30 Apr 2018 Why Is Governing So Hard?

Why Is Governing So Hard?

You would be hard pressed to find people who will say good things about Congress. The President is different.  No matter who it has been, he has a core group that supports him.  Senators and Congressman have little support in the public eye.  There are individuals who get positive press, but taken as a whole the group is pretty much universally considered bad.

Why is this?  Because you have people representing all parts of the country with conflicting priorities.  Contrary to what people may think, members of Congress do look out for their individual constituencies.  A lot of time this is not good for the overall country. 

Due to the rules in Congress, you almost have 535 “CEOs” (100 Senators and 435 Representatives) trying to run things.  Yes, there is a process for everything, however, it rarely works. The number one job of Congress is to fund the operations of the federal government.  It is very rare they are able to do that in the time required.  Is it a lack of leadership, absolutely.  Is it incompetence, in some cases yes.   The budget is so big no one understands all of its parts.  The competing priorities for money is huge.    

We don’t always elect the best and brightest to Congress.  We elect people who are willing to endure the intense scrutiny a politician faces.  Make no mistake, the scrutiny is constant.  If a distant relative has a legal issue, you will see in the press that “Congressman X has a nephew who did Y.” Is it fair, not really but is how it works. Also any indiscretion any politician did, even decades prior, will be brought up and potentially held against them for political gain.  I think there should be a statute of limitations on stuff.  If it happened over 20 years ago, it should not be relevant.  

It takes a special kind of person to be a part of Congress.  It might not be the kind we need but it is the kind we get. Until we decide as a country to pay Congress for the very large responsibility they have and have less intrusion into their personal lives, we will not get the best our country has.  

I bitch about Congress as much as anyone, however, I am reminded of a saying from Winston Churchill who said if you want an efficient government have a dictatorship.  I will accept the flaws of our democracy over that.  

29 Apr 2018 What Habit Do You Want To Break?

What Habit Do You Want To Break?

Over time I have developed a lot of habits.  Some good some bad.  It seems so much easier to change the good ones than the bad ones.  

It would probably be a good for me to list all my bad habits so that I can assess just how much they impact my life in a negative way.   Then I could decide what one(s) to change that would improve things either physically, emotionally or mentally.  

I have read a great deal about changing habits and it appears that trying to change too many at one time leads to failure.  It is best to focus on only one change at a time.  People want to see a lot of changes real soon.  To succeed you need to take the long view.  You should look at it not at what change I change in a month but what can I change in a year.  Also, it takes anywhere from 3-6 weeks for a habit change to become a habit.  If you look at it 12 months down the road, that means you change 8-12 habits.  That is a lot of change in a person.

The people around you can have a large effect on the success of a habit change. It is critical that you have a strong support group.  Change is not easy. You will have good and bad days.  You just need to begin each day anew and forget what happen before.

The habit I fight to change is my sugar intake.  It is a challenge.  At work I am much better at walking away from the bad stuff people bring in.   At home is where I struggle. I would like to have nothing in the house to tempt me, however, I am not the only one there.  I can’t force my change on others. 

I am at war with sugar.  Some days I win, some days it does.  But I will fight it each day until I can be sure I always win. 

28 Apr 2018 Do You Value Your Rights?

Do You Value Your Rights?

I believe most people take for granted their right to freedom of speech, the press and religion.  That is a good thing for the most part because they don’t feel those rights are threatened.  

Most of the major businesses in the US want to establish a presence in China. China is a country that gives any of these freedoms to its citizens.  It is an extremely repressive society.  It may be presented as modern with thriving night life, but underneath is a very strict centralized control system.  

All internet traffic in China is filtered through a main point so the Chinese government can track what its people are watching and to block any incoming traffic that does say great things about the leaders.

You would think US companies would stand up against this type of repression, however, in the chase for the all mighty dollar they roll over and comply. Even Google whose stated business foundation is “Do no evil” accepts the Chinese way in order to make more money. 

China has no respect for intellectual property.  US companies sign “joint ventures” and build factories over there until the Chinese learn all the technology and processes and then they open competing businesses.  Do our business leaders understand this, maybe.  But the lure of capturing even a small part of the Chinese market it too tempting to ignore.  

No criticisms of party leaders is tolerated.  Demonstrations and free speech attempts are quickly shut down. The government has an elaborate system to lull the populace into believing that it is protecting them.     

It is critical that people in the US understand just how important the basic freedoms they have and how many in the world do not have them.  They also need the will to defend these rights because once lost, they are hard to get back.    

27 Apr 2018 How Long In Advance Do You Plan?

How Long In Advance Do You Plan?

There is a saying that plans are useless, but planning is invaluable. What that means is nothing goes according to a plan, however, in your planning you should have considered alternative courses of action.  

There are some things in my life for which I plan well over a year in advance. Some of my travels have been this. 

There have been big goals that I planned for 5-7 years in advance.  I made course corrections along the way but in the end did achieve my goal.

I am not too good in planning my short-term life, say 30-60 days.  Daily or weekly, not at all.  I am working on this because it made me aware of how do I know I am working on what is important if I don’t plan it out.  I need to at least plan on accomplishing one big thing each day/week. Now “big” is very subjective.  The important thing is to identify it and make it happen.

My horizon needs to be both far away and right here.  If I only focus on something a long time away, I will be missing the opportunity to accomplish so much today.  I have a lot I want to do.  I need to make it happen sooner rather than later.      

26 Apr 2018 Do You Go To Doctors?

Do You Go To Doctors?

 I have to admit I am not a good patient for doctors.  I do not do yearly checkups and only go if it is really necessary.  Now I know this is not the right thing to do, however, after a few decades it has become my norm.  

I have a home blood pressure kit, so I do check that.  I have a heart rate monitor I use when riding my spin bike.  It lets me know if I if I am training too hard or not enough.  

I do get to visit an orthopedic clinic a couple of times a year to have a knee drained.  I don’t actually see the doctor but his Physicians Assistant Gregg.  Gregg knows just what to do when I come because I am a regular. It takes about 5 mins for him to do his thing and I am out of there.  I get a day’s heads up when I know I will be seeing him.  My knee starts to swell.  I have no idea what triggers it.  Each knee has the problem.   Sometimes I have gone 12 months without a draining and sometimes it is 3 months. 

I am very fortunate that my medical issues have been pretty mild.  Other than arthritis in knees and feet, I have no other major problems.  I am very grateful for this.  I have a lot of empathy for people who are in constant pain.  

I am due later this year for a colonoscopy.  I had one in 2008.  That is a procedure I will have done and not blow off.  

Some people go to the doctors for the most minor things.  I am not one of them.  But if that is what they feel they need, then ok.  I can only do things that I know will help keep the doctor away. At least that is the plan. 

25 Apr 2018 Should We Walk Away From Iraq?

Should We Walk Away From Iraq?

This is actually for all the countries of conflict; Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.  We have been at war with some or all of these places for 15 years.  What is in our national interest to continue there?  Well for one we started things in Iraq, so we need to see it through to stable country.  It may not be how we intended things to turn out, but we need to say it is better off. 

People need to understand that we are still in Germany, Japan and Korea with very large forces 70 years after the conflict.  I am not sure it is direct comparison but it does give you a perspective of how long we stay places.

We should walk away from Afghanistan.  It is a collection of tribes vice a unified country.  I do not see an end to that tribal culture no matter how much we think we can change things.  It is not going to happen.  I don’t want to say that the cost and loss of lives was in vain, but we had the worlds permission after 9-11 to go in there and take out Osama Bin Ladin.  We completely misunderstood how that “country” worked. Great Britain tried to rule it in the 1800’s and failed miserably.  Russia tried to rule it in the 1980’s and failed miserably.  If we had studied history, we should have known we weren’t going to change this.  However, our ego as “leaders of the free world” got in the way of reality.  We need to just let that country be how it wants to be.

As to Iraq, the place was never a unified country.  Only by a dictator was it held together.  It really is three countries, the Kurds in the North, the Sunni’s in the middle and the Shia in the South.  We should just accept that is the reality over there and divided it up accordingly. Life would be much better for everyone if that were to happen.  We should only have the minimal forces over there that are necessary to support that transition.

As to Syria, another country that is held together by a dictator with help from Iran and Russia.  We have no idea who would support us if we got Assad removed from power.  Would a more radical element take control?  Who knows?  And that is key, nobody knows.  It is going to take an international coalition to change things there. We need to let Russia and Iran know we will not let them dictate the terms.  The stakes are too high for that.  Their goals are not in the interest of Europe, the US and the rest of Sunni Middle East.  This is a place we need to stay.  It may be hard at times to define victory or even progress but stay we must.        

    

24 Apr 2018 Are You A Better Winner Or Loser?

Are You A Better Winner Or Loser?

In sports I was highly competitive.  I always wanted to win.  I could not just enjoy participating.  I could not understand how anyone on the team was not giving everything they had to win. If we did win, I was very gracious. There was no gloating or taunting. I just enjoyed the victory.   Now if we lost, I was not happy.  I was not a poor sport to the other team.  I would congratulate them on the win, but inside I was seething. I hated to see teammates laughing after a loss.  How could they be in a good mood after losing?  How can you just enjoy playing something? I found out I hated to lose more than I liked to win. 

It took me a very long time to learn to participate in a sport just for the fun of it.  I am still competitive and want to win, but the losses are not devasting anymore.  I admit I still get annoyed if someone is not trying hard when on a team.  It is something I struggle with and work to improve.  

It is ok to just participate when you are having fun in a recreational sport.   However, if the competition is at work then that is a different matter.  Here wins and losses have greater consequences.  If you don’t beat the competition it may mean a loss of jobs.  Giving all you got is imperative.  One must be a good teammate and that includes encouraging and helping others.  However, this time the stakes are higher and poor performers or slackers cannot be tolerated. They still need to be treated with respect and given opportunities through training and counseling to improve.  If improvement is not shown, then they need to be replaced.  If replacement is required, how you do that is also critical.  It can’t be made personal, it is just a business decision even though it is very personal to the person being replaced.  There is only losing here to them so do it so dignity is retained.

If you win the business competition, great.  Celebrate the victory at an appropriate level for the business won.  If you lost, find lessons learned and keep it professional. No finger pointing or complaining. You lost as a team.

I love sport and competition.  I can handle losing a lot better today.  I don’t like it, but I don’t get as down as in my youth.  Sometimes it can be just for fun. 

       

    

23 Apr 2018 How Loyal Are You?

How Loyal Are You?

James Comey the former FBI director just released his book about dealing with President Trump.  In it he talks about how the President more or less asks him how loyal he will be.  The President failed to understand that the FBI is not a group he owns.  They are part of the Justice Department and are supposed to be non-political.  Yes, they are citizens who have political views but not to use them in their work. 

Are you more loyal to your boss or to your organization?  How far are you willing to let your boss, co-worker or company bend or break rules?  

Is there anyone you are willing to “take a fall” for?  That is, would you protect anyone out of loyalty and in doing so put yourself in a bad situation?  This is being discussed about the President’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.  Mr. Cohen says he is deeply loyal to the President. However, is he willing to risk going to jail for the President instead of being with his wife and children?  I would be hard pressed to think of anyone making that choice. 

Would I go jail to protect a family member who broke the law?  That is a tough one.  There may be circumstances that I could consider it.  I would do my best to convince the person that they have a responsibility for their actions.  I may love them dearly but give up my freedom…..I just struggle with doing that.

Maybe the situation is not at the level of going to jail.  What ethical situation would you overlook to remain loyal to someone.  If he/she cheated on their spouse, would you tell the spouse?  Would you remain friends? 

How about drug or alcohol abuse?  How far are you willing to go to stay with a friend or loved one who has gone down that path?  Each situation is unique.  It would be wise to not judge anyone who chose a direction you may not have.

Loyalty has to be two way, otherwise it is poisonous relationship.  Most people can define boundaries which they would not cross to support someone else when it involves a serious crime.  It is the “little” ethical situations that pose the greatest challenge to test one’s loyalty.  Having the conversation with yourself about where the lines are drawn for you is something that is best done in advance vice at the moment it happens. Take some time and think about it.          

    

22 Apr 2018 Who Would You Want To Send An Hour With Part 2?

Who Would You Want To Send An Hour With Part 2?

Yesterday I asked about spending an hour with someone who is still alive. Today I ask who you would want to spend an hour with from anyone in history.  I would guess a lot of people who are religious may choose their deity be it Jesus for Christians or Mohammed for Islamic followers.  

This one is challenge.  From a 20^thcentury standpoint I can think of Winston Churchill.  I know he would be a fascinating conversation albeit it may be more of a oneway discussion as he did like to talk.   Mao and Stalin could be challenging to hear them talk how it is ok to kill millions of your own countryman.   

Others from history who I find interesting are Marcus Aurelius the last great Roman emperor and stoic philosophy follower.  Or Abraham Lincoln to discuss the Civil War.  Genghis Khan ruled the largest empire the world has known. 

I am tempted to say Mohammed, so I could discuss how he differed from Jesus. He believed Jesus was a prophet, but not that he was the son of God. Mohammed thought it was ok to go to war to win followers and this was against everything Jesus taught.   

This proved to be much harder than I thought.  I have gone over many figures from history.  Some I have a lot of interest in but are they the one over everyone else? In the end I decided to go with Leonardo Da Vinci.  The breadth of his work is so vast.  It would be such an intellectual challenge to talk to him.      

21 Apr 2018 Who Would You Want To Spend An Hour With?

Who Would You Want To Spend An Hour With?

If you could spend an hour with anybody alive today, who would it be?  Do you go for someone famous? Infamous? Or just someone you lost touch with who means a great deal to you? 

At first thought I considered President Trump but I doubt he would be honest.  Then I tried to think of another political figure.  I just couldn’t come up with someone who really interested me.  The same goes for someone in the entertainment industry. 

Then I started thinking about people who wrote books I really loved.  But even then, I did not want to use my hour for any of them.  Next came the academic crowd. Nope, no one there. Sports, no.  Military leader no.  Titan of industry?  Hmmm….. maybe.  Bill Gates would be interesting, or Jeff Bezos. 

Elon Musk would be great.  He has a vison and drive to do what people said couldn’t be done.  I know I would greatly enjoy spending time with him. He is going to have and has had a large impact on the world.  After some thought I decided no.

I finally decided I would like to spend the hour with someone I hurt earlier in my life. I would just like to let them know how sorry I was and how deeply I regret my actions. I know that person has forgiven me. Rarely a day goes by that I don’t think about what happened.  We both went on with our lives. But it would give me great satisfaction just to sit and have a chat.

20 Apr 2018 Why Do We Waste Time Predicting The Future?

Why Do We Waste Time Predicting The Future?

In January 2015 was there anyone who predicted that Donald Trump would be President in 2 years?  In 2000, did anyone predict that the World Trade Centers would be rubble in 2 years?  In 2004 did anyone predict that Barack Obama would be President?  No to each question. No one is good at looking 3-5 years ahead yet alone 10.   

When I was younger I was involved in a program where we simulated future military capabilities against a threat country.  They always made the bad guy to have extensive weapons in order to justify the investment in our new weapons.  These were scenarios that were 10-15 years in the future.  I asked did the organization that did the predicting go back 10 years to see what the bad guys were projected to have today?  In every case it was no.  If you did read the old reports it would show that they always overestimated.   

At the time Russia was the big threat.  Well, low and behold 3 years later Russia was no more.  No one predicted it, yet we spent billions on research for systems for a threat that did not materialize.

That was many years ago.  Has it changed? Not at all.  We still make the bad guys really bad so we can continue to fund huge research programs.  Why?  Because the money flows to business and those businesses employ people in some Congressman’s congressional district.  Every single congressman, and corresponding Senators, think that research is vital to national defense.

Massachusetts and Connecticut are considered liberal states.  However, if you try to cut the funding to the defense industry programs up there you would think the country would be in grave danger.  They always produce studies, funded by Congress, that support the need for the current and future weapons their businesses build.

Should you plan for the future?  Yes, planning is invaluable, but plans are useless. Nothing ever goes according to plan. You need to evaluate several alternatives but be ready execute based on real data.  Spending billions on long term predications is such a waste of money.

I hear the argument, “what if the bad guys come up with something that we can’t defend against?”  My answer to that is each bad guy is going to have some capability that is better than yours.  We need to develop a system that has the flexibility to adapt to changes.  It takes 15-20 years to develop and introduce a new ship or airplane into the military.  Why? Because the longer it takes to develop the more jobs are protected. 

Don’t try to predict the future.  Just have systems in-place that can be developed quickly, meaning 2-3 years.  Until we do that, we will continue to waste billions.