His name was Bob Payne.

Our earth’s ecosystem is deteriorating at a rapid pace because of the careless acts of the human race.

Definition: An ecosystem is a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

He was a biologist who became very curious about why certain parts of the earth’s ecosystem flourish while others die.

He noticed that starfish were feeding on numerous waterborne organisms.

He removed the starfish from an area while thinking that the remaining organisms could thrive.

The opposite was true. Everything died!

There is a balance in nature that must not be violated.

He violated that balance by removing the starfish because the starfish were eating organisms that eventually killed all the algae and other foods.

He decided that the starfish were lifesavers that he called, “KEYSTONE SPECIES.”

1.4 million Wildebeests is the “KEYSTONE SPECIES” in the Serengeti National park in Tanzania, Africa.

Bob Payne shared his discoveries with biologists worldwide and those biologists are beginning to repair the balance necessary for earth to recover from all the man-made devastation.

When the world goes back to normal, Shanan Cale’s life won’t change much.

She’ll still work mostly from her home in California.

She’ll mother her two college-aged daughters. And she’ll continue to ponder intimacy and connection as a 54-year-old woman experiencing loneliness.

“Post-pandemic, even now that I’m vaccinated and everyone in my household is vaccinated — I don’t really have people outside my little pod,” she told CNN.

Cale is lonely but not alone.

In 2018, nearly half of Americans reported sometimes or always feeling alone. 

Recent findings suggest that during the pandemic, over one in three Americans face “serious loneliness.”

The “loneliness epidemic,” as some experts call it, was a problem well before Covid-19. (CNN)

And now that more employers are telling their employees to work from home permanently, we’ll see an uptick in people living without much-needed socialization!

This trend is a threat to the cohesiveness of our communities.

WE ALL KNOW PEOPLE WHO ARE LONELY!

PLEASE ADOPT A LONELY PERSON!!

If not today, when?

The French parliament on Thursday adopted legislation that characterizes sex with a child under the age of 15 as rape and punishable by up to 20 years in jail, bringing its penal code closer in line with many other Western nations.

While the age of consent was previously 15, prosecutors in France used to be required to prove sex was non-consensual to obtain a rape conviction.

“This is an historic law for our children and our society,” Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti told the National Assembly.

“No adult aggressor will be able to claim the consent of a minor younger than 15 years old.” (Reuters)

HERE’S MY 1st QUESTION: Why wasn’t this law on the books 100 years ago?

HERE’S MY 2nd QUESTION: Shouldn’t the age be higher than 15?

Because it was a unanimous vote, the French parliamentarians are very proud of themselves.

REALLY?

What took them so long to act?

Every society must carry out its solemn responsibility to protect its children.

If not today, when?

My wife is in her car waiting in the line for drive-through ordering at BK.

A truck with trailer pulls up.

The driver parks it and runs to go inside the building, but the door is locked.

How is that truck driver going to get his truck and trailer into the drive-through line now that no customers are allowed inside?

My wife decides to let him go in front of her, but she’ll need to back up to make room for him.

So, the car behind her sees that he will also have to back up and he does.

The truck and trailer move into the line ahead of her.

When she orders and drives up to the window, her lunch bill was ALREADY PAID by the truck driver!

AND she pays the bill for the car behind her that backed up.

THIS IS THE AMERICA I KNOW!

CLIMATE CHANGE is motivating people to relocate to parts of the country that seem to be immune from the flooding, droughts, fires, hurricanes and other traumas that are occurring elsewhere.

One of those cities is Duluth, Minnesota which is on the western shore of lake Superior.

Lake Superior stands alone as a reason to move to Duluth. It has 3 quadrillion gallons of fresh water.

The lake also affects the weather, which means Duluth has warmer winters and cooler summers.

In 2010, Duluth was designated a Yellow Ribbon Community in recognition of the city’s efforts to unite residents, government organizations, agencies, and employers in order to support the servicemen and women in the military and their families.

Access to fresh water will continue to grow in importance.

For this reason, other midwestern cities located on or near the Great Lakes will see an influx.

Changes in weather patterns seem to be getting more of our attention.

This past Sunday, Fareed Zakaria announced that his mother had just passed away in India.

His father died when Fareed was 8 years old and his mother had an enormous influence on him.

She was a well-educated, prominent journalist who wanted her children to come to America for their higher education.

When I heard him talk about his mother, I thought about my parents.

I believe both of my parents were equal influencers in my life.

Both were college educated and both were equally committed to their marriage and to raising our family of six children.

I learned about the values they lived by and I have tried to live by those same values.

How about YOU?

Who was or were your biggest influencer(s)?

And as an adult, do you continue to live by the same values?

And do you try to avoid their mistakes?

And what kind of influencer are you on your children?

Think about it. It’s important!

If not today, when?

Well, what are you?

Conservative or liberal?

Republican or Democrat?

Immigrant or born here?

Caucasian or African American?

Church goer or non-believer?

Straight or gay?

Rich or poor?

Labels are harmful.

They put an unnecessary spotlight on how we differ from one another.

I prefer thinking of everyone as a FELLOW HUMAN BEING!

As such, we have THE MOST ESSENTIAL QUALITIES IN COMMON!

We all are born of our mothers and we die.

Our bodies have all identical organs and physical requirements.

We all experience joy and sorrow.

We all want to love and be loved.

We all want to be safe from harm.

Harmful labels are tearing our country apart.

Have we forgotten our name?

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

Let’s live up to our name!

If not today, when?

Nick Muerdter (Website creator)

For weeks, Nick Muerdter had been hearing about his coworkers’ concerns and frustrations as they tried to navigate complicated and evolving Covid 19 vaccination systems to land an appointment for their parents.

“It seemed like a lot of people were just spending a lot of time on these pharmacy websites,” said Muerdter, a 34-year-old software engineer for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado.

In mid-February, Muerdter began creating a tool in his free time that scanned local pharmacies’ vaccine appointment availability and gathered all that information in one place.

It allows users to view nearby available appointments just by plugging in their zip code and how far they were willing to drive. (CNN)

Vaccine availability information is now on his website for all 50 states and is kept current every minute.

The websites address is: vaccinespotter.org

Another way to increase your income is to get a nice raise in pay at your existing job.

Do you feel that your efforts are worthy of a raise?

Does your boss also think you’re worthy of a raise?

If not, why not?

Here are some thoughts on how to earn that raise you want:

Always be on time-Promptness is an attribute that is appreciated by employers. It demonstrates that this job is important to you. It also says that you have the self-discipline to get up and get to work on time.

Work hard. No laziness-Do you put in an honest day’s work in return for an honest day’s pay?

Get along with fellow employees-The last thing your employer wants is a trouble maker. You may not like everybody you work with, but you must decide to get along.

Suggest improvements-If you have an idea that could help your company, it would show you want to help it be successful.

Good luck!

We all have cash flow problems sometimes in our lives.

If not handled in a timely manner, your life becomes even more complicated.

The worst consequence of unpaid bills is the fracture between you and local vendors you need.

And your credit rating begins to head south jeopardizing future borrowing power.

So, what’s the answer?

You only have two alternatives if you don’t have a relative or friend to help you.

You must either lower expenses or increase income.

Identifying unnecessary expenses is an easy solution. Raising income is not!

Let’s talk about raising income.

Will your existing job and career path provide the income you need now and in the future?

If not, you have no alternative but to develop a higher paying skill!

You don’t need college.

Roll up your sleeves and find out what kind of job training is available in your area.

Develop a skill in high tech or some other hot field!

If not today, when?