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.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, November 24, 2006
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.)
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.)
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, November 17, 2006
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."
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."
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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.
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.
Monday, November 13, 2006
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.
Friday, November 10, 2006
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"
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
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.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
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.
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.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
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.
Friday, November 03, 2006
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.
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