Tampilkan postingan dengan label Great Women. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Great Women. Tampilkan semua postingan

Senin, 12 Maret 2012

Guest Post: Melanie Bowen




Today, I’m pleased to publish a short piece written by Melanie Bowen.  Melanie is a part-time contributor on the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance Blog and has dedicated her time to provide encouragement for those on the path to healing.  
Inspiration Accomplishment: Writing thoughts and desires

There are many people that find personal enjoyment in creating a list of events, places, things they want to accomplish in life. Creating such a list actually makes a lot of sense because it often helps people to push forward, especially in times when they may be feeling down in the dumps and need that extra push to keep moving forward. This can also be helpful for those who are recently struggling from a life threatening illness such as mesothelioma.

Creating a list of things to do is almost like setting up specific goals for one’s self because they will ultimately be working to complete each of these tasks throughout their lifetime. When an individual completes each task and is able to scratch one thing off of their list, they will gain a sense of accomplishment to make them feel like they can achieve much more. Creating a list can even help a person get through a grim prognosis; it can help an individual get past daily adversities they may emotionally, mentally or physically face when fighting an illness.

How to Create a List of Things to Do

Writing down ideas to complete within a lifetime is actually quite simple. First, the person who is making the list will need to decide how they want to document their hopes and dreams. Of course, a piece of paper and a pen can easily do the trick for creating a list of aspirations. However, for more motivation, one may want to begin blogging about certain things they want to achieve throughout their lifetime. A blog is not only a way for an individual to keep track of the things they want to do; however, it is a way for them to share their thoughts and ideas with other people who can help to keep them inspired. A blog with a list of things to do in life can also encourage other people to make a list as well so that they can make their life more meaningful too.

Getting Ideas of Things to Do

One problem many people face is that they find they have a hard time figuring out what it is that they actually want to accomplish. However, it is important for an individual to brainstorm and think of what exciting and different things they would like to do to improve their life and make it even more meaningful than it already is. It is important for an individual to think of how adventurous they truly want to be when making their list. There are lots of fun, exciting, and thrilling ideas that can be added to a list of things to do throughout life. Such things including riding on the back of an elephant, skydiving, learn an entirely different language, travel to different areas with just a backpack, go surfing, learn a new dance, study abroad or even learning to play a new instrument.

No matter what it is you chose to do within your lifetime, you are in the driver’s seat to finding personal success. Sit down and truly think about what will make life more meaningful for you and what it is you wish to become, experience and see throughout the world. Start with short terms goals and then begin to think about long-term dreams and aspirations. You may find that by simply blogging, journaling and creating a list of goals will improve the quality of your life and bring you more happiness than you ever thought imaginable.

Rabu, 07 Desember 2011

"It Wasn't Your Baby"


 http://www.digitaldesktopwallpaper.com/wallpapers/wallpaper-site/mountain_wallpaper_005_1024.jpg



There were two warring tribes in the Andes, one that lived in the lowlands and the other high in the mountains. The mountain people invaded the lowlanders one day, and as part of their plundering of the people, they kidnapped a baby of one of the lowlander families and took the infant with them back up into the mountains.

The lowlanders didn't know how to climb the mountain. They didn't know any of the trails that the mountain people used, and they didn't know where to find the mountain people or how to track them in the steep terrain.

Even so, they sent out their best party of fighting men to climb the mountain and bring the baby home.

The men tried first one method of climbing and then another. They tried one trail and then another. After several days of effort, however, they had climbed only several hundred feet.

Feeling hopeless and helpless, the lowlander men decided that the cause was lost, and they prepared to return to their village below.

As they were packing their gear for the descent, they saw the baby's mother walking toward them. They realized that she was coming down the mountain that they hadn't figured out how to climb.

And then they saw that she had the baby strapped to her back. How could that be?

One man greeted her and said, "We couldn't climb this mountain. How did you do this when we, the strongest and most able men in the village, couldn't do it?"

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "It wasn't your baby."

Rabu, 14 September 2011

Interview with Dr. Raquel Alexander



Today, I'm thrilled to announce that I am publishing an interview with Dr. Raquel Alexander, an assistant tax professor at the University of Kansas. Raquel earned her Ph.D. in 2001 at the University of Texas-Austin.  Prior to that, she earned a BS in Accounting at the University of Kansas, a Masters in Taxation at Arizona State University and worked as a tax consultant in the Dallas, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona offices at KPMG.  She is a licensed CPA in Kansas.  Raquel's award-winning research has lead to reform in the college savings industry, and has been requested by policy makers and regulators such as the SEC, the MSRB, FINRA, and the White House.   Raquel has been quoted or cited in numerous popular press publications including Business Week, the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

 
How did you become interested in tax?  What inspired you to have the goalof changing tax law to be more equitable and convenient?  
My first tax class as an undergraduate at the University of Kansaslit the spark. Unlike other areas of accounting curriculum, tax presented an opportunity to work with the law and legal precedents while serving as a client advocate.  The complexity of the tax code creates interesting problems for classwork, but in practiceI saw that this complexity has real costs to taxpayers, business owners, employees and savers.  
Taxes won't be going away - they are necessary to operate the government;  butthey can certainly be structured to be more equitable, more conducive to growth and more convenient for taxpayers.  Complexity arises because we are now using the tax code to administer social and economic development programs (with mixed efficacy).  Thereare a number of excellent proposals to restructure the tax code that are currently being debated.  The recent protests at Apple Stores andat U2 Concerts showthat young people are starting to pay attention to inequity in the tax system. 
On the convenience side, I see merit in sending the IRS taxpayers a preliminarytax return with the information reported by employers and financial institutions already filled in.  The taxpayer could choose to file the return or change it to include additional income and deductions.   The IRS has the information and should push it outto reduce compliance costs.  It has been working in California and other countries for nearly a decade.

Among other things, you have done extensive research on college savingsplans. Can you explain what a 529 college savings plan is, and the benefits it has to offer?  
It might be easiest to think of 529 plans as college IRA accounts - the accountsare invested in mutual funds or CDs with tax-free growth.  Distributions are also tax-free when used for qualified higher educational expenses (such as tuition, fees, books, computers, and room and board).  Many states allow income tax deductions upon contribution(e.g., CO allows a $1 for $1 unlimited deduction for contributions).   A great place to learn about all the perks and unique benefits of 529 plans is here: www.savingforcollege.com

In the tax research graduate level course you teach, you have incorporatedservice learning into the curriculum.  Can you explain what this entails and why you chose to include such a unique approach? 
Service learningis an opportunity to provide students with meaningful, impactful ways to apply the curriculum while serving others.  In class, we work hard to understand the tax laws relevantto our clients and then we provide them with advice on their unique tax needs.  I am most proud of KU students’ work to help Hurricane Katrina victims and United Way affiliates throughout the state.  A former tax student, Taylor Petty, recently gave U.S. Congressionaltestimony about his tax service learning project to develop the financial literacy curriculum for the KS high schoolsEvery semester we have different clients and it is thrilling to see the students in action!  

What advice would you give to young people wanting to pursue a career intax accounting? 
In college, take as many tax and finance classes as possible.  Once working,stay current in the tax law, pay attention to business trends, and be ready to specialize in a new field within tax.  There are many accountants who made millions working on the Research and Development Credit when the law was first enacted.  New tax law createsnew opportunities for tax professionals. 

What’s the first thing you would do if you won $10,000,000 (other than paytaxes)?   
Open a 529 plan, of course.  Then go South By Southwestin Austin Texas and have mango-poblano chile quesadillas and margaritas at the Hula Hut.

Where do you find inspiration?   
Thereis an old saying “it takes a village to raise a child” but it also takes a village to raise a professor.  I have learned so much from my faculty peers but I have learned the most from the students and they make me excited to come to work every day.  The students’interests led to the service learning course (and to showing Daily Show tax clips in class.

What’s the difference between living and existing?    
Joe– you ask some tough questions!  It is probably the same as the difference between being a tax student and taking a tax class.    
Thanks for the interview!  Rock Chalk!  Raquel

Minggu, 11 September 2011

9/11 Pictures

Today marks the ten years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011 caused so much grief and suffering.  Children lost parents.  Husbands lost wives.  Many individuals should also be remembered for their heroism and bravery in helping those affected by the attacks.  Because a picture is worth a thousand words, today's post will contain the most powerful photos I could find of September 11, 2011.











Remnants of United Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania







Before and After Comparison

The pictures of those that lost their lives on 9/11




Minggu, 17 Juli 2011

Music Sunday: Cascada Song List

Cascada is a Eurodance pop group most famous for hit singles "Everytime We Touch", "What Hurts the Most", and "Evacuate The Dancefloor".  The wildly successful German band is composed of DJ Yanou, DJ Manian, and Natalie Horler.  English-German Natalie Horler is the lead singer of Cascada, and the band name has become synonymous with her.  Her effervescent, witty personality is a breath of fresh air in an era of vapid celebrities.  Here's an example of what I mean...



In no particular order...

1. Evacuate the Dancefloor



2. Everytime We Touch




3. Pyromania



4. What Hurts The Most



5. Last Christmas




6. San Francisco




7. Dangerous




8. What About Me




9. Miracle



10. Truly, Madly, Deeply



Kamis, 30 Juni 2011

The Story of Irena Sendler



The name Irena Sendler might be a bit obscure to you, but she was a woman worth knowing.  Irena was a Polish Catholic social worker who lived in Nazi-occupied Warsaw during World War II.  During WW2, she was hired in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist.  Roughly 400,000 Jews and Romanis- 30% of Warsaw’s population- were rounded up, herded, and crammed into 3.5 square miles.
Irena knew of the Nazi’s genocidal plans, so she smuggled infants out of the ghetto in the tool box she carried.  Bigger kids hid under tarp in the back of her truck.  During the period, she managed to save 2500 kids and provide shelter for them in children’s homes outside the Ghetto.  
Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept the list in a glass jar buried under a tree in her backyard.  In 1943, Irena was arrested by the Gestapo, severely tortured, and sentenced to death.  The Zegota resistance movement in Poland saved her by bribing German guard en route to her execution.  She was abandoned in a nearby forest, unconscious with broken arms and legs.  After the war was over, she tried desperately to locate the children’s parents that may have survived.  Many had been gassed at the Treblinka extermination camp or had otherwise gone missing.  Irena saw to it that the children who lost their parents were placed into foster family homes or adopted.  

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Selasa, 14 Juni 2011

Mother Teresa's Short Story

When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him
a plate of rice, a piece of bread. But a person who is shut out,
who feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person who has been
thrown out of society -- that spiritual poverty is much harder to
overcome. Those who are materially poor can be very wonderful people.
One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street.
And one of them was in a most terrible condition. I told the Sisters:
“You take care of the other three; I will take care of the one who
looks worse.” So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed,
and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand,
as she said one word only: “Thank you” -- and she died. I could not help
but examine my conscience before her. And I asked: "What would I say if I
were in her place?" And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to
draw a little attention to myself. I would have said: “I am hungry,
I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain, or something." But she gave me
much more -- she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile
on her face. Then there was the man we picked up from the drain, half-eaten
by worms and, after we had brought him to the home, he only said, “I have
lived like an animal in the street, but I am going to die as an angel,
loved and cared for.” Then, after we had removed all the worms from his body,
all he said, with a big smile, was: “Sister, I am going home to God” -- and
he died. It was so wonderful to see the greatness of that man who could
speak like that without blaming anybody, without comparing anything.
Like an angel -- this is the greatness of people who are spiritually
rich even when they are materially poor....

Jumat, 03 Juni 2011

Life by Mother Teresa









The following is a short poem written by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship.  For over 45 years, she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying as well as founding the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.  Following her death, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and thereafter referred to as "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta".  It is so beautiful I felt the strong urge to post it on Joe's Musings.  Enjoy!

Life
Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is costly, care for it.
Life is wealth, keep it.
Life is love, enjoy it.
Life is mystery, know it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.