THEMCKAYPOST

Troop Morale

I keep hearing people talk about troop morale.

Here are a few thoughts of mine on this subject.

Robert Baer, a twenty year veteran officer in the Directorate of Operations at the CIA (more here) recently said in an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Mathews, that not only is recruitment down at the CIA, but many old colleagues are calling him, asking for his aid in finding work outside the agency, as they no longer trust a government who will, legally or not (it may not have been illegal, but it was morally wrong), throw away one of their own, as was done when the political move was made against Joe Wilson, by outing the identity of his wife, Valerie Plame. This was clearly done as an act of vengeance against Wilson, and to send a message to anyone else who would dare to tell the truth which would contradict the propaganda being spread by the Bush administration.

The lies, and the deceit, the twisting of the truth, and the premeditated manipulation of the facts has caused a degradation in trust among most of those who serve our country, whether in military uniform, at the CIA, or in various other non-combat support roles. We are learning more about this as time goes on, and I for one will be watching George Tenent on Meet the Press this weekend, as well as reading Tenents new book as soon as possible.

The war in Iraq has evolved into a civil war, and we have become sitting ducks right in the middle of the combat zone. There is no clearly defined enemy, and our troops on the ground can trust no one except each other. Some of the Iraqi military and police forces who work along side our troops by day, are secretly passing information on to those who are propelling the civil war, and who are planting the road side bombs and firing the RPGs. A child who takes candy from a soldier or Marine one day, may be helping his father and older brother plant a bomb the next, yet the president and his minions still try to spin this fiasco as our war on terrorism. That is not true. These people fighting their own civil war have their own agenda, and other than getting us out of the way, they could care less what we do, as long as it's not in their country (the terrorist behind 9/11 are not the same ones we are fighting in Iraq, and if there are some of them there, they came about when the borders collapsed after we invaded, yet Just last week I heard Bush in a speech saying that we have to fight the terrorists over there so we wont have to fight them here at home (yes, he still says this as if to believe that if he says it enough it will become true). The three factions who are fighting each other in Iraq have been doing so for centuries, and will continue to do so now that the stakes are even higher (control of territories, and oil revenues). All the while the terrorists who actually backed the attacks on us are, with a few exceptions who we have captured or killed, alive and well and living in the remote sections of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and a few other nearby countries. The troops already know this, and being dishonest with them in order to raise morale while they are being killed in a meaningless war would be just as bad as being dishonest to the American people in general, and it would backfire big time as it would simply add insult to injury.

Moral cannot be built based upon propaganda. It must be built, and maintained by truth, and a real mission. I thought that these things are what we were supposed to be fighting for, and when we fight for any other reason, we are only kidding ourselves, and our troops know it, just as we, the voting, paying public does.

I have been keeping my eye on the appeal to redress congress which is an appeal to congress to support our efforts in Iraq. It has been around since February 12 of this year, and was even featured on Michelle Malkin (yes, I read her from time to time). All active duty, and active duty reserve troops are eligible to sign it, and since we all know how viral something like this can be, especially within the closely knit military community, it does not appear to have much support (only 2605 e signatures to date. That’s just under 2% of the roughly 140,000 troops deployed in Iraq) Military members are barred from speaking out against the war, but when allowed to voice support, their silence speaks volumes.

Troop morale is not down because democrats want to bring them home. It’s down because the troops see the futility of their efforts. It’s down because there is no clearly defined mission, or enemy. It’s down because they were originally asked to fight without proper body, and vehicle armor. It’s down because they hear about the atrocious conditions that used to exist at Walter Reed. It’s down because they too see the total lack of planning that went into the war in the first place. It’s down because they are waking up, and hear the same spin and deceptive manipulation of the facts (Bush still talks about making progress in Iraq, but the troops on the ground don’t see it that way).

In my opinion it’s an insult to the intelligence of our men and women in uniform to try and build moral with no defined mission, no defined enemy, and no winnable solution in sight. It’s like holding a pep rally for a basket ball team in a school where the gymnasium seats are busted out, floor boards on the court are popping up, the ceiling is collapsing above the rafters, and all the team has to play with is a punctured basket ball, and no money for a new one!

It’s ludicrous to talk about morale at this stage of the game. High morale is created when you have a defined and necessary mission that we can all get behind and support, and it is maintained when our efforts and sacrifices prove to be worthy, producing positive results as the mission plays out. This may take time, but if there is a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel, and the mission itself is deamed to be worthy of the sacrifices being made, morale will be high, for the most part. High Morale is also maintained when our government tells the truth about why we are engaged in the mission, and when they do everything in their power to support the lives of those on the front lines, and their families back home. We have had none of these things since day one of this war, and I would be willing to bet that over 90% of our troops would say the same thing if they could. 

A weekend to enjoy (spring has sprung in NYC)!

I’m back in New York, and we are at our loft in lower Manhattan for the night. Running some errands in town tomorrow, and one stop we both agree that we must make is lunch at the now open for the season Shake Shack in Madison Square Park (must get one of those smiley faces)! This place is everything you hear it is and more!

Golf with buddies on Sunday morning, first time on the course this year (have to have one of those buttons for sure)!

Will post this weekend, but it has been a busy one, so zzzzzzzz for now.

I feel pretty

This is too funny. I wear a buzz cut. Now come on, what, just what are we paying for here (the now famous $400 hair cuts)?

Check out the post at The Politico, and  be sure to take a look at a most narcissistic moment at Youtube (this is a real hoot)!

I like John, but hey, this is no way to win a nomination (I live in NY and pay $15 every two weeks, not including tip, for my buzz cuts)! What is he thinking?

Guns, and gun control

Before everyone starts calling me another whining liberal, let me explain that I grew up around firearms. Although raised by a single mom, we lived very close to my Aunt and Uncle (my mothers brother, who was both an ex Marine and a former Detroit police officer).

My uncle used to take me out to open air ranges where I learned to shoot, starting with a Remington Nylon .22 Caliber rifle, and, when I would visit my cousins farm in Ohio, I learned trap and skeet with a 20 gauge shotgun. As I got older (in my teens), I moved up to a 16, and then a 12 gauge, and would go with my uncle to his gun clubs. I eventually owned my very own Marlin 30-30 rifle with scope, and a Remington 12 gauge pump action shotgun. I learned gun safety, and responsibility from day one. I learned to care for firearms, and to respect the power that I was enabled with, when one was in my hands. These things were more than emphasized. They were law! I either got it right and took it seriously, or there would be no more shooting outings with my uncle. It was much like when I was taking flying lessons out at Van Nuys Airport. You do the ground school. You learn what makes the aircraft work, before somebody puts a yoke, throttle, and a trim wheel in your hands and says “fly the plane”. You learn about the rudder, and the torque that necessitates the use of it during level flight. You learn about instrumentation, and flying by it. You do it first in a sim, then you go up and wear a hood. You can not take a plain up, unless you pilfer one, and fly it around, without proper training and credentials.

I have shot a few handguns over the years as well, including a vintage German Lugar, a Walther PPK, A Colt 45., and a Browning 9mm. All were in my uncle’s gun collection. We were not hunters though, and I’m glad that my uncle did not hunt, due to my life long love for animals. Our thing was target shooting, and believe me, one can have a blast (terrible pun, I know), at a rifle or pistol range, or at a trap or skeet club, and we did these things often! This avuncular influence was very important to a kid growing up without a dad in the house, and I looked up to, and respected my uncle very much.

I don’t own any firearms today. I guess I outgrew it, and traded the gun for the camera, which I can safely and happily point at a living creature, and then capture a memory for life! I do however, believe in the right to bear arms. What I am opposed to is the flood of illegal weapons on the streets, and in the wrong hands, and there has to be a way of controlling this. Tougher gun laws, if properly enforced, will not interfere with the rights of ligitimate sportsman, collectors, and even hunters, who although I see no need to kill an animal in this day and age (it’s not a necessity as it once was for food), still have the right to do so under the law (weather or not they should have this right is another debate, but off topic here).

My point is about keeping guns out of the wrong hands, and this cannot be accomplished without some sort of enforceable controls.

Each and every owner of an automatic pistol, or rifle should have to be certified, and registered. Those with federal firearms permits (these allow one to legaly deal in, and sell firearms) should be audited regularly, and be held accountable as to who they have sold a weapon to at a gun show, or anywhere else (what are we afraid of? That someone like China is going to walk in, invade our country, look at the registrar of gun owners, then come to our doors and take them all away? Please! This was a valid argument maybe, during the days of the American revolution, but not today).

I have a drivers license. No matter where I travel in north America, if I were pulled over for a traffic violation, within seconds of running my name, DL number, and state of issue, the cop would know if there were outstanding warrants, and if I was a convicted felon or not. He would know if I had a parking ticket in Alaska, if I were stopped in Key Biscayne, and a cop in Amsterdam would know if I owed a fine in England! Our “freedom” is already gone. It has been a dinosaur for years.

I’m not saying that I want to avoid paying parking tickets. I pay them when I get them. I’m not saying that I want to change my identity. I don’t. I’m very happy being me. I am however, pointing out that for someone who wants to drive a car, start a business, buy property, invest in a business, or in the public markets, or otherwise live a law abiding life in this, or most countries today, one must give up there freedom, and become a taxable number.

If we can enforce the tax code as efficiently as we do, and keep track of one who owes a parking ticket in Alaska, we can certainly keep track of the sale of firearms in this, and other countries, and believe me, by doing so we are not infringing upon any freedoms that we have not already lost, long, long ago.

Virginia Tech

When I was a kid we played ice hockey after school, on a pond near where I grew up in Michigan. The older kids played at one end, and the younger ones played at the other. My first hockey skates were hand me downs (my mother sprayed them with Lysol before I could use them), from an older guy in the neighborhood who was a friend, and who taught me how to skate on the pond, and adjoining canals by taking a broken branch, holding it behind him, and telling me to hold on to the other end, as he took me for a ride that strengthened my ankles and other muscles, taught me balance, and was (including a few wipe outs) one of the many great memories I have of being a kid!

We all knew when the sun was setting. In the holiday season it would be early, and we all packed it in for the day, went home to our families to eat dinner, do our homework, and then hit the hey.

Among the older kids there was a bully. He used to like to pick on me because I was a sort of book worm, and he came from a real blue collar type family. I assumed then that there was more to it than that. I think he was probably taught the violence he practiced in his school and social life at home, and I used to feel bad for him, but he was a bully non the less, and if he and I were among the last to leave the pond area, I used to scramble to keep clear of the guy, because he would come up to me and plant a good one right in my gut, then walk away, just for fun. Later, when I learned to defend myself, I always stuck up for the little guys, the academics, the nerds, and those who were a little different, because I had been there.

The very worst thing that happened when I was in K-12, was someone getting a black eye, a bloody nose, or a fat lip, and in all honesty, these incidents were very rare. I can count on half of one hand all the times that I, and any of my friends ever got into a real fist fight with anyone in all the years I was growing up (that‘s all of us combined, for me it was only once).

In high school, we all were dumped by a gal here and there, and we all were equally guilty of being insensitive to some of the girls we dated. We were growing, we were learning, and right or wrong (I know I was wrong a few times), that is how the processes worked, and it made us better, and more sensitive to each other and our fellow man/woman in the long run.

In college, where I lived off campus, there were a few assaults that occurred in the parking lots after dark. We all put together a group that would walk the females to their cars if we were studying late. It worked very well, and we all made good friends out of this effort to help each other out.

Today’s shooting at Virginia Tech is something out of a nightmare, or a bad movie. It just shouldn’t happen in real life. My heart goes out to the families of the victims, and to the victims themselves; God bless.

My old bully never killed anyone. Nor did anyone else I ever knew in school, but some do such things today, and without making our campuses prison like settings, we must address this problem, or it is bound to happen again, and again.

More on this later, as I think much of the original reaction by university officials will be, and should be under scrutiny.

Bagelito?

NYC does have a few good high end Mexican restaurants, but try to grab a burrito, or a good taco on the fly, and your pretty much out of luck (not so in Chicago, or L.A.). We often make our own Mexican food, and it turns out pretty good, but I miss the “fast food” Mexican (not Taco Bell) that is so available west of about Cleveland.

It’s about time that our public works projects take this problem seriously, and deliver a cheap California burrito to the masses in NYC (via Weehawken, NJ) and do it in real time!

Read this bit of humor at Idlewords.

The homeless revisited

The other day I posted about an encounter that my wife had with a homeless person on the streets of NYC. I said I loved the story that she told me about her encounter, and that may have seemed strange to some. I loved the story for two reasons. One, somebody did not go to sleep on the street hungry that night, and two, it was not possible for anyone who read the post not to understand that this old woman was suffering from some form of mental illness. Yes, being on the street is enough to drive anyone mad, but let’s face it, generally only those with diminished, limited, or otherwise compromised mental capacities end up there permanently. There are of course some who spend a short incremental period in a compromising situation (moving back home, or “living in a van down by the river”, as the late Chris Farley once so eloquently described it, and as only he could), but for those of whom I speak, and for the vast majority of the chronically “homeless”, they are mentally challenged, and they need much more than what they are getting in the way of care and comfort by our current standards and methods.

Before the Reagan administration (I liked him pretty much by the way) began cutting subsidies and causing our state hospitals to close, we had a place to feed and house these people who had no where else to go. Were they great places to be housed in? No, of course not! Many were almost dungeon like, and ill staffed, but that would not be the case today. We have learned from the mistakes of he past. We have mental health professionals who know how to deal with a variety of disorders that they could not have even approached ten or fifteen, or thirty, or sixty years ago.

Yes, we all heard , and saw the terrible, indeed horrible conditions that our mental patience were living in and under, but as usual, how did we react? We closed down, and tore down buildings that could have been renovated and put to very good use. We over reacted, as we always do. We sent these people ( the patients) on their way, to make it on their own, and as such, we have created the monster known as the homeless problem.

Take an old mental facility like Danvers State Hospital (I use this as an example because of the recent publicity due to the fire there, and the fact that it was the location set for the film “Session 9”, which I happened to like very much (good psychological thriller).

B and my take on this would be to have kept these buildings alive and well, with new, modern psychiatric treatments, and pleasing living situations for those incapable of functioning in the outside world. At the same time, major advances have been made in the field of psychiatry, psycho-biology, and psychiatric pharmacology, which allow for the treatment of many conditions that would have dictated the use of straight jackets and other forms of restraints only a few years ago.

Some will enter these facilities never to leave. Others, who could be treated, could be offered real vocational training (not the “basket weaving” garbage we used to offer people in institutions), and they could emerge prepared for assimilation into normal society!

Sure, we need a few local mental health facilities too. Some people to make sure the “meds” are being taken, the patient is working, and acting as a productive member of his or her neighborhood. We had these things once. In those days, and I remember them, we did not have a “homeless” problem. We had a few "bums", and what we used to call “Hobos”, but that was it. These were people who, for what ever reason, couldn't handle institutionalization, or the real world either, so they took there own path, and they truly were few and far between.

Imagine what would have happened if, instead of taking a dramatic, 180 degree turn from our approach to treating mental illness, we had taken a more logical approach.

Imagine what it would be like now, with all we have learned, and all our knowledge?

But that’s not mankind. That’s not us.

We are destined to learn everything the hard way, and this is really too bad for us all.

Jashua Bell plays DC subway (pretending to be a street musician).

In addition to all the rock and roll and jazz that my wife and I like (everything from Led Zep and the Stones, to Weather Report, to Miles Davis, Monk, Coltrane, and all the way back to fairly new stuff like My Morning Jacket), B and I also love classical music.

Recently, the child prodigy Joshua Bell (now 39 years of age), agreed to participate in a little test in a subway terminal in Washington D.C. The result? Well, you should read the article at the Washington Post. It's pretty good.

Going, going, GREEN!

Tom Friedman of the NYT has a great article with an economic/political (eco-political, as I like to say) analysis that makes sense, pure and simple.

You can read the entire piece at the International Herald Tribune.

Honey Bunny, and Bushy

Back to Don Imus for one last visit.

Much has been said about the double standard that exists among the persecutors of the I Man. He (Don Imus) himself cited the use of terms like the ones he used by people of the black race among their own society as an excuse for his being able to, and having the right to do the same, but it really does not work quite that way.

Let’s just say that my pet name for my wife was “Honey Bunny”. It’s not (got that one from Pulp fiction). Or let’s just say it was “Bushy”. It’s not, but got that from GWB, and what he and Laura call each other in private, but if it were, and my neighbor came over and said to my wife; Hay “honey Bunny”, I don’t think he would ever say it again, because at the very least I would, as would my wife, let him know where he stood, and that he was way out of line.

Is the use of bad language in reference to one another within the black community OK? Well no it’s not, but it is up to them, within their own society to stop it (yes, there exists a dual society, whether we like it or not), but it is their society, and their sub culture, and I can understand having this sub-culture, after having been treated the way they have been for so many years (you don’t have this in Europe. Believe me, as a frequent visitor there I know).

If I want to, with her permission, call my wife “Honey Bunny”, or “Bushy”, or anything else in the privacy of our home, or in front of others, it is our business, but let someone else address her by these terms, and it becomes a whole other matter.

I was a supporter of Imus, and to some degree I still am, but after his defensive stance on radio yesterday morning, I’m not so sure he gets it.

And that's the end of that.

How did it get like this? 

Tonight I got home from the office around eight (of the PM persuasion). My wife B told me a story that I love, and know very well, because I too do the same thing from time to time, sometimes with the same results.

B was over by the loft (in southern Manhattan), when she came upon a woman of about seventy five, or eighty, in a stoop, asking for money. B took out her wallet, and handed this old woman a $20. The woman broke into tears. She fell to the ground, crying, and saying; Thank you! After walking a bit past the woman, B went back to her and asked if she had any family, or any place to stay. "No" the woman sobed, and then B said; "I have friends, and if you are sincere, I will help you find a place to live, and recover from all this". To that the woman snareled; NO BITCH, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MORE MONEY FOR ME NOW, GET LOST!

Just a bit of life in NY, and yet it does not stop eiether of us. We know about how the homeless came to be (Reagan closing the mental hospitals, the neighborhood clinics, etc.), and we want to change it all. We will do it, espeacially with B's new work in charity/philanthropy, and our mutual comitment to both changing the system, and helping the indvidual.

If you want to know why we have so many homeless begging for food (including 80 year olds), ask a politician, on either side of the isle.

No, It's wrong! I am a capitalist, but what the market will "dictate" should never include those who are unable, or incapable, and a market that does, or a society that does is destined for failure.

Don Imus

First, just so I make this very important point, what Don Imus and Bernard McGuirk said was very wrong, and pretty low. I think that for the most part Don Imus is a cranky old coot, but that is his shtick, and whether or not it carries over into his personal life, I don’t know, but I have an idea that he is much more subdued when he is at home with son Wyatt, and wife Deirdre.

Because I know about all the great charity work he does, and as a champion of this kind of fundraising, and philanthropic work, and as a logical person, I’m willing to hear the man out.

I hate “political correctness”. I believe in calling it like it is, but at the same time, I do believe in “diplomacy”. There are simply lines one does not cross. There are jokes, and there are jerks that tell bad jokes.

I lived in LA when the Challenger exploded. There were people in bars and night clubs making jokes about it, and it was all I could do to walk away without saying, or doing something I would have regretted.

Unfortunately advertisers are pulling their ads from the Imus in the Morning time slot now, and the downward spiral doesn’t look good for the future of this morning show simulcast program.

What people fail to realize, is that while we all call him a jerk sometimes, we do so because he has, for the most part, been a likable jerk. He has made fun of every religion, every race, and just about everyone who has ever appeared on his show. It’s “shtick”, although he did cross the line with his comments about the Rutgers female basketball team. He has apologized however, and done so profusely. He has promised to use his show as a catalyst to make people aware of the wrongs that hurtful comments can cause for the average person (he often calls Hillary Clinton satan, and makes fun of Jews, Catholics, and the Reverend Jerry Falwell, but these people are thick skinned and capable of handling this sort of thing. A young black girl at a respected college is not fare game, so shame on you Don Imus. What you said stank, and you should do everything you can to make it right.

That said, I for one will give you a chance to do so. I will watch you after your suspension, and I will look for sincerity, and an effort to show some sensitivity to those who are doing a great job of making something of their lives, regardless of their race, religion, or ethenic haritage.

Vonage

The IPO made me cringe even before it happened, and I was not alone. Everyone in the know saw this one coming, and we all scratched our heads. So what will happen to this company that was born to bust? Om Malik has some ideas of his own.

Read the post at GigaOm, and be sure to check out the comments. Some good thoughts there too.

Read related story at TheDeal.com (subscription required).

Sleeper's

I'm a heavy duty sleeper. When I hit the pillow I'm gone, and I'm sometimes sorry because my wife tells me that I missed a good thunder storm, which I love.

Once in a while however, I can't sleep. I don't know why. It just happens every so often, and in order to not upset those who are in their bedland bliss, I creep out of ours very quietly, in search of FOOD in the REFRIGERATOR. Well, we all have our little vices, but I'm not at home right now, so rather than eating the whole ham that awaits our feasting tomorrow, I went to the cabinet in my sister- in law's house and had a self poured shot of "Old No. 7" Tennessee sour mash whiskey. As a Scotch drinker it was pretty hard to handle, (she has several scotch whiskies, but I felt like something different), and now I'm up posting. Ha! 

What about me?

Everyone who was ever a kid (all of us) remember leaving milk and cookies out for Santa, but when Easter came around no one ever thought about the guy who hops all over the place hiding eggs (hey, it's tough work to keep our little kids happy)!

Finally, someone who understands what it means to say; "Thanks"!

PS

I don't have Twitter, but we drove up the coast yesterday (Friday morning) and are having a great time with my in-laws in Santa Barbara.

HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND TO ALL!

TiVo

I have always liked TiVo, and so does Tom Evslin who writes about the benefits of these great devices that;

Can (do) everything the much-hyped Apple TV can do “and it’s already hooked up to your TV”.

Tom believes TiVo will play a major role in the future of “Internet TV”, and ultimately I hope, true on Demand TV, which if you read this blog you know I am passionate about!

Read the post at Fractals of Change.

Executive comp

I agree with fairly compensating the CEOs and other top executives who’s knowledge and decision making abilities lead their companies to higher profitability. I don’t have a problem with $60M packages when the company’s stock is strong and earning money for investors, but I take exception, and find it offensive when I hear about people like Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally receiving what amounts to approximately $28M for four months on the job.

OK, I know that to lure Mullaly away from Boeing some incentives had to exist, and I agree it was necessary to compensate for performance bonuses and stock option awards Mulally forfeited when he left boing, but a $7.5M signing bonus? That seems more than a little excessive, and would appear to be putting the cart before the horse.

Mulally's pay package at Ford included a $7.5 million hiring bonus, as well as $11 million that Ford described as an offset for forfeited performance and stock option awards at Boeing. In addition he received $55,469 for relocation costs and temporary housing. - Read the entire article at CNNMoney

The relocation costs are fully acceptable, but the $7.5M should come only after proven performance. If this guy is so confident in his ability to turn the auto maker around, this should not be a problem, otherwise, he should have kept his job building airplanes.

What a lucky man

We were all back in our hotel very early tonight. I am glad. We had a very nice dinner in the hotel restaurant. after a couple hours fresh up, rest up break, my Mom and B's daughter just came over from the room accross the hall to watch a movie that is about to start. We sent for room service. Drinks and Nachos. We will cuddle up and watch.

What a lucky man I am.

Some truly great advice for entrepreneurs

First some really great thoughts from Landon Swan, brother of Andy Swan. These are a couple of young entrepreneurs who are on top of the game for sure! They both remind me of myself just a short blink of an eye ago, and I know without a doubt, they are both headed in the right direction!

You can read Landon Swan’s post, and check out his new blog here (I’ll be checking it out often, and unlike his brother, I have no limit to my blog roll, so Landon is going in the right column as soon as I have time).

The other great post I read today comes from our friend Guy Kawasaki, who offers some really outstanding advice to those young firms seeking start-up capital. How to get the attention of a venture capitalist, is extremely good advice, and both Landon’s, and Guy’s posts are well worth the read.

KPCB thinks web 2.0 is basically done, looks for what’s to come in Web 3.0

You can read the story at The Deal Blogs.

Sramana Mitra comments there and has a somewhat different and interesting take which she posted about back in February of this year. You can read her post, and check out her blog at: Sramana Mitra.

Whatever happens next I think we all agree that the real ground breaking work in Web 2.0 has been accomplished, and we are all looking forward to what the next generation in internet innovation will bring. I’ll be watching closely.