THE PIZZAONIAN: March 2016

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03/28/2016

Artistic, Integrity and politics – three words that can mean very different things

"Pizzaonian Emerging" from the Pizzaonian Art Institute collection, Abe Straction, curator

BROTHER GIOVANNI’S JOURNAL …………

Certain words have always invoked a variety of reactions throughout history. So much argument and discord exists around the emotional content a word has for the person using it or hearing it.

It has always amazed me how we can all use the same words, but how these words can have different meanings for each of us.

Granted, these are not the words you were probably thinking about. However, here are a three words to consider.

Artistic: This is a word that most people assume does not apply to them. Is it not strange that the very life force that made us, and we are a part of, is by its very nature creative, And yet, people who are part of this life-giving force do not believe they are artistic or creative?

The next time someone asks you if you are creative or artistic, think about it before you answer, or better yet, take some time to figure out the things you do that are creative. You may surprise yourself.

Integrity: Now here is a word that can evoke many reactions and subjective definitions. Most of them are rationalizations. Not that this is so bad, it just should not become a habit. A man once told me that there is not a person in this world that has not lied about something. He believed a person to be honest when they were willing to admit to this. He may have a point.

I suspect that lapses in integrity with most honest people are more about omissions rather than outright falsifications. It’s easier on our sense of integrity when we focus on what we don’t say rather than when we create an outright lie.

Of course, course there is always a matter of degree. How material the omission is to the subject is always going to part of our rationalization. Maybe it can even be justified if it’s not relevant to any serious outcomes. Embracing our “humanness” within reasonable limits makes us more open to the faults of those around us.

We should all try it more often. (Not lying, but embracing our humanity)

Politics: Now here is a word that can bring a variety of reactions. Politics as a human endeavor has had many different reactions historically. Today, the reaction to the word politician is much different than what an ancient Greek or Roman would have had.

Why do people no longer consider politics a noble pursuit? In the United States, politicians no longer command the respect of the electorate at large, but still are elected and reelected by their local constituencies. A seeming contradiction whose explanation requires the expertise of your best political scientist - I am certainly not going to try an answer it here.

Let’s end with a quote from a famous American President. “Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.” Ronald Reagan

The point of all this is how we use words makes a difference. We all know that. However, we usually reserve our knowledge of this for important occasions when we have to get it right. What we forget is how important the emotional contents of words are in our everyday relationships – doing so can be the difference between having a meaningful encounter instead of spending our time wondering went wrong.

Till next time,

Brother Giovanni

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Posted at 12:39 PM in CREATIVITY, Journalism, LIFE, RELATIONSHIPS, STUFF | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: anger, brother giovanni, can.will.free, communication, distrust, emotional, fulfillment, life, meaning, new, pizzaonia, pizzaonian, words

03/26/2016

Kierkegaard and Nietzsche where are you when we need you? On faith and certainty

PIZZAONIAN NATIONAL FLAG -Courtesy of the Pizzaonian Art Institute, Abe Staction, curator

If there is a profound effect modern science has on the thinking process of the average person; it is the notion that you must have proof to define reality.

I am sure the great thinkers and leaders of Babylonian and Egyptian civilizations would be amazed at our notion of what is real. Remember, the Pharaohs would seek solutions to perplexing problems by going to the temple to sleep so their dreams could show them the way.

Can you imagine a political leader today when asked how he or she will solve a perplexing problem, they would answer by saying they were going to the temple to seek the answer in their dreams.

That would take care of a politician's decision to retire early. However, on second thought, when you see the condition of the world today could we do any worse if our leaders did seek answers in their dreams? The fact that we have to stop and think about it answers the question.

The truth is scientists and theologians have had to change their minds frequently as the years go by. That will not stop each side from proclaiming their new theories with the same certainty and arrogance of past generations.

As for the rest of us, we will have to be content with faith for whatever we believe – faith, reinforced by experience. Subjective? Yes, it is, and that’s okay because in the end - that is all we have.

Kierkegaard and Nietzsche where are you when we need you?

Diverti Mento, commenting from Pizzaonia for the “The Pizzaonian,” a division of the Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network.

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Posted at 03:40 PM in Current Affairs, Journalism, politics, Religion, Science | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: beta-world, business, certainty, diverti mento, journalism, Kierkegaard, lifestyle, news, Nietzsche, pizzaonia, pizzaonian newertainment Network, politics, satire

03/25/2016

Political reality defined by our "rose colored glasses" - 2016 style

Conjectures of a recovering dilettante in an election year........

Sooner or later it occurs to all of us that truth is very elusive. Some might argue that not only is it elusive it is very subjective as well. We all see reality through the prism of our “rose colored glasses.”

Unfortunately, not all “rose colored glasses” see or understand the same thing since we filter everything through the sum total of our life experiences and acquired prejudices. If you have ever had the experience of having two people who witnessed the same event give you two completely different accounts of what they witnessed, you have experienced what a significant dilemma this is.

What is surprising is why we do not consider this more often when disagreements occur between us. Unfortunately, we react more than we reflect. Granted in times of danger we need to react first, but what about all the other times when we are not in danger.

Since it is our nature to be egocentric, our reaction always favors our preconceived perspective. In a family situation this may result in a quarrel. However, internationally and politically the results are more serious. If you have any doubt, consider the political and cultural differences and interpretations we experience during an election year.

If two people from the same culture can have major political differences in what they see or experience, just imagine the chasm that exists if they are people of different cultures.

That might be a good reason internationally to mind our own business. As individuals we do not seem to be able to that and as nations it becomes more difficult. We have all met the person that believes they have been selected to save us all. It seems some nations suffer from the same affliction.

However, as nations, the motives may be more devious. Nations are very good at disguising their actual motivations with seemingly altruistic messiah intentions to save other cultures from their “devious” ways. The problem is that the “other nations” do not believe there ways are devious.

When this happens other more menacing means of persuasion need to used, particularly if the “devious” nation that needs to be saved has something the saving nation needs or wants. You simply need to look around the world’s trouble spots today and it should be rather obvious what is happening.

I have often thought that this is why the concept of regional limited wars was invented. In theory this looks very good – the more powerful nation with its superior military and economic might brings salvation to the wayward nation that needs to be enlightened.

Enlightenment however isn’t free. It requires access to whatever the saving nation wants for its trouble. And that is when the trouble really starts.

As the British discovered when they attempted to subdue their American Colonies, those dam Colonials didn’t fight fair. While they brought the precision and military strategy of a great power to bear, those dammed Colonials would spread out, hide behind trees and pick off marching soldiers, marching with precision, one by one. And, since the Colonials were defending what they believed was their homeland and the British were fighting in a foreign land, a limited war of attrition is eventually won by the “little guy.” Does sound familiar doesn’t it.

Who said that “those who don’t read history are damned to repeat it and those who do read history are damned to watch those who haven’t repeat it.” Whoever it was knew what they were talking about.

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Posted at 06:22 PM in Current Affairs, LIFE, MILITARY AFFAIRS, politics, RELATIONSHIPS, STUFF | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: countries, cultural, international, perception, politics

03/24/2016

Unions need to improve marketing skills -

Observations on the passing scene and other stuff by Brother Franco

First, I should state clearly that I have been a member of a union. I believe unions have always served a very strong purpose in our country. In my opinion, you’d be hard put to find anything the average working person has ever gained that didn’t come through a union effort. Even our nonunion brethren have profited greatly by the American union labor movement.

This begs the question. Why is the union movement in our country in such disarray? Private company unions are pretty much going the way of the dodo bird. Even where they exist they are losing power. The only unions that seem to function correctly are in the public sector and unfortunately all they seem to do is infuriate the public with each passing day.

I think you can put most of the blame at the foot of the unions themselves. I know this upsets a lot of union members, but the simple truth is about all we do anymore is "circle the wagons" and try to defend ideas and principles that don’t seem to resonate with the public any longer. It’s also hard to convince private company employees that often have fewer benefits and less pay than public-sector employees; that public-sector unions have any value.

Even so, what I don’t understand is why unions aren’t out there selling the good they have done over the last hundred years. People forget that everything from weekends off, eight-hour work days, vacations and to even simple things like rest breaks are all a result of organized labor's struggle to bring them into existence.

While unions are good at providing benefits for their workers, they obviously have very few marketing skills. There should be now, and should have been for a long time, a national campaign selling the virtue of unions and the good they have accomplished. The American middle class essentially owes their existence to the union movement. Anyone who checks history will find this to be true.

Then why are we not selling this? Why aren’t we out there shouting to the heavens the good that we’ve done? Perhaps than all those working-class folks that don’t want unions would understand why sooner, or later, it’s in their best interest to join one.

Brother Franco

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Posted at 01:34 PM in Current Affairs, LIFE, politics, STUFF | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: benefits, eight-hour day, labor, marketing, middle-class, organized, unions

03/17/2016

How about acknowledging the heroism of meeting your daily responsibilities

Sometime in our lifetime we finally see how important it is to acknowledge the heroism involved in meeting our daily responsibilities. For so many years, we are busy just “getting it done” that we fail to appreciate how courageous an act this is.

This is what happens when we live in the age of celebrity and “bigger than life events.” What makes these phenomena almost beyond belief is that most of these happenings are quite ordinary, but in our pursuit to ward of the perceived boredom of everyday life, we easily become the gullible audience that is all too eager to hear and believe what the hucksters have to sell us.

Every day we are bombarded with the amazing success stories of the new entrepreneurs who through their mastering of the technical skills of our time become billionaires by creating, not a cure for disease or a way to eliminate poverty, but a new game that we can play, alone or if need be, with others.

What is more amazing is that so many of these new companies that made their creators very rich, have yet to produce a profit. There never has been a time when potential was worth so much more money than reality. Hopefully, the investors in these enterprises are not fools. At least for our sake and for some semblance of sanity let’s hope this is true.

What is dismaying about all of this is how it makes average people who willing enter their work world everyday look small in comparison. We fail to appreciate the heroism that is practiced daily by common men and woman simply doing what needs to be done.

So if you are one of the “ordinary people” stop for a moment and take pride in your integrity and accomplishments. You make the world work. Without you to pay the bills and buy and use the “games” created by our “new entrepreneurs” there would be no billionaires.

Brother Giovanni

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Posted at 11:20 AM in CREATIVITY, Current Affairs, LIFE, STUFF, TECHNOLOGY | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: billionaiirs, entrepreneurs, heroic, heroism, integrity, life, ordinary, people, pride

03/09/2016

This weekend Pizzaonians honor and celebrate the lost art of the spirit of listening.

This annual event defines the heart of our people and our country. Imagine how your politics would change if your leaders took listening seriously.

The following verse is the Pizzaonian mantra for good living. We offer it to you for your consideration.

When I ask you to listen to me and you start giving advice, you have not done what I asked.

When I ask you to listen to me and you begin to tell me why I should not feel that way, you are trampling on my feelings.

When I ask you to listen to me and you feel you have to do something to solve my problems, you have failed me, strange as that may seem.

Perhaps that’s why prayer works for some people. Because God is mute and doesn’t offer advice or try to fix things.

God just listens and trusts you to work it out for yourself.

So please, just listen and hear me. And if you want to talk, wait a few minutes for your turn, and I promise to listen to you.

ANONYMOUS

From all of us at the The Pizzaonian - May your life be enriched by the blessed experience of listening with love and concern to those who share your life.

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Posted at 02:18 PM in Current Affairs, LIFE, politics, RELATIONSHIPS, STUFF | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: careing, enrichment, free, freedom, god, life, life, lifestyle, listening, love, new, now, Pizzaonia, spirit, the Pizzaonian

03/08/2016

Now scientifically proven, living is dangerous to life! -- No longer disputable

We can now say without equivocation: Living is dangerous to life. Nothing that you do on a daily basis is as detrimental to your body as living. Can you imagine eating or drinking any substance, or for that matter, participating in any activity that you knew would cost you one full day of your life?

That is exactly what living does. This is truly being on the “horns of a dilemma.”

For years, we have been intellectually aware of this by simple observation, and for those who are more introspective, by studying cause and effect. However, with careful tracking and scientific observation of 1000 meticulously selected subjects, we now know the obvious to be factually true.

The experiment was conducted and supervised by the Pizzaonian Institute for Scientific Investigation. (PISS) Their findings conclusively prove, beyond any scientific doubt, that every individual loses one full day of their lives, each and every day, by simply “living.”

So we are the faced with the predicament of living and dying at the same time. I suppose when you get right down to it, it is a matter of which one you chose to make your point of focus for your life. Good luck!

Brother Franco

“The Pizzaonian” is a division of the Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network

Posted at 04:58 PM in CREATIVITY, Current Affairs, LIFE, RELATIONSHIPS, STUFF | Permalink | Comments (0)

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A funny thing happened on the way to Utopia - We lost the virtues of dilettantism

“Pizzaonia Emerging 2” Courtesy of the Pizzaonian Art Institute, Abe Straction, Curator

A funny thing happened on the way to Utopia - dilettantism ceased to be a favored way of life.

Conjectures of a recovering dilettante……

I cannot help but think how much better your world might be if this had not happened. Many years ago, a dilettante was considered a “lover of the arts.’ And we all know that “lover of the arts” do not wage war.

Now, unfortunately, a more popular definition became the norm. A dilettante became an amateur, a dabbler – a person that no one should take seriously. Come to think of it, this sounds a lot like your politicians. And, they do wage war.

Here in Pizzaonia, we honor our dilettantes. We consider this to be a byproduct of the truly curious who are so awed by the wonders of the world they live in; they become literally like “kids in a candy store” - unable to stay with one thing without soon being attracted to the next wonder they see. They may never become what you would call experts, but they do end up knowing a little about a lot of things.

The experts in your world, as they live their lives, fill the box that holds his or her life experiences with one item, the subject that they came to know so well.

For the dilettantes of our world, their box of life experiences is like the child’s toy box, filled with many wonders and delights – sometimes so filled with wondrous toys they have a hard time choosing which one to play with next.

We will leave it to you which one you would rather be.

Certainly, here in Pizzaonia we know you need experts. No one wants to be operated on by a brain surgeon who dabbles in surgery. But, what about all those times when you don’t need a brain surgeon?

And this is the point when a funny thing happened on the way to Utopia. Your world decided to make education vocational training instead of "education."

As your way of life requires you continually to spend more - having affluence and money to spend becomes critical. You cannot have a market economy without customers.

Your largest national economy, the United States, is the obvious case in point. As the technical and digital world emerged, you needed programmers more than you needed philosophers. Nevertheless, we should not have programmers at the expense of the philosophers.

Philosophers should not be relegated to the universities to teach the one philosophy course college graduates will be exposed to in their lives.

Don’t misunderstand us, even a pizza driven economy like Pizzaonia needs its technical experts. However, since we are an alternate universe, we can be whatever we want to be. Ironically, this is what you claim any of your citizens can accomplish – to be what they want to be. Or as you say, follow your bliss.

Well, if following your bliss means you are going to be unemployed the rest of your life, that becomes very unblissful in a hurry.

From our perspective, you have always confused earning your living with your vocation. We know there are the favored few who make a living at what they love doing. However, let’s face it; they are the selected few. Most people are happy to have a reasonable job that will pay the bills.

For these favored few, if the job does not occupy their entire lives, they can afford to be dilettantes.

Question to think about. To what extent does the scientific perspective that now dominates your world create a myopian perspective?

Till then,

Brother Giovanni

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Posted at 12:22 PM in CREATIVITY, Current Affairs, FAITH, LIFE, politics, STUFF | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tags: bliss, dilettante, experience, experts, faith, life, market, market economy, money, politics, science, United States, wealth

03/01/2016

Never have so few led so many so badly. Is there a better definition of the American Congress than this?

Never have so few led so many so badly. Could there be a better definition of the American Congress than this. Many portalized, American Pizzaonians remain mystified when they see the stonewalling ramblings of the political rhetoric coming from their native country.

Equally mystifying is the excuse that “Democracy is messy,” or “It has always been this way.” Uttering this as if it were some sacred announcement coming from the political gods of the past seems to make it all right for politicians to reduce the rhetoric of the supposed greatest democracy in the world to “political blathering.”

I suppose it is to be expected for the politicians to treat the voters as morons. What is mystifying is why do the voters allow themselves to be treated as morons? - Unless, of course, they are morons.

View from the editorial offices of "The Pizzaonian"

John Frank Giovanni, commenting for "The Pizzaonian" - Diverti Mento, editor - "The Pizzaonian" is a division of the Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network.