A new leading-edge negotiation technique borrowed from the schoolyard? Do words still matter?
Author: Timothy Schell
Government Purpose?
What is the role of government? We may believe the government should provide protection from fire, floods, crime and foreign incursions. What about help for poor parents, health problems, job loss, polluted air, unsafe water or even bad decisions? According to the current Speaker of the House, Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare violate the liberty of the taxpayers whose earnings are transferred to the less fortunate but also squash the spiritual needs of the recipients. He believes that federal programs . . .
Mendacity in the Air
At this point there is an unsurmountable barrier to acceptance of any of the “commander’s” executive orders, appointments or strategies. I doubt there was any willing collusion with the Russians simply because of demonstrated incompetence. Obviously if the “commander” was offered the opportunity to collude, it would have been taken. Benefit of the doubt is gone, erased by mendacity, venality and pettiness. Any accidental good idea stumbled on will not pass the test of time and eventually will . . .
Where are we going with Energy?
Burn? or Renewable? Let’s think about this: Yes we figured out how to control fire 300,000 years ago – and it was huge, but now we are seven billion and counting, burning carbon (coal, oil, gas) for energy conversion is primitive and ultimately destructive. The big obstacle to moving forward is that the highly organized and committed to looking backward extraction giants need to reinvent themselves and we citizens need to pay better attention. Proposed Tax Plan: Currently operators of . . .
Freedom School – Strategy or Ignorance
The “commander” has been fed the philosophies of Robert LeFevre’s Freedom School – spooned out by his erstwhile chief strategist. Did he actually understand what he consumed? Are the bizarre tweets, attacks on journalists, and outrageous feuds part of a deliberate strategy to distract while institutions are destroyed? Freedom School Philosophy:All government consists of customs and institutions that control our lives by stealing our property, restricting our freedom, and endangering our lives with the rationale of protecting us from ourselves. Deconstructing the administrative state – sabotaged . . .
Proposal: Mandatory Travel
We have a ruthless and childish “commander” without a strategy, other than reversal and revenge, who has conveniently cut the military machine loose from civilian oversight. We are now bombing in Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and indirectly in Yemen. Now the Pentagon “needs” $700 billion to keep up? I see no evidence that our sixteen-year military approach has been anything other than a cause for unforgivable civilian death and disruption and creation of scattered but motivated resistance driven by . . .
Navy Report: “Loss of Situational Awareness”
USS John S. McCain – Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Commissioned July 2, 1994 Length 505′ Beam 66′ Motto “Fortune Favors The Brave” Nickname “Big Bad John” Speed 30+ knots The recent collisions of our US Warships and huge container ships in the busy shipping lanes of the Western Pacific were caused by a “loss of situational awareness” according to the Navy report released on 11/1/2017. The details of the errors made prior to the collision of the USS John S. McCain . . .
Bolton’s BS
WSJ: 10/16/2017 John Bolton: “A Slow Death for the Iran Deal” Bolton, quoting Charles de Gaulle “treaties are like girls and roses; they last while they last” is historically interesting but less than charming. His essay about the failures of the Iranian Nuclear Deal (JCPOA) seems to be derived from three points: Bolton’s Opinion Facts The West’s collapse was a grave error – allowing uranium enrichment. “Barack Obama and the Europeans conceded to Iran’s insistence that it would never give . . .
The Commander’s Lexicon
Spoken or Tweeted Meaning Believe Me! What I just said is either a lie, a boast with no substance, or a benighted observation about something important or possibly completely unimportant. Nobody knew I had no idea. I found out ten minutes ago (but it is common knowledge.) Since you are the unwashed masses and gullible I am going to pretend that this is a new bit of wisdom and take credit for discovering it. We will see I am important . . .
Bottom of the Class
Let’s admit that Iran’s Hassan Rouhani and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un are smart. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for our guy. For the past sixteen years the US has deployed our technically superior war machine as the solution to problems in Afghanistan and Iraq with unforgivably negative results. The armaments suppliers and defense contractors have done quite well, as have the brass who have burnished their careers. Now our current benighted “commander” is enthralled by the generals (and . . .