No One Leaves This Place Any Stranger

Back into Blogging

2010-12-30T14:21:00.000-08:00

When you decide to "get back into blogging" you have a lot of decisions.

1. Should you get back into it at all?
2. If you do, will you post once, maybe six times and quickly retire once again?
3. If it's been awhile, should you start a "new" blog with a new name?
4. Should you focus your topics, or just share random pondering?

For me, it goes back to purpose, and the purpose of this blog has always been aimed at myself. A place to write, because writing helps you think. Then a place to catalog one's "findings" be it web pages, neat things, articles, etc. As such, there's really no reason to start a new blog.

So:
1. Yes
2. So what
3. No
4. TBD

Convenience Beats Quality

2008-06-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

A VC: Convenience Beats Quality: "The ability to do something is so much more important than the ability to do it in high quality. That will come in time of course." - Fred Wilson, VC

Web Generated Travel Guides

2008-06-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Technorati Founder Dave Sifry Takes On Travel Guide Industry

This was perhaps overdue. A website that aggregates all the travel info on the web and makes an up to the minute on demand travel guide. I figure most have spent time surfing the web preparing for a trip making an aggregated document that would be printed (or saved) and carried.

I think this scales to other sorts of things as well, stocks, etc. Research gets automated, it has too, there's just so much stuff out there.

Taste Trip

2008-05-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

The Miracle Fruit, a Tease for the Taste Buds - NYTimes.com

Click the link scroll down and start the video. You eat a berry, then everything else tastes different. Sounds intriguing, epically to a foodie.

They just keep making it easier

2008-05-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

I posted yesterday's authors@Google post via the "post to blog" feature under the share tab on YouTube. Of course, I had to navigate away from the video I was watching to set it up which was a annoying, but once set up: Click Share, More options, there's your blog. Type your take, and post it. There you go. Seamless integration.

It has become so easy to share, go to www.nytimes.com and every story has that little share button. Post it to facebook, or maybe you want to digg it. Where ever you do, it's just a click away.

Authors@Google: Michael Pollan, on Food

2008-05-27T14:25:00.001-07:00

I make no secret of my enjoyment of Michael Pollan's ideas on food. I seem to be talking about his book The Omnivore's Dilemma on at least a weekly basis. As such, I enjoyed listening to his talk as part of the Authors@Google series (which I hadn't herd of and am now youTube subscribed to it).

He talks about simple things you can to do make sure you're eating food and not processed food like stuff. It's worth the listen if you have an hour. One of the best take aways was from a question asked at the end (around 52 min). What do I do when I'm at a friends and am offered "bad" food when I want to eat healthy? Eat it, he says. And goes on to comment that a great "rule" is to eat bad food, or as might be termed banquet food, so long as you prepare it. He uses french fries as an example, chocolate candy is another great one.

Where's my organic farm delivery service?

Social Networks' Sway May Be Underestimated

2008-05-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

Social Networks' Sway May Be Underestimated - washingtonpost.com

Great example of the strength of social networking. My guess is that in 5 years nearly everyone who uses email today will be involved in some type of social networking, web 2.0 type activity. Employers will demand it. It's influence is tremendous and you have to participate to understand.

Clean the Space Needle

2008-05-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Spit and polish for a Seattle icon KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington Local & Regional

Great photos of the Space Needle getting a wash. Thanks MM!

Scheduled Posts

2008-05-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

Google Reader has added post scheduling features, a while ago actually. You just date your post in the future and it posts when the proverbial alarm goes off. I'm a fan. I would ideal like to post once a day though as anyone who blogs knows, that's a lofty goal. More often than not, I get in the mood, or it happens to be a day of stumbling over interesting interwebs and I generate three or four. Most isn't timely, nor to I feel need to be timely, so scheduling creates the desired rhythm.

Perhaps that deviates from my blogs goal of being a way for me to note what I'm reading over time and an exercise in writing daily. None the same, I'll use it.... In fact, right now, it is Friday May, 16 2008 at 9:32 AM.

Karma

2008-05-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

desire is the key, it reframes reality - A blog

"How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours."

Buddhist saying

The Army Struggles

2008-05-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Army strained to near its breaking point (4/6/07) -- www.GovernmentExecutive.com

Kind of an abstract link but I think the tone of the article is just simply factual. Very Stimulus - Army going hard for 5 years or so / Response - Army is hurting.

I'll always maintain that the U.S. Army will be fine, it's been at it for more than 200 years, but that doesn't mean there aren't hard times ahead. Broken families and broken veterans will happen.

Touchwall

2008-05-14T15:22:00.000-07:00

Touchwall: Microsoft’s Inexpensive Wall-Based Multi-Touch Interface

Forget Surface, how about a touch wall. As TechCruch aptly dub's it, it's the minority report interface. The link above has a video that shows interaction with the TocuhWall Microsoft demo'ed this week. The applications are many, right away I imagine doctors zooming though complex patient records including x-rays and, as later mentioned in the video, architects or other "blueprint" users sorting though huge, complex diagrams.

E-Mail Mistakes

2008-05-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

Whats the Worst E-Mail Mistake You Ever Made? - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

Dubner of Freakonomics covers email mistakes. I think we've all at least come close to this. I think a solid rule of thumb for email is don't write anything that you wouldn't want anyone else to read. It's almost like posting things to the web. So easy to make that easy address mistake, or worse, that quick forward.

Trends in Dining

2008-05-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

http://events.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/dining/reviews/07rest.html

I think what David Chang is doing at Momofuku Ko is exactly where dining is heading. Sure there will always been the ultra luxurious décor but I think you're seeing more and more "neighborhood" hot spots go simple with amazing food. And then, how does one incorporate technology into all aspects, just as the 10am click, six days in advance is required to hope for a seat at Ko. It's simply what's coming to a city near you.

Changing Enemies

2008-05-06T09:03:00.001-07:00

Wa Po Article

The flavor changes over time. Several great points in this article.
First, the enemy in Iraq is changing. Al Qaeda is retreating to greener
pastures in Pakistan (and likely Africa). Drug lords remain and have to
protect their crop. So often that is overlooked. The number one export
from Afghanistan is opium. Think about that. I would be frustrated if
I was Columbia, like hey, we were doing that, how come we had to change
and they don't. Isn't it interesting how the goings on of the Middle
East differs so much from American involvement in South America.

Friedman is Back

2008-05-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

Dumb as We Wanna Be - New York Times

And back with a roar. Geesh, terrible energy incentives being driven, or not driven by Congress. Same goes for Ag subsidies. I think energy policy is a place where the answers aren't that hard, sadly, the lobbyists make it that way.

Quote: On the Individual

2008-05-01T14:24:00.001-07:00

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.
- Christopher Morley

Feeds I Read

2008-04-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

This morning I took advantage of several Google Reader features. For awhile I've wanted to list the feeds (blogs or really any sort of RSS based content) I read on this blog its self. At the moment I have 51 different feeds streaming into Google Reader, nearly more than I can effectively take in. I add and delete on a somewhat regular basis and I like the idea that the right hand information bar of my blogger page will now update to reflect these changes.

Additionally, after some deliberation, I've made my "friend" tag public, if you, friend, would like to be removed from public display of your blog title I'll happily take your link off the public list.

To get a bit technical, here's what I did:
I made both a public and a private tag in reader. Everything except for content I want to be private is tagged with public and you can see the entire conglomerated feed here. I then made each tag that I use (less private) public by clicking the little broadcast button next to the feed name. I then clicked the "add blog roll" button to generate the script that I then inserted into a blogger HTML "section" adding breaks between each rolls script. I could have just added the public tag but I like the feeds split out by category.

Sync with Oosah

2008-04-22T11:59:00.000-07:00

Oosah: A Hub for Your Personal Online Media
The attached TechCrunch article describes Oosah pretty well and I was curious enough to create an account. It's still pretty "beta" but I think they could be on to something pretty great. I as able to import (or rather, view) my facebook photo albums and my Picasa photo albums (but not the actual photos here, buggy). If I had a flikr account I could pick them up, and youTube as well. I'm sure mySpace and photobucket won't be far behind.

What is great about the idea of convergence of life 2.0 is that I want a single upload point for all my media services. I realize that this requires all the services (facebook, google, etc.) to be pretty open as far a policies and terms of service go and I'm not sure these guys are ready to be that open. In the end, it's going to happen, the convergence of the online space, that is, the value to be added now is synchronizing online life across all of these spaces.

Commodity Prices

2008-04-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

Three views on ridiculous commodity prices these days, from Krugman...

Running Out of Planet to Exploit - New York Times:
"The first is that it’s mainly speculation — that investors, looking for high returns at a time of low interest rates, have piled into commodity futures, driving up prices. On this view, someday soon the bubble will burst and high resource prices will go the way of Pets.com.

The second view is that soaring resource prices do, in fact, have a basis in fundamentals — especially rapidly growing demand from newly meat-eating, car-driving Chinese — but that given time we’ll drill more wells, plant more acres, and increased supply will push prices right back down again.

The third view is that the era of cheap resources is over for good — that we’re running out of oil, running out of land to expand food production and generally running out of planet to exploit."

Global Commodity Inflation

2008-04-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

David Ignatius - Perils in The Price Of Rice - washingtonpost.com

With so much turmoil in the financial markets (both globally and domestically) I feel as though I'm missing so much. Here's one that you just can't not consider in every economic related conversation you have. Global commodity inflation. It's rice over there (and sure it will come here), but Americans will settle for oil "complaints today.

And indeed, expensive Cuban Cigars (when the embargo lifts). And what else is a commodity, technology? How does that inflate, or does it, and have I now deviated from my thesis.

Best Quote from Ignatius' piece:

Independent truck drivers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states staged protests against high fuel prices this week. What do they have in common with rice consumers in Vietnam and soybean buyers in Indonesia and pasta aficionados in Italy? More than they probably think.

Pitching With Purpose - New York Times

2008-04-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

Pitching With Purpose - New York Times

Brooks reminds that practice makes perfect. A timeless tradition. He relates this to baseball. Maybe something you use in a speech one day.

Cuba is Joining the World

2008-04-01T22:44:00.000-07:00

Raul Castro: Cubans can have cell phones - Yahoo! News

The first line of this sums it up, "first microwaves, now cell phones." Cuba is joining up. I think it's reasonable to assume that we'll all be smoking Cuban cigars in the U.S. in five year's time. Further, I continue to agree with Tom Barnett in his book where he predicts that Cuba will be a state of the USA in 25 years or less. Wow.

Mini Projectors

2008-04-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

Coming Soon, to Any Flat Surface Near You - New York Times

The potential here is pretty significant. Sure the article says you'll soon be project movies from you cellphone onto seat backs, but what else. Micro imaging will scale big time. Interesting to see it become affordable.

Political Views?

2008-03-31T11:41:00.000-07:00

Are you a Repub or a Dem?
Liberal or Conservative?

Can you be a Liberal Republican?

What is a moderate really?

Are the two major U.S. political parties the same as they were 10 years ago?

As I pondered these sorts of questions I turned to the WWW for some answers. I found the following at Ask Meta Filter and is in line with what I've been taught:

Democrats: Socially and fiscally liberal
Lots of personal freedom
Government runs redistributive social programs
Concerned with equality over efficiency
Typically support higher taxes to support social programs

Republicans: Socially and fiscally conservative
Small government that enforces moral standards and protects markets
Low taxes and few redistributive programs
Concerned with efficiency rather than equality (although they argue that a high tide raises all ships)

Libertarians: Socially liberal, fiscally conservative
Small government that basically stays out the the way beyond enforcing contracts and protecting markets
Government doesn't regulate morality
Extreme personal freedoms

I sometimes wonder if the Republicans look more like Dem's used to look these days and vice verse.

I then went to the Political Compass and took the test which really doesn't tell you what you are. Merely, it helps you to reflect then paints you in one of four quadrants (left or right on the economic scale, and Authoritarian or Libertarian on the social scale). It was fascinating reading and I suppose it confirmed what I already knew, I'm a moderate. Just what does that mean?

Quote: On Beginning

2008-03-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Content Distribution

2008-03-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

hulu: Watch your favorites. Anytime. For free.

If you haven't heard of hulu, you will, give it some time. I think it will change everything TV/online marriage related. Hulu is a joint venture between FOX and NBC that allows you to go watch your shows, news, sports, or movies online with "limited commercial breaks." We've all seen this set up on NBC's web site or the CW's and whoever else is doing it, but hulu is taking the clearing house approach.

All that's missing as far as I see is TARGETED ads. That is, hulu should make me register, which I'm sure they will, it's still beta, and then my commercials won't be for feminine hygiene products or something else that no matter how great it is, I'm not going to buy it.

In the end though, Hulu changes TV and advertising, first slowly, then watch out. See Google with respect to Web search, maybe not that big, but "domain altering" for sure.

Facebook Privacy

2008-03-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

I'll admit I was late to the social networking crazy. I think Fred Wilson, the NYC Venture Capitalist said it best: to understand these emerging technologies one must use them, and so I have and do. I'll go on to say that I like them, the Facebooks and MySpaces, and would prefer to see everyone I know on them. It a great way to share pictures and passively (or actively) keep in touch with the people you've come across over the years.

I'm pleased with Facebook's new feature that allows me to permit "friends of friends" to see photos that I've been tagged in. I like how specific the privacy is getting, I'll admit that I have no desire to use the social networking sites to advertise myself, rather, only to keep in touch, so adding these sorts of features makes that easy. For example, if someone has tagged my friend Joe in a photo, and I don't know that friend, if "friends of friends" for tagged photos was enabled in Joe's friends privacy settings I would be able to see good old Joe wherever he was.

Quote: Luck

2008-03-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. - Thomas Jefferson

Five Years of Iraq

2008-03-20T00:21:00.000-07:00

Scions of the Surge Newsweek Iraq War Newsweek.com

The press has done a nice job reviewing the ups (?) and downs of the Iraq situation as 5 years have passed since its inception. This news week article tells the story of a company commander that could likely be replicated for any village or neighborhood in Iraq. The Americans are the glue that is holding Iraq together. The military, in the absence of any real strategic policy, has simply found a way to sustain and hold the country together.

Everyday, the U.S. Military is more glue like and the "how do we get out" question is hard to answer.

Brooks Breaks the Credit Crunch Down

2008-03-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Bailout Artists - New York Times

Brooks always does a great job of presenting a very complex topic in a very simple to understand manner. Essentially, he is discussing the role the government should play in facilitating a free market. Is it a free market if the government facilitates it? I say so, and as much as I believe in Ann Rand style objectivisim when panic and irrational behavior positions to do deep economic damage the government should take steps to bring everyone back to reality.

In Brook's words:

We do seem to have reached some Bernanke-era consensus. In normal times, the free market works well. But in a crisis like this one, few are willing to sit back and let the market find its own equilibrium.

The Shows are Back!

2008-03-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

After the WGA Strike: When Will Your Favorite TV Shows Return? - Ausiello Report TVGuide.com

How about the writer's strike? Nice to see that Hollywood is back in business. The link has got the details on your favorite.

Slum Tours

2008-03-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

Heads Up: Poverty Tours - Slum Visits: Tourism or Voyeurism? - Travel - New York Times

The concept and idea of Slum tours has been around for awhile, 16 years, started in Rio, the article points out. There have been many a Discovery Channel special on them as well. The question I'll ask and answer is it participation or observation travel. I say observation, but to truly participate in these run down places where the rules aren't understood even after a few years of study. To participate you would need the language, and some connection.

In this case, I tend to think the observation is good, we as a society need to know what is going on around us, good or bad. Change begins with awareness. I also tend to think it's a boon for the slums as there are chances to see wares, etc.

Sinking the Fallon Ship

2008-03-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Final reflections on the Fallon article in Esquire (Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog)

I've been waiting to blog Admiral Fallon's (the military's former central command commander overseeing the Middle East) retirement until we heard a good recap from Barnett. Barnett's article in this months Esquire was specifically mentioned by the New York Times as the straw that broke the camels back with the Bush Administration and Fallon. I'm intrigued by this because I have always been one one hand, amazed by the depth of Barnett's thinking and on the other in strong agreement with his ideas.

What Barnett points out is that his article highlighted the debate between the military and the administration and possibilities in and with Iran. Something that is generally kept very quite. I for one, agree with Barnett, this debate needs to be very public. This policy effects everything the military is currently doing and I think we can all agree that the American people need to weigh in on this. Naturally, the Bush administration knows where everyone's weight will be as far as terse talk with Iran. Goodness, we can't possibly be serious enough about entertaining new Iranian policy to oust Fallon.

Krugman's Face-Slap Theory

2008-03-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

The Face-Slap Theory - New York Times

I've been enjoying Krugman's ongoing comparison of FED actions really being ways to face slap the business marketplace. I think too often people think that the FED is this holy body of policy makers when in reality they control interest rates by control the amount of money they loan banks in the short term, like over night or for about a month. This in turn allows the bond markets create the actual rate. Sure, things like HELOC's and credit cards a based on the FED's prime rate, but that happens because the bond market allow it.

What's concerning when reading a column from a very well respected economist like Krugman is that he is legitimately concerned that the face slaps might not work. Rescission is one thing, maybe a healthy side of a long growing economy, but depression, that might be another story. Interesting times are these in the financial world.

Crisis in South America?

2008-03-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

Crisis Over Colombian Raid Ends in Handshakes - New York Times

Did you know there was a crises in northern South America? The international and specifically American media has been rather significantly overlooking some serious goings on down there. And sure, I link to a NYT article above, so it's being covered, but not to aggressively. Indeed, defense, in general, seems down in terms of news coverage.

That said, take a look at what's going on down there: Tank battalions massing on boarders, Hugo's involved, of course, and FARC kingpin's getting whacked left and right. And of course the Colombian and American governments have been playing nicely (who doesn't like a rich uncle?) for years and years. Makes you wonder what exactly the nature of U.S. involvement down there might be. I think it's safe to say that at least a few American tax dollars are at work right now.

Quote: On Positivity

2008-03-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

“I will never attend an anti-war rally. If you have a peace rally, invite me” – Mother Terresa

Book: The Secret

2008-03-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

The Secret, Rhonda Byrne

3/9/08

The Secret is perhaps best summarized in an entirely separate work, the Strangest Secret, which is an audio presentation by Earl Nightingale where he demands “you must control your thoughts.” Rhonda Byrne then explains by controlling your thoughts and ensuring that they are of a positive nature, anything, in any aspect of life, is achievable. More specifically, The Secret explains that like things attract, so positive, can do thoughts create positive outcomes while negative thoughts would create that negative reality.

The secret is powerful and if one were to incorporate these ideas into everyday life it would indeed be an unstoppable force. The reality is obvious; if you’re feeling happy you are thinking happy thoughts. What is exciting is to realize that one can use one’s feelings to understand what one is thinking. Further, one can use ones more readily controllable thoughts to affect ones feelings.

The Secret teaches us to understand today, create tomorrow, but allow the universe to positively influence us as we project positive energy. My favorite line was likening life to a road trip, at night, from San Fran to New York City. You know where you’re going, but you can only see 200 ft in front of you. Life must be taken as it comes though we can provide it direction. You must stay on track, but deal, positively, with the bumps that come along the way. We must be thankful for all that is presented to us because it defines us.

The book goes on to apply the concept of positivity to health, relationships, abundance, thankfulness, and ultimately life. Indeed the point is to be happy now, feel good now.

Notes:

On Thoughts and Creation:

Nothing can come into your experience unless you summon it thought persistent thoughts.

What are you summoning?

Careful, the thoughts of doubt are powerful too.
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions
Use Vision boards as ways to visualize your goals
Your power is in your thoughts, “Remember to Remember,” live in the present

On Feelings and their power:

Our feelings let us know what we’re thinking
Our feelings are feedback mechanisms to us about whether we’re on track or not, whether we’re on course or off course
Bad feelings are a warning from the universe
You’re getting exactly what you’re feeling about, not so much what you’re thinking about
Make a list of Secret Shifters, things to employ when you’re not feeling good or the way you want to

How to live the secret:

What do you want; take time to write that down, you must be clear about what you want.

Ask, once, than listen
Believe you’ll get it, know that – Most of us have never allowed ourselves to want what we truly want because we can’t see how it’s going to manifest
Receive

On moving towards a secret centric lifestyle:

Most profound reality about living life, knowing where you’re going, but unable to see exactly how it turns out:

Driving a car at night, life is SFO to NYC, but you can only really see 200 ft ahead, be ok with that.

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“All that we are is a result of what we have thought” – Buddha

“Pruning shears of revision” –Neville Goddard, 1954—“Each night replay the events of the day; if they didn’t go the way you wanted replay them in a way that thrills you.” --- This cleans up the frequency

On Thankfulness and gratitude

Know gratitude, be grateful
Praise and bless the things around you

On Relationships:

For relationships to really work we need to focus on what we appreciate about the other person, not what we’re complaining about

On Health:

Laughter attracts joy, rejects negativity and leads to miraculous cures

On Positivity:

“I will never attend an anti-war rally. If you have a peace rally, invite me” – Mother Terresa

Use I AM. I am received every good thing, I am happy, I am abundant, I am healthy, I am love, I am always on time, I am eternal youth, I am filled with energy every single day.

On life:

Joy, love, freedom, happiness, laughter. That’s what it is.

Be Happy now, fell good now.

Audio: The Strangest Secret

2008-03-08T17:30:00.003-08:00

The Strangest Secret, Earl Nightingale

3/8/08

Earl Nightingale’s audio presentation of the Strangest Secret may be one of the most profound things one can experience and at the same time began the “motivational self-help” movement so many years ago.

He starts by explaining how man has stopped thinking. Then he defines success as “progressive realization of a worth ideal.” and explains to achieve this “we must control our thinking.” It is that focus on one solid foremost goal that allows one to achieve that which he desires. Those concepts are hugely powerful. To understand success and then understand how to achieve it is the key to enjoying life. Everything else is taken care of when these ideals are held strong and steady.

Notes:

The Trouble is conformity
Man who succeeds – “I’m going to do this and then does it” he decided to do it, deliberately.
The key is to have a goal.
We become what we think about. “Believe and succeed”
Decide what you want
Each of us is the sum total of our thoughts
We are where we are because it is where we want to be, admit it or not
“We must control our thinking”
Why do you go to work? Successful people are working to a goal and doing what they want to do.
Focus is key, you can’t wish for 100 other incompatible things equally and as strongly
“As ye believe so shall it be done unto you” – Jesus Christ
Make a goal card and carry it for each block of 30 days
Look at the abundance around you
Stop and think about what you fear, replace it with a positive goal
Five of yourself more
Go with this goal for 30 days; go as hard as you can. Act as though it were impossible to fail
Goal Cards should have the sermon on the mount on one side and the goal on the other
Don’t worry
Success is in direct proportion to our service

Syncing Calendars

2008-03-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

Official Google Blog: Google Calendar Sync

I use Microsoft Outlook, iGoogle with Google Calendar, and an iPhone. That equals three calendars that I want to be the same. MS Outlook is on the home computer, easy to use, I like it, it is sort of the main data storage place. The iPhone lives in my pocket, easy to access and look at, but not where I want to do a lot of data entry, though I will scheduled something on there occasionally. And then where ever I am, at work, a friends house, etc. Google Calendar is editable, usable, etc.

I tried Plaxo for syncing but it never really worked as a Microsoft Outlook plug in. I was just fumbling with it the other day. And of course, Google heard my frustrations and announced Google Calendar Sync for Microsoft Outlook today. It works great.

Now, Apple, Microsoft, or Google, hear this, why can't my iPhone sync over Wi-Fi or the Edge network every so often, why must I plug it in and sync via iTunes, which works fine, but cables seem so 90's.

David Ignatius - Wall Street Bank Run - washingtonpost.com

2008-03-01T14:05:00.000-08:00

David Ignatius - Wall Street Bank Run - washingtonpost.com

Ignatius does an amazingly concise job of summarizing the problem in the Credit market right now. Banks aren't trusting each other and valuing a grouping of 10,000 home loans is near impossible. Further, the bail out is coming from the sovereign wealth money.

What I want to know is what do we think happens next? Naturally all speculation, and I think the American Economy will remain the most resolute innovative actor in the globalized marketplace, but boy, there is a lot of money in these credit markets.

Yelp

2008-02-27T15:23:00.001-08:00

I think Yelp is a pretty amazing site. To like it, use it and enjoy it, it has to have a developed user base in your city. The concept is simple, user generated content that rates business and gives "tips" and tricks. In my view, so far, yelp has done a good job of keeping content fresh and hasn't become, or at least not visibly succumbed, to advertiser manipulation.

But, what makes yelp work is how intuitively one can search by neighborhood. I sort of found myself picking between it and UrbanSpoon, which is also great. Ultimately, the little tips and tricks the yelpers are sharing are what makes yelp a little better. Indeed, I've got the bookmark to a great mobile search widget on my iPhone.

Techcrunch takes a look at Yelp's most recent funding (not quite profitable yet kids) and it's future competitors, which I agree, will be Google Local and Yahoo Local.

Yelp Raises $15 Million Fourth Round, Rumored Valuation $200 Million

Need a Vacation?

2008-02-25T08:05:00.000-08:00

No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one. - Elbert Hubbard

Lower Class Yahoo, Upscale Google

2008-02-24T20:52:00.000-08:00

Poor People More Likely Use Yahoo, Those Better Off To Use Google

From TechCrunch, just as I enjoyed Freakanomics' analysis of Obama vs. Hillary is to Affluent vs. lower class statistics here are showing that Yahoo is more becoming to the lower end market and Google to the higher end. I think these sorts of data are particularly fascinating. If you are Google or Yahoo how do you tailor your content to your users?

More Fire in Kosovo/Serbia

2008-02-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

Rioters Attack U.S. Embassy in Belgrade - New York Times

It will be interesting to watch how much coverage, at least in the U.S., Kosovo declaring its independence will get. In my view, this is big stuff. You see the Serbs say "Kosovo, what Kosovo, that state down there is part of Serbia." The Kosovars, at least by their recent declaration, and are majority Albanians (the ethnic variety), would tell you that Kosovo is independent. Russia, and many others would, and did, take the Serbian side. Others are still figuring it out, and some western Europeans are find with Kosovo being independent.

Of course the west is all about Kosovar independence, because honestly, how long has NATO has been marching around the place in army equipment? (Since the early 90's).

And what is of course appropriate, or perhaps expected, is that the Serbs are good and mad at the U.S. hence the attack in Belgrade, Serbia.

In all, this is a big tipping point for the region and the next few weeks will likely set the course for the next era in that region.

Foodies go to Tokyo

2008-02-20T21:03:00.000-08:00

Where to Go in 2008 - Foodie Destination: Istanbul - Travel - New York Times

This price confirms my own belief. Tokyo is the best eating city in the world. No way the easiest but the Japanese insist on a quality a cut well above everyone else. You also have to figure Tokyo got more Michelin Stars than any other city simply because they have that many more people. But still, the quality.

70's, 80's and today, in terms of rescission

2008-02-20T20:47:00.000-08:00

Calculated Risk: Feldstein on the Recession

Reading the Calculated Risk blog often equates to some rather deep economics, but this particular post does a great job of explaining why the current recessive trends don't mirror that of the 70's and 80's, because at the end of the day, so much has to do with the fed TARGET interest rate. (Remember the fed doesn't set the rate, it controls the money supply that results in the rate)

So what this calculated risk post does in analyze the WSJ and the NYT economics columnists and their general agreement that housing prices wont pop back as was seen from the high interest rates (and their reductions) in the 70's and 80's as the housing market simply cant respond to the Fed's current fire sale.

NYT Goes to Rome

2008-02-13T17:55:00.000-08:00

Rome Travel Guide - Hotels, Restaurants, Sightseeing in Rome - New York Times Travel

I'm noting this because once, Rome, yes, I would like some, but two, it is interesting how the NYT Online is getting further and further away from a traditional "newspaper" format and looking more and more like a travel web site. I have mixed feelings on this, I prefer to see the information presented in newspaper format because that is what I have come to expect from the NYT. On the other hand, it is easy to scan all the content related to, in this case, Rome.

Best Obama/Clinton Commentary Yet

2008-02-08T20:38:00.000-08:00

Best Obama/Clinton Commentary Yet
Questions for Dr. Retail - New York Times

Brooks op-ed done in a really neat way that equates Clinton to Safeway, a commodity provider, and Obama to Whole Foods, the value added solution. And then predicts that indeed the super-delegates will decide who runs the Dem's ticket.

So what do you want in your Dem, commodity, or value added? Do you shop at Safeway or Whole Foods, or maybe both?

Complay Logo Evolution

2008-02-07T15:56:00.000-08:00

Companies Change, So Do their Logos

Fun Techcrunch to look at today, see what Apple, Google, and Microsoft have done to the logos over the years. It takes you back.

Super Fat Tuesday

2008-02-05T07:48:00.000-08:00

The Cooper Concerns - New York Times

Brooks' column is worth reading today. And what a day today will be for the US. Brooks hits the nail on the head here, Hillary can be a great president, but there is some parts that could be considered concerning and the story here of her very icy sounding interactions with other politicians ought to be considered especially as Americans look to choose a president that might improve U.S. global opinion.

Quote: Secret Destinations

2008-02-04T12:08:00.001-08:00

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware” Martin Buber

Why do you travel? What do you want from it? Do you travel to "get away" or to "get to?" Do you want to observe or do you want to participate? All is good, but what do you want, right?

Being Happy

2008-01-28T22:06:00.000-08:00

Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so. - John Stuart Mill

Kessler on the Future of the Investment Banks

2008-01-26T17:53:00.000-08:00

As always, Andy Kessler gets it, he called the last bubble and I think with his experience in Silicon Valley and on the Street his musings are pretty accurate. Goldman is going to do something, they beat subprime for all intensive purposes. Great "future headline" stuff. Do you by some GS, or maybe C is at a low?

Cut:
Andy Kessler: WSJ: What's Next for the Banks

My view is that firms that successfully combine banking and investment banking will walk away with the prize, by being able to offer a full range of services to clients -- short-term loans against assets or receivables as well as bonds and equity for long-term projects, the kind of underwriting and trading that requires large amounts of capital. The inevitable consolidation that should have occurred after Glass-Steagall (the 1933 law that separated banks and investment banks) was repealed in 1999 had been on hold while everyone chased easy profits. But now the shakeout is here.

Goldman Sachs will own a bank, maybe even Citigroup (Goldman's $85 billion market capitalization might be able to swallow Citi's $125 billion value) and strip it down to what it needs. JP Morgan should reunite the House of Morgan by merging with Morgan Stanley, and become a full-service powerhouse. But JP Morgan could buy Merrill or Lehman or Bear Stearns instead. Bank of America will merge with who's left. But don't count out others who have done well with capital. Fortress Investment Group, despite a rocky IPO a year ago, has a powerful real estate arm that could own loan origination and servicing and enough assets to buy its way into the banking or investment banking business. Same for the Blackstone Group.

Capital flows a lot more fluidly around the globe these days. Expect consolidation to start now. The real winners on Wall Street will be the ones with huge stockpiles of capital who listen to the market, and who are fleet of foot enough to smell out and deploy their capital creating instruments that global growth companies need, rather than false profits from eating their own sausage.

The Big Five?: Goldman CitiSachs, House of Morgan, Bear of America, Fortress Lehman Lynch and Blackstone Suisse.

Let Freedom Ring Around the World

2008-01-21T14:50:00.001-08:00

I Have a Dream, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Each MLK Day I like to take the time to read Dr. King's speech. I think it's pretty extraordinary. I also like to take the time to consider what Dr. King would be campaigning for today were he alive. While I think there are so many domestic issues he might choose to influence I think he would look around the world, then look back at where we have come in the U.S. in the past 40 or so years. I think he might hope that some of the freedom that has undeniably rung from the slopes of Cali to the molehills of Mississippi might ring in the jungles of Africa to the sands of Saudi.

525,600 minuets

2008-01-16T22:42:00.000-08:00

Rent - Broadway - Theater - New York Times

As I read this headline instantaly the number of minutes in a year come to me, though I think cups of coffee are a better way to count a year gone by. Rent will close on Broadway.

Nine hundred thirty thousand, one hundred eighty minutes.

That’s how you measure the total running time “Rent” will have played on Broadway when, as the producers said on Tuesday, it closes after its evening performance on June 1, making it the seventh-longest-running Broadway show in history.

But the length of its run is not nearly as significant as the kind of show it was. An East Village rock version of Puccini’s opera “La Bohème,” “Rent” brought a youthful energy — and young theatergoers — to Broadway, to a degree not seen since “Hair.” It also brought with it a real-life story so affecting that it would have overwhelmed the musical itself had the substance of the musical not been so intertwined with the story of its creation.

Double Double Torrent Trouble

2008-01-11T11:14:00.000-08:00

The Swedes Come Down Hard On The Pirate Bay

Pirate Bay is a website that serves up "torrents." If you know what a torrent is you get it. If you don't, you probably should. Supposedly, bitTorrent traffic (the protocol, like web traffic, or IM traffic) make up nearly 50% of all Internet data transfer? bitTorrent is why Chinatown can bring you the freshest movies for 5 bucks a DVD. Copyrights just ain't what they used to be with the web, we all know that, but so much more influential to all of this is bitTorrent.

So the media companies drive the government to crack down on the infringement and go after the guys serving up the "torrents" which are used by would be pirates to connect to peers and get their new release or the entire discography of Billy Joel. But to me, it's like the drug problem, go after the pushers all you like, but at the end of the day, Johnny is going to get his fix somehow. Big media might need to change the way it thinks about content control, distribution, and how advertising needs to change.

Curious? www.utorrent.com and then to www.mininova.org

Scott Van Pelt's Commencement Speach

2008-01-08T08:03:00.000-08:00

2007 Winter Commencement: Scott Van Pelt transcript

Scott Van Pelt of ESPN fame had a bunch to share with the December 07 Wisconsin grads. I think he does a great job of first identifying with the grads and then sharing a great message about the application of our greatest, and most scarce resource, time.

Inspirational Leadership

2008-01-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

Obama’s Iowa speech: The Difference btw. A Tactician and A Leader « FoundRead

Found and Read looks at the Obama and Clinton Iowa speeches from the perspective of leadership. Reading the analysis of Hillary the tactician and Obama the Inspirer.

Article: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

2008-01-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Brazilian Lessons for 2008 - New York Times

After a December hiatus from the blogger I think this Cohen piece is a nice way to ring in the New Year as he details all the little things that can irritate you and then shove them away by looking at the Brazilian prosperity. I think I'll have to head down that way to see what he is talking about.

Happy New Year!

Article: America the Strong

2007-11-27T00:12:00.000-08:00

Follow the Fundamentals - New York Times:

Brooks spends some time reminding us that the American economy is stronger and more resolute than we might want to give it credit for.

" But as the Chinese will be the first to tell you, their dazzling prosperity is built on fragile foundations. In the United States, the situation is the reverse. We have obvious problems. But the foundations of American prosperity are strong. The U.S. still has much more to gain than to lose from openness, trade and globalization."

Article: Wine and Music

2007-11-25T22:19:00.000-08:00

NPR : Music Alters Wine's Taste, Vintner Insists

Who would have thought you ought pair your wine with your music. Interesting.

Article: The Dollar's Ways Well Explained

2007-11-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

David Ignatius - The Discipline Of the Dollar - washingtonpost.com

Ignatius does a fantastic job of explaining what is going on with the dollar, why it is so week, and what Adam Smith might forecast.... and Jim Cramer as well.

Article: Wish We Coulda

2007-11-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda - New York Times

Excellent Friedman today... excellent. Too bad we just can't think that big. Worth the read.

Official Google Blog: Where's my Gphone?

2007-11-06T08:47:00.000-08:00

Official Google Blog: Where's my Gphone?

After a lot of speculation Google explains what all these Gphone rumors have really be about, the software that makes your mobile go. As they suggest, it is certainly bigger than just a phone (though don't tell Apple cause it seems as though the iPhone is working out for them). But, if Google can create a platform for your mobile, and then, more importantly, the CARRIERS are willing to allow it, this will be big.

Clearly the US cell phone market needs some reform. Everything is so proprietary and mine, mine, mine. The better way is seen on the web, sure, Qwest, Comcast, however you get to the web, but once your are there you can do what you like, install what you like and expand your services as you like. Mobile phones need to get there too.

And on this, the iPhone set the stage. You just go to the store and buy one. No contracts, no 20 minutes with the cell phone store guy asking for this piece of credit history and your last 6 know addresses. You take your iPhone home, plug it in to iTunes (yuck) and it does the rest. The success of this automated process will change the way everyone buys phones.

The success of a open, mobile platform will change the way we use, and think of our phones.

Article: Pay Your Bills

2007-11-04T19:59:00.000-08:00

David Ignatius - Life in Budget Limbo - washingtonpost.com

While I have always been amused that congress can never seem to pass the budget on time I've never really fully considered how much that can impact the efficiency of the system. It is disappointing when one takes the time to realize what the government does to itself.

Article: Google Computer

2007-11-01T23:04:00.000-07:00

Google PC At Wal-Mart for $200

The Tech Crunch headline sums it up. Think of it as a "Webtop" in that it runs Google Operating System and really only does the web, documents (via Google Docs), maps (via Google Maps), etc. Everything is happening on the web, not the local machine. Sounds strange now, but were ring tones mainstream 5 years ago?

Book: The Shovel Revival

2007-10-31T12:51:00.000-07:00

The Shovel Revival, Zephyros Major

While I have never read a book about motorcycle culture I couldn’t help but pick up this 43 page manifesto as the author’s name struck a familiar chord. I found the book would do the same. You see, what is facing the motorcyclist today, be him a true rough rider or the weekend yuppie, is the same dilemma that s facing America and frankly, the globalized world. What is selling out and what is living true, and isn’t it possible that selling out to something could end up as a means of being true to oneself.

The book takes you though the evolution of the motorcycle culture and how it reached its state today. Then, it goes on to discuss what might become of it, and what should best become of it. It is the hope of something even better than what has materialized today, the integration of not just many, but all riders.

Major puts it best as he says “It is a matter of opening the gates, or tallying, re-invigorating and re-inviting the masses, of adopting an attitude of action, and of spreading the good word that the secret to happiness may just lie in challenging yourself to go after it.” And as I type that I can’t help but wonder if that statement isn’t just good for revitalizing and improving motorcycling spirit, but might be ideally applied to America as we remind ourselves, and the rest of the world, that we’re on to something pretty good.

I look forward to the day I’m working quads on the river, rain pouring down, and a few too many beers in sight.

Blog: NYTimes River

2007-10-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

NY Times River

Have you seen the NYtimesriver? At the link above you get all the news headlines, as they are published. The site says it was designed with the mobile user in mind but I find it useful on the laptop in a craigslist sort of no nonsense way. Interesting way to take your Times.

Article: Starting from Scratch

2007-10-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

On the Legalization or Not of Marijuana - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

The Freakonomics blog takes on the issue of Marijuana legalization however what I liked best was Dubner's introduction. He calls us to take an issue, "erase" the current system, rule set, etc., and then ponder how you could design whatever it is better.

I like that because too often I think people take a stance on an issue without a solution. That is, we should stop using oil because it is harming the environment. Great, where shall we pile the cars. Don't get me wrong, the debate is good, but the thought that comes before the debate is critical.

Post: One Way Blogs

2007-10-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

A VC: The One Way Nature Of Blogs

Great perspective on how blogs can be a one way means of keeping in touch with someone. I had a friend who wrote a great blog and one of the reasons he eventually stopped is because when he would see someone they would already know his stories. I suppose comments are a way to keep "back" in touch, but really, this is just part of the nature of blogging.

Article: Still Doing Well

2007-10-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

The Gloomsayers Should Look Up - New York Times
by Ben Stein

Most people enjoy Ben Stein's writing and perspective. He wrote a great one on the front page of the Sunday NYT Business Section today. He does a solid job of simply explaining the whole "subprime" "credit crunch" what ever you like to call it and at the same time point out that our economy is doing pretty ok after all of that. Sure, maybe harder times to come, but we'll be ok.

Article: The Real Iraq We Knew

2007-10-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

The Real Iraq We Knew - washingtonpost.com

12 Army Captains call it like that saw it, maybe a bit over dramatic here, but worth the read.

Mansions and Shacks | Redfin Seattle Sweet Digs

2007-10-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

Mansions and Shacks Redfin Seattle Sweet Digs

Think the real estate game isn't changing to adopt the concept of an online realtor? Bill Gates posted a sliver of property on Redfin.

Wow.

OPED: The Odyssey

2007-10-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

OP-ED COLUMNIST; The Odyssey Years - New York Times

David Brooks wonderfully captures the need of this generation of 20-somethings to GO, someplace, and do something. Worth the read, especially for the Gen X and Y.

Article: Army Offers Big Cash

2007-10-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

Army Offers Big Cash To Keep Key Officers - washingtonpost.com:

In the Army there has never been anything like this in memory,' said Col.
PaulAswell, director of officer policy for Army personnel.

The quote tells it as it is, the army simply hasn't done this before. The reasons for this and the likely outcome are worth concern.

Blog: Google Providing Real Time Quotes

2007-10-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

Official Google Blog: China in real time

Only the quotes are for Chinese securities. It is disappointing that they still can't offer real time quotes for American securities, the petition is still with the SEC. It is pretty ridiculous that the "man" still wont provide real time data to everyone, I bet that changes for good in the next 5 years.

Article: On the Road

2007-10-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

Sal Paradise at 50 - New York Times

David Brooks reviews contemporary thinking on Jack's "On the Road" as it turns 50. Some would tell you it is about Jack's loneliness. I think it is a safe bet to read "On the Road" and tap in to that energy. Let's go Sal.

“Besides, he knew the road would get more interesting, especially ahead, always ahead” – Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Travel and Freakonomics

2007-09-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

Arthur Frommer Answers All Your Travel Questions, and Then Some - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

I haven't been a fan of Freakonomics moving to the NYT Blog roll because the feeds are only partially syndicated so I read the first few lines via Google Reader and then have to go to another page to finish. Few posts make that cut, but this one is good and insightful on tourism from someone who wrote the book.

Book: A Short History of Nearly Everything

2007-09-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
9/20/07

If you needed a refresher from middle school earth science and wanted to know what happened since then, Bill Bryson has got you covered; this time with a bit more depth and insight than would be appreciated by a 12 year old. Via his witty style of prose Bryson takes us back to the creation of the universe and brings us right up to how we got to today, and how amazingly lucky the journey was and at the same time how modern science really has no clue at all as to how it all happened or what happens next. There is a great deal of theory though, and a review of it is both astounding and at times discomforting.

The simple outline of the book proceeds though the following topics explaining what we know, who figured it out, how they figured it out, and many times, what’s more to figure out:
The Creation and history of the Universe
The size of the Earth
Atoms and stuff
The forces that make the Earth go
Life
Human history

Throughout the book Bryson does an amazing job of quantifying the unquantifiable. Starting with the creation of the universe and then into the size and nature of the earth. It is safe to say that the universe is bigger that you can understand and older than you can imagine. While I knew there were tons of microbes all over and in me, I didn’t really appreciate that there are more of them on me than cells in me. The book is full of these relational facts. In one case Bryson breaks the history of the earth down to what it would have looked like in one day’s time; humans don’t show up until the last instant of the day. Then the discussion of how we figured out chemistry is shocking, but fairly expected, folks just tried stuff out to see what was what, sometimes it killed them, and sometimes it didn’t. “All life is one” is the theme of DNA. We are 99.9% similar to everyone else and share many traits via DNA with plants and the like. We all come from this lifeless substance that we are all ultimately a slave too.

On the topic of our existence, it is amazing that we, humans, are not the point of it all, as many easily imagine. We’re awfully lucky to be here and we might not stick around forever. Bryson takes us through all the possibilities of how we as humans managed to get here. It seems the only thing that can be agreed upon is that we are awfully lucky to have made it. Throughout the book descriptions of what could have happened along the way are shocking.

Here are some of the ways that we could all go away, tomorrow. An asteroid could hit the planet. Apparently there are several close calls a week, but we can’t see them, the dark roids just sail right by. Think about it, there isn’t a telescope pointed in every direction, we are bound to miss a great deal of this. And if a big one hit, we’re gone. If not an asteroid, a huge volcanic eruption could take us all out. It is well argued that we are overdue for that. It is also well argued that either the asteroid or the volcano did the dinosaurs in, so, safe to say, it could happen. How about a big solar flare frying us with some radiation, certainly a possibility? And then on a small scale, a bacteria or virus could quite easily bring us to our knees, if you think about it, and what you recall about various plagues over history, we might be overdue there too.

What drives science today is thought provoking: we know so much, but at the same time, know so little. Where do you start? Where do you get the money? Do drug companies want to fight life long illness where you have to take a pill a day for life, or flu where you take a pill for a couple of weeks? How do you standardize everything? How can you look at all parts of the sky? How do you catch up, all the mosses are still in paper record, not electronic (mosses while trivial are used as an example that could be applied to a great many things that need categorizing)? Now that we have mapped a human genome, what can we do with it? Science, in my mind, expands as fast as we can figure a small part of it out. Indeed, there is so much to figure out, let’s hope another ice age or asteroid doesn’t ruin the search.

Follow Up: "The War as We Saw It"

2007-09-14T05:26:00.000-07:00

I wrote about an op-ed written by some soldiers in Iraq here titled "The War as We Saw It." The NYT had a follow up article:

2 G.I.’s, Skeptical but Loyal, Die in a Truck Crash in Iraq - New York Times

Two of the soldiers who wrote of their pessimism about the war in an Op-Ed article that appeared in The New York Times on Aug. 19 were killed in Baghdad on Monday. They were not killed in combat, nor on a daring mission.

They died when the five-ton cargo truck in which they were riding overturned.The victims, Staff Sgt. Yance T. Gray, 26, and Sgt. Omar Mora, 28, were among the authors of “The War as We Saw It,” in which they expressed doubts about reports of progress.

Article: China isn't focused on Iraq

2007-09-12T02:38:00.000-07:00

Iraq Through China’s Lens - New York Times

Today's Friedman piece covers China's growth and notes that they are largely able to focus inward as they are not hugely involved in the shaping of global politics... yet. In the end, his point is how Iraq is "distracting" the U.S. from some self improvement. Worth consideration.

From the piece:
The president of Dalian University of Technology, Jinping Ou, told me his new focus now is on energy research and that he has 100 doctoral students dealing with different energy problems — where five years ago he barely had any — and that the Chinese government has just decided to open its national energy innovation research center here.

Listening to him, my mind drifted back to Iraq, where I was two weeks ago and where I heard a U.S. officer in Baghdad tell this story:

His unit was on a patrol in a Sunni neighborhood when it got hit by an I.E.D. Fortunately, the bomb exploded too soon and no one was hurt. His men jumped out and followed the detonation wire, which led 1,500 feet into the neighborhood. A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter was in the area and alerted the U.S. soldiers that a man was fleeing the scene on a bicycle. The soldiers asked the Black Hawk for help, and it swooped down and used its rotor blades to blow the insurgent off his bicycle, with a giant “whoosh,” and the U.S. soldiers captured him.

That image of a $6 million high-tech U.S. helicopter with a highly trained pilot blowing an insurgent off his bicycle captures the absurdity of our situation in Iraq. The great Lebanese historian Kamal Salibi said it best: “Great powers should never get involved in the politics of small tribes.”

That is where we are in Iraq. We’re wasting our brains. We’re wasting our people. We’re wasting our future. China is not.

Blogs

2007-09-09T07:40:00.000-07:00

I've moved the workout posts to another blog because I wanted a whole set of tags dedicated to workout performance. While I have been recording workouts and have a fancy watch that spits out a myriad of data I found I wasn't really capturing progress very well. So, new blog for such things:
http://noltpasfitness.blogspot.com/

Slide Show: Working on a Cruise Ship

2007-09-09T07:39:00.001-07:00

The New York Times > Key Magazine > Slide Show > Water World

Fun slide show that gives you a taste of working on a cruise ship. Interesting life.

Articles: Iraq Assessment

2007-09-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

As we prepare to hear reports from General Petraus and Ambassador Crocker this week the NYT has done some of its own reporting. These interactive NYT pages show the progress made, or not, in Baghdad over the last few years and are excellently assembled. The majority of the troop surge was focused on Baghdad and how things changed in the capital city are worth long consideration. From reading though the various stories from the different neighborhoods in Baghdad it seems to me that while the city as a whole is better off, but the surge had little to do with it. Frankly, the squashing of the sunni resistance throughout the city went on last summer, so the Shia's lived out a decent year.

Then a long one that reports on the "view from the ground." Worth considering. What more can the U.S. do for Iraq? Perhaps we'll hear tomorrow.

Blog: Loans

2007-09-07T23:44:00.000-07:00

If you're really really interested in how home loans work, are originated, sold on the secondary market, etc., there is a great post here.

Consequently, looks like mortgage rates, for folks with decent credit, are falling back down to reasonable levels. Quite the summer spike up around 6.75% and now back down to 6.00%, but yeah, don't even think about ARM's, they are priced not to sell with rates the same as the fixed.

Article: Bremer Says it Wasn't His Fault

2007-09-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

How I Didn’t Dismantle Iraq’s Army - New York Times

Contribution from Paul Bremer in the Times today and he explains how he didn't just make the call to dismantle the Iraqi Army, rather, it was a consensus that it ought to be done. Easy to look back and criticize his actions, but my issue with Bremer all along has been that he had no Middle Eastern experience, heck, they guy didn't speak Arabic. Given his background in European affairs, he probably did his best, but a bit too much finger pointing in this piece, but worth noting.

Article: U.S. Partner's with Militia Groups

2007-09-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

Iraq - Insurgency - Sunni Muslims - United States Military - Terrorism - Counterinsurgency - New York Times

Taking the time to understand this article will allow you to peer into the near term future of Iraq. Regardless of what Bush or Petraus say this month, the U.S. Army is partnering and operating with Sunni Militia groups. Right or wrong, it is innovative and new for American policy in Iraq and it is showing signs of progress. Only time will tell what price will be payed, indeed this action could work to well solidify the fracturing country, but none the same, it is happening and the next year will be full of the results of these partnerships.

Book: The End of Medicine

2007-09-03T05:47:00.000-07:00

The End of Medicine, Andy Kessler
9/3/07

Kessler, of Wall Street Meat and Running Money, puts technology to the side for a bit and takes a long look at how medicine might scale. And by scale, he implies, getting cheaper and therefore selling more. It is a fascinating question; think about the money that is spent on health care in the US alone: 1.8 trillion dollars, 15% of American GDP. That is a whole chunk of our economy. That is $5,400 for every American, the highest in the world. The book sights the Swiss paying $3,300, and $2,700 in Canada. The paradoxes are plentiful, however.

The book is a journey though these paradoxes and ultimately results in showing that one day, preventative scanning/detection will revolutionize medicine and end the way we currently think about medicine. The problems are many. False positives in testing result in more tests and treatments, a whole lot of heart ache, that are all unnecessary. False negatives are recipes for litigation. And if you are the one paying the bill, and it is likely that you aren’t, because you have insurance, and it is determined you do have a condition that means we have to fix you, and that costs money. To run the best tests medicine has to offer right now on the entire population is shown to be cost prohibitive, at least for now. And that is what will change.

So be on the lookout for imaging solutions, or other types of preventative detection that will scale, it is coming and it isn’t driven by passion for money, it is driven by the passion of survivors and memories of those who didn’t.

Eating in Alexandria, VA

2007-09-02T04:32:00.000-07:00

A Town Takes Its Place at the Culinary Table - New York Times

Bunch of new-ish restaurants in Alexandria, VA as Old Town has become a bit of a foodie venue.

Articles: Subprime, Credit Crunch, etc.

2007-09-02T00:49:00.000-07:00

So many developments, so fast, and so much more data needed, but today presents the first few articles that takes stock of everything going on.

First Ignatius of the WaPo does a nice job summarizing the subprime situation and throwing a bit of caution out there.

Then some through analysis from the Economist Magazine that paints probabilities of the road ahead. 60% chance this can be contained by monetary policy, 30% chance recession, 10% drastic global recession.

And finally the NYT takes it local looking at the subprime and housing bubble impact on home owners. Long one, I just skimmed it, but got the gist, house don't sell, price going down, ARM resets, can't move, can't sell.

Book: Blueprint For Action

2007-08-30T03:18:00.000-07:00

Pretty long book review here, but some HUGE ideas. I think the Heroes and Headlines that are discussed at the end are worth a few minutes of contemplation if your interesting in really thinking about where the world will be 20 years or so down the road.

Blueprint for Action, Thomas Barnett
8/29/07

Finishing this book makes me eager to watch the future unfold and simultaneously makes me wonder why it took me so long to get through the volume. I purchased this book more than a year and a half ago and have been reading it on and off since. If Thomas Friedman is thinking 5-10 years out, Barnett is 10-40 years out and his vision is unmatched by anything I have read. Indeed his blueprint for action clearly leads to a future worth creating.

In his first book, The Pentagon’s New Map, Barnett introduced a lexicon to discuss the current security and globalization situation. There is the Core, the connected states, and the Gap, the areas of the world that is plagued by violence and dictatorship. There are subdivisions, the New Core consisting of China and India, etc. and the Old Core, the U.S., Europe, etc. The seam states are those that are positioned to come one way or the next and allow the Core to access the Gap, i.e. Turkey. Barnett’s offering to establish a system to bring the Gap into the New Core revolves around a Leviathan force in the U.S. Military, able to win wars, and then a System Administration force to win the peace. (Where we lack the numbers in Iraq the Sys Admin coalition would step in)

This book sets out to find a realizable solution, though not immediately executable, clearly his solution is offered as an optimistic alternative to the many doomsayers. He premise is simple, connect the gap and it goes away.

What makes this book so challenging is not that it isn’t written in an easy to understand manner, and it isn’t dry either, it is simply overwhelming. It is hard to think about the reality of how these huge ideas can be applied the world over. So much subtlety yields so much possibility. Simple premises that Barnett injects are so true, yet so hard to comprehend. For example, one of Barnett’s premises is that so many futurists speak doom of the future upon the assumption that humans will not alter than ways or innovate around future problems. He explains that we didn’t leave the Stone Age because we ran out of stones just as we won’t leave the oil age because we ran out of oil; rather, we found a better alternative. The same will be true for oil. Not cause to stop the worry or concern, just a dose of reality.

One of the stunning realities is as the New Core grows; they will dictate rule sets and innovations to the rest of the world. It makes sense. Who needs alternative energy more, the U.S. or China? With China’s growth rate and pollution problems compounded by less per capita discretionary budget results in China needing alternative energy while the U.S. would just like alternative energy. Innovate they will.

As Barnett concludes his blueprint he suggests future heroes we should be looking for and then goes on to suggest one of the greatest ways to see the future is to write the headlines a few years down the road. He takes his own advice.

From the Conclusion (elaborated upon in the text, but headings only provide a summary):
Heroes to Look For:
In Military Affairs:
The four star military police general
Japan’s first combat causality since World War II
Americas first SysAdmin force civilian held captive by the enemy
The “father of Post conflict stabilization and reconstruction operations”
The first SysAdmin soldier to win the Congressional Medal of Honor
The inventor of the Peacemaker (a non lethal weapon with the impact of the Colt 45)
The Sectary of Everything Else (the new Peace Department)

In the National Security Establishment:
The feminist neo-con (spreading feminism throughout the gap)
The reeducation president (education for adults)
The Last Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security)
The first Hispanic major-party nominee for president
The first governor of the fifty-first state of the union
The firs “Chinese daughter” to run for major political office
The Echo Boomers “George Kennan” (Kennan the famous grand strategist, the Echo generation is the result of the baby boomers and as mentioned by Barnett, his key audience (born 1980-1995)

In the politics throughout the Core:
The EU’s: Woodrow Wilson (The Good Cop to the U.S. Bad Cop, keeps balance and builds consensus)
The first Brazilian chair of the G-20 summit
Russia’s Bill Clinton (builds the economy)
The Martin Luther King of Islamic Europe
The “Serpico” who blows the lid of human rights abuses in the global war on terrorism (Serpico investigated NYC police corruption)
The first Russian Secretary General of NATO
The first Old Core company to pay reparation to Gap victims (i.e. Germany after WWII)

In China:
China’s JFK (To the world, ask what China can do for you)
China’s Erin Brockovich (Clean up the pollution)
The first Chinese General Sectary of the North Pacific Treaty Organization
China’s Billy Graham
The first Chinese commander of a joint Sino-American SysAdmin operation

In India:
India’s Margaret Thatcher
India’s Bill Gates
India’s first Oscar-winning Best Picture producer

In the Islamic Middle East
Wired Magazines blogger of the year
The first Arab political leader who leaves office when his legal term ends
The Eminem of Muslim rap
The first Islamic religious leader to win the Nobel Prize
Iran’s John Marshall
Last peacekeeper killed along the Israel-Palestine security fence
The first female leader of an Arab state

In Africa:
The first VJay of MTV Africa
The first African Pope (we’ll there has been three before, but 1500 years ago)
The great African-American political spokesman for African security issues
The first African “Big Man” to surrender power on an ICC plea bargain
The first U.S. military commander of African Command (wait, this has been done since the book printed)
The African Union’s peacekeeping troops win a Nobel Peace Prize

Then, on to the headlines:
2010:
Nixon Goes to Tehran: Grad Bargain in the Works between US and Iran
Doha Round Agreement Hailed as Historic Breakthrough for Struggling Economies
Kim Steps Down After Joint US-China Ultimatum; Korean Reunification Near
Super Flu Overwhelmed Most Nations Medical Systems; Half of Deaths Preventable
Iran-Israel Agreement on Nukes Triggers Tehran’s Recognition of Jewish State
National Security Act Establishes Department of Overseas Contingency Response
Iraqi President Lifts Emergency Decree, Immediately Relinquishes Military Post
China-ASEAN Pact Accelerates Agenda for Asian Free-Trade Area; Japan Korea Next
Synchronized Attacks Drive G-30 to create World Counterterrorism Organization
China’s Demand for Resources Provided Economic Liftoff for Southern Africa
Nuclear Detonation in Northwest Pakistan Described as Terrorist ‘Mistake’
China’s ‘Black Summer’ Triggers Unprecedented Social Unrest; Tipping Point Seen
Putin’s Handpicked Successor Bows to Massive Protest, Accepts Election Defeat
Asia, EU Propel Negotiations for South American Free Trade Zone
Turkey Surprisingly Rapid Entry into EU Signals Europe’s Tilt Toward Arab World

2015
Response to Adana Earthquake Proves Utility of Multination Contingency Force
Taiwan Vote Clears Way for Political ‘Road Map’ Treaty with Mainland China
Russia Begins Formal Membership Talks with EU; Energy Ties Result in ‘Fast Track’
Caspian Coordination Group Finalized Long Term Pipeline Grid Construction Plan
US Led Multination Force Invades Northern Colombia; Bogota in Flames
Kyoto II Accord Goes into Effect When Indian Parliament Approves Pact
Thanks to NATO Effort, AU Peacemaking Force Proves its Mettle in Central Africa
Brasilia Harmonization Talks Yield Draft Treaty for Free Trade Area of the Americas
Korea’s ‘Four Powers’ Served as Embryo for Pacific Rim Treaty Organization

2020
Spread of Religion Across China Alters Policies, Style of Sixth-Generation Leadership
Islamic Opposition Parties Succeed in Loosening EU Restrictions on Immigration
Persian Gulf Security Alliance Cements Role of India and Iran as Regional Pillars
EU Pact with North Africa and Mideast States Completes Goal of Mediterranean Zone
Hispanic Voters Emerge as Key Swing Vote in US National Elections
National Elections Complete Transition of Saudi Monarchy to Constitutional States
Online Game Triggers Dictator’s Departure; Stunning Victory of ‘People’s Diplomacy’

2025
Final Section of Wall Dismantled as Peacekeepers Depart Palestine-Israel Border
Previously String Islamic Terror Network in Africa Now Described as Neutralized
In Historic Shift, Growing Hydrogen Economy Leads to Peaking of Global Oil Demand
Cuba’s ‘Statehood Movement’ Grows Island Vote to Become 53rd State Seems Likely
Lunar Base Global Consortium Plans First Roundtrip of Space Elevator This Year

Article: Tribes and Soldiers in Baquba

2007-08-29T02:56:00.000-07:00

Watch the Sunni Tribes - New York Times

Friedman notes the success the U.S. Army (and perhaps Iraq) has seen in Baquba where foreign fighters had allegedly taken over and the Sinni Tribes banded together and with U.S. Forces to essentially kick the bad actors out. This is new policy and innovative, but Friedman points out the realities. This entire situation of the U.S. partnering with tribes vs. the government could quickly turn. However, it is a chance, and new idea, and it might just work. Time will tell.

In Full:
August 29, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Watch the Sunni Tribes
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Baquba, Iraq

When U.S. Army officers try to explain the challenge of rebuilding Iraq, they often talk about the three different time pieces they’re working with: Washington’s is a stop watch, where every second longer we stay in Iraq is a problem; the Iraqi Shiite-led government’s watch often seems broken, and you have to regularly tap it to get it to work; and the Iraqi Sunni watch always wants to go in reverse — back to Saddam’s day, when Sunnis were in charge.

I’ve just bounced between Baquba and Balad and a Sunni and Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad as an embedded reporter with the visiting Adm. William Fallon, head of the Central Command. I don’t know whether the surge is working — too early, too short a visit. But I did see something new here, which, if played right, could help to stabilize Iraq and better synchronize some of those watches.

It’s this: the willingness of the Sunni tribes, and key Sunni neighborhood leaders in Baghdad, to work side by side with the American soldiers they’ve been shooting at for four years in order to retake Sunni towns and districts from the Taliban-like, pro-Al Qaeda Iraqi Sunnis who took charge in 2006, when the undermanned United States forces pulled out of many areas and handed over security to unprepared Iraqi Army units.

Ironically, a key reason violence appears to be trending lower here is because Al Qaeda’s “surge” in 2006 so frightened Iraq’s more moderate, occasionally whisky-drinking Sunni tribal leaders — the backbone of the Sunni community here — that they became willing to work with the Americans just when the U.S. surge was taking off.

Warning! This important shift by the Sunni tribes could come unglued if the Shiite-led Iraqi government doesn’t start providing government services — water, fuel and electricity — to the Sunni areas the tribes have retaken.

It could also come apart because, well, this is Iraq. As one U.S. general said to me of the Sunni tribes, “They still hate us. They just hate Al Qaeda even more right now and they hate the Persians even more than them. But they could turn their guns back on us anytime.”

Baquba, in the heart of Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, is a microcosm of what happened. Last March, as the U.S. military was trying to retake this region from Iraqi jihadists — who had declared it the capital of “The Islamic State of Iraq” and imposed a reign terror, including beheadings for un-Islamic behavior, restrictions on women’s dress and a ban on smoking and alcohol — a U.S. intelligence drone picked up fighting between two Iraqi factions inside the city.

The next day, one of those factions, representing local Sunni tribes, asked a U.S. field officer for help in evicting the Islamic extremists. Thus began a cooperative endeavor that now embraces virtually all 25 Sunni and Shiite tribes in the area, and has the U.S. paying the tribes’ sons to be neighborhood patrols in their own towns and villages. As a result, Baquba’s market, which was sealed shut three months ago, was jammed on Sunday with women shopping for cucumbers, tomatoes and figs at different stalls and men making copies of documents at sidewalk Xerox machines.

Meanwhile, the U.S. forces also brought the official Iraqi Army back into Baquba — only this time with a new division commander — Maj. Gen. Salim Karim Salih, a respected, retired Sunni Army officer, who was one of Saddam’s top generals in the Iran-Iraq war and whose home was nearby. He, too, was ready to work with the Americans to get rid of the pro-Al Qaeda Iraqis.
“The citizens asked me to come back,” he told me. “We need a political solution. But the politics has to be impartial and not just favor one side. And we need action not more words.” That is code for the Shiite-led central government sending money to help repair the town, which it has started to do. “We are in a disaster state now,” added the governor of Diyala Province, Ra’ad al-Tamimi. “We hope the central government will interact with us in a better way.”

I understand the Shiite’s reticence. The Sunnis have resisted everything for four years and now they want government services.

But it is in our interest, because it increases the chances of the only possible solution here, and that is a loose federation in which each sect controls its own areas and Baghdad serves as an oil-funded A.T.M., dispensing cash proportionally.

That is the only way we can get out of here without Iraq exploding. Or, as a Kurdish official said to me: “If you wanted a united Iraq, you never should have gotten rid of Saddam, because he was the only one who could hold this place together.”
Maureen Dowd is off today.

Article: Hitchens Sees Three Wars

2007-08-28T13:19:00.000-07:00

We're fighting at least three wars in Iraq. Do you want to end them all? - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine:

"When people say that they want to end the war in Iraq, I always want to ask them which war they mean. There are currently at least three wars, along with several subconflicts, being fought on Iraqi soil. The first, tragically, is the battle for mastery between Sunni and Shiite. The second is the campaign to isolate and defeat al-Qaida in Mesopotamia. The third is the struggle of Iraq's Kurdish minority to defend and consolidate its regional government in the north. "

Good one by Hitchens and spot on. As the article discusses, the most concerning of the three wars is of course the Shia rule attempting to use the U.S. to purge the Sunnis.

Atricle: China's Pollution

2007-08-26T02:37:00.000-07:00

The New York Times > International > Interactive Feature > Choking on Growth

Great multimedia feature on the NYT site today talking about the cost of China's rapid growth. Indeed, a HUGE problem but at the same time, a problem that is going to be fixed by China. While the world will pressure the country to act on it's self, it will do so of its own volition. As the nation becomes wealthier it will have the ability to act and simply human nature will demand that the nation acts for its self. Little change is more effective than self influenced change.

Book: Success Stories

2007-08-26T02:30:00.000-07:00

Success Stories, Robert Kiyosaki
8/26/07

Kiyosaki puts together a collection of 22 stories of people that have followed his Rich Dad principals and achieved financial success. Backgrounds range in age, walk of life, social class, etc., but all decided to focus in learning real estate or business investment or both. Indeed, the stories are motivational. Principals that are continually reinforced are being ok with failure, and through due diligence.

A story I noted was Michelle LaBrosse who had program management experience and desired to get her PMP (Program Management Professional) Certification and in the process wrote a course that she sold to others. Her business grew to the largest PMP training program in the industry.

The book is worth reading for motivation and to spur further study of topics found interesting.

Article: 4 Soldiers' Take on Iraq

2007-08-24T01:33:00.000-07:00

The War as We Saw It - New York Times

Wow, you want a short essay on what is going on in Iraq right now and the realities that the US must face as we proceed read this. Written by a collection of soldiers from the 82d Airborne and in my opinion couldn't have been better captured by anyone. An impressive take.

August 19, 2007
Op-Ed Contributors
The War as We Saw It
By BUDDHIKA JAYAMAHA, WESLEY D. SMITH, JEREMY ROEBUCK, OMAR MORA, EDWARD SANDMEIER, YANCE T. GRAY and JEREMY A. MURPHY
Baghdad

VIEWED from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal. Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command.)

The claim that we are increasingly in control of the battlefields in Iraq is an assessment arrived at through a flawed, American-centered framework. Yes, we are militarily superior, but our successes are offset by failures elsewhere. What soldiers call the “battle space” remains the same, with changes only at the margins. It is crowded with actors who do not fit neatly into boxes: Sunni extremists, Al Qaeda terrorists, Shiite militiamen, criminals and armed tribes. This situation is made more complex by the questionable loyalties and Janus-faced role of the Iraqi police and Iraqi Army, which have been trained and armed at United States taxpayers’ expense.

A few nights ago, for example, we witnessed the death of one American soldier and the critical wounding of two others when a lethal armor-piercing explosive was detonated between an Iraqi Army checkpoint and a police one. Local Iraqis readily testified to American investigators that Iraqi police and Army officers escorted the triggermen and helped plant the bomb. These civilians highlighted their own predicament: had they informed the Americans of the bomb before the incident, the Iraqi Army, the police or the local Shiite militia would have killed their families.

As many grunts will tell you, this is a near-routine event. Reports that a majority of Iraqi Army commanders are now reliable partners can be considered only misleading rhetoric. The truth is that battalion commanders, even if well meaning, have little to no influence over the thousands of obstinate men under them, in an incoherent chain of command, who are really loyal only to their militias. Similarly, Sunnis, who have been underrepresented in the new Iraqi armed forces, now find themselves forming militias, sometimes with our tacit support. Sunnis recognize that the best guarantee they may have against Shiite militias and the Shiite-dominated government is to form their own armed bands. We arm them to aid in our fight against Al Qaeda.

However, while creating proxies is essential in winning a counterinsurgency, it requires that the proxies are loyal to the center that we claim to support. Armed Sunni tribes have indeed become effective surrogates, but the enduring question is where their loyalties would lie in our absence. The Iraqi government finds itself working at cross purposes with us on this issue because it is justifiably fearful that Sunni militias will turn on it should the Americans leave.

In short, we operate in a bewildering context of determined enemies and questionable allies, one where the balance of forces on the ground remains entirely unclear. (In the course of writing this article, this fact became all too clear: one of us, Staff Sergeant Murphy, an Army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader, was shot in the head during a “time-sensitive target acquisition mission” on Aug. 12; he is expected to survive and is being flown to a military hospital in the United States.) While we have the will and the resources to fight in this context, we are effectively hamstrung because realities on the ground require measures we will always refuse — namely, the widespread use of lethal and brutal force.

Given the situation, it is important not to assess security from an American-centered perspective. The ability of, say, American observers to safely walk down the streets of formerly violent towns is not a resounding indicator of security. What matters is the experience of the local citizenry and the future of our counterinsurgency. When we take this view, we see that a vast majority of Iraqis feel increasingly insecure and view us as an occupation force that has failed to produce normalcy after four years and is increasingly unlikely to do so as we continue to arm each warring side.

Coupling our military strategy to an insistence that the Iraqis meet political benchmarks for reconciliation is also unhelpful. The morass in the government has fueled impatience and confusion while providing no semblance of security to average Iraqis. Leaders are far from arriving at a lasting political settlement. This should not be surprising, since a lasting political solution will not be possible while the military situation remains in constant flux.

The Iraqi government is run by the main coalition partners of the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, with Kurds as minority members. The Shiite clerical establishment formed the alliance to make sure its people did not succumb to the same mistake as in 1920: rebelling against the occupying Western force (then the British) and losing what they believed was their inherent right to rule Iraq as the majority. The qualified and reluctant welcome we received from the Shiites since the invasion has to be seen in that historical context. They saw in us something useful for the moment.

Now that moment is passing, as the Shiites have achieved what they believe is rightfully theirs. Their next task is to figure out how best to consolidate the gains, because reconciliation without consolidation risks losing it all. Washington’s insistence that the Iraqis correct the three gravest mistakes we made — de-Baathification, the dismantling of the Iraqi Army and the creation of a loose federalist system of government — places us at cross purposes with the government we have committed to support.

Political reconciliation in Iraq will occur, but not at our insistence or in ways that meet our benchmarks. It will happen on Iraqi terms when the reality on the battlefield is congruent with that in the political sphere. There will be no magnanimous solutions that please every party the way we expect, and there will be winners and losers. The choice we have left is to decide which side we will take. Trying to please every party in the conflict — as we do now — will only ensure we are hated by all in the long run. At the same time, the most important front in the counterinsurgency, improving basic social and economic conditions, is the one on which we have failed most miserably. Two million Iraqis are in refugee camps in bordering countries. Close to two million more are internally displaced and now fill many urban slums. Cities lack regular electricity, telephone services and sanitation. “Lucky” Iraqis live in gated communities barricaded with concrete blast walls that provide them with a sense of communal claustrophobia rather than any sense of security we would consider normal.

In a lawless environment where men with guns rule the streets, engaging in the banalities of life has become a death-defying act. Four years into our occupation, we have failed on every promise, while we have substituted Baath Party tyranny with a tyranny of Islamist, militia and criminal violence. When the primary preoccupation of average Iraqis is when and how they are likely to be killed, we can hardly feel smug as we hand out care packages. As an Iraqi man told us a few days ago with deep resignation, “We need security, not free food.”

In the end, we need to recognize that our presence may have released Iraqis from the grip of a tyrant, but that it has also robbed them of their self-respect. They will soon realize that the best way to regain dignity is to call us what we are — an army of occupation — and force our withdrawal.

Until that happens, it would be prudent for us to increasingly let Iraqis take center stage in all matters, to come up with a nuanced policy in which we assist them from the margins but let them resolve their differences as they see fit. This suggestion is not meant to be defeatist, but rather to highlight our pursuit of incompatible policies to absurd ends without recognizing the incongruities.

We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.
Buddhika Jayamaha is an Army specialist. Wesley D. Smith is a sergeant. Jeremy Roebuck is a sergeant. Omar Mora is a sergeant. Edward Sandmeier is a sergeant. Yance T. Gray is a staff sergeant. Jeremy A. Murphy is a staff sergeant.

Travel: Paddling in Maine

2007-08-24T00:17:00.000-07:00

Paddling Down Maine From Inn to Inn - New York Times

Grab a boat and paddle along the coast avoiding the cheap commerce on either end of the towns for scenic coast line. Seems like a nice way to go. I've driven this, might be nice to paddle it. The restaurants sound good enough to make it all worth while.

Book: Wall Street Meat

2007-08-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Wall Street Meat, Andy Kessler
8/23/07

The book autobiographically takes the reader from Kessler’s leaving Bell Labs and beginning as an analyst for Paine Webber and then on to Morgan Stanley. It can almost be called an expose of the investment banking industry as technology entered the market. It is a quick and easy read that, like all of the Kessler work I have read, has many lessons to teach. The concept that everyone on Wall Street is meat is pretty founded. Wall Street provides the world access to capital and can never be replaced. The worlds smartest are there constantly looking for the next way to make a buck. If you want a glimpse of what Wall Street was like up until the internet bubble popped this tells the story fairly well.

Interesting to read this as the “credit bubble” is in the middle of popping, yet again, I’m sure Wall Street will reinvent its self. Another thing I noted was how, like anywhere, personal networks provide access to everything, from information to boxing tickets.

Weight Workout

2007-08-23T14:28:00.001-07:00

Traditional weight day:
3x3x12 chest
3x3x12 sholder
3x3x12 tri