Smithfield Corp and their new CEO

Story is told of the Smithfield Corporation, Akron, Ohio, manufacturer of auto parts. The auto industry decline had left Smithfield on the ropes. They had lost money for the first time in 20 years, and gross sales were down by 50%. If that wasn't bad enough, foreign companies were taking their market share, and their immediate competitors had moved their factories to Mexico to cut labor costs. The situation was dire. Consequently, the board was considering a change of CEO.

They interviewed one candidate who looked promising. Although he had little prior experience, he said he understood their situation, and convinced them that he was capable of solving the problems, putting the company back on track, and painted a vision of their restored success. He was hired.

After a year and a half, the company was still struggling, with the outcome in doubt. When the CEO gave his appraisal of the progress made so far, he was not shy to point out what a mess he had inherited, and that the present mess hadn't been made in a day, and it wouldn't be fixed in a day either.

INSERT SOUND OF SKIDDING NEEDLE ON RECORD

No! He said no such thing. No CEO worth his millions would complain about how bad things were when he was hired, call his problems "inherited" and blame the former CEO. Those were facts that were clearly understood when he "took office" and solicited for the position, and were willingly accepted. The promise he made was to own the problems and FIX them, not keep blaming his failure on his predecessor.

At least, that's how it would work in the REAL WORLD of commerce. Apparently things work a bit differently in the private sector of Politics. In Politics, if you succeed in your turnaround, you can take the credit. If you fail, well, look at this mess you inherited -- who could possibly be expected to fix it?

Am I being unfair here? Have I taken liberties, or constructed an inaccurate analogy? My purpose is not to say that progress has not been made (although what progress has been made is up for discussion) but rather that even now, the administration is still to this very day over 18 months later still blaming the current situation on the past administration. It's far past time to keep blaming things on the last guys, and in any event no problem was "inherited"' when you run for office you accept it as it is, with all the benefits and problems. They are your problems on day 1, and it is your responsibility to solve them, not complain about them.

What about these wavy clouds

Stole this pic from a Facebook friend. Let's see if Cliff Mass can shed some light on them:

Micro-managing failure in the Declaration of Independence.

From the Declaration of Independence:

"He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them."

You know what they say: Employee hate a micro-managing boss, but if you're GOING to micro-manage, at least do it WELL. You have refused to let the managers that report to you make any decisions, reserving all authority for yourself, but then you let things sit on your desk for weeks without any comment -- and your managers wonder why they are even working for you!

iPhone after blackberry: what I miss

Ok, first off, I don't miss the blackberry browser. Horrible web experience. I don't miss the tiny keys either.

That said, why couldn't Apple put a few features on the iPhone like:

Use any .mp3 file as a ringtone. Yeah, you want to sell me a ringtone. Thanks, but I like my snipped of the song I ripped just fine.

Use any .mp3 file as a message or other event notification tone. This should be a no-brainer. Every phone can do this! Well, almost every phone.

Sound profiles: loud, normal, and quiet come to mind. (And why won't anyone do "timed" like I had on my ancient Nokia -- goes quiet for a period of time and then auto-reverts to normal -- is that a patented concept or something?). All we get is "vibrate" and "non-vibrate" unless you like fiddling with settings.

Seriously Apple, this stuff isn't rocket science, and nearly every phone nowadays -- and many phones year old -- can do it. Not quite a deal breaker, but it doesn't make me love you. I think I'm gonna peel my "Apple" logo sticker off the bumper of my truck now.

Cats and malls

So I was up until 2:30 this morning working (and watching TV) and decided I was not going to get up until I had 8 hrs of sleep. Woke up at 9:30 and forced myself back to bed. Had this interesting dream.
Fran (my wife) and I were down in Burien, or thereabouts, and had gone to a car dealer. We had given them our car and taken their loaner car. While driving it in the dark down a bad part of town, I nearly ran over some large rocks. I had to get out of the car to move a few, and then decided we could just drive down a one foot dropoff that had been paved, quite steep but we made it. We wound up at a mall. We stopped at a house outside the mall, where I picked up a cat, then Fran and I got separated. This guy said to me "follow me, I see her" and he climbed through a two foot square hole in the wall. It wound up being the backroom of one of the stores. I followed him for a bit, up the back stairs that looked like they had made this mall from an old building, and then wound up in another back room for Home Depot, where there were two guards who questioned me, and then told me I could get to the mall by going outside, which I did, after passing a forklift that had driven in front of me and parked very close to another forklift.
When I got outside, I went into another house (now I have my cat again) that had a funny two part door, like leaning pieces of plywood over a hole, and they had about a dozen cats. My cat got a bit upset once but calmed down. I chatted with them for a minute or two and then said I needed to get going. Closing the door without letting any of the cats out was tricky, some were as small as mice. They helped me close the door. Then my phone rang, it was the car company wondering when I was going to bring the loaner car back. Yeah, well as soon as I find my wife, get rid of this cat, find the car. I decided it was all too much hassle at this point and waking up would be much easier, and I did.

Haiti and the problem of suffering

I've seen many quotes recently about "Why did this disaster strike Haiti." You've probably seen some of them too. Many of us recoil at them, knowing instinctively that they are a poor attempt at explaining something that boggles the mind. One self-proclaimed Athiest put up a Youtube video claiming that the earthquake was proof to bible believing Christians that their faith was self contradictory. Either the loving God allowed the quake and disaster, or he caused it, or could have prevented it and did not. Either way, he was to blame for it, so there's no God, and you are all deluded.

I just finished reading the book of Job. Job, by all accounts a good, righteous man, is afflicted as a result of what could only be called a bar bet between God and Satan. The bet is that man worships God only when he is blessed, and a man in poverty and sickness will turn against God. Job loses his family, his wealth, his reputation, his social standing, and his health. His four "friends" tell him to find what he's done wrong, and confess it to get his state restored, but he refuses to plead guilty to something he did not do.

Finally, God shows up to answer Job's questions -- and what is the answer? God says "Where were you when created the world, the stars, the crocodile? " It's not much of an answer, yet Job says "I had heard of you, but now that I see you, I repent". Just seeing God was the answer to suffering for Job.


Interestingly, just today I ran across this quote from CS Lewis that echoes, I believe, the same sentiment:

"I ended my first book with the words 'no answer.' I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. You are yourself the answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice? Only words, words; to be led out to battle against other words."
— C.S. Lewis

Haiti is tragic, but is just a macrocosm of what happens to people around the world every hour of every day: accident, disease, and death do not take a holiday, they are part of our lives. This is just what happens all the time, except a lot of it at once. For those who seek an answer to "why" I would say, seek the face of God. And while you're at it, pray for the people of Haiti.

How Obama can save healthcare

This is how Obama should address the Joint Session of Congress if he wants to save healthcare:

Senators, Representatives, and the people of America: I am not one to give up a fight easily, but even I can see that the recent Republican victory in the state of Massachusetts was more than just an interim election, it was a message by the voters of that state that we are going the wrong direction on healthcare. And I believe that these voters are representative of what the rest of Americans feel.

During my campaign, I promised healthcare reform. There were to be no more back room deals. I promised open negotiations on C-SPAN. I promised no special favors. Well, I get the message. I know a lot of work has gone into the bills we have now, and as reluctant as I am to say this, as of today, I am instructing the Senate majority leader, and the House majority leader, to discard their bills and start over.

This time, we will truly work across the aisle, in open negotiations that WILL be on C-SPAN, to craft a bill that has the support of both Republicans AND Democrats. Healthcare reform is too important to ignore, and too important to divide our country on the basis of party affiliation. I ask the support of every Senator, every Representative, to bring your best ideas to the table, and together help to fashion a bill that we can ALL support -- one that doesn't depend on a filibuster-proof majority to pass. It will take time -- a year, even two years, but healthcare reform is something worth working for, not only to have quality healthcare for our nation today, but also to ensure that our system can stand the test of time for our children and their children."

SPEECH END

Oh, and in case you think this is just one lone voice:

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), one of the leading advocates for health reform in the House, said, "I don't think it would be the worst thing to take a step back and say we are going to pivot to do a jobs thing" and include elements of health care reform in it.

"If there isn't any recognition that we got the message and we are trying to recalibrate and do things differently, we are not only going to risk looking ignorant but arrogant,” he said.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31693.html#ixzz0d90rdaqA

Ignorant and arrogant. You got that exactly right Tony.