PBS Special Today

Okay, so I get it. Essentially, we were led down a path by the Bush Administration that could only end up in our invading Iraq. The majority of the media, politicians and military leadership all allowed President Bush to convince them that he was right and that for various reasons (another 9/11, stability in the Middle East, oil revenue, weapons of mass destruction)it was this country's responsibility to sort things out over there. George Tenet said absolutely nothing that I'm aware of that would would have led anyone to believe his intelligence community was being used by the White House although others clearly questioned the reports, especially in Europe where I was living at the time.

All in all it was a very interesting report, but entirely based on a lens looking through the rear view window. I don't think that I learned anything new and while it was historically relative, it didn't show me how we are going to fix this situation. Where's the solution? I got it that Bush manipulated things and I got it that most everyone was unwilling to stand up and argue the toss, but what I don't get is how we are going to address the realities facing this country. Saying we have had enough and don't want to play anymore isn't a solution anymore than believing that the situation can be reversed with more troops. Neither Party is looking at this problem with a solution oriented lens.

Reality 1: Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and Israel are all participants in one fashion or the other and all have to be involved in securing a settlement.

Reality 2: George Bush and his administration have no international credibility and cannot lead the region to a negotiated settlement. This is a lame duck President, nationally and internationally.

Reality 3: We cannot, as a nation, continue to incur the costs of this conflict, either in terms of the lives that are being lost or the financial burden it is placing on us in the years to come.

Reality 4: While the politicians pose and position themselves for 2008 our troops are dying and more will die if we don't end this thing.

Reality 5: We can't just pull out of the region and leave the Kurds and Sunni's to fend for themselves. I don't want that much blood on this country's hands. Do you? Plus, what do you think Iran and Syria are going to do once we pull out?

I read a comment that Hilary made with respect to Bill's role in her administration should she be elected. Well, I don't think this country will elect her (that is not to say that I don't think she is qualified to be President....I just don't believe she will get elected), but I do think that her plan for Bill is intriguing. In fact, I think it is exactly what we need right now along with Jimmy and George Sr.

Hear me out here folks. Bill and George Sr. have formed quite a comfortable working relationship through their efforts on Katrina. Jimmy would have immediate credibility with the Arab world based on his balanced view towards Israel. Put the three together and ask them to help the nation find a way out of the crisis. Give them global standing to at least negotiate for the country and send them on a mission to get us out of there. I know it sounds a lot like that film with the old astronauts who traveled to the asteroid to save the world by blowing it up before it entered our atmosphere, but don't completely dismiss the analogy. Perhaps some elder statesmen without an immediate political agenda is exactly what we need to find a solution. And while Bill is obviously connected to 2008 through Hilary I don't think he would refuse to participate and be part of the team that negotiates our future in the Middle East. Moreover, I think he may be the brightest of the three and perhaps the most intelligent President we have seen in a very long time. He has national credibility (no one really thinks his personal affairs are especially important anymore given the current administration....do they?)and certainly global credibility!

Worth a thought anyway because I haven't seen a single plan without serious drawbacks on one level or the other and time is getting short folks. We need to find a solution that works for all the parties engaged in this conflict.

Finally, I have to apologize for not staying the course and moving away from politics. I just believe that sometimes you have to say what you feel even if there aren't that many folks listening. Thinking out loud is good for the soul.

No Clear Winner........

All the pundits have declared that there wasn't a clear winner. I liked Joe Biden, John Edwards, and that mean old man, whoever the hell he was. They all seem to have found religion and are absolutely certain that they were either: a. Right to oppose the invasion, but equally right to vote to fund it, or b; They were wrong to vote for it and it is a mistake that they will take to their graves, or c; She was misinformed and therefore has nothing to apologize for and is not going to apologize.

I suppose the reality is that one of them is probably going to be in the White House in 2008 and that he or she can't do a whole lot worse than the guy currently in charge. Still, I can't abide the way they are attempting to manage the Iraq debate and I can't believe that we are going to walk away once again from a situation just because it is politically expedient to do so. There will be countless lives lost if we withdraw suddenly just as there were countless lives lost in Vietnam after we left as well as Cambodia.

Okay, enough said on this issue. I never intended this blog to be politically focused and I'm not going to take it down that path now. I've said my piece and starting tomorrow I'll get back to writing about things that don't cause my blood pressure to jump off the meter.

Sleep tight folks.

Today, Again.............

Watching Bill Maher at the moment (remember that you need balance to ensure you have perspective)and also just thinking about the fact that the House passed the "We Have Declared Defeat in Iraq" bill today. Sorry. I'm a former Marine as many folks know and I find it difficult to accept a group of politicians that think the way to build their political fortune is to participate in the downfall of this country. Shall we go ahead and line up the aircraft carriers so that we can heave the helicopters off the sides once they have evacuated the flag and few remaining politicians?

I'm a pretty reasonable guy most of the time and I'm also a very practical person who isn't afraid of reality. No, it isn't going well in Iraq and I have serious doubts about the current administration's ability to lead us out of this horrible situation. But I can't abide sacrificing our country's honor for the sake of political expediency. Can we just stop the shit politics and have a reasonable discussion about what to do about this situation that most of the politicians in office today voted to engage? I'm not siding with Bush here folks. I siding with America! It's not personal and it is certainly not meant to offend anyone.

If you had a company in trouble then you would want to consider all the possibilities and make the most prudent decisions about the future based on what is best for the whole company, not just the shareholders or the employees or the Board. It's the same way in this situation. It isn't just what's best for the troops or what is best for either political party. What is best for America folks? Have we really had a decent debate about "What's Best For America"?

Sunday Afternoon

It's been one of those funny weekends where you sit back on Sunday afternoon and wonder what you accomplished. We went to Sarah and Glen's last night for their first Bar-B-Que of the year and to celebrate Glen's birthday. Glen is the CEO of a major division of a Fortune 500, but you would never know it by the way he behaves; i.e.: he is unassuming, seems to put his ego aside at these gatherings (I suspect he is a tad different at work) and is just a genuinely nice guy. I always manage to have a delightful time, drink far too much and wake up wishing I'd been a bit more careful. I also wish I had taken my camera as it would have been nice to get a few pictures for my diary.

Anyway, after a late breakfast I sat down at desk and I'm still here. I've been working on finding a job as it appears that Patrick D. Gaul, Inc. is not going to be as financially rewarding as I had first hoped, at least not the short run. After reviewing the bank balances I recognize that I am going to have to jump back into the market, which is really okay since I've had a good break and I'm really rested and ready for another opportunity. I'm leaning towards a senior sales position as opposed to finding another CEO opportunity because at the end of the day it is what I really enjoy; it is what I'm talented at doing; and it is a role that has always provided enormous satisfaction. Finally, and probably most important, I like selling. I just created a Squidoo Lens, which you can find by going to www.squidoo.com/successfulselling. It is is my sidebar of links. Take a look and be sure to leave a message about what you think. I'm really interested in any feedback.

Tough week with the Virginia Tech coverage dominating the airwaves. I think sometimes you just have to give folks some space, and this is one of those times. I pray for the families and hope the good Lord gives them comfort, and I pray that no one makes any assumptions about Asians because the kid who did this evil thing was born in South Korea. He was obviously a very sick person and it is so unfortunate that no one was able to do something to help him. I do believe however that we need to think seriously about how guns are purchased in this country and make a concerted effort to create a rigid set of standards that are applied on a national basis. We should require a license to own a gun and that license should be no different from a drivers license in that certain criteria must be met before the license is issued. You know, having to go to a "Department of Firearms Safety" and register for a course in gun safety before being allowed to purchase the weapon would be an interesting approach. It might slow a lot of people down and cause a bit of grief with the gun lobby, but it might also give us an opportunity to observe someone before they are handed a weapon capable of destroying human lives.

Nothing on the political front worth discussing this week. I'm learning more about John Edwards and liking what I'm learning, especially some of the things he has written recently about the environment. I saw Tom Friedman on this morning's talk shows........I think he is coming out with The World Is Flat, Version 3.0. He had some very interesting things to say about the environment and has a documentary coming out this week on the Discovery Channel. I need to record it assuming I get the Discovery Channel.

Hope all is well with everyone and that your weekend was not as unproductive as mine, or Joe's for that matter. Poor guy just couldn't keep his eyes open.

Ellie's Nine

Happy Birthday to Ellie, who turned nine today. She and I enjoyed the last Hawks game of the season together and we had a delightful time, which was made all the better by the fact that the Hawks actually won the game. They beat the Pacers 118 to 102 and had four players with over 20 points. Wow! Now if only that had happened about 10 or 15 times more during this past season we would be headed for the playoffs instead of the showers. In fairness to the Hawks management, they did answer my email and we agreed I would wait awhile before finalizing my decision about not renewing my season tickets. They indicated that there would be some changes made and asked me to wait a few months. I guess they are holding my seats until that time, but given where I've been sitting I suppose they reckon they can always sell them to someone else if required to do so.

Anyway, Ellie had a fun time and managed to get a Hawks sweat shirt to go with her Hawks bear. It was after all her birthday and sometimes it's okay to spoil them a little bit.

Could not watch anymore coverage on the Virginia Tech tragedy........so many angles being played out with the gun control lobby using it as a platform for pushing their agenda while the NRA pushes back and reminds us that "people kill people, not guns". I think we we ought to be focused on the victims and not the lobbyist in DC pushing political agendas. But as long as it is on the burner, my position remains the same. We need very strong national standards for registration and a wait period during which there is an actual background check conducted. I might even go as far as to say that there should be an interview conducted by someone from the local authority to ensure a person wanting to purchase a handgun is eyeballed by someone other than the guy trying to collect his cash. How someone can walk into a store and walk out with a 9mm and 50 rounds of ammunition is beyond me. "He didn't say why he wanted the gun" is what the store owner said when interviewed. I don't know folks, sometimes don't ask, don't tell isn't the best strategy. Bear with me here. I'm not saying we should ban handguns, but we should be very prudent about the acquisition process and do our best to understand who is buying them and why. Finally, I think the "people kill people" thinking is probably right, but giving those people easy access to guns just facilitates the act and doesn't make sense.

Well, just after midnight and I promised myself I would start going to bed a tad earlier than I have over the past few weeks. I often find myself reading at 3:00 a.m. and wonder why I'm tired in the morning. I need to find a more engaging role for myself so that my days are more fully occupied; i.e.: I need to find a job. It has been interesting working on my own, but not very satisfying financially.

Mom had a good visit with the Doctor yesterday and seemed to be somewhat more alert and cheerful today. I think it will take her awhile to recover and they need to get her meds sorted as well. We have a family reunion planned for early August and everyone is hoping that she will be well enough to attend. These family gatherings have become a tradition over the past decade or so and Mom enjoys seeing her grandchildren, great grandchildren and her great-great grandchildren. It's a treat when we have five generations sitting around the garden enjoying the feeling of belonging to the clan. I know we won't have her around forever, but we pray that she will be with us as long as possible.

Hope everyone has a wonderday day tomorrow.

Okay, It's Official. I'm Running..............

Yes, after much debate and careful consideration, I've decided to announce my candidacy for the position of President of the United States. You can find my formal posting at www.u4prez.com, where I posted my announcement this evening. Now all I have to do is raise 40 to 50 million dollars, get several thousand signatures on a petition and I'll be in the hunt. I reckon the worst case scenario is I end up as Vice President to one of these "front runners" who want me out of the game so I don't steal a lot of votes. Of course, that won't happen easily as they have to prove they can actually beat me first. Stayed tuned as I'm certain it will be a close race once I get a few million under my belt.

Meanwhile, Mom is out of the hospital and on the mend, albeit slowly. She is after all nearly 89 years old and bouncing back does get harder as the years advance. I spoke with her this afternoon and while she was not having a great day, I did manage to solicit a laugh or two on the subject of children. There has also been emails flying all over the place as our family discusses the latest episode and tries to determine how we engage the situation if things do get worse. The good news is that we are all living longer through the miracle of modern medicine. The bad news is that we are all living longer through...............I'm reminded of something Rosalynn Carter said awhile back: "There are four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers; those who currently are caregivers; those who will be caregivers; and those who need caregivers". My sister Judy and her husband John have been remarkable caregivers over nearly a decade since they agreed to have Mom live with them and our family has done a respectable job of trying to contribute whenever and however possible. It makes me wonder however about those families who don't have the ways or means to help out or even a primary caregiver to lead the charge. We are all getting older and unless one is taking exceptional care of one's health the future could be quite murky.

I wrote a firm letter to the Hawks management today and basically told them that I had lost confidence in their ability to build a successful franchise and that I would not be renewing my season tickets. No response as yet.

I see Mr. Imus bit the dust. Good! Now, let's get a few more of these creeps off the radio waves and perhaps we can lower the hate index a bit, assuming of course that there is a hate index. I mean, we have a doomsday index and environmental gauges...........why not a hate index that measures the tension between the various races in America? I'd be willing to bet that sucker is in the red zone at the moment and bouncing on the "would you believe" zone. Is there actually anything wrong with being polite to one another? I mean, it's okay to disagree and actually it is a pretty healthy sign that the constitution is still alive and well when we disagree. But do we have to call each other so many names in order to validate our point of view? I don't know about you, but my Mom used to wash my mouth out with soap if I used the wrong language as a child. Perhaps that is how we should manage these radio and television shock commentators..........

Okay, must run to watch the Soprano's. Last season you know. Everyone have a delightful evening and I hope you each have a very successful week.

Tuesday Afternoon

Spent a couple of hours with my Mom at the hospital today. She seems to be recovering from her Easter Sunday asthma attack, which of course did not occur until we had departed for home after having spent an otherwise delightful afternoon with my sister Judy and her husband John, and my brother Joe who had driven down from North Carolina. I'm informed their Sunday evening was a bit more exciting than mine, but then Mom is nearly 89 years old and these things do happen on occasion. The good news is that she is on the mend and should be home soon.

Could not help but notice all the ruckus over Don Imus and his stupid remark. I have never listened to the guy myself or any other political "shock jock" for that matter. I find them all boring, but I don't think the insults that they spew over the waves are only relevant if you listen to them. Remember that old saying about the tree falling in the forest when there is no one around to hear the noise associated with the fall? You know, is there still a noise if no one is there to hear the sound? The play on that of course is the infamous; "if a man is alone in the forest and there is no one around to hear him when he says something, is he still wrong?" Now, let's take this one step further and ask if a conservative or liberal talk show host spews some insult across the radio waves and there is no one listening, is he or she still a jerk? Some folks have suggested that the market should determine what happens to Mr. Imus. Me, well I think he should be fired and the FCC should ban him for at least a year! In fact, I think we need to insist that he is fired and inform the sponsors of the network that if he isn't fired then we will boycott their products until he is fired. The fact is the market isn't you or me, it's all those right wing fundamentalists who listen to him and think that what he said was actually okay because he meant no real harm. Hey guys, you know that myth about our personality changing as we get older? Well, the reality is that it is just that, a myth and nothing is going to change the deep-seated bigotry that resides behind his remarks. Imus is not a good person, he is a racist and a bigot and this country needs to start setting some serious rules and guidelines for these folks. Where is the Commissioner of the FCC? Forget the network because they are only going to want him back because this ruckus is going to make him more popular allowing them to sell more advertising and make more money. The FCC needs to take this decision and they need to take it now and send a message to the whole bloody political radio community.........but then of course this is only my humble opinion.

Speaking of taking action. I see the Hawks finally took some action against Josh Smith's foul language. I just wonder why it took so long for them to recognize that this kid has a real problem with controlling his anger and his mouth. He is a spoiled child who gets angry when things don't go his way and he uses the "F" word all the time even though there are kids in the stands less than 20' from him. I am absolutely delighted that they are fining him $40K and sitting his rear on the bench. Of course it doesn't matter at this point in their season and they can take this stand without doing any harm to what is already an embarrassing season. I wonder if they would have taken the same action if the team were in contention for a playoff spot? Oh well, guess we will never know the answer to that question.

Finally, someone asked me for the link to the folks at Clifton StrengthsFinder.......you can find out more about this amazing field at http://sf2.strengthsfinder.com/research and also at http://sf2.strengthsfinder.com/faq. To learn more about the books you can go to http://sf2.strengthsfinder.com/learnmore.

Have a nice evening folks.

Self Reflection

Over the course of the past few weeks I have been delving into the science of positive psychology, which is "a framework, or a paradigm, than encompasses an approach to psychology from the perspective of healthy, successful life functioning". The topics include optimism, positive emotions, spirituality, happiness, satisfaction, personal development and well being. Have taken the "StrengthsFinder" assessment, I have identified my five most dominant themes of talent and having read several books on the strengths movement I was ready to sit down and examine the results. Surprisingly (or not), I found that my five dominant themes (there are thirty-four in all) of talent actually resonate with my thinking about who I am and what I do well. Talent, by the way, is defined as those recurring patterns of thought, feeling or behavior that you can productively apply. Strength is defined as "consistent near perfect performance of an activity". The idea is that once you identify your talents you apply knowledge and skills to build strength and by focusing on building strength you become a more successful person. You are strongly encouraged to avoid focusing on your weaknesses as excellence is only achieved by developing strengths.

Okay, so I have my five dominant themes (Adaptability, Empathy, Communication, Learner and Intellection........the rank order is relative, but only slightly and certainly not enough to matter according to The Gallup Organization, the firm that stands behind much of the work done in this area) and my challenge now is to determine how I can build on this knowledge and leverage it to ensure that I seek roles that allow me to maximize my strengths. Actually, this is good stuff and it makes sense. Why should we spend all those hours focused on improving our weaknesses when in reality they are often not weaknesses at all, but rather just areas in which we don't have any talent? Take Empathy for example: according to my assessment, I have a talent for sensing the emotions of those around me. I have always described it as being sensitive to the feelings of others, but let's not split hairs. On the other hand, I have worked with numerous colleagues over the years that had absolutely zero time for emotions or the feelings of others. In fact, they often criticized me for me too sensitive, for caring too much, or not being more aloof. On the other hand, I have also worked with folks who sensed that I possessed this talent and would use me to gauge the temperature when we were about to launch a major project that had organizational implications. I have also on occasion acted as a buffer between a boss who did not have a talent for empathy and others in the organization who had to interact with him or her. I don't think I have ever thought about it as a talent per se, but now that I understand that it is indeed a talent I can nurture it and use it in combination with my other talents to become a better person.

I know that this is rather deep for a Monday afternoon, but the whole approach is consistent with one of my other talents, namely that of being a "Learner", which means that I love to learn and that for me the process is more exciting than achieving any specific outcome. Reading about this particular theme of talent really helped me understand why I have always been so comfortable with having never completed any of the degree programs I engaged; i.e.: it has never been about the degree. It has always (for me) been about the process of learning. I always feel the best about myself when I'm striving to learn.......when I reading a history book or studying the science of search engine optimization or learning about film editing......it often doesn't matter what it is that I've decided to learn about as long as it interests me on some level. The fact that this talent can also be strength doesn't surprise me, but confirming it through learning absolutely delights me.

Okay, so the message for today is that perhaps you too should learn about your talents and think about your real strengths before you allow some well meaning HR department to send you off to work on your weaknesses. Remember, excellence is achieved by maximizing our strengths and that a strength is "consistent near perfect performance in an activity"!

Spring Break Update

The NCAA Champions were crowned last night and my congratulations to the Florida Gators. Of course I had Carolina beating them for the National Title, but since Carolina could not stay the course I'm delighted that my second choice turned out to be the winner. (You ever notice how a Carolina fan can find goodness in almost any outcome?)

I got a note from the Hawks last week reminding me that I had not made my initial deposit on season tickets for the 2007/2008 season. Let's see: the Hawks are 27 & 47 with 8 games remaining and they are showing no signs of actually thinking they are an embarrassment to the city of Atlanta. The coach is a joke and management continues to draft 6'9' small forwards as if you could actually compete in the NBA with a group of small forwards. We have one pick in the draft this year.......mid-first round if memory serves and given their record it is extremely doubtful that they would actually draft anyone of consequence. Nope, I'm finished with the Hawks. They can give my seats to another fool.

Went to Holy Spirit last night for the monthly meeting of the men's club and listened to Dr. Michael Johns, the Executive Vice President of Health Affairs at Emory University. Dr. Johns is also the Chairman of the Board for Emory Health Care and the CEO of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. He gave an interesting and frequently amusing presentation about the state of health care in this country and to the surprise of absolutely no one in the room he surmised that it sucks. At the end of the day, a lot of groaning and moaning about the current administration, previous administrations and government in general. A few tirades about the admin costs associated with health care, some comments about it being okay to get health care from a drug store and finally the conclusion that we need a national health care solution. You know, I am certain that Dr. Johns is an incredibly intelligent and caring individual, but last night he did not present anything close to an intelligent road map for achieving a solution and quite frankly I was disappointed. Using Japan as a model of national health care efficiency because they have lower administrative costs, people live longer or because they have a lower infant mortality rate does not reflect the differences in diet and national attitudes towards compliance for the greater good of the nation. I'm not saying that there aren't lessons to be learned, but it is somewhat of an "apples and oranges" comparison. I prefer the approach advocated by Bill Novelli, the CEO of AARP in his book 50+, where included working to transform health care not only by demanding quality care (Dr. Johns did not mention the tens of thousands of patients who die each year because of medical errors) and lower pharmaceutical costs, but also by engaging in healthy lifestyles and preventive care. Mr. Novelli also advocates the concept of performance based pay for health care practitioners, something the physicians' lobby seems to strongly oppose. Living a healthy life requires daily focus on one's diet and regular exercise. It is hard work and as a nation we seem disinclined to accept these realities. You only have to visit a local elementary school and look at the number of overweight children to understand the root of the problem. Our kids are focused on computer games and watching TV and simply do not get out and run about the way I did as a child. Yea, I know that everyone believes their generation was healthier, but in my case we really did spend most of our waking hours outside running around playing games, swimming in the local pond or riding our bikes. Our hero's were Tarzan and Hercules and we all competed with each other in races and other feats of physical endurance or strength. It's a different world today for most kids, including mine unfortunately.

Anyway, for me the way to begin to seriously address health care in this nation is to focus on raising healthier kids and living healthier lifestyles. I would institute a national health program for every child under the age of 16 that is funded by a national insurance tax indexed to income and that everyone pays, no exceptions. The next step would be to create a national physical fitness program that is tied into private health insurance and which rewards participants with lower premiums; i.e: the healthier you are the less it costs for you to participate in private health care. Finally, I like the idea of companies creating wellness programs that provide employees access to the underlying infrastructure required for exercise and fitness. It could be a corporate membership that is tax deductible, a small facility with exercise equipment, or a fitness program that includes counseling and guidance on diet/nutrition and exercise. The primary focus is on creating a healthier population and while these few steps do not solve the national crisis, I think they would go a long way towards addressing some of the underlying problems. Raise a healthier generation and your health costs will be reduced. Make sure kids are getting the right health care while they are growing up and you will have have healthier adults. Given adults incentives to be healthy and create a national buzz around fitness. I know it is a throw-back to the JFK era, but perhaps we need to be a bit retro if we are going to get to the root of this crisis.