Cliff? What cliff?

Last month, I came across an article in the New York Times about the role of government in the marketplace. It briefly touches on the financial crisis that led to TARP and the so-called $787 billion "stimulus" bill. More directly, however, the author presents a view that highlights the dangers of politicizing the individual and major sectors of the economy. Fundamentally, the effect of inserting political influence over critical areas of the market (an effort that has been going on for several decades) by default creates additional "special interests" that because of their role in underpinning our financial and regulatory systems, must be "protected" at all costs, rather than allowing pure market forces to self-correct the issues. Much like the new hate crimes law, which adds special protections to certain classes of people, the over-involvement of government in our economy creates a privileged set of market sectors. From the Times (emphasis mine):

"President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the birth of a military-industrial complex. Today we have a financial-regulatory complex, and it has meant a consolidation of power and privilege. We’ve created a class of politically protected “too big to fail” institutions, and the current proposals for regulatory reform further cement this notion. Even more worrying, with so many explicit and implicit financial guarantees, we are courting a bigger financial crisis the next time something major goes wrong.

We should stop using political favors as a means of managing an economic sector. Unfortunately, though, recent experience with health care reform shows we are moving in the opposite direction and not heeding the basic lessons of the financial crisis. Finance and health care are two separate issues, of course, but in both cases we’re making the common mistake of digging in durable political protections for special interest groups."

By no means am I an expert on the economy, nor do I hold any particularly strong opinion on the level of regulation required to ensure that consumers and investors are protected from predatory institutions. I am, however, a firm believer in liberty and the right to buy, sell or use whatever product I choose, and to be able to make my own choices based on what I believe is the best value to me. When it comes to health care, I would highly prefer an a la carte solution so that I could pick and choose coverage benefits that make the most sense to me and my family. However, due to government regulation AND insurance provider restrictions, that will never come to pass. I do not want the government telling me what options I get to choose from, and neither do I think the government should dictate to insurance providers what "minimum standards" of coverage should be enforced. Otherwise, I end up with coverage I don't need at a price that can only be explained if the cost is actually intended to pay for somebody else's coverage. Which, of course, is precisely the intent of this proposed overhaul of health care. And, based on this breakdown of tax increases found inside the latest House bill, it means everybody is going to pay. (h/t: Hot Air)

So again, coming full circle, we have a stimulus that the administration claims has created or saved a million jobs, at a cost to the taxpayer that amounts to several hundred million dollars per job. How much do these jobs pay? Not that much, so where did the money really go? But we've been told that the institutions that received bailouts were "too big to fail" and that the gargantuan stimulus was necessary to save a million jobs. Why is it the government's responsibility to save or create any jobs in the first place? And that assumes any jobs were created in the first place, as even the AP and CBS question. Isn't it nice to know that our taxpayer dollars helped 129 people at a day care get raises?

The New York Times article closes with a final thought that I have no doubt will fall on deaf ears (emphasis mine):

"In short, we should return both the financial and medical sectors and, indeed, our entire economy to greater market discipline. We should move away from the general attitude of “too big to take a pay cut,” especially when the taxpayer is on the hook for the bill. If such changes sound daunting, it is a sign of how deep we have dug ourselves in. We haven’t yet learned from the banking crisis, and we’re still moving in the wrong direction pretty much across the board."

Eventually, everything is going to go bust, resulting most likely in even greater government control and influence over the markets. And we will quite possibly live to see it. I don't think even Alexander Hamilton would have gone quite this far.

But then again, I'm no expert. After all, America is "too big to fail," right? Follow the links; there's interesting stuff there.

Snap Circuits

I graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. But like all too many, I stopped doing pure engineering work years ago as I began climbing the proverbial corporate ladder. Sadly, I'm likely too far gone to get back into any serious engineering tasking that doesn't involve process and data analysis.

Yesterday was my oldest son's 10th birthday. My wife found an awesome gift that he latched onto immediately: Snap Circuits by Elenco. While the product fares pretty light in explaining the physics, just watching him dive into circuit "design" using these kid-friendly, but still discrete electrical components was enough to make me wonder if an educational tool like this could have aided even college students, at least in terms of general EE concepts for circuit design. It really is pretty nifty.

I may have to, uh, borrow the kit and bring it to work for, um, additional research. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Kyrie eleison

Like others who came of age in the 1980's, the first time I ever heard the term Kyrie eleison was courtesy the 1985 hit song by Mr. Mister. It was years later before I learned of its early Christian origins.

The human soul, in its fallen state, has an almost instinctive and desperate need for mercy. While many run from any such admission, is there a man or woman in this world who has not quietly cried out for relief, mercy or forgiveness? These mysterious Greek words, at least for me, tap something within me beyond what the English translation is able to reach. For while many at some point have called out to the Lord for mercy, a softly whispered Kyrie eleison conveys in me a mystical assurance that I've been heard. The words, of course, matter little compared to the posture of the heart. Nevertheless, the prayer remains potent.

Kyrie Eleison (Lord have Mercy)

Kyrie, hear this feeble prayer
As I seek to find my way
In a place drowning in the decibels of dread
Where the spirit languishes for peace
For ears to hear.

Kyrie eleison.

Kyrie, your Word is a song
On the lips of the living
And where the soul struggles for every breath
Live I in this world
Straining to hear.

Kyrie eleison.

Kyrie, I cannot last this way
Knowing what I know and
Failing to express the Truth that flickers within
For I am a sinner
In desperate need of You.

Kyrie eleison.

Exhausted in the Clutch

Every now and then, I'm reminded of a bumper-sticker style statement that often shows up on office novelty products. It says something like "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." Unfortunately, the bulk of my career has been spent proving the opposite. Hence the inspiration for the tagline of this blog.

I've been asking myself some tough questions lately. At their core are the nature of leadership and integrity. Integrity demands that regardless of the situation I'm handed, I must put forth the effort to deliver the best solution I possibly can, because mediocrity should be avoided. Leadership - and yes, you can "lead" even from behind the elephant - leadership demands that I limit the external display of disgruntlement and tackle the challenge with positive energy.

I am a firm believer in the concept of continuous improvement. There are always ways to do things better, and these should result in a relentless pursuit of excellence. A top quality effort is almost always rewarded, although that reward may be manifested in different ways at different times. For me, excellence is of greater value than any reward that may follow.

Good leadership plans ahead, manages resources well, and acknowledges achieving efforts. Integrity in leadership is illustrated by cultivating an environment that elicits the best, respects all, and enables growth and development all the while executing the day-to-day business. Above all, integrity requires truth - you cannot have integrity without truth.

Being able to come through in the clutch has its benefits. Being able to deliver the tying or winning runs with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th can be a great feeling. But when every day is an impossible situation requiring a Herculean effort, the effects are exhausting. You can be a great clutch-hitter, but it's hard to be clutch every moment. And it is even harder when you harbor doubts about the organization. Once in a while, it would be nice to win the game in a blowout with everybody, especially at the top, working to build the team and create the environment that allows for less drama and more efficient and sensible business execution.

As I evaluate myself, I have to acknowledge my failures as a leader in the organization, as I have allowed my frustration with others in management to taint my views of the organization. Evaluating my own integrity in work performance is a little harder - other than perhaps it is a demonstration of integrity that I continuously fight for common sense approaches. I believe things can be made better, but do not have enough leverage to single-handedly make it so. So depsite what may be poor planning by others, I suppose I must accept the role and let it become an emergency on my part. Because that's my job.

Of course, it has also been said that "Quitters never win, and winners never quit, but those who never quit AND never win are idiots." Heh. Not sure what do with that one.

So I will press on, for now. I've got two days to deliver.

Run, for fun?!

One of the most humbling reality checks for a guy approaching 40 is to realize that the level of physical fitness he may have enjoyed in his 20's is mostly obliterated by 15 years behind a desk and computer screen. After high school, I was a steady 170. At 38, I've put on another 45. Of course, I've no one to blame. After the kids were born, my days of playing 2-4 softball games a week were over, and I simply didn't do what I needed to do to stay in shape. I am trying to eat better (and less), and while that has helped in dropping the first 6-9 pounds, I've got a long way to go. Of course, that last sentence implies that I actually have a goal. Which I don't, really, unless of course, the goal is less.

I thought about this again recently, as my 20th high school reunion came and went without my presence. (I attended my 10th, and was somewhat underwhelmed, so attending the 20th wasn't a high priority). Besides, the reunion conflicted with already set plans for a vacation in Orlando. The vacation was okay, but the highlight was actually a 3K run/walk called Disney's Race for the Taste. The main event for the generally insane was a 10K that went between parks, but we opted for the 3K, which was confined to Epcot.

Now, I've told anyone who cares to listen a thousand times just how much I dislike distance running. Give me a glove and bat and a ball field, and I'll run. But running/jogging is not what I consider "fun." Just ask my knees. So why was this event the highlight of the trip?

My oldest son doesn't have the same level of interest my younger son has for team sports. However, he does like to run, and he appears to be built for it physically (he doesn't have my knock-kneed physique). Thinking that perhaps he might be interested in cross-country someday, we decided to enter the 3K portion of the Race for the Taste. Once we paid the registration fee, that meant that we had committed ourselves, and that meant training. So as a family, we ventured out to a local 1/4 mile track several times over a period of about 6 weeks, gearing up for the 3K. And that required getting this no-longer-20 body out on a track, while my oldest ran circles around me. But the preparation was important, and proved helpful. The crowd and the width of the track made it somewhat difficult to maintain a consistent pace, and by no means were we able to run the whole thing. In fact, I figure we probably only ran a max of 3/4 mile in spurts. But we were able together to complete the 3K race around Epcot in 30 minutes.

So why was this the highlight of the trip? A couple of reasons: 1) We ran as a family. I was surprised to discover that running/training with someone is better for me than doing it alone. 2) It was a real race with a finish line, rather than just running circles around a track. 3) We had to push ourselves to make our goal time of 30 minutes. Surprisingly, that felt good. 4) Finally, I got to run with my son, and together, we did ourselves proud.

Of course the question remains, do we continue? There are any number of local races and opportunities. I still don't like to run. But if my son remains interested, I won't refuse. And just maybe it would help me get into better shape.

Sigh. My knees are going to just love me.

Lunar Water, Lunar Rockets

In my almost daily dive into the informational smorgasbord of the net, I often happen upon essays or articles that peak my interest. If the topic inspires new thought or ideas, I copy down and save off the links for further review and comment. As it is difficult to carve out time for writing in the midst of work and family time, I have assembled quite a backlog of topics for blog posts.

Since I last posted on the topic of manned space flight, the presence of water has been discovered on the moon. Are you kidding me!? This is a monumental discovery that dramatically changes the math for moon exploration. This news came within days of the release of the Augustine Panel's summary report - which among other things suggest that NASA's budget is insufficient to support a moon-to-Mars set of milestones. With the planned retirement of the shuttle next year, and the developmental delays besetting the Ares program, the United States is on the verge of conceding the pioneering edge to other nations. While the vision of both the government and NASA bureacracies bear much of the blame, the issue is a matter of will. In today's political climate, you get the sense that space exploration is fading fast as a national priority. Yet I wonder, how will we as a nation "feel" when countries like India are the ones making discoveries of water on the moon, as perhaps China or the Europeans or even the Russians push towards the moon to exploit the discovery of a potentially viable resource that enables semi-permanent colonization (think Gold Rush here)? I had not yet been born when Sputnik launched, but I would anticipate a similar sense of defeatism should the future of manned space flight be relinquished to others. This is another reason I am an advocate of commercializing the venture. If governments lead the way, space exploration will be as nationalized as our planet. Who gets to draw the borders on the moon? Those who get there first and stay there.

Nevertheless, there are some cool things happening. I don't remember how I found it, so I cannot provide the standard obligatory hat/tip, but a contest is underway called the 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. The video embedded below is one of two in this brief article at SpaceFellowship.com. You'll have to watch the video until the end to get the proper size perspective of the vehicle. While it might be worth a comment to consider how a vaunted contractor such as Grumman (okay, Northrup-Grumman) has to consider subcontracting designs of a lunar lander after their dominance of the technology during Apollo, I love the fact that innovation hasn't yet disappeared from the American landscape.



The X-Prize Foundation, which is sponsoring the challenge, has more information, including additional video of lander designs from other competitors. Check it out.

Illumination

Of all the nightly displays of fireworks at the Disney parks, the clear favorite in my book is the one put on by EPCOT. IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. The presentation has been known to bring grown men to tears, and I am certainly no exception. Combining a powerful display of story, music and pyrotechnics, IllumiNations somehow manages to breach all defenses with a literal and figurative light straight into the courts of the heart.

As I once said, music has the power to reach deep into the soul and express those mysteries for which there simply are no words. Yet the music alone cannot explain the impact of this show. And while the fireworks are brilliant, they too do not singly spear the heart and enlighten the mind. It is something more than the words of the story narration that I suspect few ever really remember. Rather, the combination of these elements within an atmosphere of watchful anticipation brings our experience of these precious minutes into an almost symphonic focus. Words and thought can only get in the way of this purely sensory experience. Indeed, I know my own attempts are woefully inadequate. Yet I am compelled.

Sentry flames alight around the circumference of the lagoon, heralding the moment of gathering. Ripples of light dance across the surface of the water, pulling the senses into a brief period of inner calm just before flares announce the opening downbeat. Sights and sounds take over the intellectual function, the gathered masses transforming from sentients of thought into creatures of being. Kaleidoscopic fountains of water in the midst of the lagoon dance lightly in time even as a billowing inferno erupts with raw, destructive but somehow alluring power. Intense light and incredible heat buffets the body in waves, yet to turn away is impossible. Fire, (such fire!) alights the eyes and quickens the breath. Laser lights fill the sky, and rockets from right beneath the feet launch on a rising trajectory across the way leaving glittering entrails across the sky.

From the chaos of free, unbroken spirit comes a soaring song. This universal melody speaks of a world united, not by government, but by the miracle of creation itself. Humanity's wonderful achievements cannot match the single most astounding accomplishment of all, one for which we can make no claim: life. Order was introduced by a word spoken by a Creator, a word men can accept or reject, but cannot author. This soaring song crescendos to a climax, when intensely bright lights pierce the eyes in exhilarating triumph.

The dramatic conclusion brings the height of emotion to the surface, the applause rings out from the vast circle of unseen humanity across the newly darkened waves. The lights return, the Reflections without suddenly revert to reflection within, as I catch my breath, wipe my face and wonder just what it is we have collectively experienced. No bright light, no amount of ale can explain why the eyes of grown men water uncontrollably. Slowly, the presence of my children bring me back to the present reality. But the meaning of the moment doesn't fade entirely, as a glance across the lagoon horizon gives way to the moon rising over Mexico.

Illumination? Perhaps for a moment. But the briefest spark of illumination can ignite the innermost dreams and passions and understanding that drive us onward, upward to the present that awaits us. And understanding is key. For despite the foolish hope of temporal utopia, wisdom comes when we acknowledge the unending war between chaos and order and learn to see that until eternity arrives, we will always - and most desperately - yearn for inner meaning and those blinding, fleeting moments of illumination. And for this perhaps, we cry.

On Vacation in the Premier Tourist Trap of the World

This week finds me in Orlando, the premier tourist trap in all the known galaxy. We're here courtesy of family, taking advantage of a timeshare reservation that allows us to minimize our costs and to enjoy time with extended family.

While it is no secret that I long for other destinations to experience inner refreshment, I have to admit that there is much to appreciate about Disney. Attention to detail, for example. Walt Disney the man was a dreamer, and despite failures, never stopped dreaming. Frankly, there aren't enough people taught to dream. Those that do are quickly doused by the cynical logic of realists in our frontier-less western society. As a parent, it is difficult to encourage dreams in my children while at the same time trying to prepare them to survive in "the real world."

Indeed, as much as I would love to find a way to let my inner child out in a place like this, people tend to get in the way. The masses of humanity are drawn to places like this, and they bring with them their culture, their manners (or lack thereof), and the remarkable ability to look everywhere but where they are going. Indeed, we all walk around these places as if the crowd doesn't exist, and we stop right in the middle of the pedestrian traffic lanes without regard to others around us. We experience life in our own little bubbles, and often only acknowledge others when they impede our progress or invade our personal spaces.

To be certain, it is fascinating how often you find yourself standing in line next to visitors who don't speak your language. You want to experience multiculturalism, this is definitely the place. Ironically, it can also be rather isolating.

Disney speaks to those things that may well be universal to the lighter side of the human condition. But aside from the global influences that have impacted our worldview (everything from environmentalism to political correctness), one thing you can say about Disney (the man and the enterprise) is that at its core, it is most certainly all about free enterprise. My wallet can attest to that. And for this fact, I am actually very thankful.