2021-09-08 12:22
“Torii Hunter was drafted by the Minnesota Twins back in 1993. His first two spring trainings happened to coincide with Kirby Puckett’s final two years in the majors in 1994 and… Read More
Blog Directory > Politics Blogs > clay forsberg politics Blog >
Clay Forsberg Blog
clayforsberg.net
Providing roadside assistance on the journey down the road of your life. I will get you to think. You may not agree with everything ... but you'll think about it.
2021-08-31 13:32
During the last piece I posted, “Empathy and “Shared Experiences”, I attempted to make a case for going beyond the normal “having empathy for someone” to embrac… Read More
2021-08-24 12:52
2021 and the tenacious staying power of COVID-19 has brought us a total unique set of societal circumstances and redefined our relationships with those around us. Whatever was considered &ld&hell…Read More
2021-08-18 12:54
2021 and the tenacious staying power of COVID-19 has brought us a totally unique set of societal circumstances and redefined our view of community. Whatever was considered “normal&rdqu&hell…Read More
2021-04-28 12:44
The past year has put us all in physical, mental and social disarray. Maybe most of all it’s put our relationship with food on the front burner of our attention, literally and figurati… Read More
2021-03-30 12:58
As of last October, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was getting ready to battle my mother’s Alzheimer’s as part of the increasing complexity of being an elder caregiver… Read More
2020-02-20 14:09
Social media gives us the opportunity to enrich ourselves through conversation and stimuli as we make our way on our journey through our daily lives. Some of these encounters will evolve fro… Read More
2020-02-18 13:08
We create our own prisons. We shackle ourselves; binding our thoughts, actions and reactions to anything familiar, constant, and safe. Novel decisions, steps into the unknown, are forsaken i… Read More
2020-01-22 14:34
A few months ago I spent some time at the dentist, specifically to get a crown put on. Going to the dentist has never been an issue for me, as it is with many. I actually kind of like the so… Read More
2020-01-17 13:36
________________________ In the United States in the 1800’s, the term “free-range” was commonplace. Traditional American usage equates “free-range” with &l&hell…Read More
2020-01-10 13:42
“Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.” Demosthenes In my last post, Recognizing the Problem: Part 1, I vented my frustration, dismay and utter a… Read More
2020-01-07 13:43
“The mind…can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” ― John Milton It’s hard for people to empathize with you when have t… Read More
2019-12-31 13:44
Well it’s almost the beginning of another year; this one being 2020. And with it comes a resurgence of optimism (maybe not politically, but at least personally) taking form in our annu… Read More
2019-12-27 13:50
About thirty years ago, while building my recruiting firm, I coined the term, “On the Road to Your Perfect World.” In a nutshell it means; in life and all its nuances, it’s… Read More
2019-12-03 13:59
Social media discussions too often disregard context. As a result, the conversation (if you call it that) descends into the abyss of warring tribalism, bias and ideology. Parties on both end… Read More
2019-11-29 13:53
With polarization and animosity becoming the norm in today’s society. Maybe we should start with thinking about where it all comes from. __________________________ An elderly Cherokee… Read More
2019-07-10 12:35
A few days before Christmas 2016, a phone call took place that no one could have predicted. One of the world’s most esteemed HIV doctors, Professor Sheena McCormack – whose life… Read More
2019-06-25 13:58
Two years ago I wrote a post called The Failing of a Town. This tragic piece features the story of Deon Gillen of Livingston, Montana. Gillen was repeated bullied in school, often being call… Read More
2019-06-21 12:39
Too often we fall into the trap of looking at everyone through the same lens. No surprise that our dealings with them don’t always turn out as we wish. This lens we use is normally the… Read More
2019-06-05 13:59
It’s so easy to be wrapped up in our own worlds we look at everything as “us” centric. We assume what goes on with other people we interact with is somehow always due to ou… Read More
2019-05-28 12:56
Every member of your community is unique and adds to its colorful fabric. Everyone has something to offer and everyone should be heard – no matter their age or social standing. And jus… Read More
2019-05-01 12:33
One of the great questions of our time, or any other for that matter is: “what is consciousness?” Some think it doesn’t exist. Others think it’s everywhere. Regardles… Read More
2019-03-28 14:13
The healthcare community has been abuzz the last couple weeks over the Apple Watch’s ability (or not) to detect irregular heartbeats in attempt to predict atrial fibrillation. Enthusia… Read More
2019-03-20 12:47
Anyone who’s a parent can probably concur with me. You’ll do anything for your kid to get good grades in school. In a perfect world it would be straight “A’s.”… Read More
2019-03-12 12:59
A couple of weeks ago we saw the unveiling of the New Green Deal. In the spirit of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with a second from Senator Ed M… Read More
2019-01-18 17:09
Update January 18, 2019: I wrote this post seven years ago. It’s every bit as applicable today as it was then – maybe more so. That said, even with the transgressions on the inha… Read More
2019-01-15 13:48
Update, January 15, 2019: I wrote a version of this seven years ago during the midst of the Occupy Movement. The change that many of us hoped for never happened. What is happening in the Uni… Read More
2019-01-08 13:51
In “Giving Permission,”(posted December 20, 2018), I did a deep dive into what I believe it means to have a community of inclusion; one that is built on giving its residents perm… Read More
2018-12-31 13:59
2018 has been … well, let’s just say I won’t spend a lot of time looking in the rear view mirror. Instead I’ll be looking to 2019 and the road ahead; visualizing wha… Read More
2018-12-27 14:06
Well it’s alsmost the beginning of another year; this one being 2019. And with it comes a resurgence of optimism taking form in our annual resolutions (all things considered). We… Read More
2018-12-20 13:50
_______________________________________________ “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite o… Read More
2018-12-14 13:49
We assume our way of life in 2018; one of governments and states, and the endless media coverage of their every detail are the pinnacle of civilized existence. We depend on these hierarchies… Read More
2018-05-29 13:19
When my daughter Alex was in third grade she had the reigning Marin County (California) Teacher of Year. Her name escapes me (I’ll blame it on the chemo brain). The parents of all the… Read More
2018-05-15 12:53
Well here it is, May of 2018, and we’re six months away from the mid-term elections. We have descended into Dante’s Hell of campaign missives. All news is to now to be framed in… Read More
2018-05-08 12:49
Eight years ago I wrote my first blog post here. The topic was silos; how cities and towns isolate themselves and competing against each other to the detriment of both – while cooperat… Read More
2018-04-17 13:10
Since Donald Trump has taken office, we’ve seen the streets of America come alive in ways we haven’t since the Vietnam protests of the ’60s. Last year millions protested in… Read More
2018-04-03 12:51
A recent 60 Minutes episode on the Stoneman Douglas leaders of the #neveragain movement included a discussion with Emma Gonzales’ mother. We stand behind her, Emma’s mother&rsquo&hell…Read More
2018-02-28 14:49
This group — like that underestimated rag-tag band of patriots nearly two and a half centuries ago — want to make it crystal-clear to those who think they’re in charge that… Read More
2017-11-14 14:09
Thursday October 19, was the application deadline for hopeful North American cities to persuade Amazon to locate their second headquarters, otherwise known as HQ2, to their communities. It i… Read More
2017-10-05 12:02
Montana’s Joint Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee (in the state I live) turned heads in June when it made the decision to consider cutting the department’s bu… Read More
2017-09-05 14:38
As the adage goes, if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it’ll jump out. But if you put that same frog in a pot of room temperature water and gradually heat the water, the frog… Read More
2017-08-24 12:37
Darwinism and the Paradox of Altruism During the mid 1800s Charles Darwin upended both the scientific and religious worlds by releasing his seminal theory on biological evolution. Darwi… Read More
2017-08-15 12:55
I didn’t think I was going write anything more about my cancer experience – at least in the near term. I’m just kind of done with it. I finished my chemo and now I have to… Read More
2017-08-08 14:45
Last week it seemed like I was bombarded by articles on the impending doom descending upon our adolescents due to the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. Pretty much every article cited a st… Read More
2017-08-01 16:36
This is one of those “don’t forget this … and share far and wide.” A couple of years ago I was traveling on Amtrak from Orange County to Seattle to visit Jennifer (y… Read More
2017-07-26 13:18
Monday morning I got up early and prepared myself for I thought would be my last three-day session of chemo treatments for my lymphoma (Using the word “my” in reference to having… Read More
2017-07-11 13:29
About twenty years ago, my daughter Alex and I were living in Marin County above San Francisco. During this time I became addicted to reading. I don’t know if I was trying to make up f… Read More
2017-06-27 14:05
Friday, July 16 sent seismic shock waves through the grocery industry, as well as any other company on its peripheral. Grocery stocks plummeted and Wal-Mart heirs lost over billions. Friday… Read More
2017-06-13 12:17
I watch Netflix – as I’m sure quite a few of us do. A couple of months I was looking at their original section and I noticed “13 Reasons Why.” I had read about i… Read More
2017-05-24 12:51
America is obsessed with sports. And nowhere is this more evident than with high school sports. Very often 16 and 17 year olds are the masthead of a community’s sense of pride. Ho… Read More
2017-05-16 12:38
“Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.” Demosthenes In my last post, “Recognizing the Problem,” I vented my frustration, dismay and utter… Read More
2017-05-09 12:55
“The mind…can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” ― John Milton It’s hard for people to empathize with you when y… Read More
2017-04-16 00:05
A few years ago, when visiting my daughter in Los Angeles, I was on a walk through West L.A. when I ran across a homeless man collecting cans and bottles from a dumpster. I stopped… Read More
2017-04-04 12:46
What is it with 100.4° No matter what cancer doctor you talk to, that’s the magic number. Your temperature hits 100.4° you better get your butt (as well as the rest you) t… Read More
2017-01-25 14:38
Update, January 24, 2017: I wrote this five years ago during the midst of the Occupy Movement and the Arab Spring. The change that many of us hoped for never happened. What is happening in t… Read More
2017-01-04 13:30
From way back I’ve been interested in politics. Actually interested may be an understatement. I remember being consoled while crying by the principal in 1968 as a 4th grader in North D… Read More
2016-08-16 13:07
“We have to be idealists, thus we can make man what he is capable of being.” — Viktor Frankl It is striking how many of the world’s problems are created b… Read More
2016-08-02 13:03
America is obsessed with sports. And nowhere is this more evident than with high school sports. Very often 16 and 17 year olds are the masthead of a community’s sense of pride. Ho… Read More
2016-07-20 12:42
When I started the Community 3.0 project a few years my goals was to synthesize community civic empowerment with organic small business development. In doing that I proposed the concept… Read More
2016-07-04 16:39
I wasn’t going to post anything today, but Dave ‘Tex’ Smith, a good colleague of mine from Australia posted a wonderful tribute to America yesterday on Facebook. Aside from… Read More
2016-06-28 12:55
One of the most difficult circumstances affecting families is the care of an elderly member. I remember when I was growing up in North Dakota thirty years ago, common practice was to put the… Read More
2016-06-14 13:24
Sunday morning, June 12 of 2016, Omar Mateen walked into the Orlando club, Pulse, and executed 49 people. This massacre now qualifies as the most horrific gun crime in the history of th… Read More
2016-06-01 12:15
“Creating communities for the future created by those of the future” That seems like common sense. Shouldn’t those who will live in the future have a say in what is looks l… Read More
2016-06-01 12:15
“Creating communities for the future created by those of the future” That seems like common sense. Shouldn’t those who will live in the future have a say in what is looks l… Read More
2016-05-17 12:51
With the rise of Bernie Sanders, the socialist anti-capitalist rhetoric has surfaced again in the political arena. Only now it appears like it’s gaining traction. Sanders’ c… Read More
2016-05-12 12:50
Today is the anniversary of my introduction to chemotherapy after I was diagnosed with lymphoma. One year ago today, I walked into Billings Clinic to begin a five month regime of chemo treat… Read More
2016-05-12 12:50
Today is the anniversary of my introduction to chemotherapy after I was diagnosed with lymphoma. One year ago today, I walked into Billings Clinic to begin a five month regime of chemo treat… Read More
2016-04-26 13:33
“Our challenge is not bringing order to successful chaos but creating successful chaos within a well-ordered failure.” ~ Charles Marohn, ‘Strong Towns’ Collaboration… Read More
2016-04-12 12:54
In my last piece, “Growing an Evolved Society.“ I strongly suggested we take the resources and connections we have and think like Solutionists rather than far… Read More
2016-03-29 13:13
Graham Nash (the Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) has described Cass Elliot (the Mamas and Papas) as “the Gertrude Stein of Laurel Canyon”—that she had a “… Read More
2016-03-22 12:53
Our true destiny is a world built from the bottom up by competent citizens living in solid communities, engaged in and by their places. – David W. Orr In my last piece, “Orion&rd&hell…Read More
2016-03-09 13:41
“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” Mahatma Ghandi A couple of weeks ago I read a report of two teenage suicides in Livingsto… Read More
2016-02-24 13:26
In my last post, “Well-being, Hope … and the Role Community,” I delved into the idea of community being an avenue for the pursuit of self-actualization and cerebral develo… Read More
2016-02-17 13:44
From the time we’re barely old enough to walk, the concept of “what we’re going to do” is instilled into us. Our parents have these grand aspirations for us – a… Read More
2016-02-10 13:39
Reputation … It’s a specter that follows us around announcing whether or not we’re someone who can be trusted. If you’re reputable … you’re given t… Read More
2016-02-03 13:59
Two weeks ago the announcement of the closure of 154 Walmart stores in the United States sent ripples of anxiety, if not panic, throughout many small towns in America. Many of the affec… Read More
2016-01-26 17:27
Social media discussions most often disregard context, context based on the perspective of author. Instead most discourse happens only on a surface level. What if instead of automatically ju… Read More
2016-01-19 13:57
It was late winter 2008 in Southern California. I split my time between a printing plant in Los Angeles and the high desert on the back side of the Angeles Mountains north of Los Angele… Read More
2016-01-07 16:01
Well it’s now the beginning another year; this one being 2016. And with it comes a resurgence of optimism taking form in our annual resolutions. We all want to believe that this y… Read More
2015-12-31 13:48
Imagine … Imagine if we were immune from the constraints of “so-called” societal norms – free to determine our own fates, our own definitions of happiness &hell&hell…Read More
2015-09-02 11:18
The United States is caught up in the hysterical frenzy of politics right now. Being the ratings whores they are, the media couldn’t have asked for a better scenario. They have a… Read More
2015-07-14 12:55
An untold effect of government is that it sucks the time and energy from wonderful well-meaning people who believe they can change it. A couple of months back I had an experience with an env… Read More
2015-07-07 15:11
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:… Read More
2015-06-30 13:06
During the mid ’90s I lived in Marin County, California; specifically Tiburon. Tiburon is small community of about 7,000 nestled around the Richardson and San Francisco Bays just north… Read More
2015-06-23 13:08
“Every time I step out on stage, I know the people in the audience work hard to afford a ticket to one of my shows … so I have to prepare, work as hard as I can and do my best t… Read More
2015-06-16 13:14
Four years ago, I first addressed the issue of the plight of Small Town U.S.A. After living five years now in a small town with a population of 500 which is essentially a bedroom community f… Read More
2015-06-08 14:36
Over the course of my recent blog series, “On the Road to Your Community’s Perfect World,” one of the main tenets I’ve stressed has been that every member of a c… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
Yesterday it was announced that the College Board would drop the essay requirement for the SAT college entrance test. This along with free access to pre-test preparation material is hailed b… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
The events in the Ukraine, and specifically Kiev, over the last couple weeks have been extraordinary. A group of determined protesters overthrew a government with heavy backing from Russia… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
Update January 19, 2013: I wrote this post three years ago. And just, if not more appriopriate today than then. Naively so I thought that maybe by 2014 things might be different. Maybe in so… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
Over the years I’ve been involved in many projects, professionally and personally. Some have been successful and some … not so much. A friend of mine, Yvette Dubel, posed a ques… Read More
Subscribe to Clay Forsberg
Get updates delivered right to your inbox!