My friend Fred Brown wrote in the Denver Post over the weekend to defend the recent misuse by him and others of the term grassroots:

Definitions evolve over time and drift from their moorings…

(That) fate has befallen "grassroots," perhaps. Although John S. Wren would dispute this, and did, in an e-mail after a recent column:

"Fred Brown in his column Sunday [June 24] used the term 'grassroots' incorrectly, in my opinion."

(I had written that "'Grassroots' is a term used at both ends of the political spectrum to denote a party's most ardent true believers - the left-most Democrats the right-most Republicans.")

Wren cited the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, which defines "grass roots" as 1: basic, fundamental; 2: being, originating or operating in or at the grass roots; and 3: not adopted from or added to an existing facility or operation.

"When Ben Franklin said, 'we have a Republic if we can keep it,"' Wren continued, "the 'we' he was referring to \[is\] the grassroots, it seems to me, used in this sense. He was referring to all Americans." Then Wren got to what he was really driving at, which is his support of Colorado's sometimes controversial caucus process. "Keeping the common person involved and potent is the only justification for our wonderful Colorado neighborhood caucus-assembly system for nominating to the primary ballot," he wrote.

"Words are power, and I believe the Denver Post and Mr. Brown owe our community a correction."

I had to concede, and did in an e-mail response, that "Your definition of 'grassroots' is certainly correct, but it's not the way politicians use the word these days."

In today's politics, in the overly manipulated world of spin, words are not used casually. They are carefully selected for effect, and to suggest value judgments…http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_6474490

Well, OK. It's true that politicians will misuse words for political purposes. But shouldn't journalists be held to a higher standard?

The bigger question is what do we do about the disappearance of the true grassroots. We've saved the neighborhood caucus. Now can we use this powerful tool to save the TRUE grassroots?

We'll continue our discussion of this important topic at our next CoCaCoP (Colorado Caucus Community of Practice) Meetup, join us! RSVP at http://cocacop.meetup.com If you can't make the next meeting, RSVP "No" and you'll receive an invitation to next month's meeting with information about who will be speaking.

Mary and I saw the opening of Barefoot in the Park last night at the Victorian Theatre in North Denver. www.DenverWhenWhere.com. Near the end of the play, after the new husband has stormed out of the apartment, the mother gives advice to her newly wed daughter when she asks,

I don't know what he wants.
I don't know how to make him happy.
What am I going to do, Mother?

That's the first time you've asked my advice
since you were 10.
It's really very simple.
All you have to do
is give up a little bit of you for him.
Don't make everything a game,
just late at night in that little room upstairs,
take care of him.
Make him feel...
important.
If you can do that,
you'll have a happy and wonderful marriage,
like 2 out of every 10 couples.
You'll be one of the two, baby.
Now get out of here and go find him.

Happier-- Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment
Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D.
www.talbenshahar.com"It is easy to see how this is the backbone of the most popular course at Harvard University today." Martin E.P. Seligman, author of Learned Optimism.

Ben-Shahar recommends meditation and a spirital orientation for finding more happiness. Those who are open to that approach might also find this useful:

The Way of Ignatius

A five-day programme of prayer
to lead you a little deeper into Ignatian spirituality

Tuesday 31st July is the Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, who founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1540, with nine companions.

Last year, for the week running up to the Feast of St Ignatius, Pray-as-you-go, the Jesuit website, took the form of a five-day "Novena" (using the term a little loosely!) - a programme of meditations in the Ignatian tradition, with each day building on the previous one, allowing the user to go a little deeper than is usually possible with the short, daily prayer sessions.

This year Pray-as-you-go has chosen to make this programme available again, but now as a permanent feature, separate from the daily sessions.

The five prayer sessions are available at http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/wayofignatius.htm in MP3 and WMA format, separately or in a single ZIP file.

If you decide to do this, please email me at JohnSWren@aol.com and let me know, so that I can pray for you, OK? And please pray for me as I am doing it starting this morning, looking for guidance in my work and engagement & marrage with Mary.

Why the scourge of alcoholism defies a cure--
30 percent of Americans abuse alcohol

By Howard Witt | Chicago Tribune senior correspondent
July 25, 2007

More than 30 percent of American adults have abused alcohol or suffered from alcoholism at some point in their lives, according to a new study released this month by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a branch of the National Institutes of Health.

Yet only a quarter of those afflicted received any treatment. And other studies show that, at best, only a quarter of those who seek treatment manage to abstain from alcohol for a year.

"Alcohol problems are not just something that affects Hollywood stars," said Dr. Robert Swift, a psychiatrist at Brown University who specializes in alcoholism. "We're talking about a chronic, relapsing condition. And we still have a long way to go in treatment. It's like treatment of cancer-some people can be helped but others just cannot."

I took my last drink 11 years ago, my life (and the lives of many others) would have been much better if I'd never taken my first drink at that fraternity party in April, 1967. I just found this help for making the decision about drinking advertised in AOL pop-up ad: http://www.family.samhsa.gov/stop/

Why the scourge of alcoholism defies a cure--
30 percent of Americans abuse alcohol

By Howard Witt | Chicago Tribune senior correspondent
July 25, 2007

More than 30 percent of American adults have abused alcohol or suffered from alcoholism at some point in their lives, according to a new study released this month by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a branch of the National Institutes of Health.

Yet only a quarter of those afflicted received any treatment. And other studies show that, at best, only a quarter of those who seek treatment manage to abstain from alcohol for a year.

"Alcohol problems are not just something that affects Hollywood stars," said Dr. Robert Swift, a psychiatrist at Brown University who specializes in alcoholism. "We're talking about a chronic, relapsing condition. And we still have a long way to go in treatment. It's like treatment of cancer-some people can be helped but others just cannot."

Dan Haley writing in the Denver Post this morning says the Mayor is right, the homelessness problem in Denver is better:

The mall is downtown's backbone and a top tourist attraction, but for years strolling it was often a hassle.

Aggressive panhandlers would get in your face, shaking you down for cash to feed a booze habit or an empty stomach. The passive panhandlers, those who simply held a sign to tell their tale of woe, weren't much of a problem, but the guilt of passing them by could be taxing.

And even though social workers tell you never to give them a dime, I'll confess to digging into my pocket on a few occasions - either to make them go away or to make the pangs of guilt ebb.

But it's different this summer.

I hadn't actually realized it - remember, I was trying not to look in the first place - until Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper mentioned it in his inaugural address last week.

"In just two years, the number of chronically homeless individuals in Denver decreased by 36 percent," the mayor said, "and panhandling on the 16th Street Mall decreased by 92 percent."

http://test.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_6418292

What do you think? Does it seem to you that the problem with street people in Denver is better? Or is this just another example of a Denver newspaper serving up J-Hic propoganda rather than reporting the facts?

J-Hic in/ My tooth out.

I got a tooth pulled this morning, got home just in time
to see the Mayor's talk on TV. He did a very poor job of
delivering it, and finally apologized for having a late
night last night. Really.

Reception tomorrow night at Botanic Garden. Let's all go
and discuss who his replacement will be. Link to the entire
text of the talk, info about tomorrows reception in flash
report on the talk on the Denver Post website.


Mayor J-Hic says he wants to strengthen neighborhoods. Why didn't he mention
the 2008 state-wide neighborhood meetings next Spring? He certainly
knows about them, look at this spot he and Gov. Bill Owens were in prior to
the 2004 neighborhood Colorado caucuses.

Happy birthday America!

Would our declaration of independence ever have take place without Ben Franklin and the group he organized and facilitated? Franklin called it “the best school”. It prepared he and his “more ingenious colleagues” for the important role they were to play in the world. Was Ben Franklin the first and best CEO peer support group facilitator?

For more about the concept of CEO peer support groups see http://www.inc.com/magazine/19980301/893.html


For more about the modern Franklin Circle and how you can start or join a new group that I'm forming now, see my website, www.JohnWren.com.