I liked it so much that this week I went looking to see what else Dane said; I found other insightful comments, so tried to track down a bio on Dane—no luck.

More quotes, but nowhere could I find information on who he is or what he does.

I’m sharing the quotes anyway and if any of you know more about him please share your knowledge in the comments.

Obviously, Dane did not have a great respect for those in politics…

“Never vote for the best candidate, vote for the one who will do the least harm”

“The news of any politician’s death should be listed under ”Public Improvements.””

“Where the criminals cover their crimes by making them legal.” [On Washington D. C.]

However, he did have a wonder grasp on finances and success…

“Remember when $25, 000 was a success? Now it is a garbage collector.”

“A set of rules laid out by professionals to show the way they would like to act if it was profitable.”

“Blessed is he who talks in circles, for he shall become a big wheel.”

My favorite is his comment on us, us in any country, city or any conceivable grouping…

“Ignorance is never out of style. It was in fashion yesterday, it is the rage today and it will set the pace tomorrow.”

Who IS Frank Dane?

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Post from: Leadership Turn

Think of all the times you’ve used it as your argument of choice—or had it used on you.

The problem, Gloria Steinem tells us, is that “Logic is in the eye of the logician.”

That makes logic a moving target and subject to the whims of MAP, which means that “Logic is the art of going wrong with confidence,” according to Joseph Wood Krutch

Ambrose Bierce offers a wonderful definition, “Logic: The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding.”

Boy is that true.

John Locke tells us that “Logic is the anatomy of thought,” while Leonard Nimoy believes that “Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.”

But it was Dale Carnegie hit the nail on the head when he said, “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice, and motivated by pride and vanity.”

And Tryon Edwards warns us that “Prejudices are rarely overcome by argument; not being founded in reason they cannot be destroyed by logic,” because, as Anon tells us, “The best defense against logic is ignorance.”

Which goes a long way to explaining why no one on Wall Street or the SEC listened to Warren Buffet or Harry Markopolos respectively.

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Post from: Leadership Turn

“We can’t solve our educational challenges when, according to polls, Americans are approximately as likely to believe in flying saucers as in evolution, and when one-fifth of Americans believe that the sun orbits the Earth.

Almost half of young Americans said in a 2006 poll that it was not necessary to know the locations of countries where important news was made. That must be a relief to Sarah Palin, who, according to Fox News, didn’t realize that Africa was a continent rather than a country.”

• I’ve met people who think that the “Middle East” is a country;
• a nurse once explained to me that the war between Serbia and Bosnia wasn’t racial because both sides were Caucasian;
• a business type told me that Arkansas and Kansas were next to each other like North and South Dakota;
• CandidProf says that his students don’t know that round means spherical, so they think the Earth is a disk;
• something like 20% of Americans are functionally illiterate.

I’m actually grateful for Palin’s error because it highlights the level of ignorance that has become acceptable and the condition of education in this country.

I’m not saying that it’s necessarily great in other countries, but I don’t live in them either and they don’t bragg about being the world’s leader.

Perhaps it’s time to turn our focus from being the ‘leader’ in fixing the world’s problems to being the ‘leader’ in fixing our own.

The stupidity exemplified in the No Child Left Behind law that has led to a lowering of already low standards in the name of receiving funding is criminal.

We need educational reform that isn’t test-based, but focuses on real learning including critical thinking and is adequately funded.

Funding that shouldn’t be the problem once we stop spending $70 billion a month on the war—not that I think much of it will go towards education.

The stupidity of parents in brainwashing their kids into believing they are special and entitled to good grades and good jobs merely because they exist is tragic.

This entitlement stupidity is likely to carry on to future generations, unless it gets good and stomped down when it comes in contact with reality.

What ignorance can you add to the list above?

What ideas do you have for combating the problems?

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Post from: Leadership Turn