April 12 Meeting Cancellation

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The question has arisen whether my obvious hostility for Thomas Friedman (please see the Participant Comments section below) contributed to our failure to achieve a minimum quorum of six positive RSVP’s.

I believe that the record will show that the answer is negative.

Yes, most of our members are aware of the lawsuits that I brought against 15 of the world’s largest financial institutions 2009-20011 for the $84 billion which they owed me and which, every penny, had been pledged in legally-binding fashion to benefit the education of 10 million inner-city children.

[Those lawsuits are documented by hundreds, if not thousands, of documents that are contained in the third and fourth sections of this website entitled “Inner-City Holocaust and America’s ‘Apartheid’ Justice System (In Honor of Jonathan Kozol and In Memory of John Howard Griffin)”.]

And yes, most of our members are aware that I wrote many letters while those lawsuits were pending to 43 news-media superstars imploring them to “shine a light” on what was transpiring.

[An example of one of those letters is available for download from the fourth posting (entitled “18 May 2011 Letter to 43 News-Media Superstars”) posted in the third section of this website. BTW that letter contains as a second page a “blind file note” listing the 43 News-Media Superstars and their then-current addresses.]

And yes, most of our members are aware that if any one of those 43 news-media superstars had “lifted a single finger” by writing a single news story or a single OpEd column, 10 million inner-city children might have been spared “a fate worse than death.”

HOWEVER, I would be flabbergasted if any of our members had stopped to think during the last week since the announcement of his book, that Thomas Friedman was probably one of those 43 news-media superstars.

The e-mail correspondence contained in this section of the bulletin board attempted to obtain our minimum quorum of six WITHOUT any trace of bitterness. Which I believe was accomplished.

AND WITHOUT even a mention that Thomas Friedman was one of those 43 news-media superstars who “condemned to a fate worse than death” those 10 million inner-city children.

AND NO, I will NOT shun reading his book -- because every book by a competent author contains important nuggets of information that were not theretofore known.

BUT YES, I do NOT relish meetings for which we have lost our minimum quorum of six so that we are powerless to take effective action to benefit our nation (and, hopefully, the entire world).

[We have only had to cancel 2-3 meetings in the course of our 11-plus years of existence due to a failure to achieve a minimum quorum of six. And there have only been 2-3 meetings during that period in which a minimum quorum of six was lost because of, for example, illness on a meeting date when we had fewer than our average 10-11 attendees.]

John Karls – 18 March 2017
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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

April 12 Meeting Cancellation

Post by johnkarls »

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From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
To: ReadingLiberallyEmailList@johnkarls.com
Bcc: The Approximately 150 Recipients of Our Weekly E-mail
Subject: April 12 Meeting Cancellation
Date: Sat, March 18, 2017
Attachments:
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Dear Friends,

Last Saturday’s weekly e-mail (the second following item) contained the standard penultimate section for the first-in-the-monthly-cycle weekly e-mail that said --

“In accordance with our quorum-revision policy of 6/12/2013, instead of waiting until the last week before each monthly meeting to request RSVP’s and canceling if we do not have our minimum quorum of six, RSVP’s are requested in our first-of-the-monthly-cycle weekly e-mail. Those who have RSVP’d will be informed immediately when we reach six so that they can proceed to read the materials with assurance that a discussion will take place. If there are not six RSVP’s by 11:59 pm next Friday, then next week’s weekly e-mail will announce that the 4/12/2016 meeting is cancelled.”

Last Wednesday morning at 3:17 am MDT there was sent the following Heads Up to those who had RSVP’d positively for any of our 6 prior meetings which is “sent for any month if we have reached the point of only 3 days to go until cancellation of a monthly meeting because fewer than 6 positive RSVP’s have been received.”

[Such reminders always include the previous Saturday’s weekly e-mail announcing the new topic.]

As of last Wednesday morning, there were only 4 positive RSVP’s for April 12.

I regret to be forced to inform you that as of 11:59 pm last evening, there were still not 6 positive RSVP’s and, accordingly, the April 12 meeting is cancelled.

Our next meeting will be Wed May 10.

We hope to see all of you again then.

Your friend,

John K.

PS -- To un-subscribe, please press "reply" and type "deletion requested."

NB: Please do NOT block our e-mail because you are too embarrassed to request a deletion -- 10 of our approximately 150 regular e-mail recipients use Comcast.net which has an algorithm blocking all e-mails from a website for which a certain percentage of recipients have requested blockage AND 3 of our regular meeting attendees who use Comcast.net now can NOT receive our weekly e-mails.


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From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
To: ReadingLiberallyEmailList@johnkarls.com
Bcc: The 19 To’s and Cc’s Listed Below
Subject: Last Call To Achieve Quorum For April 12th Meeting -- Thomas Friedman’s “Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving in an Age of Accelerations”
Date: Wed, March 15, 2017 3:17 am MDT
Attachments:
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To:

The 11 RSVP’s For Our October-March Meetings
Who Have Not Yet RSVP’d for April 12th =

Ellen Birrell
Martin Gelman
Norm Guice
Jim Hutchins
Bill Lee
Vicky Norton-Strong
Deb Sawyer
Janice Shawl
June Taylor
Leslie Urry
Michelle Wolfe

Cc:

The 4 Positive RSVP’s for April 12th =

Ted Gurney
George Kunath
Michael Leith
Yours Truly

The 3 Negative RSVP’s for April 12th =

Tucker Gurney
Jay Hansen
Marcia Hansen

Dear Friends,

Re: Quorum for Thomas Friedman’s “Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving in an Age of Accelerations” -- Last Call For April 12th Meeting

This is the standard Heads Up that is sent for any month if we have reached the point of only 3 days to go until cancellation of a monthly meeting because fewer than 6 positive RSVP’s have been received.

So far, we are 2 short of the minimum quorum of 6 RSVP’s for Wed April 12.

If any of you has a change of heart before Friday evening, please be sure to let me know.

Your friend,

John K.


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From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
To: ReadingLiberallyEmailList@johnkarls.com
Bcc: The Approximately 150 Recipients of Our Weekly E-mail
Subject: Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving in an Age of Accelerations – For April 12th
Date: Sat, March 11, 2017
Attachments:
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Dear Friends,

Our next meeting is Wednesday evening, April 12th, at the Salt Lake Public Library (210 East 400 South).

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OUR FOCUS BOOK FOR APRIL 12TH -- THANK YOU FOR BEING LATE: AN OPTIMIST’S GUIDE TO THRIVING IN AN AGE OF ACCELERATIONS

NY Times Bestseller “Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving in an Age of Accelerations” by Thomas Friedman (Ferrar, Straus and Giroux 11/22/2016 - $$16.88 hardcover + shipping or $12.99 Kindle from Amazon.com – 496 pages) was suggested by Norm Guice, one of our regular attendees.

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AUTHOR BIO

Thomas L. Friedman is a three-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for his work with The New York Times and the author of six bestselling books, including The World Is Flat.

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AMAZON DESCRIPTION

We all sense it -- something big is going on. You feel it in your workplace. You feel it when you talk to your kids. You can’t miss it when you read the newspapers or watch the news. Our lives are being transformed in so many realms all at once -- and it is dizzying.

In Thank You for Being Late, a work unlike anything he has attempted before, Thomas L. Friedman exposes the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and explains how to get the most out of them and cushion their worst impacts. You will never look at the world the same way again after you read this book: how you understand the news, the work you do, the education your kids need, the investments your employer has to make, and the moral and geopolitical choices our country has to navigate will all be refashioned by Friedman’s original analysis.

Friedman begins by taking us into his own way of looking at the world -- how he writes a column. After a quick tutorial, he proceeds to write what could only be called a giant column about the twenty-first century. His thesis: to understand the twenty-first century, you need to understand that the planet’s three largest forces -- Moore’s law (technology), the Market (globalization), and Mother Nature (climate change and biodiversity loss) -- are accelerating all at once. These accelerations are transforming five key realms: the workplace, politics, geopolitics, ethics, and community.

Why is this happening? As Friedman shows, the exponential increase in computing power defined by Moore’s law has a lot to do with it. The year 2007 was a major inflection point: the release of the iPhone, together with advances in silicon chips, software, storage, sensors, and networking, created a new technology platform. Friedman calls this platform “the supernova” -- for it is an extraordinary release of energy that is reshaping everything from how we hail a taxi to the fate of nations to our most intimate relationships. It is creating vast new opportunities for individuals and small groups to save the world -- or to destroy it.

Thank You for Being Late is a work of contemporary history that serves as a field manual for how to write and think about this era of accelerations. It’s also an argument for “being late” -- for pausing to appreciate this amazing historical epoch we’re passing through and to reflect on its possibilities and dangers. To amplify this point, Friedman revisits his Minnesota hometown in his moving concluding chapters; there, he explores how communities can create a “topsoil of trust” to anchor their increasingly diverse and digital populations.

With his trademark vitality, wit, and optimism, Friedman shows that we can overcome the multiple stresses of an age of accelerations -- if we slow down, if we dare to be late and use the time to reimagine work, politics, and community. Thank You for Being Late is Friedman’s most ambitious book -- and an essential guide to the present and the future.

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REVIEWS

One of The Wall Street Journal's "10 Books to Read Now"

One of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2016, Kirkus Reviews

One of the Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2016, Publishers Weekly

"Thomas L. Friedman is a self-confessed 'explanatory journalist' -- whose goal is to be a 'translator from English to English.' And he is extremely good at it . . . it is hard to think of any other journalist who has explained as many complicated subjects to so many people . . . Now he has written his most ambitious book -- part personal odyssey, part commonsense manifesto . . . As a guide for perplexed Westerners, this book is very hard to beat . . . Thank You for Being Late is a master class in explaining . . . As usual with Friedman, it is all backed up by pages of serious reporting from around the world . . . After your session with Dr. Friedman, you have a much better idea of the forces that are upending your world, how they work together -- and what people, companies and governments can do to prosper. You do have a coherent narrative -- an honest, cohesive explanation for why the world is the way it is, without miracle cures or scapegoats. And that is why everybody should hope this book does very well indeed." -- John Micklethwait, The New York Times Book Review

"[An] ambitious book . . . In a country torn by a divisive election, technological change and globalization, reconstructing social ties so that people feel respected and welcomed is more important than ever . . . Rather than build walls, [healthy communities] face their problems and solve them. In [Friedman's] telling, this is the way to make America great." -- Laura Vanderkam, The Wall Street Journal

"Engaging . . . in some senses Thank You For Being Late is an extension of [Friedman's] previous works, woven in with wonderful personal stories (including admirably honest discussions about the nature of being a columnist). What gives Friedman’s book a new twist is his belief that upheaval in 2016 is actually far more dramatic than earlier phases . . . Friedman also argues that Americans need to discover their sense of 'community,' and uses his home town of Minneapolis to demonstrate this. In two of the most engaging chapters, the author returns to the town and explains how it has created a relatively inclusive, harmonious and pragmatic style of government . . . It is a wonderful sentiment. And it injects a badly needed dose of optimism into the modern debate." -- Gillian Tett, Financial Times

"The globe-trotting New York Times columnist’s most famous book was about the world being flat. This one is all about the world being fast . . . His main piece of advice for individuals, corporations, and countries is clear: Take a deep breath and adapt. This world isn’t going to wait for you." -- Fortune

"[A] humane and empathetic book." -- David Henkin, The Washington Post

"[Friedman's] latest engrossingly descriptive analysis of epic trends and their consequences . . . Friedman offers tonic suggestions for fostering 'moral innovation' and a commitment to the common good in this detailed and clarion inquiry, which, like washing dirty windows, allows us to see far more clearly what we’ve been looking at all along . . . his latest must-read." -- Booklist (starred review)

"The three-time Pulitzer winner puts his familiar methodology―extensive travel, thorough reporting, interviews with the high-placed movers and shakers, conversations with the lowly moved and shaken―to especially good use here . . . He prescribes nothing less than a redesign of our workplaces, politics, geopolitics, ethics, and communities . . . Required reading for a generation that's 'going to be asked to dance in a hurricane.'" -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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RSVP’S REQUESTED BY NEXT FRIDAY

In accordance with our quorum-revision policy of 6/12/2013, instead of waiting until the last week before each monthly meeting to request RSVP’s and canceling if we do not have our minimum quorum of six, RSVP’s are requested in our first-of-the-monthly-cycle weekly e-mail.

Those who have RSVP’d will be informed immediately when we reach six so that they can proceed to read the materials with assurance that a discussion will take place.

If there are not six RSVP’s by 11:59 pm next Friday, then next week’s weekly e-mail will announce that the 4/12/2016 meeting is cancelled.

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SKYPE PARTICIPATION

Non-SLCounty residents (and residents who are out of town) are invited to participate in our meeting via Skype.

If you would like to do so, please press your reply button and type “request participation via Skype” and we will contact you to make appropriate arrangements.

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We hope to see all of you on April 12th to discuss Thomas Friedman’s newest best-seller.

Your friend,

John K.

PS -- To un-subscribe, please press "reply" and type "deletion requested."

NB: Please do NOT block our e-mail because you are too embarrassed to request a deletion -- 10 of our approximately 150 regular e-mail recipients use Comcast.net which has an algorithm blocking all e-mails from a website for which a certain percentage of recipients have requested blockage AND 3 of our regular meeting attendees who use Comcast.net now can NOT receive our weekly e-mails.

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