American Hegemony

I got books for Christmas, lot's of books, and after reading a few chapters of each I'm reminded once again that we can't blame the Ills of the world on a lack of knowledge. It's all there for the taking and clearly many of the serious miscalculations of today could be avoided by studying the past. No, we don't repeat mistakes because the necessary information to avoid them is unavailable, we repeat mistakes because we're lazy, deceitful or incompetent. How many times must we hear some version of Santayana's "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," before we'll learn?
President Gerald Ford's unfortunate passing provided some focus on the Vietnam War and Watergate era once again. Seeing Donald Rumsfeld and his sidekick, a 34 year old Dick Cheney at the heart of the Ford Administration was surreal. How do a couple of young guy's like this get to be Secretary of Defense and Chief of Staff? I think these selections are as insightful as the pardon of President Nixon into the mind of President Ford.
It doesn't matter now, they got the jobs and the rest is history, but it is incomprehensible that they were the guy's who supposedly had a large role in fixing the country after "our long national nightmare."
So, we have historical information in abundance, we have continuity with actual players from the previous period and guess what, we're right back where we were then except for the embarrassing conclusion.
There are theories galore and the spirit of the times, sort of "perfect storm," wielded notable influence along with a bungled con job that should make the keystone cops feel proud but, in my humble opinion, what drove the decision to invade Iraq was no more than good old fashion American hegemony. From here it masquerades as a hard to shake subtle sense of superiority arrived at by observing your immediate surroundings and believing that it is the highest level attainable. When you become this certain that your ideology is the right one and therefore the answer to the many problems that face all of the human race, you get giddy with the desire to share it with the world. Once they see how brilliant you and your ideas are, they will gladly accept their subordinate role and you will have strengthened America in the process, right? Wrong!
Isn't it strange how the psychology of those who wish to rule and those who resist being ruled is so similar yet neither ever seem to consider it. A clear eyed view always seems to come too late and this is no exception. It actually makes some sense that Cheney and Rumsfeld would wind up in such a predicament. As it turns out their true abilities were concentrated in their political skills. And the incompatibility of good judgement and political skill becomes clearer over time. I wonder if history will record that Cheney and Rumsfeld returned us to our "long national nightmare."Only if the historians are intelligent enough to wring hegemony out of the truth.

Denied The Gloat

It seems like yesterday that being against the war in Iraq was tantamount to being a Communist. I love the financial world analogies so here goes. It must be time to sell the losers, buy the winners and bury the details deeper than anyone reads. In time people forget about the poor performance and only remember owning the right stocks.
In politics, at the behest of the strategists, you serve up the crow as early as possible, eat it shamelessly, knowing that time will work in your favor. When it counts, they will have nicely positioned their clients barely a nose behind the real courageous and independent thinkers, who actually were against the war when it mattered. I don't know about you but I sure wish I had the, "If I knew then what I know now, I would have...", way out of a few of the bad decisions I've made.
What I'd really like to hear now is the internal dialog of the ones who knew better but didn't have the personal fortitude to hold to their convictions. The loss of gloating rights must be painful.
On the subject of lost gloating rights, the predicament of the century has to go to former President George H.W. Bush. Here is what he said after the gulf war. He did not give the the order to overthrow the Iraqi Government because it would have, "incurred incalculable human and political costs... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq".
Talk about an unfortunate alignment of the stars. Imagine the work that goes into suppressing the urge to spread far and wide the "I told you so's." The only thing in the world that could prevent him from doing so would be the current situation.

But will they vote green?

I watched Bill Moyer's, "Is God Green" the other night. In between then and now I've taken a few jogs on the beach and can report that I couldn't find a 10 foot stretch of shoreline without a piece of plastic trash, washed up from a recent storm. A mile south the tide pools that teemed with life and fascinated me as a child are all but gone. I'll never be able to show these to my children and no late conversion of opinion will ever change that.
While it's encouraging to know that 63% of Evangelical Christians now believe that climate change is real, somehow I think that the other 37% represents the real danger. This is where the power hungry, corrupt and unprincipled remain. They hold on to their beliefs for far different reasons than the ones who saw fit to change sides.
Here you will find people who mine the Sciptures for what serves their needs and absolve themselves of any accountability in the name of Jesus. This is where arrogance confuses being closer to God with being God-like.
To think that there are people who believe that doing anything to slow down the process of fouling the earth is interfering with the will of God, is incomprehensible for me. We hear Senators saying, "global warming is the greatest hoax in history" and a young recently converted environmentalist Christian saying to the effect that she always thought "they" took care of the environment and we didn't. They being ''the tree hugger's-the liberals." Or the other convert saying that "he never made that connection between the Creator and Creation before. This is but a sample of the mind boggling statements made in this program.
I know that it will perhaps never be perfectly clear whether or not climate change is man made. Call me crazy but just in case it is, isn't it reasonable to include that possibility when deciding what should be done about it. The debate has been refocused on who's right and who's wrong about the cause and the issue itself goes unaddressed.
I know "Is God Green" is mostly about the progress being made and I'm thankful for that, but in a bittersweet way. See, when I was a kid I always felt a sense of pride picking up that one maybe two pieces of trash which instantly returned the beach to it's pristine and beautiful condition. Sunday I picked up 20-30 and it wasn't even noticeable. One kid then could do more than the whole world can do today.
So 63% of 20-30 million Evangelical Christians now think that Global Warming might be a problem. I wonder how they feel about the Trash Vortex? If we have to wait for Evangelical Christians to vote "Green" then we have got a long wait.

Larger Government? Please...

Let me start by saying that I'm no fan of Government run anything. The assertion that the government can run any organization better than the private sector is simply ridiculous. I didn't always feel this way, my idealistic origins had me spend 16 years working for the Government proving it to myself. Now, do I believe that we should start dismantling all Government run operations? It doesn't really matter because it is clearly impossible to do that, largely because it is simply insurmountable. These are massive culturally entrenched institutions that have evolved superior defenses. It is every public job in this country. No, they most assuredly aren't going anywhere soon.
But what about private companies like Enron or Worldcom? Disasters of course, but they did finally go down in flames. There was a beginning and and end and there was plenty of ways to look into what was going on. It took some time but that transparency ultimately brought them down. This simply does not exist in Government. I could go on and on about the waste and the secret settlements that are paid to people who are wronged (or think they were) by inside actions that never see the light of day. But, by far the real culprit is the ongoing steady erosion of performance that results from the vacuum that the Government operates in. This amounts to unimaginable billions squandered over the years.
For those of you who operate in the private sector imagine for a moment that the sales staff no longer generates the revenue. (Send them home, or sorry you can't, you'll need to absorb them into other functions.) Revenue just sort of shows up. No gross profit, no net ; margins? who cares, no profit or loss, and ebidta? forget about it. It's like being in a white room with no doors. It's what brought down the Soviet union.
It almost makes you feel sorry for them. But not really, because if you don't receive the benefit they do, your being played for a fool. To make things worse, the delusion they live under makes them odd citizens believing that an honest days work is less than it really is. Because they don't work as hard for their money, they don't think anyone else should either. This gets incorporated into society in many ways and becomes a national handicap and remarkably your tax dollars pay for it.
Now back off Mr./Mrs. Government employee who happened to stumble on this site. I am fully aware that there are hordes of you who are overworked and underpaid. But this is likely a result of what you brought with you, like a strong commitment and work ethic, not what you learned while your there. You are the ones that keep the Government running. I considered myself one of you, working myself to death while others coasted. I had a choice, become one of them or leave. I left and never regretted it.
I think that if you think for a second you'll agree that a lot of people at work don't come close to pulling their weight. But unlike the private sector nothing ever comes along to dislodge them from the system. I think I was one of the good guys but got tired and left as many do. This just concentrates what's left. This is in large part the insidious nature of large organizations without proper checks and balances.
So, what do you do? If your in a position to effect the size of government, think small. This is the ultimate case where less is more. If a politician suggests the need for a new committee or agency or department or whatever he calls it, realize that they probably don't have any answers and are buying time until the storm passes, then they'll do whatever they want. It's good old fashion lip service. Don't underestimate the power of the bureaucracy, growth is power and power is survival. You've heard it before, the bureaucracy runs the Government and it is by far more interested in serving itself than serving you. Try to elect leaders that are willing to deal with it.
Don't accept inferior service, demand to speak to a supervisor or their supervisor, raise hell, call your congressman if necessary.
Also remember that when you see the high dollar settlements, typically for discrimination or sexual harassment know that their are thousands of lesser amounts routinely paid for claims resulting from poor management. When you find yourself taking the bait, going along for the ride analyzing the fairness of some settlement amount, you have probably lost the point. The point is, incompetence. The inability of your Government to conduct itself properly. Given the way it is designed, it simply cannot improve unless the people it is supposed to serve speak up.

Norman Livermore Jr.

I've always been curious about what shapes peoples opinions. I remember going to college and being struck by, actually slammed head-on into, a wall of divergent points of view. One of the most perplexing was about the environment. The urban city types, with little access to open space were all for preserving as much as possible. The rural or country folks with access to loads of it, felt that the mere idea was in itself threatening. There were many ways to explain this but that's how it was.
I made this connection with then Governor Ronald Reagan. Besides coming from a rural background he wasn't shy about saying some very threatening things about the environment. One prime example was "A tree is a tree, how many more do you have to look at."
Being the idealistic young city dweller, I don't know what made me more uneasy, final exams or Ronald Reagan. Everything he said or did was an affront to my sensibilities. An interloper who had no right to call California home.
Somehow, Reagan selected Norman Livermore Jr, as head of what was the equivalent of the state Environmental Protection Agency. Mr.Livermore died this last week at the age of 95, he was a good man.
I'm sure Mr. Reagan knew he was an environmentalist in corporate clothing but to his credit picked him anyway. In short, although very different, these men through mutual respect and collaboration went on to achieve some great things together.
Often thought of as a poor environmental performer, Reagan with Livermore, in fact succeeded in what would become Redwoods National Parks and the vetoes of the Dos Rios Dam and a Tran-Sierra Highway.
In the case of the Dos Rios Dam, Livermore set up a meeting with Reagan and the Indian tribe who's spiritual grounds would have been flooded along with hundreds of farms and ranches. Reagan, moved to tears, turned against the project saying, "We've broken to many damn treaties."
Like I've said before, my disagreements with Reagan's policies outweigh my agreements but, as his political career progressed I had a sense that we'd be OK because inside he was a decent human being.
There is a big difference between Reagan and our current situation. He was big enough to allow to be led around by his nose for a while if needed to come to the right decision. This takes some intellectual depth and a personal constitution.
For the future, the members of his party can invoke his name all they want but without the equivalent they've got nothing. And for now it's clear that there are no Ronald Reagan's serving in this administration.

Both sides of compromise

When I started this a month or so ago I had no idea what effect it would have on me. It seemed a good way to capture some of those thoughts that dart around in my mind. It does that well and it also quite nicely addresses the "use it or lose it" concerns I have about my brain. My typing skills are coming along to. The surprise is how quickly the time passes when I'm doing it. I have always found this to be a good measure of how much I enjoy doing something, so I guess I'll be at it for a while.
The problem is that it's a little bit of a trap for someone like me because I believe in the old saw, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well." Actually it's probably more of a compulsion than a belief. You know the type!
Now this could have remained as an unorganized internal dialog locked up in my head or an organized personal journal locked up in my computer but, I chose blogging because of the sounding board prospects it offers. Just like any thoughtful conversation, it's interesting to see how your thoughts do or don't resonate with people. So at some point I'll have to start doing something toward that goal. I've looked into it a bit and see that the process of spreading the word about a blog is like many other things, a compromise. It begs for categorization. To be found you need to be part of a group of some kind especially with this type of blog. That's my problem, what kind of blog is this? I really wish I didn't have to decide. I hate the thought of having to choose a side of any kind, especially the ones that have to do with politics. Look at how few people switch sides after they choose one.The thought of being wrong, a common "flip-flopper," causes untold numbers of people to live a lie.
I recently out grew some book shelves and built some more. A friend from Boston happened to be visiting as I was restocking them. Proudly, I invited her to take a look at my handiwork. She looked but I noticed she was perusing more than my shelves. A whole slew of sounds were coming out of her. Some were pleasant some not so, then a fervent "My God, you have an Ann Coulter book." Feeling a little imposed on and defensive I said yea, look over here, one of your old favorites, David Horowitz, (The Professors), "He's a traitor", she said. Because the majority of the recent political sort of books on the shelf were of the more liberal variety she gave me a pass and said," There's still hope for you." That's why I cant pick a side. The only thing I hate more than compromise is not being able to.

Give it three days

I'm forever trying to better understand human nature. It's the mechanism that most effects the information we receive so I like to try different ways to study that process. Sometimes it helps to find something analogous, long established and a little closer to science. Then move some parts around, make some substitutions and see what you get. I chose Economics for this example.
Maybe human beings operate like the business cycle. Boom to bust or bust to boom. Starting with a dearth of ideas, they're motivated into creating some. For a while there are good ones and just about enough to go around and all is well. But demand rises and the good ideas can't meet the demand. Many more people enter the market to try and supply them. Most of the new and even some proven suppliers end up dropping the quality and charging more. Slowly people don't see the value anymore and leave the market. Inventories build, prices slump and we start all over again.
OK, not the perfect analogy but, we sure seem to be in a hastily conceived, low quality information phase. It roles effortlessly off reporters tongues, off the pages of the newspaper or the Internet. It's clearly a commodity that gets dreamed up to fill air time or copy and is designed to liberate dollars from advertisers pockets and not much more. It drives a whole industry of short term opportunists who complicate matters so, were fooled into believing in their value and that there is a point or purpose to it all.
Mind you, I have nothing against them. There are many fields that have accomplished the same thing. Making people believe they need something you make has always been an important part of the growth in the economy. But as always, information should be met with healthy skepticism. It should be seen for what it is.
The following example is an oversimplification but this reminds me of a lot of the stories of today.
Remember last Christmas, the young woman who's boyfriend called the authorities to report that she had swallowed her cellphone and was having trouble breathing. When questioned she said "he wanted the phone and she wouldn't give it to him, so she attempted to swallow it." I remember thinking, now this is some genuinely odd behavior. 3 Days later a follow up story appeared . "A woman who police thought had deliberately tried to swallow her cellphone during an argument with her boyfriend was apparently the victim of an assault. It appears she didn't voluntarily swallow this phone." Now that made some sense.
Maybe a 3 day waiting period or rest before we even consider the news would be beneficial.

Thanksgiving giving

Happy Thanksgiving. Or day after Thanksgiving to be accurate. It was a relaxing time for me. No big commute. All about cooking and eating. After eating the conversation was uncharacteristically subdued. My very Republican mother somehow had little to say about the new political environment. My politician hating sort of blue-dog Democrat father (my words not his) didn't say much either on the subject. He probably knew better than to rile up my mom. He stuck to safer fare, "Everything costs more these days regardless of what the Government tells you" he says. Some felt sympathy for the indignant Romanian villagers and said they will boycott Borat the movie. Wii and Zume and PS3 are a huge deal for those who care about that sort of thing. It was unanimous that the least favorite person to trade shoes with this Thanksgiving was Michael Richards. Maybe his wacky Seinfeld part wasn't such a stretch after all.
Thanksgiving is kind of a warm up holiday before the big league winter holidays, not complicated by gift giving or religious rituals. Simply celebrate the harvest by eating some of it. There is a lot to be said for keeping things simple and for that, Thanksgiving is my favorite.
The one who had by far the nicest things said about them was Warren Buffett. He was just featured in a CNBC special. I caught it and I have to say that he is a treasure. The 2nd richest man in the world recently gives 31billion to charity, lives a humble lifestyle by a simple set of moral rules. No one would ever believe this today without proof.
I think his greatest gift to society is that he keeps the ethical path open for others. Hacking back an ever encroaching jungle of the unprincipled. If good people succeed, people want to be good.
He's also a keeper of old fashion virtues. The ones that developed when people relied more on each other. It was the pact they built to fairly and effectively conduct their affairs and it gave them an unshakable personal commitment to integrity. I'm giving thanks to Mr. Buffett this year (and the butterball hot line.)

Sociology MIA?

I remember taking sociology classes in college and thinking, how much more complex could a set of rules be? The inter workings of culture and society and resulting behavior is not for the novice. Those who have a grasp of this stuff are surprisingly few, right! Is that why I can't even remember the last time I heard the word. Was it relegated to a position near home-economics in importance by a modern world that needs thing quantified with numbers, preferably on a balance sheet or profit and loss statement? Maybe it just got cast into the heap of useless education spewed out by those liberally biased colleges!
I spent some time in the South Pacific years ago on islands that were in some manner under the control of the U.S. Government. There are many such places with most having turbulent histories, in and out of occupations by different countries. Some by treaty and some by war. Most of the residents of these places have something in common. Their self-identities were created in a mix-master of sorts.
We would arrive in large numbers to administer relief after natural calamities. The first impression was always of a friendly people in desperate need and the staff would respond in kind, happy to oblige. As time went on and a portion of the grateful began exhibiting demanding, greedy and less than honest behavior-lets say more like back home, some of the staff responded by taking things into their own hands. Supervising this situation is difficult because it is born out of an idealism gone haywire. It seemed they thought their obligation to steer society in the right direction increased proportionately with their chances of actually making a difference. Often I would see standards set higher than that used on the mainland. These were people I'd worked with back there who I hadn't noticed doing this before. So I would spend a lot of time comparing the two.
I'd also talk a lot about the islanders misfortunes having been through such a difficult history. Things like re-establishing property lines after America took many of the islands from the Japanese during WWII. There wasn't a tree left standing after the bombing of some of these islands. The "Partido" as I recall they called it didn't go well. Surveyors and attorneys descended on the islands and without a sociologist among them, did their work without regard to cultural considerations. Properties were divided haphazardly for many reasons. The loudest and most aggressive often prevailed in disputes and there was a good deal of corruption to. A lasting bitterness resulted. Not a pass for bad behavior but surely something relevant. I'd push these ideas as far as attention spans would allow, over and over again. Not to allow something undeserved, but to beat back this tendency for being judgemental. Id be jokingly called the liberal which I would gladly accept as long as they would resist the urge to judge based on anything but the facts.
So, whats my point? Well I'm always intrigued by how hierarchical organizations sacrifice their low and mid-level to save the top and how these players accept this as fair play. I can't help but think that the Lt. General in command during the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, who retired earlier this month, must be suppressing some serious anger right now over what happened. A basic cowardly railroad job by the worried-about-their-own-neck superiors. A very skilled scapegoat-I mean-Soldier sacrificed for being Miss-cast in an ill-conceived war. It was good to see Gen.Abizaid And Gen.Westly Clark were compelled to say some very nice things at his retirement ceremony. There is honor in their actions.
Five Officers were caught up in the scandal, the Lt. General was the highest ranking. Broad shoulders made the buck stop with him. It was left to someone else to say he was under pressure from Washington to get better information from prisoners during that time. Unfortunately after you read his Interrogation and Counter-Resistance Policy memo of September,2003,( Google it) you can't help but blame him. But, he shares that blame with the ones who didn't see to it that he knew a whole lot more about sociology than he did.
I bet you can trace that all the way to the top.

A World Going To the Dogs?

It would appear that a great many people including a lot of the right wing variety, whether new and improved, enriched or right wing-ultra, are worried that their concept of American values or call it just plain goodness is giving way to a less virtuous society. One that doesn't hold the promise that existed for them. Therefore they expend considerable energy building dams to hold back the perceived deadly torrent of a society gone awry. Because their engineers share the same flawed thinking, they don't sufficiently understand nor calculate the force behind the dam properly, they use poor materials and to top it all off they put the dams in the wrong places. Remember the torrent of Rock and Roll and the devil music dam. Or the torrent of integration-way to many dams to talk about here.
Currently the torrent seems to at least include gay marriage or whatever you choose to call or not call it. I thought a lot about whether this next bit is important or not but for the sake of revealing bias I decided to include it. I'm not gay and don't have gay friends. OK, now what is my personal opinion on the subject? A big fat emphatic "Who Cares." This is no more bad behavior than me taking my next breath. It's a ghost. It's people thinking their drowning in an inch of water. Ten years from now it will be less significant than say, the Y2K problem if you remember what that was. I'm by no means saying society does not need to be tended to. Bad behavior is everywhere and shouldn't be tolerated but, it should be thought of and addressed individually. This other approach is unproductive and can be counterproductive.
What is necessary is a united front against bad behavior, within and across all people. This is how to secure and share in the promise of a good life.
I recently spoke with a petite 80 something year old woman who had been plucked out of her small town in Tennessee at a very early age by TWA Airlines to be a stewardess."They recruited small girls back then to fit into the DC 3s and 4s," she explained. She said her mom wasn't happy about it but it was too good of an opportunity to say no. She said she was far less unhappy about it than her mom and headed to Los Angeles. She said she was quite apprehensive when she got there because her mom had said so many times that the new generation is going to the dogs.
One clue, when examining an issue, if your reasons against include the explanation or even the thought "It just ain't right," then cut your losses because it's probably just the tedious drone of " The new generation is going to the dogs."

The Enron Gang

Another Enron executive learned his fate today, 5 years and 6 months. I must state here that I am not an unbiased observer in this instance because these guys managed to get into my conservative pockets which is no easy chore. I don't even call it investing, it's saving to me.
The part that I found interesting was this statement made to the Judge that I plucked from the AP story. "There were improper things done at Enron. Some of these things were done by me. For that, I'm sorry, as God be my witness, I never did anything intentionally to enrich myself or hurt the company or it's employees.'' Gee, he brought God into it, he must really mean it, right?
Now I'm sure he thought the Judge had already made up his mind. So what's he after? Is he born again? As usual we will never really know because people like this slip back and forth, in and out of different states of mind and actually delude themselves along with the company and it's employees.
If he had stopped at I'm sorry, I believe I would have had a different take but his mind wouldn't allow it. It was just too difficult to end with I'm sorry. Stuff wells up trying to callous over and save face. I'm sure he desperately needs to believe he's not a bad guy right now, both in his own eye's and Gods while he looks into the abyss. This is so characteristic of these guys.
Back to skepticism. Being nice helped to get the following out of the Judge "I'm confident you will come out and be a credit to your family". The article goes on to say that at the request of the defense attorney the Judge would recommend to the Bureau of Prisons that he serve his sentence at a conveniently located prison. While the report says he will pay over 1.25 million to victims funds (can't wait to see how much I don't get of that since they wiped out 60 billion in market value) and forfeit 250k in deferred compensation. It also says he keeps his 950k house . It didn't say what his bank account holds.
So there are many reasons to be a nice guy now. Build on the white collar crime"Mulligan". This is the pass you get that says basically that this was just a misstep in an otherwise virtuous life. A perk that inverts itself as you move down the ladder of socioeconomic class. I don't know enough to judge whether the sentence was appropriate. I do think that the justice system didn't do much to improve it's image with regards to Enron though. But what we do have is someone who gambled that he could operate above the law and get away with it and he couldn't. Let's be thankful for that.

It's about the truth

I have to lay a little pipe for this thought so please bear with me. I experienced my first obnoxious parent at a soccer game incident this weekend. It was the game before ours and it was being decided by a shoot off after two overtime sessions. This guy, high 30's-low 40's was yelling to the opposing kicker "don't choke", maybe 3-5 times per kicker. The referee asked him to stop once, twice and the third time tossed him off the field. And I mean he would not start the game until this guy was 20 feet down line on the opposite side of the cyclone fence.
Now I suppose the punishment might have been less severe for a more cooperative individual. But this guy carried on like, well, you can imagine. After the cool headed people like the coach and others tried to sort of escort him off, things really turned against him when his wife yells "Get going, your out of control". I suspect this wasn't his first time for this so it didn't have a a lot of impact but he did slowly take his new position outside the fence. A rather humiliating spot that he drifted off somewhere from.
The game finally ended, not surprising his kid's team lost and here he comes back on the sidelines. He had some time to think about it and I think the normal expectation was that he would apologize to everyone and that would be it. Well, not this guy, his period of contemplation resulted in a sort of "meaning of is" defense. He was claiming that he was actually encouraging the players on the other team by saying "Don't choke".
I couldn't believe my ears. An older man, one of our teams grandparents hears this and walks towards me and says, ( sorry, I've got to save that for later). Listening to all the rationalization and face saving support he got from the coach and other friends wasn't easy. Then a woman who hadn't seen the incident but got the story from the "people in the know", quite fervently tells me that these referees need to relax ," It was just a mis-communication".
I wonder if this idea was spawned by the out of control guy yelling to the referee "you need to take some Zanex" and other choice phrases.
Of course what is sad is what the kid's have to endure.
That aside, what struck me was how quickly the truth evolved into something unrecognizable. If you hadn't witnessed it you wouldn't know what happened. It created a real awareness of the tools we are constantly utilizing to find the closest thing to the truth.
Oh, the grandparent's comment was, "There sure are a lot more horses asses than horses in this world". Now that was the truth.

Combat Hospital

This weekend's CNN "Combat Hospital" should be required watching in this country. Whatever your opinion is as to how to end this war, after watching this and assuming you feel at all, you must admit that one way or another this thing needs to end. If you have an ounce compassion you know that the salve that will heal Soldiers lives as time rolls on is the knowledge that their efforts resulted in something worthy of their sacrifice. Soldiers return to being citizens. And citizens return to being pragmatic. The orders that were followed or the mission of war in general will be acceptable if the outcome serves the greater good. The collective opinion of the country has been decided by the elections. And don't forget world opinion. Complacency is no longer tolerable. It's time to support the leaders in this country that come up with the fastest timetable for ceasing our involvement in this war. Don't worry, the fastest will be painfully slow. The image of cut and run cuts deep into the American psyche if not human psyche and will cause our leaders to plot this out to some imaginary point in the future. Regardless, we need to accept that this represents the greater good. After all, could it be any more painful than watching this steady stream casualties and broken lives.

To Veterans everywhere

A huge heart felt avalanche of gratitude to all Veterans out there and a super mega thank you to those currently serving. On a financial news channel this morning, I watched the annual Veterans Day moment of silence at the New York Stock Exchange. The reporter said It was the only one regularly observed and he'd thought it started in 1954. I thought that was nice but then it occurred to me why are they open at all? They seem to close for less deserving holidays. Isn't there a bit of irony in there someplace. In addition to and along with thanking Veterans I wanted to point out that I believe that CNN's "Combat Hospital" show airing this weekend may be the best available look at what is really happening in in Iraq. I caught a clip this morning and it looked remarkable. Good back door views are surprisingly few. Circumstances and safety tend to wash the reality right out most reports. From what I saw I think this one has all the ingredients. I remember reading "Up Front" by Bill Mauldin about WWII and as unlikely as it would seem it was the first time I'd really felt anything about that war. I got those same sensations watching the clip this morning. For details check out CNN's "Pressroom"

Election thoughts

Well it's near over. Almost all the details are out there for everyone to see and ponder. I just wonder what all the politicians who disgraced their party and country with an ugly array of scandals are feeling today. It looks like scandal and corruption had a good deal to do with the Republican parties extensive losses. Some say as much as the Iraq war. Some how I doubt that they lost much sleep over it. The roots of this kind of behavior comes with the package. It was successfully suppressed for a long time but the leopards stripes emerged unchanged in the end. I believe around 15 of these people even had the audacity to run again. One that I'm aware of even incorporated contrition into their campaign . I don't yet know the outcome of these races but I hope few made it. Wouldn't it be great if no politician in the history of the country was ever reelected after being involved in scandal or corruption. Even better would be if we caught them before they could get elected in the first place.

election experience

I just got back from voting. For the first time I felt a bit concerned about the safety of my vote. Maybe because there seemed to be a lot of effort being put into making me feel there was nothing to worry about. This is a worry that is different than whether or not the people you want to win do so or not. This is having the problem that you pity third world countries for having. Very disconcerting.
Well, I voted as I usually do, some Democrats some Republicans but no libertarians, Independents or others. I no longer see the point in casting a vote for someone who can't win and don't want to jeopardize the chances of someone who can. I started doing this after 1996 when I did vote for Ross Perot. This is a compromise I'm willing to accept. I am completely sympathetic with Ralph Naders opinion about the 2000 election but I can't help but wonder about what would have happened had he given his support to Senator Gore.
This election is an important one and I was very relieved to have it over with. I felt I did a responsible job studying all the information I could get my hands on. That said , I think there is probably still half an ocean between what I think I know and reality.
Some of the winners will find themselves there perfectly suited to perpetuate the status quo and want nothing more. Fooled again. Some will run at it hard, make a lot of enemies and get quarantined until they learn the art of back scratching. Tethered to nothing. Some will even get so drunk on power that they risk it all for lavish digs or a yacht and get sent to the big house. Wrong house fortunately. But, every once in a while, by some strange nature-nurture conflux we get the complete package. A truly selfless soul whose compass heading is unaltered throughout the term of however long we are lucky enough to have them. They are the ones who actually do want to leave the world in as good a shape as possible for future inhabitants. They're efforts are tempered by that goal. They wont be perfect but they will make a lasting change and that change will be good. Lets hope there is one of them in this lot.

Deceptive Mailer

I Received the most deceptive election mailer yet today. It's called the "Voter information guide for Democrats". It says, "Use this when you vote." It lists all the Democratic candidates running. It actually has a picture of the current U.S. Senator asking you to support their position on a particular proposition. So far so good. Then you get to a list in red of all the propositions on the ballot. And guess what, these positions may or may not be held by members of the Democratic party. These are positions I suspect are held on propositions by special interest groups or large corporations who likely hired this firm to assure their success. What I really wanted to show is the disclaimer, It's hilarious. "Notice To Voters-this document was prepared by voters information guide, not an official political party organization. Appearance in this mailer does not necessarily imply endorsement by others appearing in this mailer, nor does it imply endorsement of or opposition to any issues set forth in this mailer. Appearance is paid for and authorized by each candidate and ballot measure designated by an*. Not paid for or authorized by candidates not designated by an *. Candidates for non-partisan office chosen without regard to party affiliation." What the %&@&. The thing is called a, Voters guide for Democrats, right. The more I read it the more confused I get. There are * by three of 16 candidates names . These are Superior court candidates. There are also * by 11 of 13 State Propositions. I haven't a clue. Unfortunately I'm sure a whole lot of people will grab it on the way out the door trying to simplify the process. And the rest is history. Well I couldn't take it so I called the U.S Senators office and spoke to a man who identified himself as the campaign manager. A little surprising I'd get him but anyway he said they were aware of it, called it fraudulent, said he was on the phone all morning with lawyers and the press over it. He said thank you and suggested calling my local newspaper which I did, two in fact and was never called back. They wonder why there is a low voter turn out.

Revised Employment numbers

I have a little break here so I checked out the financial news. The big story of the moment was the employment numbers. Lower than expected but offset by a huge revision in the numbers for the last two months. What's huge? How about employers added 148000 new jobs instead of the 51000 first reported for September and from 188000 to 230000 in August. Now that's a big revision. Why bring this up? After all the idea fields just don't get more fertile than they are right now. I mean how about the juicy story about the Christian conservative leader alleged to have been involved in gay sex and drugs. And he has already partially implicated himself while being interviewed in his car with his wife next to him and his kids in the back seat. This by a guy whose supposed to be moral by definition right. Head of an evangelical church. Can you imagine. But, to me the revision numbers are far more important. Why? Because it points to the more insidious problem. I'm going to say this but don't think that he embodies what I believe in. He had his strong points and I like to give credit where credits due. I'm talking about Ronald Reagan who quite famously said " Government is not the solution to the problem, Government is the problem''. I think day in and day out we forget this. The timing of the release of the employment news becomes suspicious. When you come out shamelessly with a revision of that magnitude with an election around the corner, it's not much of a leap to believe your capable of far worse. It destroys any confidence and therefore trust in the agency that is responsible for it . Of course the ole' power of positive thinking comes to the rescue and allows us to believe once again that this is an isolated case even though the evidence strongly suggest otherwise. My trust in government keeps reaching lower lows. Denial is bliss.

The Voter Waltz

Maybe astounded is the right word, describing the feeling I get when I watch the voters get swayed to and fro by the political masters. Because it is in fact complex or made to look that way becomes unimportant as people scramble to make sense of it in time to vote. It's no wonder that when the time comes people end up relying on basic instinct to make their decision. So it gets right back to what the masters look for when divining electable leaders. Remember the masters are interchangeable professionally with those who create pop stars or the next super brand of some sort. Why do they do this to us? To win and because we let them. They know the right way to say "jump", and we say "how high". Why should it matter. Because simply it's just too damn important. Mind you the masters have a place in a capitalistic system. They are vital to our gross national product. If they want to make an automobile the best seller in the world please have at it, everyone benefits. Or make a chicken salad pop group out of a chicken poo pop group, who cares. But when they tinker with this great American experiment it should not be tolerated. The impact steadily increases as does the harshness of the outcome.More later. Got to go. Good to be hear.

Court Duty

I was called to the court house yesterday for jury duty. Boy does that system need help. I believe more than ever that a professional jury system is the way to go. Anyway, people asked some good questions and I was all ears. " Where do you get your information on which people to call? Primarily from voting records and drivers license info". He said , "we worry that if people thought it was just from the former they might not vote but we know they wont stop driving". I'm not going to say for sure that he really knew or not but I thought it was interesting. He came across authoritatively and the way people talked about the issue later it was clear that most believed him. It has always seemed to me that some people never get called and frankly they were often the people I never knew to vote. I've got to look into that a little more.
It turns out the guy was quite a comedian. He had me laughing a few times. As he went on about this and that I sort of drifted off into some reading. Of course everything seemed to be about the mid term elections. A side note, can you think of a better value today than a newspaper? I cant.
So I'm sort of simultaneously listening and reading when I hear the guy say that he will call people alphabetically, "we'll start at the end so the the first group will be R through Z and I'm talking about your last name." A few people laughed. He said, "you'd be surprised." Not 30 seconds passes, people are starting to line up when the guy next to me leans over and asks, '' Is he talking about first name or last name." I kid you not. I thought to myself how is this guy going to serve as a juror? It's been my experience that the rules given during the course of a trial are not only complex but often illogical. Then I started reading again.
It's about some politician saying how smart the American people are and they know what's best for them and so on. Talk about timing. Not only is it not true since there is obviously a spectrum from smart to not very smart at all; I think of it as a great marker for when someone is lying through their teeth. It's kind of like when responding to a question someone says "I can only say." You hear that a lot from politicians. This usually means their worried about the down side of telling the truth. It can have a humble ring to it or the old protecting classified information feel but it's usually deceptive to some degree and used a lot by non-truth tellers. The so inclined have a deep aversion to the phrase,"I don't know". They avoid it at all costs. To be fair it's a human frailty and never more perilous than when one is taken to there mental limits.
After all with the package you must possess to be a politician surely it would be a lot to ask to have it all, mentally and intellectually to. They usually do have a good guidance system to keep them out of the rat holes and alligator pits. But this is that skill you use a lot when your young. It's a lot easier then . It's keeping your ducks in a row, a lot of balls in the air, one campfire ahead of the posse, and so on. But when your a politicians age it's harder. Not to say that they aren't good at it. They just have a lot more to think about like appealing to that large swath out of the middle, fringe groups, corporate interests, etc. It's a wonder any one would want to do this. But when you do step into the arena you are fair game.
I find it fun to listen to them navigate that treacherous course right now. It's too late in this election cycle to start taking whacks at politicians and I doubt anyone will read any of this before the election anyway so I'll save that for a later day. By the way I never had to talk to anyone, got sent home with 60-70 others. How efficient was that? I've got another year that I don't have to think about it and it got me to start this. That's positive.

Here goes, guess Im a Blogger now

Well here goes, I'm in the fourth day of jury duty and have not been told to come in yet. I'm getting a bit stir crazy. I'm self employed and therefore cranky. Why am I doing this? Not positive but I think I have something to say. When I started noticing the blogisphere around the time of the last elections, one thought kept occurring to me. Anything that opens up communications between people is a good thing. And I know no other way to explore this than to jump in. It's about curiosity and of course that image of someone at sunrise sitting next to a wood stove in some remote and beautiful corner of the world gazing out over a misty pond or coastline or maybe some snow capped mountains pondering something I've written. Come on now, that's irresistible. I know its not easy. I don't know much technically about this but from the lack of comments made generally about entries, It would appear there is not a lot of interest. I hope I'm wrong. What will I write about? I've read stuff about keeping a narrow focus and short and sweet and the like. I'll try, but no promises. I'm not big on formulas. They make us all think and talk alike which I view as a real bad thing. It leads to insurmountable problems. For the most part I just want to write about what occurs to me as important about the issues of the day. In any task or project or profession I've been involved with there always seems to be those people whose minds churn out original thoughts and ideas. I want to be one of those guys. Can I do it ? All I can do is try. Am I a professional? No way, if you can't tell already. This is probably the most I've written in 10 years.(yes to this point right here) I cant even type 15 words a minute. Grammar? spelling? I know a little bit, but don't feel too good when you find problems with either. Nothing bizarre, over the top ,extreme or in poor taste. Hopefully there are a few people left out there that just like to read another persons point of view. Good to be here. Looking forward to it .jcat