Yearly Archive: 2017
If you tear up multi-lateral deals…
…then you eliminate your credibility as a participant in global treaties.
If Trump tears up Iran Deal even though Iran is complying, why would China or DPRK think he'd stick to a nuclear deal on Korean Peninsula? https://t.co/3GvaykEfIx
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) August 1, 2017
This should not be difficult to understand. However, the POTUS either has not understood this, or does not care.
A brief history of American immigration
This overview shows the various waves of immigration, driven by differing imperatives and events.
History also shows us that anti-immigrant sentiment in the USA is not exactly a new development. The insurgent candidacy of Millard Fillmore was driven by anti-immigration sentiment, that netted him 22% of the popular vote in the 1856 Presidential election.
Whisky Tango Foxtrot!
…in which a group of police on what was probably an illegal raid decided that since they thought they had destroyed the surveillance cameras, they would, um, let their guard down. Not noticing that there was a backup surveillance system.
The courts were not impressed.
Eegads – Sunday 30th July
If this poll is a fair reflection of the views of self-identified Republicans, this is frightening. It is communicating the message that 45% of the self-identified Republicans polled have no intrinsic respect for the principles of free speech as implemented in the First Amendment.
I am going to lay this out here. The idea of the First Amendment is that the government does not get to disallow or censor speech simply because it does not like what is being said. Closing media outlets is in total conflict with that principle. If you think that the idea of shutting down media outlets that you don’t like is OK, you are an enabler for totalitarianism and fascism.
Eegds……it has been a long week
…from Dallas to Frankfort to Dallas to Plano in 4 working days…Where The Hell Am I? (as Donald Fagen sang in 1980).
And off to Frankfort KY again as some utterly uneffingbelievable hour of the morning on Monday.
Conclusions from traveling to KY, in no particular sequence:
1. AA sucks at value for money for checked baggage
This last 2 weeks I have been continuing to check bags on American.
No more.
Last night I checked my bag for AA5746 2.5 hours ahead of scheduled departure from Louisville. The bag still failed to make it to DFW. I am expecting that it will be delivered to my house today. Of course, if I had not pointedly said to the baggage office person “I am working in Plano all day so you are going to send it to my house aren’t you?” they would not have offered to do a thing, and simply expected me to show up at GodForsakenHourO’Clock this morning and pick it up. $25 doesn’t get you much in the way of anything, it would seem.
2. They are a bunch of drunkards in Kentucky
Every where I go there are distilleries and wineries. There is also a recovery clinic next to my office. Go figure.
3. I will have to work on Sunday
Lots of documents to create and update. That is what happens when you arrive late on an in-flight project. Well, that, plus cat-herding to the max.
Tomorrow it is a bike ride, haircut, and removing half a f**kton of grass from raised beds. Then it will be time to hold a wild party with the cats, since Mary is in Okalhoma. Well, the way I currently feel, the cats will be partying and I will be sleeping.
Today’s Statement of the Totally Obvious
THEN DON'T FUCKING VOTE FOR IT https://t.co/mR177RlsOb
— Will McAvoy (@WillMcAvoyACN) July 25, 2017
Unhappy GOP senators complain about voting on ObamaCare repeal bill without knowing its details: https://t.co/Er9SFwJOku pic.twitter.com/jMxSmTl9wR
— The Hill (@thehill) July 25, 2017
Denying reality has a limited shelf-life
The most interesting project manager I interacted with in the UK was a guy with a team of around 8 people at Xerox Corporation.
He had a plaque prominently displayed on his desk bearing the inscription
If you don’t get the facts, the facts will get you
He had a love-hate relationship with his team. They loved his ability to speak truth to power and back them up all the way. They HATED his tendency to quiz the entire team and seemingly play Devil’s Advocate in meetings as he argued with team consensus.
I talked to him about that process. His comment to me was if you are going to tell your leadership the things that they need to hear, rather than what they want to hear, you had better be right, otherwise you will not be taken seriously once you are found out to be wrong once. In order to be right, you have to have the facts on your side. So his “Devils Advocate” style of interaction was deliberate, a tactic to ensure that his team was not simply making decisions based on expediency and groupthink. Confirmation bias can be very distorting in members of a team.
This article in Forbes explains very compellingly why the GOP, since they took total control of the Legislative and Executive branches, has been unable to make much progress on most of their legislative agenda. Quite simply, many of their legislative ideas conflict with reality and facts. That means that sooner or later the painful reality check appears on the scene. The mess over the ACA is but one example of this.