This morning I was listening to NPR as I drove into town and there were two reports that really underscored the problems I have with the current state of the environmental movement. First, I want to make it clear that I support doing things that lessen the impact that I have on the environment, but some of the draconian measures being considered will hit me and others very hard in the wallet, and with everything else going on to remove money from my wallet, I have a real concern that I will be able to afford to live, much less retire.
The first report was from the Copenhagen summit of the UN Climate Council. Thousands of protesters, most of whom have been given "lines to recite" and don't have a good, base understanding of just how complex climate is, what to do to really impact climate change, the nature of unintended consequences, etc. For the most part, these are educated people who are largely uneducated. It concerns me that they whip issues into a frenzy, idiot politicians who are also technically illiterate jump on the frenzy (to keep getting elected) and enact oppressive and expensive legislation to "fix" the problem. That is also fairly arrogant to think we can totally fix the problem, but that is for another post. Of course, there is the national posturing of different countries to make sure that they are not "unfairly" treated. I had to laugh when the Chinese representative said that the rich countries (read US and Europe) are the only ones that have to sign binding written agreements. China, as a developing country (certainly they could not be rich) was exempt from such written documents.
But then I got more worried with the follow-up story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=121498033&m=121498057
This is a two-part story. Part one deals with the eco-brainwashing of elementary schools in Britain. An "inspector" from an NGO (Eco-schools) "teaches" kids the 7 steps to eco-friendliness. Next, we hear the kids recite the verse in lock step. The school has eco-reps, and eco-council and classroom monitors. Kind of reminds me of Hitler youth. On the positive side, the school has adopted some engineering controls that make sense. Sky-lighting, more efficient heaters, motion-sensing lighting, etc. These are great and sane. But the school kids are buying into the whole story. Moving on to the high school kids, this has translated into laws that prohibit anyone within 3 km (about 2 miles) from driving to school (this would include driving in an electric car or hybrid) and promote protests (organized by another NGO - People and Planet) which seem to be geared to music and partying as part of the protests, and "carbon dating" (no - not to determine something is 200,000,000 years old). The latter is part of what scares me. Carbon dating is a low-carbon version of going on a date. Examples include taking a bike ride instead of a car ride (of course, in many places you have to drive the car with the bikes aboard to get to a safe riding place) - this seems ok. Next suggestion - eat vegetarian instead of meat for a dinner date. No one can convince me that vegetarian farming, as it is practiced, has less of an impact on the environment than a non-vegetarian scenario. Next suggestion - candlelight dinner instead of standard lights. So, now, instead of electric power from a central location with a known footprint, we have folks burning chemical fats at the dinner table and emitting carbon from a much less efficient source than hydroelectric, nuclear, or even natural gas.
This kind of thinking kills me. The idea is that if we all go back to a Walden Pond kind of existence, that all will be well. The truth is that we cannot go back to a lifestyle that was, in many ways, more polluting and clearly not sustainable for a world population approaching 6 billion or city populations, like Sao Paulo and Tokyo of around 20 million.
The story moves to the second part, eco-engineering. This is great. The British Institute of Mechanical Engineers has proposed three "great" ideas to combat global warming. First, acres of artificial trees. WHAT??? I bet the artificial trees have significant components of plastics and a manufacturing footprint that more than offsets the ability to absorb carbon dioxide. Why not plant real trees? Second, grow algae on surfaces of buildings to absorb heat and carbon dioxide. Let's not forget the bacteria and molds that will feast on such systems. Not much of a health risk there, especially in densely populated regions. Third, let's put reflective surfaces on buildings to lower the heat footprint of cities. Great, let's reflect all of that light back into the atmosphere where I am sure there will be no impact on weather or temperature or ozone or the like. People seem to forget that cities replaced forests and fields. Neither of these reflected light to a great extent. They absorbed light and put it to use to grow, converting EM radiation into chemicals and some heat.
So, for this section, I worry about poorly thought out concepts that have unintended consequences.
I just don't know how we can approach such an emotional topic with such far-reaching consequences, both environmental and economic (on the federal and personal level) in an intelligent way. Eco-brainwashing, technically illiterate masses, mis-informed activists, and greedy politicians do not bode well for a sensible outcome.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Airline English
Well, my business travel is over for 2009. I should have some time now to make some new entries. Today I was reminded of the knack that the airline industry has for butchering the English language. A couple of examples:
When I was walking through the "C" terminal at Dulles airport I heard "This is a last and final call for flight ..." I didn't think much about it until about 5 minutes later when the announcement was "Once again, this is the last and final call for flight ..." So, the first announcement was a lie, since the first was not the last. Then there is the need to have both "last" and "final" in the same sentence. I thought, in this context, last and final mean the same thing.
There is also the favorite announcement in the airplane: "Please remain seated until the plane has come to a complete stop." Is there any other kind of stop?
I know that there are several more of these abuses that the airlines are particularly adept at creating, I just cannot think of them right now. I know my English teachers from high school would be gasping at this uneducated and inefficient use of the language. For me, I just chuckle.
When I was walking through the "C" terminal at Dulles airport I heard "This is a last and final call for flight ..." I didn't think much about it until about 5 minutes later when the announcement was "Once again, this is the last and final call for flight ..." So, the first announcement was a lie, since the first was not the last. Then there is the need to have both "last" and "final" in the same sentence. I thought, in this context, last and final mean the same thing.
There is also the favorite announcement in the airplane: "Please remain seated until the plane has come to a complete stop." Is there any other kind of stop?
I know that there are several more of these abuses that the airlines are particularly adept at creating, I just cannot think of them right now. I know my English teachers from high school would be gasping at this uneducated and inefficient use of the language. For me, I just chuckle.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Talking Heads
I have gotten quite fed up with most of the media outlets, especially the visual ones. Points:
The first bullet point is proven with recent coverage of the Northwest airline pilots fiasco, the "balloon boy", and, going much further back, runaway brides, WMD's, the Olympic Park bomber, etc. The media jumps on the first information, finds 8-10 seconds of video to play in a continuous loop, and finds some talking head to explain what has happened, even before the facts are out. There must have been six networks convinced that the Northwest pilots had simply fallen asleep. Then there were talking heads going on and on about pilot fatigue, airline cutbacks, and federal oversight - oh, and the aging air traffic control system. Two weeks later we find out that the pilots really were doing what they said, arguing over a Delta scheduling system (Northwest was acquired by Delta - typical problems with merging two companies) on their laptops. No fatigue at all.
Second, the talking heads. Fox News and CNN are great at this. They hire a bunch of retired whatevers (army generals, Newt Gingrich among cast off politicians, folks who work for "think tanks", and guys who have a consulting business that is essentially a contract with the networks) who come on and pontificate about their view of something. Fox is especially good a pitting two folks against one another (read as "fair and balanced") and letting them duke it out on air. Nobody changes the other's mind and it is more like a schoolyard brawl.
Third, this week really hit it for me, the "experts". ABC is doing an "investigative report" (I remember when these were really professionally done back in the 70's and led to the fall of a Presidency) on food safety: "What's in your food?" Yesterday it was beef. Today it was field greens. In both cases, the problem is e-coli contamination. They find some expert at some agency, usually a group for consumer rights, and let them ramble on about "we need more testing", "the government is not inspecting", "the companies only have voluntary compliance". These experts are idiots. It is impossible and prohibitively expensive to test everything. Also, since the testing is destructive, in order to achieve 100% test reliability, there would be no product to consume. For beef, they take hamburger patties at random and remove 8 sub-samples for testing. Frequency of testing was not discussed, but even for the patties tested, 8 small samples from a patty leaves a lot of it untested. Anyway, the consumer expert was upset because the meat was shown to be from 4 cows (genetic testing) instead of what she thought should be one cow. The producer defended his product. In order to get the right mix of fat and lean, different cuts of beef are used and blended to make the finished product. No big deal.
My real "beef" is that the expert is an idiot. Anyone who knows anything about quality management knows that finished product testing is inefficient. It is a disaster check only. True quality management, by the way this is required to get manufacturing costs down, is process driven. If the process is optimized and in-process testing is implemented, then the product will be high quality. As my German colleagues say ... end of story; full stop.
So, for the beef industry that means segregating sick and well animals, proper training of each employee on food safety, automation, temperature control, maintenance schedules, etc. For the greens grower it means testing of water used for irrigation, segregation of cattle land from fields, and all of the same things that the meat packer should do. Are there companies that try to skirt around this? Yes, and they don't survive long but they can harm people by not doing things right. So, spot check these companies and have them certified and re-certify often. Eventually it becomes culture or you close them down. Hefty fines works well too, especially if they are multiplicative: X dollars for the finding and Y dollars more for every day from the date of the problem (findings can be retroactive) until the problem is fixed. Under any circumstances, more testing, which seems to be the only answer the expert has, will not help.
The problem is compounded. Hopefully our younger generation is more news savvy, but way too many folks depend on network or cable outlets for "facts". They hear this tripe and then believe it and suddenly, you have a bunch of folks yelling at Congress to act and those nuts usually put on the whole show and make a mockery out of real science. It really seems to me that our national IQ is low into the double digits.
- It seems that most of the time the news media gets it wrong in the first several days of covering any story
- Each outlet has its own group of talking heads that it pays to give opinions
- Many experts are just wrong
The first bullet point is proven with recent coverage of the Northwest airline pilots fiasco, the "balloon boy", and, going much further back, runaway brides, WMD's, the Olympic Park bomber, etc. The media jumps on the first information, finds 8-10 seconds of video to play in a continuous loop, and finds some talking head to explain what has happened, even before the facts are out. There must have been six networks convinced that the Northwest pilots had simply fallen asleep. Then there were talking heads going on and on about pilot fatigue, airline cutbacks, and federal oversight - oh, and the aging air traffic control system. Two weeks later we find out that the pilots really were doing what they said, arguing over a Delta scheduling system (Northwest was acquired by Delta - typical problems with merging two companies) on their laptops. No fatigue at all.
Second, the talking heads. Fox News and CNN are great at this. They hire a bunch of retired whatevers (army generals, Newt Gingrich among cast off politicians, folks who work for "think tanks", and guys who have a consulting business that is essentially a contract with the networks) who come on and pontificate about their view of something. Fox is especially good a pitting two folks against one another (read as "fair and balanced") and letting them duke it out on air. Nobody changes the other's mind and it is more like a schoolyard brawl.
Third, this week really hit it for me, the "experts". ABC is doing an "investigative report" (I remember when these were really professionally done back in the 70's and led to the fall of a Presidency) on food safety: "What's in your food?" Yesterday it was beef. Today it was field greens. In both cases, the problem is e-coli contamination. They find some expert at some agency, usually a group for consumer rights, and let them ramble on about "we need more testing", "the government is not inspecting", "the companies only have voluntary compliance". These experts are idiots. It is impossible and prohibitively expensive to test everything. Also, since the testing is destructive, in order to achieve 100% test reliability, there would be no product to consume. For beef, they take hamburger patties at random and remove 8 sub-samples for testing. Frequency of testing was not discussed, but even for the patties tested, 8 small samples from a patty leaves a lot of it untested. Anyway, the consumer expert was upset because the meat was shown to be from 4 cows (genetic testing) instead of what she thought should be one cow. The producer defended his product. In order to get the right mix of fat and lean, different cuts of beef are used and blended to make the finished product. No big deal.
My real "beef" is that the expert is an idiot. Anyone who knows anything about quality management knows that finished product testing is inefficient. It is a disaster check only. True quality management, by the way this is required to get manufacturing costs down, is process driven. If the process is optimized and in-process testing is implemented, then the product will be high quality. As my German colleagues say ... end of story; full stop.
So, for the beef industry that means segregating sick and well animals, proper training of each employee on food safety, automation, temperature control, maintenance schedules, etc. For the greens grower it means testing of water used for irrigation, segregation of cattle land from fields, and all of the same things that the meat packer should do. Are there companies that try to skirt around this? Yes, and they don't survive long but they can harm people by not doing things right. So, spot check these companies and have them certified and re-certify often. Eventually it becomes culture or you close them down. Hefty fines works well too, especially if they are multiplicative: X dollars for the finding and Y dollars more for every day from the date of the problem (findings can be retroactive) until the problem is fixed. Under any circumstances, more testing, which seems to be the only answer the expert has, will not help.
The problem is compounded. Hopefully our younger generation is more news savvy, but way too many folks depend on network or cable outlets for "facts". They hear this tripe and then believe it and suddenly, you have a bunch of folks yelling at Congress to act and those nuts usually put on the whole show and make a mockery out of real science. It really seems to me that our national IQ is low into the double digits.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Antwerp
The train ride from Amsterdam to Antwerp was just over 2 hours. The low country, laced with canals, was quite pretty.When I got out in Amsterdam at the train station, I thought it would be a good place to film a WWII movie.
We had daily meetings in Antwerp so there was little time for sightseeing. I did manage to get lost once in the old quarter on a walkabout before dinner. The second night, the company arranged for a little walking tour of Antwerp, home of Reubens. The theater was quite unique as were the bizarre ghost statues made by some Russian artist working in plastic media. The fact that they are in the courtyard of a hospital made them more eerie.
The highlight of the walk was a story about a guy who liked to go to the pub often and came back rather smashed. He had a special lock made for his house to help him get the key in the door.
We had daily meetings in Antwerp so there was little time for sightseeing. I did manage to get lost once in the old quarter on a walkabout before dinner. The second night, the company arranged for a little walking tour of Antwerp, home of Reubens. The theater was quite unique as were the bizarre ghost statues made by some Russian artist working in plastic media. The fact that they are in the courtyard of a hospital made them more eerie.
The highlight of the walk was a story about a guy who liked to go to the pub often and came back rather smashed. He had a special lock made for his house to help him get the key in the door.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Amsterdam Part 2
When I arrived in Amsterdam I had such fond memories of my first visit to see my son. I almost expected him to greet me at the airport again. My second day in the Netherlands I spent in Leiden, where he went to school for a semester. I took the opportunity to get some of the pictures that I had messed up on that trip by having an old battery in my camera that affected the light sensing meter.
I decided to take the self-guided walking tour of Leiden's old city. The folks at the travel bureau in Leiden were really nice about it. So I started out past the first windmill and passed the Mayflower Hotel where I stayed last time. A circuitous path through the old city was quite rewarding.
There was a team sculling on one of the canals, Reubens' art studio (I think it was Reubens), another windmill, a couple of Bentley's, Peter's Church, John Robinson's alms house, the old fort, and more. I had lunch at the same place where my son and I had a beer the last time around.
I finished out the day at the museum that has all of the old science equipment. It was cool seeing 400 year old telescopes and microscopes, although I must admit that the preserved body parts were pretty creepy.
In the early afternoon I boarded the train for Antwerp. I love train travel in Europe. As is always the case though, some underling will try to slip into a first class seat with a second class ticket. The view out the window was great and I could follow my progress on my cell phone GPS.
I never tire of visiting Europe.
I decided to take the self-guided walking tour of Leiden's old city. The folks at the travel bureau in Leiden were really nice about it. So I started out past the first windmill and passed the Mayflower Hotel where I stayed last time. A circuitous path through the old city was quite rewarding.
There was a team sculling on one of the canals, Reubens' art studio (I think it was Reubens), another windmill, a couple of Bentley's, Peter's Church, John Robinson's alms house, the old fort, and more. I had lunch at the same place where my son and I had a beer the last time around.
I finished out the day at the museum that has all of the old science equipment. It was cool seeing 400 year old telescopes and microscopes, although I must admit that the preserved body parts were pretty creepy.
In the early afternoon I boarded the train for Antwerp. I love train travel in Europe. As is always the case though, some underling will try to slip into a first class seat with a second class ticket. The view out the window was great and I could follow my progress on my cell phone GPS.
I never tire of visiting Europe.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Return to Amsterdam
I have been extremely busy these past few weeks and have let my posts slide. I did want to get back to them, though. During my two-week stint in Europe, I had one free weekend. Really, it is more like a half of a weekend since I would not get to any city before late Friday night and would have to leave midday on Sunday. I chose Amsterdam since it was close to my next business destination, Antwerp, and since I had been there before to visit with my son while he was at Leiden University for a semester.
I will pick up with Saturday as my Friday was mostly travel with a harried, short layover in a Swiss airport. Saturday morning I took the train to Amstel and then the bus to Muiden in search of Muiderslot, the moated castle well known in that region. It is different from the many castles I have seen in Germany, perhaps because of the lowlands in Holland, a moat was necessary, something I have never seen in the German castles perched on the hills. The castle tour was quite nice and I learned that the children ate standing up. From the time that they could reach the table. Further, the children were not allowed to speak during dinner. If they did so, they were sent to bed without food. Other snippets included the fact that people slept in a sitting position for fear of passing away.
The grounds of the castle were nice with two outdoor gardens, one for vegetables and herbs and the other for fruit trees and shrubs. All of the gardens were interlaced with walking paths. The castle also has a falconry as falcons were considered part of the power of the resident of the castle. The Castle also looks back upon the town, up a canal lined with beautiful ships. There is a lock in the canal to raise and lower the ships as they move further within the town. I had a delightful lunch beside the canal at a restaurant that I found on the web.
For me, the trips from Amsterdam are interesting now. I think Amsterdam is interesting and has quite a variety of night life, but I enjoyed the quiet street that my hotel was on (very near the Centraal station) and the restaurants less traveled by tourists.
I will pick up with Saturday as my Friday was mostly travel with a harried, short layover in a Swiss airport. Saturday morning I took the train to Amstel and then the bus to Muiden in search of Muiderslot, the moated castle well known in that region. It is different from the many castles I have seen in Germany, perhaps because of the lowlands in Holland, a moat was necessary, something I have never seen in the German castles perched on the hills. The castle tour was quite nice and I learned that the children ate standing up. From the time that they could reach the table. Further, the children were not allowed to speak during dinner. If they did so, they were sent to bed without food. Other snippets included the fact that people slept in a sitting position for fear of passing away.
The grounds of the castle were nice with two outdoor gardens, one for vegetables and herbs and the other for fruit trees and shrubs. All of the gardens were interlaced with walking paths. The castle also has a falconry as falcons were considered part of the power of the resident of the castle. The Castle also looks back upon the town, up a canal lined with beautiful ships. There is a lock in the canal to raise and lower the ships as they move further within the town. I had a delightful lunch beside the canal at a restaurant that I found on the web.
For me, the trips from Amsterdam are interesting now. I think Amsterdam is interesting and has quite a variety of night life, but I enjoyed the quiet street that my hotel was on (very near the Centraal station) and the restaurants less traveled by tourists.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Vindication of the Knights of St. John
Well, Malta turned out to be really nice. Time constraints did not allow me to visit the Neolithic sites or the catacombs, but I got about 3 full hours in Valletta. On a business trip, that is a lifetime. On Wednesday, it held off raining just long enough for me to do a walkabout. It was cloudy, very windy (think tropical storm winds), and there were puddles everywhere. Nonetheless, I struck out on foot and finally got to see much of the city. It is fairly touristy in terms of the restaurants and shops, but when you get off the main streets, there are a numnber of nice local eateries.
There are a lot of churches and old fortifications and even a beautiful bell tower that is a monument to the folks who lost their lives during the second world war. I wanted to get into the Church of St. John, but the other visitors were obnoxious and kept pushing past me in line until the line was too long for my time line. I must say, I was a bit stunned.
Nonetheless, all was not lost. I took my lunch hour (actually the conference let us have 105 min) and went back - no lines. The tour, self guided, was of the most beautiful church I have ever seen. Art, design, everything, was absolutely amazing. The floor is covered with gravestones with the most colorful designs. Each of the eight knights has a chapel room on either side of the main sanctuary and each had to donate all of the statuary, gold sacraments, paintings, etc for each chapel. The front of the sanctuary has beautiful organ pipes, a golden falcon and a very intricate silver chandalier. Off in side rooms are Flemish tapestries typically 3 x 3 meters. There are ancient choral books and vestments for all of the masters of the knights who led the church for so many years. The order is still active; I believe it is http://www.orderstjohns.org/ or com or the like.
Our group had a reception that night at the hall of the Knights of St. John. It was actually a three level hospital that they built (top floor for wealthy, middle for artesans, bottom for poor) as part of their dedication to service. For its time, it was quite modern with individual beds and essentially private duty nurses. That was very rare for a ward-type hospital. It did seem wierd to have light cocktails and finger foods in what was once a hospital.
Malta turned out very nice. The locals are friendly (the tourists are not) and very helpful and so polite.
There are a lot of churches and old fortifications and even a beautiful bell tower that is a monument to the folks who lost their lives during the second world war. I wanted to get into the Church of St. John, but the other visitors were obnoxious and kept pushing past me in line until the line was too long for my time line. I must say, I was a bit stunned.
Nonetheless, all was not lost. I took my lunch hour (actually the conference let us have 105 min) and went back - no lines. The tour, self guided, was of the most beautiful church I have ever seen. Art, design, everything, was absolutely amazing. The floor is covered with gravestones with the most colorful designs. Each of the eight knights has a chapel room on either side of the main sanctuary and each had to donate all of the statuary, gold sacraments, paintings, etc for each chapel. The front of the sanctuary has beautiful organ pipes, a golden falcon and a very intricate silver chandalier. Off in side rooms are Flemish tapestries typically 3 x 3 meters. There are ancient choral books and vestments for all of the masters of the knights who led the church for so many years. The order is still active; I believe it is http://www.orderstjohns.org/ or com or the like.
Our group had a reception that night at the hall of the Knights of St. John. It was actually a three level hospital that they built (top floor for wealthy, middle for artesans, bottom for poor) as part of their dedication to service. For its time, it was quite modern with individual beds and essentially private duty nurses. That was very rare for a ward-type hospital. It did seem wierd to have light cocktails and finger foods in what was once a hospital.
Malta turned out very nice. The locals are friendly (the tourists are not) and very helpful and so polite.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Maltese Falcon
I saw the movie years ago with headliner Humphrey Bogart ... the Maltese Falcon. So I was fairly excited to get the actual chance to visit Malta. I did a bit or fesearch and was hoping to see things such as 16th century forts:
Catacombs from the time of St. Paul:
Catacombs from the time of St. Paul:
Or neolithic temples:
I became suspicious about things in general when we taxied past the sign that pointed to Valletta. You see, our exec asst who is supposed to handle overseas travel is leaving our group and sat on my conference registration until the conference hotel was booked out. I had to use corporate travel to find a hotel in the accepted price range and I ended up in the Intercontinental, not a bad hotel, not in Valletta, but in St. Juliens, about 10 km away by street driving.
Not to be deterred, I arrived and settled in around 4 PM and then struck out "zum fuss" to explore my corner of Malta. The short walk started with a quick right hand turn at the end of the hotel and up the stairs for a few hundred yards past mostly small pub-style bars and light eating establishments. I headed toward the waterfront where I was told there was a "boardwalk" that rings the city. The view was nice, but the walkway was cut off by construction. I doubled back a bit and worked through a main street that had shops and housing, all in a state of disrepair. It looked pathetic in many ways, especially with the number of buildings missing walls or with peeling plaster or rust stains all over the railings. It could have been pretty. After awhile I thought that a lot of the general decay could look much better with just a coat of paint, as attested to by the occasional dwelling that had been painted.
As I turned one corner, there was a very modern shopping mall, not of the type we see in the burbs, but one more suited to a city without much space. Moving on, there was a fantastically beautiful private condo surrounding a small harbor with a sea wall. There were many really upscale restaurants there.
Continuing my journey around the edge of the water, the "boardwalk" came and went as some portions were blocked by private property and other parts ran out of space due to streets. A second harbor contained a lot of private boats, many for pleasure or fishing. The fishing boats are brightly painted with intricate designs. One peculiar feature, that I must find the origin of, is the fishing boats all have human eyes on the port and starboard sides of the bow. These boats look at you.
I went on a bit further and decided that the path I travelled looked seedy enough that I should return before dark. Hunger finally hit and I decided to try the fancy condo area as the restaurants have outside seating overlooking the small harbor. It was the right choice for one dining alone. There were 8 restaurants on four levels, split by the wide stairs that decended to the harbor. The choices were: Japanese, Mediterranean, Italian, Chinese, steakhouse, Brazilian churrascaria, Italian fusion, and a second Mediterranean. Most of the menus looked too heavy for me. I light to eat light on the first day of adapting to time zone blitz. The Chinese place was very upscale so that is where I went. Awsome hot and sour soup, really nice chicken and beef satay, and a wonderful spicy shrimp dish loaded with fresh vegetables.
So, it was now about 9:30 PM, clearly dark and I had to walk the seedy path. Surprisingly, there were many walkers about and this gave me some solace. As I turned down the final street toward my hotel, about two blocks ahead of the stairs, I found out that I was in the middle of the club district (which had looked so seedy at 5 PM when everything was closed). Lots of music and young people and water pipes set up outside. Now I could also see that very near my hotel were two very lit up casinos. Now I know why people come here.
Back to the hotel to catch up on a few e-mails and get some sleep.
This morning I awoke to what I thought was watering of the many palms outside my hotel room, but it turned out to be a heavy rain shower. Great, I had only yesterday afternoon and this morning to do any sightseeing ... hope the rain abates, my conference starts in 5 hours.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Run Forrest ... or ... Stupid is as Stupid Does
It has been one of those days. Work is in overload. I checked my itinerary today and figured I had to leave work at 2:30 to catch my flight to State College, PA. Plenty of time.
I got to the airport and went to check in and said I was on the 4:25 flight through Philly. Deadpan look from ticket agent. "There is a 4:35, sir." I pulled out my itinerary and my jaw dropped. 4:25 was the arrival time for Philly! Departure from Charlote ... 2:36 PM. Current time ... 3:15 PM.
So, not only did I lose my upgrade (from seat 2D to 19D), I now arrive at 10:15 PM instead of 6:30. No liesurely dinner in a quaint college town. Now dinner is rushed at Philly airport. Oh, and I missed dinner with my boss.
Stupid is as stupid does.
I got to the airport and went to check in and said I was on the 4:25 flight through Philly. Deadpan look from ticket agent. "There is a 4:35, sir." I pulled out my itinerary and my jaw dropped. 4:25 was the arrival time for Philly! Departure from Charlote ... 2:36 PM. Current time ... 3:15 PM.
So, not only did I lose my upgrade (from seat 2D to 19D), I now arrive at 10:15 PM instead of 6:30. No liesurely dinner in a quaint college town. Now dinner is rushed at Philly airport. Oh, and I missed dinner with my boss.
Stupid is as stupid does.
Monday, September 14, 2009
A Promise Fulfilled
After letting this post lay fallow in the long Brazilian winter, it is time to replant with thoughts that I have been too busy to share.
I promised one of my two readers some time ago that I would add some comments around why I think the best days for the US are still ahead of us.
It would be easy to be pessimistic ...
I promised one of my two readers some time ago that I would add some comments around why I think the best days for the US are still ahead of us.
It would be easy to be pessimistic ...
- China owns so much of our debt that they could buy us.
- The dollar is in freefall thanks to our continuing to print money for which we have no real value (goods or services or real assets)
- The country is bogged down in two major overseas wars
- We are under the continual pounding of proposed changes from the most liberal, socialist president since Lyndon Johnson (or maybe even Franklin Roosevelt)
- The country is equally divided by those who seek more from the government and those who seek less, and the relationship between the two is acrimonious and dogmatic
- Unemployment is very high, feeding the current business downturn
- Business is generally in the tank and the government owns way too much of it
Sarcastically, one might say that, since there is nowhere to go but up, our best days HAVE to be ahead of us.
Looking at our problems, they have all been there before. There was a time we thought Japan would own us. The value of the dollar will stay low unless we reign in spending and borrowing - it can be done. We survived Roosevelt and Johnson, although they both saddled us with social programs that are about to go belly up. We have had many heated differences of opinion many times in our short history. Unemployment and business activity goes in cycles. Much of this will fix itself.
What I point to in my optimism is the indomitable spirit of our citizens. We are risk takers as a country (immigrants, the backbone of our history, are risk takers by definition). We are creative. We tackle problems head on and come up with new and exciting ways to do things. We will move away from oil because someone will figure out a way to make big money by doing so. Our universities will provide many options for tackling some of the difficult barriers that private industry cannot spend resources on. It will be a collective effort of our diverse society that will move us forward. Our very national fabric pushes us to try to do our best to be the best. The technological path forward is loaded with powerful new tools to do our work: nanotechnology, genetics, artificial intelligence, aerospace expertise, to name a few. No matter the problem being tackled - climate, health care, trade, technology - risk takers, technical, social, and economic, have shown time and again that they are willing to back the hard choices that move us forward. We have a history of this type of inventiveness and there is no reason to think that will change. Think of the last 200 years in this country and look at all we have done in business, social justice, science and technology. Risk takers will keep us at the forefront. Our best days still lay ahead.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg famously noted that "Fog creeps in on little cat feet". Not so. This morning, fog lay softly like a fleece blanket, muting the sights of our neighborhood. The streetlamps had a Dickensian iridescence and you tried to squint to sharpen the view. Sounds of birds were amplified by the density of the air. Tall pines were decapitated as they faded into the mist. Gentle striations of droplets painted the scene with brush strokes and held the wafting incense of honeysuckle right at nose level.
This was in stark contrast to a scene from Tuesday night on my flight back into Charlotte. Puffed clouds of cotton batting illuminated eerily by the soft cast of the moon. Brownish red lightning dancing and darting within the thunderheads. The gentle buffeting of the plane in the masses of moving air and water. The light and dark contrasts of moonlight slicing through the stratified layers of clouds. The rhythmic pulse of the wing lights that grew blindingly bright as we passed through clouds.
Nature has a strange and peaceful beauty that gives us pause in our busy world.
This was in stark contrast to a scene from Tuesday night on my flight back into Charlotte. Puffed clouds of cotton batting illuminated eerily by the soft cast of the moon. Brownish red lightning dancing and darting within the thunderheads. The gentle buffeting of the plane in the masses of moving air and water. The light and dark contrasts of moonlight slicing through the stratified layers of clouds. The rhythmic pulse of the wing lights that grew blindingly bright as we passed through clouds.
Nature has a strange and peaceful beauty that gives us pause in our busy world.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Boxing with the media
Well, I never cease to learn new things. This week is was the rope-a-dope, burn and peal, punch and duck life with the media. I was totally disillusioned. There were folks calling for Obama's head, calling him a coward. The whole thing with the Maersk Alabama was a sham. The media did not know anything. They talked about some negotiations, but no details, When the dust settled, the media was a sham.
Reality ... the lifeboat was in tow. Media ... the lifeboat was drifting. Reality, the sharpshooters were in position. Media, the pirates were demanding millions of dollars. Reality ... the Navy took out the pirates. Media, the pirates were in control.
I lost all faith in the media. They were underinformed and merely trying to make headlines. They did not give any new information for many hours. They blamed the President.
In reality, things went as they should. The Navy was involved and got the President involved. The President authorized lethal force. Lethal force was ordered by the local commander. The hostage was saved.
The media was wrong, all along. Based on this, I have decided to stop watching the news.
Reality ... the lifeboat was in tow. Media ... the lifeboat was drifting. Reality, the sharpshooters were in position. Media, the pirates were demanding millions of dollars. Reality ... the Navy took out the pirates. Media, the pirates were in control.
I lost all faith in the media. They were underinformed and merely trying to make headlines. They did not give any new information for many hours. They blamed the President.
In reality, things went as they should. The Navy was involved and got the President involved. The President authorized lethal force. Lethal force was ordered by the local commander. The hostage was saved.
The media was wrong, all along. Based on this, I have decided to stop watching the news.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Spring Mornings
I like spring mornings. Each day I get up before the sun and take the dog for a walk. One day last week I was treated by seeing (thanks to the sun being almost ready to come up and the moon being quite bright near the other horizon) two interesting celestial objects. The first was some sort of mapping or weather satellite (or similar type). It was easy to pick out as it moved almost perfectly from south to north and covered the sky in just a couple of minutes. The second, was the space station, cutting a path from northeast to southwest. Both of these within minutes of one another.
Two days this week there was a light fog. The mist covered the neighborhood eerily and made me think of a Dicken's story. The mist hung over the neighborhood pond and blanketed some of the larger lots not yet built upon. There were some deer in the wooded area of one lot and they looked like small statues as they watched me. I think they were closer than normal because of the fog.
It is a relaxing way to start a day.
Two days this week there was a light fog. The mist covered the neighborhood eerily and made me think of a Dicken's story. The mist hung over the neighborhood pond and blanketed some of the larger lots not yet built upon. There were some deer in the wooded area of one lot and they looked like small statues as they watched me. I think they were closer than normal because of the fog.
It is a relaxing way to start a day.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Out of Control
The US Congress, especially the democrats, are totally out of control. They pushed through outrageous budget concepts that my kids will be paying for the rest of their lives. They pass a law allowing bonuses to be paid on 2008 contracts and then turn around, express dismay and tax these bonuses at 90%. What is to stop them. They have revived the welfare state that their icon, Bill Clinton, helped to dismantle. They are writing legislation that will destroy capitalism and drive business out of the country. They are taking over energy policy recklessly and doing the same with health care.
While Washington is legislating away, the President fiddles by making NCAA predictions, going on late night television, and pushing more of his social agenda.
Finger pointing, arguing, mock trials of all kinds.
Stop the train, I NEED to get off.
This is what happens when one philosophy has all of the control of government (see the warnings of John Adams).
While Washington is legislating away, the President fiddles by making NCAA predictions, going on late night television, and pushing more of his social agenda.
Finger pointing, arguing, mock trials of all kinds.
Stop the train, I NEED to get off.
This is what happens when one philosophy has all of the control of government (see the warnings of John Adams).
Friday, March 6, 2009
We're not in Kansas anymore
Well, it just does not get better.The prez rolls out a budget plan and has a health care symposium and the market tanks further. It is hard for the private sector capitalists to think that they have a future when the government is planning to take over health care. It is hard for the private sector capitalists to infuse money into any manufacturing businesses when the cap-and-trade is proposed that will effectively tax these manufacturing operations. It is hard for the private sector to invest in banks when the government continues to take them over rather than work with the industry to remove bad assets that continue to drag the banks down.
I found out yesterday that the big "middle class tax cut" will be paid for with money from the carbon cap-and-trade program. Interestingly, if we implement cap-and-trade, that is effectively a tax on business. That tax will be passed on to consumers (otherwise the companies do not make profits, which is why they exist). It turns out that the amount of the "tax cut" for the "middle class" is only 80% of the amount of dollars that the cap-and-trade tax will consist of. If all of the manufacturing tax is passed on to consumers, there is a net increase in taxes on the middle class. What a deal.
Socialism. Gateway to mediocrity. Regulated, free markets can give solutions. Tax cuts will spur development. One man and his team of lackeys doesn't have a chance.
I found out yesterday that the big "middle class tax cut" will be paid for with money from the carbon cap-and-trade program. Interestingly, if we implement cap-and-trade, that is effectively a tax on business. That tax will be passed on to consumers (otherwise the companies do not make profits, which is why they exist). It turns out that the amount of the "tax cut" for the "middle class" is only 80% of the amount of dollars that the cap-and-trade tax will consist of. If all of the manufacturing tax is passed on to consumers, there is a net increase in taxes on the middle class. What a deal.
Socialism. Gateway to mediocrity. Regulated, free markets can give solutions. Tax cuts will spur development. One man and his team of lackeys doesn't have a chance.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Retired Jersey
Have you ever seen the rafters at Duke University's Cameron Indoor Stadium? Loaded with retired jerseys. Well, yesterday I decided it was time to retire my jersey. I went to the gym to play basketball with some guys from work and a few other regulars that show up. I played one game. Two rebounds, a turnover, one missed shot (badly). The guys are too tall, too young, too fast, too fearless. I was out of my league. Time to hang up the shoes ... the party is over.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Right Stuff
I was watching a video that I got for Christmas on the history of the NASA manned spaceflight missions. I really especially love the early years ... the 60's. These guys were real risk takers. All of them from the astronauts, who, in these early years, were all test pilots, to the engineers. The average age for the front line personnel was 26 and the managers were in their early 30's. It is little wonder that they were willing to try so many things that would never be done now. At one point, they were launching crews every 6 weeks!
I remember a couple years ago, NASA was going to bail on the Hubble Space Telescope because it would require a risky space walk to fix the device. In the 60's we had guys tethered to the outside of the Apollo spacecraft coming back from each moon flight to retrieve the camera film. We had folks walking on the moon! We had to depend on one engine to start perfectly to keep from stranding folks on the moon.
The culture has grown up. Old guys run the program and everyone wants everything to be risk averse. We all need to go back and listen to the early test pilots. They had the right stuff. Now, it takes 20 years to figure out how to get back to the moon. It has to be risk free.
I remember a couple years ago, NASA was going to bail on the Hubble Space Telescope because it would require a risky space walk to fix the device. In the 60's we had guys tethered to the outside of the Apollo spacecraft coming back from each moon flight to retrieve the camera film. We had folks walking on the moon! We had to depend on one engine to start perfectly to keep from stranding folks on the moon.
The culture has grown up. Old guys run the program and everyone wants everything to be risk averse. We all need to go back and listen to the early test pilots. They had the right stuff. Now, it takes 20 years to figure out how to get back to the moon. It has to be risk free.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Confused
I heard today that 10 million more American families could lose their homes to foreclosure because the value of their homes is falling. I am confused. How did we ever get away from downpayments and borrowing on the the rest of the sale price? I know the banks used to check to make sure the house was worth what you paid, but that was to control their risk. Should you default, they could recoup the money by selling the home.
Now, the value of my house has declined ... a lot. So what, I still make my payments and stay in the house and hope that someday it will regain its value. I am just confused as to how the value of the house is related to my ability to pay the mortgage. Did some genius figure out how to scale payments based on the value of the home?
I am just confused.
Now, the value of my house has declined ... a lot. So what, I still make my payments and stay in the house and hope that someday it will regain its value. I am just confused as to how the value of the house is related to my ability to pay the mortgage. Did some genius figure out how to scale payments based on the value of the home?
I am just confused.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Congressional Idiocy
These "representatives" in Congress kill me. They are such pompous idiots. A few samples of their intellectual prowess:
They have been screaming at "big business" about using tax dollars for retreats to Phoenix or wherever while the entire democrat group went to Williamsburg, VA for a retreat ... on tax dollars.
They force a big company to not buy a corporate jet because they are using tax dollars. Well, the jet is made in the USA, is serviced in the USA, is piloted in the USA, is inspected in the USA, is landed in the USA with each step of the process involving US citizens who have and need to keep their jobs. So, they have this idea and it may put some jobs in jeopardy (especially at the luxury aircraft company) because the company would use tax dollars to buy this. Tomorrow, they are going to spend billions of tax dollars to put people to work. Why not let the company do that by buying a plane?
The exact same arguement works for the big banks redecorating their offices. Tax money should not be spent to ... hire decorators, millwrights, painters, upholsterers, etc.
These guys even have the nerve to tell folks they misspent the TARP funds when they never put any restrictions on what the funds were to be used for.
Oh - let's not forget they are mad at the Wall street bonuses for last year. Now, they forget that most folks on Wall Street have a low base salary and bonuses are part of their contracts based on the performance of the work they do. Bring in lots of business and you get a big bonus. Now, those making the bonuses spend a lot of that money to buy stuff (ie stimulate the economy). Without the bonuses, they will not spend. Genius. Why are passing the "stimulus" bill again?
The moral of the story is that only Congress knows how to spend money the right way to stimulate the economy.
I bet it won't work.
They have been screaming at "big business" about using tax dollars for retreats to Phoenix or wherever while the entire democrat group went to Williamsburg, VA for a retreat ... on tax dollars.
They force a big company to not buy a corporate jet because they are using tax dollars. Well, the jet is made in the USA, is serviced in the USA, is piloted in the USA, is inspected in the USA, is landed in the USA with each step of the process involving US citizens who have and need to keep their jobs. So, they have this idea and it may put some jobs in jeopardy (especially at the luxury aircraft company) because the company would use tax dollars to buy this. Tomorrow, they are going to spend billions of tax dollars to put people to work. Why not let the company do that by buying a plane?
The exact same arguement works for the big banks redecorating their offices. Tax money should not be spent to ... hire decorators, millwrights, painters, upholsterers, etc.
These guys even have the nerve to tell folks they misspent the TARP funds when they never put any restrictions on what the funds were to be used for.
Oh - let's not forget they are mad at the Wall street bonuses for last year. Now, they forget that most folks on Wall Street have a low base salary and bonuses are part of their contracts based on the performance of the work they do. Bring in lots of business and you get a big bonus. Now, those making the bonuses spend a lot of that money to buy stuff (ie stimulate the economy). Without the bonuses, they will not spend. Genius. Why are passing the "stimulus" bill again?
The moral of the story is that only Congress knows how to spend money the right way to stimulate the economy.
I bet it won't work.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Winter
Today we had the first measurable snowfall of the season. It wasn't much, just a couple of centimeters, but it was very beautiful. Snow is pretty rare in this part of the country, so I have to take what I can get. What I miss more than the frequency of snow is the street hockey games that could actually be played on ice in the old home and the speed sledding down my driveway when we moved here.
Friday, January 9, 2009
I'm a Lumberjack and that's OK
On my way home two days ago I got a call from my wife saying a big tree fell down in our front yard and was blocking our driveway. We had winds around 65 - 80 km/hr (40-50 mph) all day following two days of drenching rain. I scurried home and there it was, a a 20 meter tall tree snapped off at about the 2-3 meter mark. Another one of our "glorious" short-needle pines that are so susceptible to the pine borers. This thing weighed a ton and we had to figure out how to move it so that we could at least use the driveway. There was one very long section that I cut into three pieces. The center part was the only one now blocking the way. There was no easy way to move it, though ... it weighed a ton. Finally I hooked a chain around it and pulled it some with the trailer hitch on my SUV (this is one good reason to have an SUV!). Finally we got it to where my son and I could roll it to the edge of the driveway where it still sits. I spent yesterday morning getting the top of the tree off my neighbor's brick mailbox (it survived nicely) and this afternoon I will spend part of a vacation day trying to cut up the rest.
I was amazed that nobody stopped to offer help (one neighbor did much later). In my old neighborhood we would have had 5-6 guys all over that tree with chain saws and it would have been fairly quick work. Nobody even stopped to ask what was going on. It caught me off guard, but I think I figured it out. Everybody in this "city" hires out everything. I guess they saw me working and thought I might be the hired help (folks in this place don't make friends easily). It was a bit eye-opening.
I was amazed that nobody stopped to offer help (one neighbor did much later). In my old neighborhood we would have had 5-6 guys all over that tree with chain saws and it would have been fairly quick work. Nobody even stopped to ask what was going on. It caught me off guard, but I think I figured it out. Everybody in this "city" hires out everything. I guess they saw me working and thought I might be the hired help (folks in this place don't make friends easily). It was a bit eye-opening.
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