THE ENTERPRISE--THE AMERICAN DREAM--FREEDOM & PROSPERITY
BUY IT, READ IT, KNOW IN ADVANCE WHAT MIGHT BE COMING?
---FINALLY? THE SILENCE PREDICTED THIS! "Cyber Czar" to oversee computer security" is how the AP headline read. The Obama administration is creating a cyber-czar within the White House to coordinate the nation's computer security—FINALLY. Regular readers know about my novel THE SILENCE. Written in 2001 and early 2002, on p. 402 it describes the formation of "a new government center: The National Center for Cyber-Security" staffed by five Federal Agencies and "...incorporating technology from the most advanced parts of the public and private sector..." It only took the real government 7+ years to figure out the need for this. THE SILENCE describes as real a threat assessment today as it did in 2002--at which time, no one in the government would pay any attention to it. I hope it is not prophetic in other ways, but at least I got some of the "bad guys" right--Chinese dissidents aided by Pakistani programmers. (Anybody know any movie makers? The rights are still for sale after finishing 2nd with the BBC!)
Amazon still has it: http://www.amazon.com/Silence-John-L-Mariotti/dp/0595744591/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243645982&sr=1-1
SHORT TAKES
--Twitter--is it a novelty or a long-term winner? School is still out. Twitter has yet to figure out what its revenue model is. Many who try it find it an interesting novelty, but with mixed staying power. Facebook seems to have carved out a niche. Will Twitter do so? I can't even Tweet that answer. Rubik's cubes and Beanie Babies were very popular too.
--Best Buy adding complexity and wandering afield by selling outdoor products--gazebos, gas grills, what? I'll agree that speakers which look like rocks might make sense. Somehow, I have trouble imagining Best Buy crossing swords with Lowe's and Home Depot on "heavy patio stuff. Seems like a good way to add complexity along with obsolete and slow moving inventory. Watch!
IT'S A GOOD THING A WHITE MALE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT
Judge Sotomayor may be socially liberal, but at first glance, her record on business matters is more moderate and rational. She's almost a slam dunk for approval unless something really nasty shows up. So far, nothing much has. (If a white male had said what she said several years ago, he'd have been run out of town for being a sexist, racist.) But liberals don't play on the same level when it comes to bias by one of their own (I think the definition of that in the dictionary is "hypocrite?") Anyway, she may be a lot better than the rest of Obama's choices. At least she's replacing a moderate-liberal, so the overall court "bias" won't change a lot. However, it will tilt left on social issues. Whether that's good or bad depends on where you stand. It's a good idea for opponents to mount a campaign on her weaknesses ("empathy vs. justice") because Obama's next nominee will be worse. Mark my words.
WE ARE TRYING TO PULL OUT OF THIS RECESSION
But it will be a long, slow march back to real prosperity. What too few people realize is that FDR actually prolonged "The Great Depression" for at least 5 years by his policies. Although they were praised for their immediate impact, the mid-longer term repercussions were adverse, I fear that Barack Obama is doing the same thing. Let me credit Obama with the "best of intentions" but maybe the "worst of execution." Spending America into an endless string of trillion dollar deficits is NOT the way to help the economy. Stimulating job creation by expanding the role of government is NOT the way to stimulate the growth of the American economy either. Some of the more thoughtful people whose opinions I read, are saying that this recession could last another year. (Yes, you read that right. Scary, huh?) Or, it will be over soon? Watch this video for a another viewpoint. Most "experts" are predicting a slow upturn starting in 4Q 2009. Let's hope they are right. (But given that most comparisons are year over prior yea, last year's 4Q should be a pretty easy one to beat.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=13712181
HOUSING IS STILL A HUGE PROBLEM--FOR PEOPLE, FOR CONSUMERS, AND FOR BUSINESSES (AND OF COURSE FOR THE COUNTRY)
While we may have seen the bottom of the housing collapse, the rate of starts is off 80%--that's EIGHTY PERCENT nationally. That is unprecedented, to say the least. I know there was a boom, and a bubble, but this is incredible. There are places where it's off 90% (SW FL to name one). That is devastating. Inventory is slowing moving, but prices are still falling, which means values are still falling putting more people underwater on their mortgages, with no solution in sight. Housing drives many, many other industries, and thus, its recovery is essential to a meaningful recovery in the economy. We can only hope the cycle has bottomed and is reversing--even if slowly—there is a long way up to go.
GOVERNMENT WEALTH CREATION--THE MOTHER OF ALL OXYMORONS
The government has nearly no income except what is derived from taxes and fees levied upon the citizens and businesses of the USA. Thus, nothing the government does actually "creates new wealth." One of American business's greatest assets has been its ability to direct capital to the places that yield the greatest returns. True, greed and stupidity ran amok over the past few years, in the quest for impossible, implausible and unrealistic returns. This recovery will happen, as business cycles in the past has proven. It will be slow because consumer spending that drove the past few years of growth, has dried up. Consumers are saving. Consumers are buying cost effective alternatives and necessities--and not much else.
COMPANIES MUST "HUNKER DOWN"
When sales stagnate or drop, the only options companies have is to streamline, cost cut and economize further and further. Why? Because as one noted expert, John Mauldin wrote recently, "..the US government deficit looks to be spinning out of control." This is not good for business growth. Further, Mauldin observed, "The world is de-leveraging. Debt is being drawn down." When people are drawing down debt, they are not spending, and often, not even investing. "Hunkering down" does not mean giving up on finding growth. It means keeping spending as low as possible, while digging hard for new opportunities for revenue and profit growth. Innovation is essential to generate much growth in this kind of environment; innovation in what you sell, how you sell it and even who you sell it to? Meet customers needs and wants. That is the key.
A GREAT FORTUNE ARTICLE
Writer Alex Taylor's recent FORTUNE article on FORD and Alan Mulally's approach to leading its recovery was one of the best I have read in a long, long time. I strongly encourage everyone to read it and heed it. http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/11/news/companies/mulally_ford.fortune/index.htm
There is a powerful lesson to be learned from Mulally's approach to leadership, management and "fixing" an American institution. It appears he is succeeding. One caveat is that the market is so weak, that even doing all the right stuff can still result in a struggle. None-the-less, Mulally's remarkably coherent plans, as outlines by veteran auto industry writer Taylor, are inspiring (or should be) compared to the messes at Chrysler and GM. Surprisingly, most of the things Mulally is doing at Ford, will, or might work equally well at the other two of the Detroit Three--and at almost any other large, troubled company. Simplify, get back to basics, get a common, clear focus on the mission and the tasks at hand, and communicate intensely. Then get on with it, working together and keeping everyone informed.
THE AMERICAN DREAM IS NOT DEAD--JUST WOUNDED
This is a great country. It has been, through good times and bad, for a long time. Recent behaviors and events have wounded America's greatness. The bad days of the Bush Administration, and the misdirections of some Obama policies, have undermined "the American Dream" for many Americans. The incompetence and ineptness, combined with the greed, foolishness, etc. of both "captains of finance," Wall Street, and governmental leaders (Frank, Dodd, Pelosi, Reid, et. al.) created a big mess. On that count, President Obama's comments are right on. The problem is, the people who were in charge and made the mess are seldom or never the right ones to oversee the cleanup. I keep hoping that Obama, who is a smart guy, will figure that out soon, but I fear that he won't and the American Dream will die.
TO GITMO OR NOT TO GITMO--ALCATRAZ THEM
There are two steps to solving any problem: 1) Understand and define the problem; 2) Solve the problem. It seems that the Obama administration--and part of Congress are making good progress on step one for Gitmo. The issue is that nobody has a good, acceptable answer to part two. I'm still in the school of those who say, reopen and slightly fix up Alcatraz and move the worst of the worst there. No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz, and these really bad guys do not deserve a "country club" prison. Alcatraz is old, and with minor "fixing" would be suitable dreary for them. Plus, that helps solve three problems: an injection of new money into California's bankrupt state; the creation of jobs immediately for the "renovation," and a place to send these bad guys--because no other institution or state will (or should) want them. Don't mix them with a general prison population. it will create a worse situation. GITMO must be closed because it has become too big an issue to leave it open--for both Obama and the US. This would be a good place for Obama to show Pelosi who's really in charge.
OBAMA WAS RIGHT TO REINSTATE TRIBUNALS
Let's hope he doesn't go all touchy-feely on who they work. The point is that these people are NOT entitled to a "fair trial" by US justice standards. They are terrorists, enemy combatants and mostly people with evil intentions. In case you didn't read the judge's ruling when he sentenced "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, it is a good reminder of what we should think, feel and say about these kinds of people:
Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it?
Did you know his trial is over?
Did you know he was sentenced?
Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio?
Didn't think so.!!!
Everyone should hear what the judge had to say.
Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court.
Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything to say. His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his 'allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,' defiantly stating, 'I think I will not apologize for my actions,' and told the court 'I am at war with your country.'
Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:
January 30, 2003, United States vs. Reid.
Judge Young: 'Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.
On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutively. (That's 80 years.)
On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years again, to be served consecutively to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you for each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 that's an aggregate fine of $2 million. The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.
The Court imposes upon you an $800 special assessment. The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further.
This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence.
Now, let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is too much war talk here and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice.
You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether the officers of government do it or your attorney does it, or if you think you are a soldier, you are not----- you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.
So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and the TV crews were, and he said: 'You're no big deal.'
You are no big deal.
What your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly as I know how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today?
I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing? And, I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know.
It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom, so that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf, have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges.
We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. The day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however, will long endure.
Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America , the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done. The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.
See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America . That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always will.
Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down.
==================
AND TO THAT, I SAY "AMEN" & "AMEN"
This is America. Land of the free, home of the brave. It is the home of the American Dream, where anyone with initiative, hard work and persistence can succeed in making a better life for himself/herself, and for loved ones. That doesn't include sharing that hard earned wealth with a huge population of derelicts who take, take, take, and then expect more, just because. That is not fairness! That is unfairness. Our government is already too big and getting bigger. We don't need it that big, and certainly can't afford it to be as big as it is.
Nearly half of Americans pay no taxes at all toward supporting their country. Less than 10% of Americans pay more than half of all the taxes. Does that sound "fair?" Did those highly taxed people "just find the money" or did they earn it by their ingenuity, hard work, taking risks, and not giving up?
I'll keep saying it until someone pays attention: "Government is supposed to work for the people; not vice versa."
Our brave soldiers have fought and died in many places to preserve our freedoms--including the right to keep what we earn. Lincoln was right when he spoke of America at the conclusion of his Gettysburg address: "... that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
AMEN.
JOHN
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