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July 2025
A Different Kind of Listening
Learning to Hear Beneath the Words
Earlier this year, I signed up for a weekend communication course. It wasn’t a legal seminar or anything work-related. I just thought it might help me grow as a professional and as a person. The course turned out to be more about listening than speaking, which surprised me. I’d never really questioned how I listen. I’d figured if I wasn’t interrupting, I was doing fine. But I learned pretty quickly that listening isn’t as straightforward as I thought. With World Listening Day in July, it feels like the right time to reflect on that. We participated in exercises, reflections, and group work, and the longer it went on, the more I realized how often I show up to a conversation with something in my back pocket. Maybe I’m trying to steer things toward a conclusion. Perhaps I’m crafting a response while the other person is still talking. Or maybe — and this was a tough one to admit — I’m simply trying to get through it. Nod, smile, exit clean. One example stuck with me. In the middle of a conversation, my daughter said, “Dad, you’re monologuing.” She wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t really with her at that moment. I was up in my head, focusing on saying the right thing or explaining myself instead of actually hearing her. It forced me to take a closer look. How many times have I entered a conversation not to understand, but to fix, explain, or defend? That kind of listening feels productive in the moment, but it’s not presence. It’s control.
and order. Once I understood that, the whole conversation changed.
This shift has made a difference in my work, too. I had a client who wanted to take a very aggressive, expensive approach to a legal dispute. I kept trying to steer him toward something more reasonable, but he wouldn’t budge. Finally, I stopped talking and just listened. I asked why it mattered so much to him. He explained, and I repeated what I heard to ensure I got it right. Something in that exchange clicked. The next day, he called to say he changed his mind. But he couldn’t even consider another option until he felt heard. I still miss the mark sometimes. If I’m not intentional, I slip back into old habits, especially when a conversation feels tense or inconvenient. But I try to show up differently now. I try to be curious, not controlling. As the world-renowned psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin once said in “What About Bob?”: “Baby steps to the elevator … baby steps down the hall.” I’m learning that real listening doesn’t happen all at once. It’s awkward. It takes repetition. Sometimes, it takes starting over. Listening isn’t something I’ve mastered. It’s something I practice badly and often. But every time I pause, let go of the plan, and meet someone where they are, it feels like progress. Maybe even a baby step in the right direction.
jumping in too soon, trying to solve things no one asked me to solve, or waiting for my turn to talk. The course framed real listening as “creating space” — letting someone be fully themselves without rushing to edit, improve, or redirect them. It was more challenging than I expected. A practice that stuck with me was listening for the other person’s commitment. It’s not just what they’re saying on the surface but what matters to them underneath. I tried this recently with someone fixated on what I would usually dismiss as petty rule violations. I felt myself getting impatient, but then I stopped and asked, “What’s really driving this?” What I heard underneath all the rule talk was a commitment to peace
Once I started noticing those patterns, I couldn’t unsee them. I caught myself
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The Unexpected Discoveries of Everyday Items When Serendipity Leads to Innovation
Looking around your house, you’ll spot countless inventions you couldn’t imagine living without, from your television to the refrigerator. We like to imagine the inventors behind these ideas were intentional with their actions, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes, the latest and greatest discoveries occur by happenstance.
As other alternatives gained popularity, Kutol Products saw their sales fall. A Kutol employee’s sister-in-law thought the product would be great for modeling. After testing it with kids, she found they loved molding it into various shapes. Thus, Play-Doh was born, saving a floundering company on the verge of bankruptcy. The Microwave In 1945, Percy Spencer, a self-taught engineer, was leading a radar project when he discovered a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted while testing a piece of equipment called a magnetron. Wanting to see if he could reproduce the same results, Spencer placed some popcorn kernels near the equipment. Within seconds, the popcorn popped. He tested it once more with an egg before confirming his findings. Understanding
that the magnetron cooked food quickly, he crafted a metal box around the device, creating the first microwave oven. Potato Chips Many Americans eat potato chips daily, but most don’t realize they’re simply an accidental product of spite. In the 1850s, George Crum was a chef at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. On one fateful day, shipping and railroad baron Cornelius Vanderbilt stopped in for a bite. He quickly complained that his french fries were too thick and soggy. Crum disagreed with Vanderbilt, but he remade the french fries — slicing the potatoes very thin and frying them until they were crispy and golden brown. Vanderbilt loved the new creation. Potato chips became Moon’s Lake House’s specialty until Crum opened his own restaurant. The rest is history!
The proof? Three everyday items that are nothing more than happy accidents!
Play-Doh Before gas and electric heating became commonplace in homes nationwide, many people used coal to stay warm. Unfortunately, this left the walls covered in soot. Kutol Products produced a soft, pliable compound that acted as a wallpaper cleaner to counter this.
Was Singapore’s Gum Ban the Right Move? CHEW ON THIS
Have you ever walked through a parking lot and stepped on gum, causing your foot to stick to the pavement with every step? Or have you felt somebody’s disgusting, chewed gum on the underside of a table at a restaurant? Experiencing one of these situations is enough to make you wish gum were outlawed. While chewing gum will likely always be legal in the States, there is one country where you’d have difficulty finding a single citizen chewing gum. In 1992, Singapore officially banned the sale, importation, and manufacturing of chewing gum. To understand the reasoning behind the chewing gum ban, you need to go back to the mid-1960s. Singapore had just gained its independence and was trying to find a way to establish itself on the world stage. Lee Kuan Yew, the country’s first prime minister, designed a plan to make Singapore a “first-world oasis in a third-world region.” The country quickly became known for its cleanliness, but chewing gum remained a problem. While some argued that chewing gum stuck to the pavement outside a business might mean a new burst of creativity was taking hold, Lee Kuan Yew felt differently. He stated, “Putting chewing gum on our subway train doors so they don’t open, I don’t call that creativity. I call that mischief-making.” He had a good point. The Housing and Development Board reportedly
spent $150,000 in Singapore dollars each year solely to clean up gum litter. Furthermore, there were countless reports of vandals sticking chewing gum on the door sensors of trains, disrupting their services. While citizens were divided over the chewing gum ban, it proved effective. In February 1993, there were only two chewing gum litter cases per day, as opposed to the 525 daily cases before the ban. While the ban remains in effect today, Singapore’s government partially lifted it in 2004 to allow dentists and pharmacists to prescribe and sell therapeutic gum such as nicotine gum. Even so, you shouldn’t expect to see many people walking around Singapore chewing gum and blowing bubbles!
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BRAIN GAMES
SOLUTION
Growing up with a sibling can be a magical experience. You have someone to share your experiences with who will always be there if you need someone to lean on or talk to. However, sibling relationships have their fair share of disagreements, fights, and arguments, which can develop into sibling rivalry. There’s a reason why sibling rivalries are infamous. Most people grow out of it by the time they reach adulthood, but knowing this doesn’t necessarily make things much easier for parents. Trying to navigate the complexities of a sibling rivalry can be overwhelming, especially if you’re juggling other responsibilities. The truth is that you cannot dismantle a sibling rivalry quickly once it has formed. Getting your kids to see each other from a different perspective will take time and effort. You’ll need to make some adjustments. If you notice your kids are beginning to argue, you can’t rush in and join the fight. Stay calm and collected when intervening to ensure the situation does not escalate. One of the biggest mistakes parents can make is comparing their children to each other. Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” This becomes even truer when children are involved. Your kids are their own individuals, and they will likely have different goals, passions, and interests from one another. Celebrate their individuality and help them explore their interests. You should also encourage your other children to celebrate their siblings whenever they accomplish something because it creates a much more cooperative environment. Another important action you should take when involving yourself in a sibling dispute is to listen. You might not witness the events that led to the fight or disagreement, and your main goal is not to figure out which child is to blame or in the wrong. Instead, sit down with them and have them talk through their feelings. Listen intently to everything they say and be completely impartial whenever you need to say something. If you need to respond with punishment, do so privately. You don’t need to make it a spectacle. Rivalry, Resolved Help Your Kids Grow From Foes to Friends
Chocolate-Covered Banana Brownies Inspired by OMGChocolateDesserts.com
Ingredients
Banana Brownies • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted • 1/3 cup light brown sugar • 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup mashed banana • 1 cup flour Chocolate Topping • 12 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped • 1 cup heavy cream • 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter • 3–4 large bananas
• 1/4 tsp salt • 1 large egg • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8-inch pan with cooking spray. 2. In a bowl, whisk together melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, and salt. Add egg and vanilla and whisk. Add mashed banana and whisk, then whisk in flour. 3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until the center has set. 4. Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. 5. Bring heavy cream to a boil, pour over chocolate, let it sit for 1–2 minutes, then stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. 6. Slice bananas and arrange over cooled brownies. 7. Pour chocolate mixture over bananas and place in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving.
Siblings should be friends, not rivals, and you can help them build their relationship through your actions.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
What I’ve Learned About Listening
1
The Accidental Origins of Everyday Products
2
Singapore’s Bold Move for a Cleaner Future
Chocolate-Covered Banana Brownies
3
Turn Sibling Rivalries Into Sibling Alliances
Kanye West Faces Legal Trouble Over ‘Blindside’ Sample
4
KANYE WEST’S CONTROVERSIAL SAMPLING German Artist Sues Over Unauthorized Track Use
Kanye West is no stranger to controversy. Many probably remember the iconic moment at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, when the rapper interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video to claim that Beyoncé deserved the award. West’s behavior has only become more erratic and controversial in recent years. This past February, West was dropped by his talent agency after making countless anti-Semitic remarks on social media. His Yeezy website was also shut down after he sold a swastika T-shirt that violated Shopify’s terms. Now, the rapper behind “Stronger” and “All of the Lights” faces a new lawsuit. This past March, German artist Alice Merton and two German corporations filed a lawsuit against West for “unauthorized commercial exploitation” of the musical composition “Blindside.” In 2022, Merton released her track, “Blindside,” which West sampled
to request approval to use the track, but Merton quickly denied the request. When asked for a reason, Merton’s legal team stated, “Alice Merton was unwilling to compromise her personal beliefs and wanted not to be associated with [West] in any manner. Of significant concern to plaintiff Merton were defendant [West’s] antisemitic, racist remarks, which were made publicly and continue to be made publicly.” Merton is a German resident and a descendant of Holocaust survivors. If you thought West’s putatively illegal sampling was bad enough, some of his fans took it to another level. After the song was left off the “Vultures” album, West’s fans started sending death threats to Merton. West has done nothing to stop his faithful legions from harassing Merton. The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial to determine relief and damages.
without authorization for his track “Gun to My Head.” The public first became aware of the sampling in December 2023 when he debuted the song at an event in Miami. As it became more well-known that West sampled “Blindside,” he and his record label finally approached Merton
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Navigating Business Relocation to Nevada: A Guide for Business Owners
If you’re a business owner considering the move to Nevada, you’re likely enticed by the state’s favorable tax laws, business-friendly employment regulations, or perhaps, you’ve recently made the move yourself. Relocating a business involves more than changing your physical location; it requires a strategic and legal approach to ensure a smooth transition. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you navigate the process effectively. The first crucial step when relocating your business is to consult with a business attorney. Your business structure in your old state may be different from what’s ideal in Nevada. Whether you’re operating as a corporation or a limited liability company (LLC), you’ll need to transition to a Nevada LLC or corporation. Your attorney can guide you through the paperwork required in both your old state and Nevada to facilitate a seamless relocation. There are alternative structures, such as creating a new entity in
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Nevada and merging the old one into it or having it sell its assets to the new entity. Your attorney will help you choose the best approach based on your specific situation. Moving to a new state means dealing with different licensing and permitting requirements. Reach out to the local city and county authorities to understand what licenses are necessary for your business. Depending on your industry, you might require additional permits, such as manufacturing or food handling licenses. It’s essential to follow the instructions provided by the relevant authorities diligently. Keep in mind that some licenses may have lead times, and processing times can vary. Plan ahead to ensure you have all necessary licenses in place before your business starts operations in Nevada. Relocating a business involves a complex legal process, and having a knowledgeable business attorney is crucial. Share comprehensive information about your business with your attorney, including assets, activities, and locations. This will enable them to recommend the most suitable implementation for your move to Nevada. Clearly communicate your relocation plan to your attorney. Are you moving the entire business in a short time frame, or is it a phased transition over a couple of years? If you have employees or ongoing activities in the old state, these details are crucial for planning a seamless transition. Moving your business to Nevada is an exciting venture, but it comes with its challenges. With careful planning, collaboration with your business attorney, and adherence to local regulations, you can ensure a successful relocation. Don’t hesitate to seek professional guidance and set up a consultation to discuss your business’s unique needs. A well-executed relocation plan will not only benefit you but also your employees, customers, and family who rely on the continued success of your business.
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