Saturday, June 23, 2007

Bloomberg and The Everyman

photo by James Estrin NYTimes

One must laugh at the statement

Bloomberg, a N.Y. Success, Is Wild Card for Nation


by the Grey Lady,aka NYTimes, about why Mike Bloomberg,the current New York's mayor not having chances for a presidential seat,because he does not fit the label,which is supposed to be according to the imaginary standards of a pater familias.
The pater familias "was the highest ranking male in a Roman household. The word is Latin for "father of the family." The form is irregular and archaic in Latin, preserving the old genitive ending in -as; see Latin declension.The power held by the pater familias was called patria potestas, "paternal power." Potestas is distinct from auctoritas, also held by the pater. Under the laws of the Twelve Tables, the pater familias had vitae necisque potestas—the "power of life and death"—over his children, his wife (in some cases), and his slaves, all of whom were said to be sub manu, "under his hand." For a slave to become a freedman, he would have to be delivered "out of the hand" of the pater familias, hence the terms manumissio and emancipatio. At law, at any rate, his word was absolute and final. If a child was unwanted, under the Roman Republic the pater familias had the power to order the child put to death by exposure.He had the power to sell his children into slavery; Roman law provided, however, that if a child has been sold as a slave three times, he is no longer subject to the patria potestas. The pater familias has the power to approve or reject marriages of his sons and daughters; however, an edict of the Emperor Caesar Augustus provided that the pater familias could not withhold that permission lightly.

Only a Roman citizen could enjoy the status of pater familias.

There could only be one holder of the office within a household.

Even male adult children remained under the authority of their fathers while he still lived, and could not acquire the rights of a pater familias while he was yet alive; at least in legal theory, all their property was acquired on behalf of their fathers, and he, not they, had ultimate authority to dispose of it. Those who lived in their own households at the time of the father's death succeeded to the status of pater familias over their respective households.
Over time, the absolute authority of the pater familias tended to be weakened, and rights that theoretically existed were no longer enforced or insisted upon.-from Wikipedia.......

Although in my belief,a leader is someone who is born with that quality and must study how to channel the ability in a creative and constructive manner,otherwise as History has in its books,examples exist, of catastrophic results.
I may even recall my mother's words,as she described watching Hitler in one of his horrendous rallies in the 1930's,that despite his maniacal assertions and dictations,he unfortunately had charisma and magnetism.
On the other hand,despite his flaws,Napoleon
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/nap_res. could be a more inspiring model of a statesman,minus his military and royal accomplishments.Napoleon's legacy and influence is remarkable in fashion,food,law ,art and architecture

.According to the NYTimes,Bloomberg :He’s still himself,” said Douglas A. Muzzio, a professor at the Baruch School of Public Affairs. “His dislike of and unwillingness to engage in traditional politics provides both the raison d’être for his candidacy and the unlikelihood of winning.”
“He’s completely goal-oriented,” said Steven Rattner, a Democratic donor who is close to the mayor. “He picked up golf, and now he’s determined to catch Tiger Woods. He decided he wanted to learn Spanish and carves out the time for lessons, no matter how busy he is.”
That focus has its roots in his middle-class upbringing in Medford, Mass., helping him climb from the lower rungs of Wall Street to the top of his own multibillion-dollar enterprise and then the thin-air precincts of New York’s high society. That, in turn, helped his political ascent.
After his surprising win, however, Mr. Bloomberg wasted no time getting to work. Even before taking office, associates say, he began calling business leaders, urging them to stay and to move back downtown in a city still wrenched by the human and economic toll of 9/11.

He attacked looming deficits with an 18.5 percent property tax increase and
pursued his own interest in improving public health by pushing through an unpopular smoking ban.
“He came in with a businessman’s mind-set,” said Edward Skyler, a deputy mayor who followed Mr. Bloomberg from his company to the mayoral campaign, then to City Hall. “Basically his mentality was: ‘Let’s do it and get it over with. It’s not going to get any better by waiting.’ He knew what was ahead of him.”
That willingness to take on difficult problems like a troubled school system, housing that is beyond the reach of many residents and entrenched poverty, and an ability to promote his pursuits to the public, have earned him widespread support among voters. Some experts say it is unclear whether his administration is making significant or long-lasting strides in these areas, but others applaud at least the efforts.
At the same time, Mr. Bloomberg’s unwillingness to engage in the symbolic acts many constituents find meaningful and what some see as an inability to project empathy with the travails of ordinary New Yorkers have led to accusations that he is out of touch.

Basically, we need someone who has human traits and a open mind to learn and have a vision for what we really need in Life,which is simple.The infrastructure for our survival is based on a roof over our heads,food on the table and a respect to all around us.We need to be gentle,thoughtful and have a social conscience. All of us in this life have a role.

Some of us are born with creative genes and others with other abilities and skills.

We can even observe how insect behave.Bees and Ants.

The creative individuals,serve in a society as guidance to Beauty and Thought. We will question and move the dust around,touching on emotions,colors,motivate the spirits,amuse,create music,play with words and introduce ideas to keep the rest of the world motivated to live.

Remember that the Latins would say Panem et Circenses and Carpe Diem,in other words,we are mortals,we need food for the head and food for the belly, plus fun.

Then we need managers and workers to set our concepts in motion.And one day it is all over,although Da Capo.

Da Capo is a musical term in Italian, meaning from the beginning, often abbreviated D.C.. It is a composer or publisher's directive to repeat the previous part of music. In small pieces this might be the same thing as a repeat, but in larger works D.C. might occur after one or more repeats of small sections, indicating a return to the very beginning. The resulting structure of the piece is generally in ternary form. Sometimes the composer describes the part to be repeated, for example: Menuet da capo. In opera, where an aria of this structure is called a da capo aria, the repeated section is often adorned with grace notes..

By the way,considering the past American presidential history.,the individuals that have so far played the role,make me wonder about what I remember about them:

Bush- Shock & Awe,blood,chaos,fear,angst,despair & etc

Clinton- the thong and greasy food

Reagan- sleeping,b-movies and jelly beans

Carter- grey cardigan,hemorrhoids

Bush- skydiving and read my lips and throwing up on foreign visits

Kennedy- "Happy Birthday,Mr.President" and the Bay of Pigs

Nixon- used cars salesman and phlebitis

Johnson- boots

Ford- falling steps

Helas, we must commend Bloomberg for taking interest in a foreign language,a step into the horizon,vis a vis the world.

After all,we must realize that we all share the friendly skies,as a commercial for an airline would splash around.....

We need healthcare to be a priority issue and not a bureaucratic nightmare,as a person needing medical care is asked first about "What is your insurance ?" quite a hilarious question when pain and disease is afflicting .

The real estate business is also another area to be regulated in some ways.After all,even the pharohs did not take their pyramids to their after life.

And we need food,not bullets on the table.

Amen and Viva Miguel!

and here some about New York news outside:"Mulberry Street "in London http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/food/article.html?in_article_id=53829&in_page_id=26













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