Have any of you read Riane Eisler's books about caring economics, rather than those that support war, prisons, sports, etc? I heard her speak today, and she was fascinating. I sure intend to read her books.

I guess not. Her best selling book is "The Chalice and the Blade." A more recent one is "The Real Wealth of Nations."

The audience members brought up some great examples of our current economic priorities. We were in Minneapolis, and they are about to spend $1 billion on a football stadium. Really??? They also brought up how quickly the NFL referee strike was quickly settled when the poor GB Packers lost a game because of a "bad call." Yet, the Chicago teachers' strike went on and on. And we are still arguing about health care for our children and elderly. But never mind; the Packers will be able to have more seasoned officials at their games. That's what counts.

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The audience members brought up some great examples of our current economic priorities. We were in Minneapolis, and they are about to spend $1 billion on a football stadium.

In one of his books, Michael Moore contrasts the encylopaedic knowledge that many Americans have of sports with their dismal knowledge of worldwide events.

I suspect that this accusation could be levelled at some other countries as well; certainly our own media spends too much time on sports reporting for my tastes.

I didn't mean to just pick on sports...or the U.S. This is happening all over the world and in many different areas. Priorities are often questionable.

I know it makes me sound like an anarchist but the first priority of Government is the perpetuation of Government. Spending priorities will always reflect this.

Just call me cynical.

It reminds me of my experience in health care. No wonder there are a lot of errors. Errors mean more money because the patient needs to be further treated. When will we ever figure that out?

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
It reminds me of my experience in health care. No wonder there are a lot of errors. Errors mean more money because the patient needs to be further treated. When will we ever figure that out?

I don't know whose phrase is was (it must be American because of the word choice) but I always remember this:

"Why is it there is never time to do it properly but there's always time to do it over?"

(UK English speakers would say "...do it again...")

Interesting because my reaction would be that someone from England would have said that. I don't think we use the word "proper" as much as the English do.

Yes, the way I've seen it (on a sign) is:

"If you don't have time to do it right the first time, what makes you think you have time to do it over again?"

But a retired Marine did use proper in a sentence:
"Proper prior planning prevents piss-poor performance."

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I don't think we use the word "proper" as much as the English do.

What about "properly"?

What would Eisler say about women such as Boudicca?

Eisler seems allied in her conclusions with the authors of "Sex at Dawn," a more recent work.

arnie, I don't think we use "properly" as much as the English do, either. We do, of course, talk about "proper" names; but we don't (in my opinion) use it as much to mean "right."

Now, from time to time, I will talk about wanting a "proper" breakfast. That is, I want a real breakfast, with protein, rather than just a continental breakfast or a bagel.

We certainly do use the word and often. Just the other day my wife said, "Granny fell out of her chair."
I replied, "Proper up so it doesn't happen again."