New Years Resolutions...

The Shepherds and Angels…And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."…

Who needs to keep worthless politicians in office? Why do we allow these public servants who do nothing to benefit the public and bow only to special interests?

Lets promote digital democracy through the people's platform. The Internet revolution can be the catalyst to collapse old political hierarchies. Allow the public to propose revolutionary ideas and vote on their outcome.

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common - this is my symphony.

Blaming words. Using the word "you" followed by a criticism or critique leaves the listener with the impression that you’re pointing the finger and can instantly trigger a defensive response. Instead, consider replacing you with I. Saying "I really feel that this report wasn’t as complete as it could have been," instead of "You didn’t complete this report properly" completely changes the meaning of the message and is more likely to elicit a positive response from the listener. By changing you to I, you’re taking accountability and saying ‘this is my perception’ rather than saying ‘this is fact. By changing you to I, you’re taking accountability and saying ‘this is my perception’ rather than saying ‘this is fact.

Hedging words. Answering a question with perhaps, maybe, soon, possibly or ASAP can not only be annoying to the receiver, but gives the impression that the speaker is uncertain and incapable of committing; perhaps even weak. We want leaders who are decisive. If asked when you will finish a project, for example, responding with "soon" leaves the listener confused. After all, soon can have a different meaning for different people. It may mean the end of the day to one person or it can mean next week to someone else. It shows you don’t want to be tied down to an answer. It’s non-committal.

Shoe dropping words. Eliminate the word "but" from our vocabulary, replacing it with "and" instead. Anytime people hear but, they hear the shoe is going to drop. Imagine this scenario: you call a group meeting to recognize the achievements of your team. You start off by saying "You did a great job, you worked hard, but next quarter we need to do better." Will anyone remember the first part of that sentence? Chances are the only thing your team heard was "I want more from you." The word but throws out the first half of the message.

Generalizing words. "everybody" and "nobody" are frequently used inappropriately, and with disastrous consequences to one’s credibility. There are very rare situations where you can accurately use a generalization. While it may be true that the majority of employees are showing up late for work, confronting staff by saying "nobody here comes to work on time" means those few employees who actually do come to work on time will feel unacknowledged for their efforts and may experience a drop in morale and enthusiasm for their job as well as a loss of respect for their boss, as generalizations can make one appear to be overly dramatic and cause them to lose credibility as a leader.

Can Obama and the GOP Congress play nice in 2015? @LukeRussert looks at the year ahead in DC: http://on.msnbc.com/1AY9Ine