Thor’s Hall

There was a big event in DC over the weekend, in case you missed it.  I am still kind of digesting the event, and the contrasts that I have seen.  Perhaps I will get a more thoughtful post up later in the week.  In the interim, consider these two items.

The first is off of Hot Air.  The money quote:

We have listened too long to the poisonous whispers of those who say we’re too old and feeble to stand up and deal with our own problems.  The doom they have written for us can be swept aside like so many cobwebs.  Honorable people do not fear risk and challenge.

The second item is from Michelle Makin’s site, written by Doug Powers.  There are a lot of interesting points within the article.  What I found most interesting is the crowd estimates.

Lowball crowd size estimate of the day: CBS News reports about 87,000 attended (apparently they got the rally figure mixed up with the total of how many Democrats are in CBS, NBC and ABC’s newsrooms). NBC reported 300,000, and if you don’t hear event organizers saying there were more than that, it’s because 300,000 was the limit of their permit.

Early in my consulting career I engaged in a fairly significant, dynamic discussion with a client regarding a software customization that they felt was mandatory.  It was there feeling that it was mandatory that we build an interface to all of their scale systems, so that the shipping personnel could take the correct weights of the material that they were shipping directly from the scale.  No data entry, just a one button accept the weight and load up the truck.

We spent a good 30 minutes of me trying to talk them out of this customization.  What it ultimately came down to was the client project manager explaining to me that most of the people that worked the shipping dock signed “X” when they picked up their checks.  That was a concept so foreign to me, all I could say was “Oh”, and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs.  It was also, a huge personal and professional lesson for me.

Over at the Danger Room there is a report, that literacy is also an obstacle that is being faced in our efforts in Afghanistan.

The American-led strategy in Afghanistan relies on training enough local forces to let the Afghans take over their own security. Right now, only 18 percent of those 243,000 cops and grunts have more than a Kindergarten-level ability to read. Which means they’ve got major trouble doing everything from keeping track of their gear to following a battle plan to getting paid, the general in charge of the NATO training effort says. In other words: If these local troops can’t learn their ABCs, this war is stuck.

Go read the whole article.  These are the facts that people in this country forget when they are frustrated by how long the efforts in Afghanistan are taking.  Unfortunately, I think they are also facts that our political leadership have no clue about.

This week finds me on the road again, what else is new.  So, I get the chance to miss the first day of school for my 9 year old this year, and all the excitement that goes along with that.  I also miss the first day of Kindergarten for her sister.  First trip on the school bus, all the things that she has been stoked about doing…and following in her sister’s footsteps.

Tuesday night, I was walking out of the office here in Redwood Shores and one of my colleagues was going on about how hot it was outside that day.  Admittedly, it was unusually warm for this part of the country but all I could do was shake my head remembering the days that walking on the flight line left boot prints from the melting rubber.  Remembering days that you had to keep a bucket of water nearby to toss your tools in while working on the radar because they were too hot to pick up other wise.

One of my favorite characters in the blogosphere has another of his thought provoking  reminders up for you to read.  Go take a look.

Lex had an opportunity to pull together a post on the recent stabbing of a NYC cab driver.  The whole thing is here, and as usual is a very well constructed.  I expect nothing less from a Boat School grad.  If I had been able to win the nomination to the school back when I tried, Lex is another one of those folks that would have been a peer.  But, I digress.

Lex has a well written piece in play that calls it the way that it is.  Here is one of the money quotes that should really get your attention:

…there are approximately 5 million Jews in the US and around 7 million Muslims, the number of hate crimes against the former outpaced the latter about seven-to-one in the five most recent years…

Go read it, and puzzle about the way our culture is so frenetic in it’s reaction to events without considering the bigger picture.

It still amazes me how very easy it is to look at the writings of history, and apply them to current events.  Somewhere along the line, we have forgotten this message of forty or fifty years ago.

Get in the way back machine for a moment to 1987 and the Iran -Contra hearings, where we were first introduced to Osama Bin Laden.  Today, he is a prominent figure in our world.

In India, we are now seeing an uptick in Islamic Radicalism.  This report notes that a group in Kerala is,

s aiming to convert Kerala into a Muslim majority state in the next 20 years, Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said here Saturday.
“For achieving that goal, the outfit is pumping money to attract youth and give them weapons. They also try to convert youth from other communities and persuade them to marry Muslim girls,”

It will be interesting to see how this all works out in the next 10-20 years. Perhaps Osama has come up with another method of building out the Caliphate.

The folks in the Great State of Texas are entering the ring, to fight with the Federal government and it isn’t about immigration.  The folks over at Energy Watch have been watching the developments pretty closely so, they are not surprised by the latest.

It’s no secret the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are at odds with each other right now. But the language in a letter from Attorney General Greg Abbott and TCEQ head Bryan Shaw complaining about EPA’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gases via the Clean Air Act gets pretty snarky.

How snarky is it getting? Well…

Inorder to deter challenges to your plan for centralized control of industrial

development through the issuance of permits for greenhouse gases, you have called upon each state to declare its allegiance to the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently enacted greenhouse gas regulations-regulations

that are plainly contrary to United States law. 75 Fed. Reg. 31,514, 31,525&. 31,582 (June 3, 2010) (hereinafter, the “Tailoring Rule”).

To encourage acquiescence with your unsupported findings you threaten to usurp state enforcement authority and to federalize the permitting program of any state that fails to pledge their fealty to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

On behalf of the State of Texas, we write to inform you that Texas has neither the authority nor the intention of interpreting, ignoring, or amending its laws in order to compel the permitting of greenhouse gas emissions.

So, I am not really keeping score but I am starting to look at some trends:

1. Montana (and others) are asserting that firearms manufactured and sold in that state are not subject the Federal law.
2. Arizona (and others) are asserting that the Federal government cannot address immigration as they are required to, by law. So the state will help out a bit.
3. Virginia (and others) are asserting that Obamacare is unconstitutional in the courts.
4. Missouri just voted to “opt out” of Obamacare.
5. Texas is asserting their sovereignty as it applies to EPA rules.

I think a day or two ago, someone mentioned “pre-revolutionary”.  November elections are going to be interesting.

There is a reason why Generals achieve what they do.  Not the least is their ability to show their leadership with their words, as well as deeds.  Recently General McChrystal retired.  From his farewell speech – which you can get here – a small quote to ponder.

It is tempting to protect yourself from the personal or professional costs of loss by limiting how much you commit, how much of belief and trust in people, and how deeply you care. Caution and cynicism are safe, but soldiers don’t want to follow cautious cynics. They follow leaders who believe enough to risk failure or disappointment for a worthy cause.

If I had it to do over again, I’d do some things in my career differently but not many. I believed in people, and I still believe in them. I trusted and I still trust. I cared and I still care. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. To the young leaders of today and tomorrow, it’s a great life.

Have I mentioned how important character is lately.

I think I have posted about this gentleman before. It was likely several months ago when he was just getting started. Mr. West is a Congressional Candidate in Florida, who would get my enthusiastic vote if I was a resident there.

It’s all about character.

An interesting documentary looks to me coming out soon. It always amazes me the difference in America, that is “racial”. I learned early in life, and have had it reinforced through out my time that what matters is your character, not your race.