move away from home. 

Judging by the accompanying photograph of  author  Gilbert, one can be reasonably happy sitting alone on a park bench.

Another roadblock to happiness is that the brain plays tricks on us by favoring information we want to receive and filtering out or avoiding information that we don’t. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, most of us do not do what is most likely to ensure happiness. We don’t talk to people who have done the things we think might make us happy.

If we are going to start smoking, for example, we don’t interview senior citizens with lung disease or emphysema. A person who wants to quit his job tends to talk more with the people who still work at the job, rather than people who have quit. If we are going to open a retail store, we don’t talk to many people who run retail stores, let alone people who have formerly run retail stores.

Gilbert style is witty, but his triple and quadruple entendres are sometimes a challenge to decode. He’s funny, but as an academic, Gilbert can’t help trotting out an endless parade of research and case studies to support the book’s premise.

I enjoyed Stumbling On Happiness, but overall the best book on happiness might be a good Italian cookbook.

What's the best book on happiness you've ever read?