Vote for 9/12

Tom Friedman is a good author (I recommend "The World is Flat"). But I don't often read his NYT OpEd column. Today's however, is worth a read.

Enough is enough!

When will madness like this stop? I've blogged before about Blackwater, but what will it take to stop this craziness?

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A Step in the Right Direction...

You may know I'm not a huge fan of the current administration. However, today President Bush signed into law an act that will help to limit some of the out-of-control profits that Big Banks have been racking up with the privatization of student loans. I am especially interested in this topic because I will be paying of our student loans until well after my children start college.

I am encouraged (and surprised) that President Bush would buck the banking lobby on this one. Perhaps he's got something up his sleeve that he'll deliver to them re: the mortgage crisis? (Which IMHO is another example of corporate land-grabbing gone wild).

Bush enacts deep student lender subsidy cuts - Yahoo! News

Now this is gross...

Now this is gross...

So the beautiful rain I mentioned in my last post was absolutely beautiful. The double-rainbow ending in the ocean was incredible. However, there was at least one nasty consequence of the rain. The garden area around the community suana overflowed leaving mulch, bark, and lots of mud in the hot tub. NASTY.

From the "no-duh" department...

A recent study indicates the people are attracted to beauty. Duh.

Putting a face on "made in China"...

Last night while I was making dinner I noticed that the can of Albertson's brand Black Beans I was using was obviously stamped "Made In China" on the top of the can. I was amazed. I haven't seen many "Made In China" logos at the grocery store, but obviously from the recent related food recalls, they are present.


With the pervasiveness of Chinese production on my mind, I couldn't help but notice and be touched by this gripping story in today's LAT that puts a human face on the Chinese side of the current export quality issues. The story tells of one of the owners of Lee Der Toy company which had millions of dollars worth of toys recalled. It turns out, that the problem wasn't theirs, but a criminal supplier who forged quality documents and sold lead-based paint pigment to Lee Der. Ultimately this bankrupted Lee Der after 10-years of production and the founder hung himself in the factory. Reminds me of the recent documentary The High Cost of Low Prices". Enjoy.


Safety problems bear down on Chinese manufacturer - Los Angeles Times

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Some thoughts from Iraq

This op-ed from a group of US Army Sergeants in Iraq is worth a read. May we have the courage to move beyond the sound-bites toward a more pragmatic policy.

It's here!

After months and months of waiting, Michelle's new couch finally arrived! YEEEAAHHHH!!!

Why War is Hell...

I can think of nothing worse than war.  I suppose there is theoretically such a thing as a "just" war, however, even they are "hell" to experience. 

Two of the worst aspects of  war are 1) the senseless killing of civilians and 2) the institutionalized hatred of different races/ethnicities that war creates.

Both of these challenges were brought home by a weekend editorial in the LA Times...Iraq, the vets' view .   In case you don't have time to read this article I will summarize it.  The author interviews vets who served in Iraq from 2004-2006.  One of the basic themes that repeats throughout his interviews is how fear of IEDs, suicide bombers and such leads many US military personnel to distrust and overreact towards Iraqi civilians.  This creates an environment where US soldiers and marines pre-emptively kill civilians of all ages out of fear that they may be a suicide bomber.  The article repeats numerous narratives of entire families gunned down by nervous young soldiers out of fear (or hatred).  Those who support the war may argue that the author selects stories that reinforce his own beliefs.  That may be true, yet the following study from the Pentagon is also telling.

The antipathy toward Iraqis was confirmed in a survey released in May by the Pentagon. Just 47% of soldiers and 38% of Marines agreed that civilians should be treated with dignity and respect. Only 55% of soldiers and 40% of Marines said they would report a unit member who had killed or injured "an innocent noncombatant." (emphasis mine)

That does not sound like a recipe for building allies and destroying "evil" in a sovereign nation.

Today's LAT reports a different, yet related problem...the gradual loss of experienced mid-level officers in the Army.  Given the recruiting problems the Army is having, and the multiple tours-of-duty (some soldiers and reservists have been sent more than four times since the war began!) being assigned to our troops, as well retirements being denied or postponed and the general impact on ones life of being called up, one can hardly blame these officers from leaving the military at their first opportunity.  However, their departure may have grave consequences for our efforts because it leaves a higher ratio of young, scared, inexpensive, and potentially trigger-happy soldiers and marines without the stabilizing effect of mid-level officers.

Despite some of my colleagues' views, I believe it is time to exit Iraq and put a permanent conclusion to the "Bush Doctrine" of pre-emptive war.

Why Toyota is the world's best car maker

Recently our 2001 Toyota "Certified Used" Sienna started smoking at start up. I didn't think much of it at first, but it was very persistent. After a couple of weeks I decided to take it in to have it checked out. At first they said it simply had a leak and the valve seals needed to be replaced.


A day or two later they called back and said we had oil sludge buildup inside the engine which is indicative of insufficient maintenance. They initially said it would cost $1200 to look into it, and possibly as much as $5000-$8000 to repair or replace the engine. Needless to say, we paniced. We still owe a ton on the van, so we couldn't believe we had a $5000 repair bill staring at us!

As we were worrying ourselves sick about what to do (fix it, trade-it-in, do nothing and hope for the best...) my beatiful bride did a little research and discovered a class-action lawsuit against Toyota for an engine design issue that infuriated many customers.

While there is some debate about the cause of the problem (and Toyota has not admitted to a bad design), Toyota has agreed to repair or replace thousands of engines that have oil sludge.

Now, we did have to deal with a bit of a run-around from Thousand Oaks Toyota but in the end, they agreed to repair/replace the engine to remedy the oil sludge problem.

We still may sell the van within a few weeks of the repair, but at least we won't have a big bill to get the engine ready to sell.

This is a classic example of how good customer service can lead to life-long customers...or furiously irritated consumers who tell everyone they know not to buy your product. For example, one of our neighbors recently had the same problem with their 1999 Camry. While the dealership ultimately fixed the engine the family had to argue for days with them. In talking with them today they said basically, "we sold the Camry within a few months of the repair (and bought a Honda Pilot) and will sell our Sienna in a few months (and will buy an Odyssey) and will never buy a Toyota again.

On the other hand, with the customer service and support I've received I am likely to be a Toyota customer for life. My next car...a hybrid Camry.

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Monday night as the kids prepared for bed we heard an awful noise.  It sounded like a very angry, and very large cat meowing...or hissing...whatever.  It occurred about four or five times in a row.  I heard it from the kids rooms and on my way up the stairs. 

Then, I heard it again after I was upstairs and went to the back balcony to investigate.  It was dusk, so I couldn't see anything very clearly.  However, I heard and saw several deer hopping away rather quickly from the backyards immediately behind our house and up into the "tree line" of the mountain above.  Of course, the quail took off once the deer arrived, so it was rather noisy.

Then, I heard the MEOWWWWWwwww again and noticed that one of the bushes in the yard diagonally behind our house was shaking violently.  Rather odd, no?  I went in to get a flashlight, but as you might expect, Marcus had taken them all to who-knows-where for some kooky experiment or something.  So, I came back in and didn't worry about it.  Madison ran up and asked in her sweetest eight-year-old-girl-voice...

Do you think that was a mountain lion?

To which, I in all my paternal wisdom, replied,

No.  It just sounded like a big cat.

Duh.  That's exactly what a mountain lion is.  So about an hour later, we receive a call from a concerned mother in our neighborhood alerting us that one of the new fawns was attacked and killed by a mountain lion!  Right behind our house!  The guts and stuff were still in our neighbors backyard. 

Now that is not an everyday occurrence back in home.

1 banana
+ 1 pair of pants
+ bicycle
=
near disaster!

So, I finally have something fun to write about. Today, I have to make some returns while I'm out getting my ear checkup. So, I rode to work today on my bike with a banana in one hand and a pair of pants to return in another. Obviously, this wasn't so easy. In case you've not seen the campus of Pepperdine University, its not exactly like the midwest. It's basically carved into the side of a hill. So there are very few flat surfaces to bike on. That makes riding a bike with your hands full a challenge. But, I made it all the way to work.

Unfortunately, I forgot my keys.

So, I thought "I should just leave the banana and pants here at the front desk while I go get the keys.". But, no...I'm too vain! "If I leave the pants", I reasoned, "someone might see what size they are and that will be embarrassing!" So, I thought, "I can at least leave the banana!" But again, my pride prohibited it and I thought "But someone might think I'm on a diet if they see me eating a banana!" I know, isn't it crazy! Pride and Vanity are evil masters, no?

So, I head right back home with the banana in my right hand, the pants in my left and my hands gently laid on the handlebars. Of course, the ride home is much more dangerous because its mostly downhill. That means I'm really cooking as I head down Via Pacifica and in through Via De Casa and onto Mariposa. And, of course, since I can just barely steer, I am trying to take a direct route...a straight line from the B-school parking lot to the pool at Mariposa. That usually works fine...I do it once a day with my hands empty.

But today was a bit different.

Today, I was coming back home at 8am on the nose. Of course, that is when people are going to work, dropping of the kids, walking the dogs...lots of stuff.

You guessed it...just as I hit the intersection of Via de Casa and Mariposa one of my neighbors was reaching it. They came to a complete stop (which, by the way, I rarely do at that stop sign!)...looked both ways... and since I was coming so fast I pulled up on them from their right just as they were looking to the left.

I tried to scream "Look out!", but my mouth was full of banana.

I tried to veer right, but as further evidence of what an awful odds calculator the human brain is, my cognitive subroutine preferred not squishing the banana by making a hard right turn over not hitting a Honda Civic.

As they gradually eased forward into my front wheel, I thought stupid banana!. Did I mention I was not wearing a helmet?

Well, the end of the story is that I'm fine. I have a very minor "boo-boo" on my elbow from where I hit the street. But since (thank God!) they came to a complete stop at the intersection I was just barely hit. If it had been one of the more reckless drivers on our street (and you know who you are, JA!) I could have been killed or at least seriously injured and spent the rest of the summer nursing a broken leg or shoulder.

OK...so now for the interesting part. This whole story reminds me of a conversation I had last night with my good buddy DMS. DMS and I were talking about a local pastor who recently resigned and has since been found to have been a serial philanderer. DMS, naturally, reacted with the "how can somebody do that! How can they risk their career, family, and ministry for such a fleeting pleasure?" attitude. I argued back that all of us basically do that to a lesser extent all of the time. I'm not talking about the "two-faced", hypocritical issue...but the issue of weighing risk.

In retrospect we look at this pastor and say "how could you commit such indiscretions and risk losing everything?" But, I suspect that for him, it did not begin as a decision to commit multiple extra-marital affairs. It likely began with something as "little" as allowing his eyes to remain a bit longer on a woman at the gym...or allowing himself an "innocent" conversation with a woman he found attractive. One thing leads to another and he likely never sat down and calculated the risk of taking the next step.

But, I think in some ways our two situations are perilously similar. Like me, he was a terrible odds calculator (the odds of getting "caught" in adultery have to be approaching 1). Like me choosing to save my banana and risk my life, he probably allowed some relatively minor issue outweigh the much bigger ones. Like me, he probably made a series of bad decisions that independently were minor, but together were overwhelming.

So, the next time you are making some "minor" decision, it may be worth asking,

what's the worst that could happen if I choose to do this?

Then decide if that is an outcome you are willing (or able) to live with. If not, you should give it serious consideration.

Even something as silly as saving a banana can cost your life. (BTW-the banana was squished all over the street after all plus now I need to buy a new wheel for my bike. Doh!)

Under the knife...

Tomorrow I go under the knife to have one of these removed from my left ear. I should be back to work sometime next week.

I'm back...

You'll have to visit with me in person to get a long review of my trip to Prague last week. Suffice to say, it is a beautiful city with amazing architecture and an interesting history. I'm simply incapable of typing long blog entries, so buy me a Mocha Latte at Starbucks if you really want to hear about it. I will have photos up soon though.

A few recent events of note...

• In reading my friend Chris's blog today, I discovered another of my good friends from NCJC/ACU is blogging down at ACU. I must give these guys credit...they really put a lot of time into their blogs. I wonder if they get research credit for these things? It's amazing the amount of time that goes into a good blog (I'm only guessing, I don't know from experience).
• Props to JA for making me look like I was standing still all day on the court yesterday. Gheesh! He scored at will...over me, around me, through me. Was there any way to the hole that was NOT clear for his outstretched right hand? At least he missed a good 30% of his 15 footers.
  
• I submitted grades 10 days ago? I'm officially out of the classroom until the end of August.
  
• I have the honor of introducing one of my favorite college professors at the Pepperdine Lectures this year...David Keller (formerly of NCJC and OVU, now at RC).
• Did I mention...late August?