Let’s Hear It May 17, 2010March 17, 2017 LET’S HEAR IT FOR LAURA BUSH From the Huffington Post: Former First Lady Laura Bush made a surprising tack away from two of the most definitive social issues of her husband’s presidency this week, telling CNN’s Larry King that she backs gay marriage and abortion rights. . . . ☞ Better late than never. LET’S HEAR THE ORAL ARGUMENTS You may recall that California passed civil marriage equality . . . some 18,000 couples wed . . . the Mormon chuch and the Catholic church and some others stepped in with a ballot initiative – Prop 8 – to make sure same-sex couples couldn’t have equal rights after all . . . and then Prop 8 was challenged in federal district court proceedings that the U.S. Supreme Court (with its six Catholics) ruled could not be televised. Well, now you can see those proceedings anyway. Sort of. Thanks in large part to funding from my old pal and Harvard Business School classmate, Michael Huffington, and the generosity of actors like Josh Lucas and Marisa Tomei, you can watch enactments. Me, I’m going to wait for the movie with Spencer Tracy (as Clarence Darrow), Frederic March (Matthew Harrison Brady) and Gene Kelly (the cynical reporter) – or the modern day equivalent thereof. Remember: we are only talking about civil marriage licenses, Social Security benefits, and the like. Any church that wants to discriminate against gay couples should always have the right to do so. It’s called separation of church and state. MEMORY STACK George Berger: ‘I use flashcarddb.com – very similar to Anki, but a little bit simpler (a little easier to use, but a little less powerful) and online (no need to download and install, available everywhere, but you might not want to save your credit card numbers on there). I’ve been using it to remember past ‘Spanish Word of the Day’ words, but I like Marc’s idea of using it to remember things like phone numbers and spouses’ names (er, colleagues’ spouses’ names). too.’ THE THIRD OF MARC’s 12 MOST USEFUL THINGS Last week, I gave you the first and second (well, Marc gave them to us). And at the end of this series, I’ll give you the link to all 12 of them. But for now . . . 3. Read minds. Read the three books below to learn about body language and you will forever see the world with different eyes (and the world will see you differently, too). It’s amazing how much people reveal, usually inadvertently, through their bodies; you can literally read their minds through their bodies. I’ve also become much more aware of my own body language, and use it to get better at communicating what I want to communicate. Being aware of your own body language also opens up new ways of influencing your own state of mind because it works both ways: what’s in our mind influences your body, and what your body does also influences our mind. Unlock your arms, and become more approachable; smile, and become happier. It works. You Say More Than You Think, by Janine Driver The Definitive Book of Body Language, by Allan and Barbara Pease What Every Body Is Saying, by Joe Navarro BOLD POLICY Chris Anderson: “Obama’s commencement speech as transcribed at the official site, reads: ‘It’s always been a little less gentile during times of great change.’ I assume this is a typo for ‘gentle’ or ‘genteel,’ not that he meant our nation is more Jewish. I note your site has ‘gentle’ and that many sentences are bold or in larger font size – you have to spend a lot of time emphasizing things this way. Is there a method, a key to what each different size/font means vs. another? Or is it just random types of emphasis to make certain phrases and ideas stand out equally?” ☞ Ah, “genteel” – even better! I bold things I hope might give the uber-busy reader the gist – and hook the slightly less busy reader into actually reading the whole thing. In my own case, I find long passages somewhat daunting (I am a slow reader). But if I see some things to hang onto along the way, I am more likely to dive in and start swimming. The variable font size, meanwhile, is just some awful Microsoft glitch. I don’t know what causes it. The html code I use has all excerpts in brown 11-point Verdana. Another mystery: refreshing the screen repeatedly will, in various browsers, change the fonts. Why is that?
Country & Western May 14, 2010March 17, 2017 THE SECOND OF MARC’S 12 MOST USEFUL THINGS Yesterday, I gave you the first (well, Marc gave it to us). And at the end of this series, I’ll give you the link to all 12 of them. But for now . . . 2. Have your files, always. When I need a file, it’s always there on any of my computers, thanks to Dropbox, a service that keeps a master folder seamlessly synchronized between my four Macs (two at work, two at home), my 2 PCs and my Linux computer. Dropbox also doubles as an online backup service and integrates with other services, such as 1Password (useful thing #9). I’ve tried using similar services, such as Sugarsync, but Dropbox seems more stable. Once your files are synchronized via Dropbox you can also access them through an interface on the Dropbox Web site. Works great via my iPad as well. Dropbox, 2Gb free, 50GB $9.99 per month. JOAN GARRY ON ELENA KAGAN AND AN ADMINISTRATION MISSTEP Joan writes so well – here. HEY, MRS. REKERS . . . The 61-year-old co-founder of the Family Research Council – who clicked through to an adult website for ‘renting’ young men – says he’s not gay . . . his choice of a handsome and explicitly versatile 20-year-old to accompany him on a 10-day vacation (and the alleged daily naked massages) notwithstanding.* Which may be what inspired one of you to send me this country and western tune. *I assume by now you know the story. If not, you’ll find one thoughtful, and ultimately sympathetic, account, here. AND SPEAKING OF C&W Have you read Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer, by Chely Wright? In it, she comes out of the closet. In reviewing it, furniture magnate and Faith In America founder, Mitchell Gold, writes: Chely Wright might not be a household name outside of country music fans, but she is to country music fans and that is very significant. And who are country music fans? In her book she describes a conversation she had with John Rich (another country music singer) and his definition of how they feel about homosexuals. ‘Fans won’t have it. This industry won’t allow it. This is country music. It’s about God and country and family. People don’t approve of that kind of deviant behavior. It’s a sin.’ . . . Ms. Wright’s book is an important opportunity for those audience members to hear first hand from one of their own what homosexuality is and isn’t. It’s a book that will help every parent understand how every word they say to their impressionable child is impactful. . . . [It] describes the immense harm that religion-based bigotry caused in her life. If you are in conflict with your own feelings, you must read ‘Like Me.’ Her style is as easy and smooth as her music. . . . Mitchell Gold is the author of CRISIS: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma Of Growing Up Gay In America.
Damn Fools May 13, 2010March 17, 2017 “PSYCHIC FAIR CANCELED DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES” Or so the sign said. I have no idea whether the irony was intended (or even whether the sign was for real). But how could I not share this with you? SWOOPING Charles and I went to see “Iron Man 2.” Where every TV show when I was growing up was a Western . . . riddled with extended chases, ominous music, and the thunderous clomping of hooves . . . now every movie has people flying around exploding things in spectacular ways – and a lot of swooping. You saw “Avatar?” It was all about the swooping. People plunging from great heights and then swooping around mountain crags and soaring and swooping. Lots of swooping. You saw Harry Potter play quidditch? Swooping and more swooping. I haven’t seen the one about training your dragon, but I’d be surprised if there were not extensive swooping. I prefer sweeping, as in “Gone With the Wind” or “The Godfather” or “Dr. Zhivago.” Or searing (“Hotel Rwanda”). Or soaring (“Invictus”). Or sappy (“The Blindside”) or side-splitting (“Role Models”) . . . or sexy or sentimental or sophomoric (insert your own favorite). Visually, “Iron Man 2” dazzled (like Avatar), with several talented, amusing performances, to boot. But quite a lot of swooping. THE FIRST OF MARC’S 12 MOST USEFUL THINGS “The list below obviously does not include useful things such as running water, electricity, Google, or my car,” writes my wonderful friend Marc Fest. “Rather it focuses on tools, services and tricks that you may not be using yet yourself.” He uses all of them. Here is the first, with the rest to follow, like the 12 days of Christmas: 1. Remember everything. Anki is a software program that makes remembering things easy. It’s a “spaced repetition system” – basically using electronic flashcards. Depending on how well or poorly you remember the information on a card, the software will present it to you again soon (poorly remembered) or farther into the future (well remembered). I have hundreds of cards in my Anki deck, including the names of my colleagues’ spouses, frequently used phone numbers, my creditcard numbers and birthdays. If I attend a conference, I will prepare and practice with an Anki deck with the attendees’ photos and names in advance, so that I will know everyone by the time I get there. Spending five minutes with my Anki deck is part of my morning routine. Runs on PC, Mac and other platforms. Free. BOREALIS ☞ One of you crazy bastards went nuts Tuesday and paid $3.42 for 1,500 shares of BOREF. And then some damn fools bought 3,500 shares yesterday at prices as high as $5 – about double what they sold for a week ago. (It closed with potential buyers offering $4.50 and potential sellers asking $8.) Or maybe it wasn’t you who bought these shares. Maybe it was readers of any of the several squibs that appeared in Aviation Week and elsewhere these last few days. Like this one: Electric Nose-Gear Proposed For Airlifters Aerospace Daily & Defense Report May 05 , 2010 , p. 14 By Graham Warwick An electrically powered nose-gear under development to save fuel during taxiing of commercial airliners is being proposed for military airlifters to improve operations and autonomy on unimproved and austere airstrips. WheelTug is developing the system for airlines, initially targeting availability on the widely used Boeing 737NG by early 2012, but says it has responded to requests for information from two airlifter manufacturers and is in discussions on the C-130. The system uses powerful electric motors built into the nose wheels to allow the aircraft to taxi and maneuver on the ground without using its engine. On an airlifter, WheelTug says, the system would reduce foreign-object damage to engines and improve ground maneuverability. The company also is looking at helicopters, carrier-based aircraft and unmanned air vehicles as potential applications. WheelTug does not identify the two airlifter programs for which it has supplied information, but indicates production of a C-130 retrofit package — which would include an auxiliary power unit to drive the in-wheel motors — could potentially begin by 2014. ☞ Or this one from the latest issue of Drives and Controls (in case your own copy has not yet arrived). But remember: These reports are basically just company press releases, rewritten. It’s not as though any investigative reporting was done to assess the viability of the project. If some other damn fools should rush to unload a few thousand shares, BOREF would plunge as fast as it has soared. (Swooped?) Alvin Bluthman: “It is a bit of an overstatement when you say WheelTug ‘could eventually become standard equipment on 10,000 jets.’ Actually of 6,348 built 737s (as of April 2010), only about 4,500 are still flying (the model line goes back to the 1960s). About 2,000 are still on order, with 200-300 or so delivered annually (and the number is trending downwards in the ongoing recession). Please note that Chorus Motors has not, as yet, demonstrated ‘proof of concept’ on any larger aircraft, such as the 747-, 767, the 777 or the upcoming 787.” ☞ Well, for starters, thanks for this – and of course I’d be thrilled beyond words to see WheelTug eventually on 5,000 jets. But there’s no obvious reason it would fail to work on other aircraft makes and models. The original test was actually done on a 767, fully loaded (with ballast) in searing desert heat (a tacky tarmac) and apparently went fine – albeit not with the actual motor inside the actual wheel. But then again, NO actual WheelTug motor is yet to have been placed inside an actual wheel and driven a plane, so of course you’re right: it’s an open question whether any of this will, well, fly. The problem I do know of when it comes to larger jets is they are used for the longer-haul flights, which means relatively little taxiing to and from gates each day. A transoceanic jumbo might taxi to take-off just twice a day, where a 737 might have six or eight take-offs in a day. I think if it works well on any aircraft, it will ultimately be a feature on all of them. But there’s still a long way to go to be sure it will really work and be accepted. So, as always, this is a long-term gamble. Repeat after me: o n l y w i t h m o n e y y o u c a n t r u l y a f f o r d t o l o s e . ’Cause you definitely might. (But isn’t this fun?)
You Spew 90 Million Tons, And What Do You Get? Another Day Older and the Climate Upset May 12, 2010March 17, 2017 RE-COMMENCEMENT Nicholas Altenbernd: “I got the needed minutes free this morning to read the President’s commencement address you posted. Wow. How good it is to hear and read oratory like this again!” And while I have you reading the words of one Nobel Peace Prize laureate, why not read the words of another . . . AL GORE: “WHY THE OIL SPILL COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING” Here, in The New Republic. Little by little, we are destroying our habitat. Worth getting up to speed on this? All the more reason to check out . . . HOME DEPOT LIGHTBULBS Here . . . Competition for the U.S. light bulb market intensified Monday as Home Depot said it’s begun selling a “breakthrough” LED, only a month after General Electric and Cree announced similar products. As the venerable incandescent begins its Congress-mandated phaseout in 2012, the once staid light bulb sector is seeing a frenzy of new, more efficient CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps), halogens and LEDs (light emitting diodes.) Home Depot says the new 9-watt, $20 ECOSMART LED bulb, made in the United States, uses about 80% less energy than a 40 watt incandescent and contains no mercury as do most CFLs. It’s also recyclable and dimmable. If installed in a newborn’s room today, “it will probably not have to be replaced until the child is ready to graduate college,” says Home Depot’s Jorge Fernandez in the announcement, which adds that the bulb could save $155 in energy costs over its life and pay for itself in less than two years. ☞ I haven’t tried these yet. Buy one and let us know what you think. I REPEAT: “WHY THE OIL SPILL COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING” Did you know that the devastating flood in Nashville last month was described as a “1000 year rain event?” Seriously: Isn’t this worth a click? In part: . . . One important difference between the oil spill and the CO2 spill [90 million tons a day, day in and day out] is that petroleum is visible on the surface of the sea and carries a distinctive odor now filling the nostrils of people on shore. Carbon dioxide, on the other hand, is invisible, odorless, tasteless, and has no price tag. It is all too easily put “out of sight and out of mind.” . . . And because the length of time between causes and consequences is longer than we are used to dealing with, we are vulnerable to the illusion that we have the luxury of time before we begin to respond. . . . As a result, we are capable – through inaction – of making truly disastrous consequences inevitable long before the worst impacts are manifested. Our perception of the dangers of the climate crisis therefore relies on our ability to understand and trust the conclusions reached by the most elaborate and impressive scientific assessment in the history of our civilization. . . . During the last 22 years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has produced four massive studies warning the world of the looming catastrophe that is being caused by the massive dumping of global-warming pollution into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, this process has been vulnerable to disruption and paralysis by a cynical and lavishly funded disinformation campaign. . . . The largest carbon polluters have, for the last 17 years, sought to manipulate public opinion with a massive and continuing propaganda campaign, using TV advertisements and all other forms of mass persuasion. It is a game plan spelled out in one of their internal documents, which was leaked to an enterprising reporter, that stated: “reposition global warming as theory rather than fact.” In other words, they have mimicked the strategy pioneered by the tobacco industry, which undermined the scientific consensus linking the smoking of cigarettes with diseases of the lung and heart – successfully delaying appropriate health measures for almost 40 years after the landmark surgeon general’s report of 1964. Meanwhile, many other countries – including China – have developed national strategies for leading the historic shift from oil and coal to renewable forms of energy, higher levels of efficiency, smart grids and fast trains, sustainable agriculture and forestry. Here in the United States, the House of Representatives has passed a meaningful plan to move America in the same direction and reestablish our capacity to provide leadership in the world community on the most important issue facing the world today. The Senate, however, has struggled for the last 17 months to find enough votes to take up its own version of the same legislative plan. The unpleasant reality now spilling onto the shores of the Gulf Coast is creating public outrage and may also be generating a new opportunity to pass legislation, just as the oil spill 20 years ago from the Exxon Valdez created public momentum sufficient to overcome the anti-environment special interests. There is new hope that by the time the gusher from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is capped, so will carbon emissions from the burning of oil and coal. It is understandable that the administration will be focused on the immediate crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. But this is a consciousness-shifting event. It is one of those clarifying moments that brings a rare opportunity to take the longer view. Unless we change our present course soon, the future of human civilization will be in dire jeopardy. Just as we feel a sense of urgency in demanding that this ongoing oil spill be stopped, we should feel an even greater sense of urgency in demanding that the much larger and more dangerous ongoing emissions of global warming pollution must also be stopped to make the world safe from the climate crisis that is building all around us. Tomorrow: The First of Marc’s 12 Things
Of Myths And Nose Wheels May 11, 2010March 17, 2017 NO DRAMA OBAMA Pat Davies: “Thank you for getting me to read the Michigan commencement speech – the Presdient is so rational. It calmed me down after the weekend opinion columns.” NO PAGAN KAGAN Media Matters has done a terrific job of debunking the “Myths and falsehoods about Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination.” Click at least a couple of them to get a sense of this? Myth: Kagan’s policies on military recruiters make her “an anti-military zealot” and an extremist on social issues Myth: Kagan is “radical” Myth: Kagan’s thesis shows she’s a socialist Myth: “Kagan Standard” means Kagan must answer questions about issues that will come before the Supreme Court Myth: Kagan’s Goldman Sachs role taints her nomination Myth: Conservative opposition is based on the substance of Kagan’s nomination Myth: Obama used “empathy” standard rather than fealty to law in choosing Kagan Myth: Kagan is unqualified because she hasn’t been a judge Myth: Kagan has said judicial experience is an “apparent necessity” Myth: Kagan’s record shows that she will rubber-stamp war-on-terror policies Myth: Republicans would be justified in opposing Kagan because she lacks a judicial paper trail Myth: Kagan’s 23-year-old statements about the Establishment Clause suggest she’s hostile to religion Myth: Kagan’s recusal obligations would be “extraordinary” Myth: Kagan “can become” too “emotionally involved on issues she deeply cares about” Myth: Kagan not “fair-minded, impartial” and doesn’t have “proper temperament to be a judge” ☞ With any luck, we will have the benefit of her service for the next 35 or 40 years, so it’s worth taking a few minutes to get up to speed on this remarkable woman – former clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall, former Dean of Harvard Law School, current U.S. Solicitor General. NO SLUG WHEELTUG Is it possible the various components are falling into place? This from an established motor maker: WARD LEONARD ELECTRIC TO BUILD MOTORS FOR WHEELTUG, AIRCRAFT DRIVE SYSTEM North Plains, Oregon, 10 May 2010 — WheelTug Limited announced today that it has signed an agreement with Ward Leonard Electric Company, Inc., to develop and build the motors and associated mechanical components for its on-ground electric drive system for aircraft. For more than 100 years, Ward Leonard has been a leader in electric power innovation, and now designs and builds high-performance, high-reliability motors and control systems for demanding applications such as military, naval, oil exploration, and nuclear power. The WheelTug(R) electric drive system is based on twin electric motors installed in the nose gear wheels of an aircraft, providing full mobility while on the ground, without the use of the aircraft’s jet engines or external tugs for both pushback and taxi operations. WheelTug enables aircraft to be electrically driven from the terminal gate to the takeoff runway, and upon landing from runway exit to the gate. The resulting improvements in efficiency, flexibility, fuel savings, and reduced engine foreign object damage (FOD) yield projected savings of more than $500,000 per aircraft per year, plus reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. Ward Leonard, based in Thomaston, Connecticut, will develop, build, and assemble the Chorus(R) motor, bearings, gearing, and other components housed within the hub of each nose gear wheel. The design that Ward Leonard will be implementing was announced last week. The risk-sharing agreement, the financial terms of which were not disclosed, gives Ward Leonard exclusive rights to build these components for the Boeing 737NG, the initial WheelTug model. Ward Leonard also has an option to acquire Wheeltug shares. Jon R. Carter, Chairman and CEO of Ward Leonard, said, “We are extremely pleased to be working with the WheelTug team to bring their innovative system to market. Ward Leonard’s long experience with high reliability motors for use in severe applications will be a strong complement to WheelTug’s development team in developing and achieving FAA certification for the drive system. I have great confidence that we will be successful together.” Isaiah W. Cox, President and CEO of WheelTug, said, “Ward Leonard represents the perfect partner for the WheelTug motor module; they bring decades of relevant experience, along with state-of-the-art skills and tools for developing and delivering the most technologically advanced and rugged motors. We are delighted with this partnership.” WheelTug is in talks with both airframe manufacturers and airlines regarding development of WheelTug models for additional commercial aircraft types, as well as for military aircraft. The company’s other risk-sharing partners currently include Co-Operative Industries for the wire harness, Luxell Technology for the cockpit interface, and ICE Corporation for the system controller. Ward Leonard was founded in 1896 by H. Ward Leonard, an electrical engineer and inventor who in the 1890s managed Thomas Edison’s operations in setting up electric railways and power-generation stations…. ☞ By now, after some dilution, Borealis owns 78% or so of Chorus Motors, which owns 85% or so of WheelTug. As always, this is a speculation to be undertaken only with money one can truly afford to lose. And, as always, BOREF stock is ridiculously illiquid (if you can buy it at all) . . . so be certain to use “limit” orders that you leave in “good til canceled.”* That said, if WheelTug’s heavily patented system does save more than $500,000 a year per 737-like commercial airliner, it could eventually become standard equipment on 10,000 jets, which could make for a lot of sales and ongoing maintenance contracts. If they threw off $25,000 in net profit to WheelTug annually (just to pull numbers wildly out of the air), that would be $250 million a year; so the company might eventually be worth $2 billion (eight times earnings); so Borealis’s 78% of 85% of it might then be worth $1.3 billion, versus the $15 million at which the company is valued today (5 million shares at $3 each). So an 80-fold gain from here. I can’t stress enough how preposterously unlikely this is. But it’s not completely impossible . . . and it tosses in nothing for the chance this motor technology could prove useful in things besides commercial jets. (Cars, perhaps?) Or that the company’s allegedly gargantuan mineral holdings might one day prove valuable. Or that some of the company’s other patents and subsidiaries could pan out. Long, long, long shots. But a lottery ticket I enjoy holding. *If two of you rushed in to buy 500 shares with no limit, you might bump the stock to $4. An order for 5,000 shares could send it to the moon.
Who Was Your Commencement Speaker? May 10, 2010March 17, 2017 The year I graduated college, the Shah of Iran was our commencement speaker. For reasons having nothing to do with politics or idealism – or the weather (it would rain, for the first time since 1904) – I did not attend. I can’t imagine it was either particularly funny or inspiring or that I missed much. Instead, I’ve chosen to adopt whatever commencement speeches I like – there are so many good ones each year – most recently this one, delivered ten days ago at the University of Michigan: The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release May 01, 2010 Remarks by the President at University of Michigan Spring Commencement Big House, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 11:40 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. Please be seated. AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you! THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Laughter.) It is great to be here in the Big House — (applause) — and so may I say, “Go Blue!” (Applause.) I thought I’d go for the cheap applause line to start things off. (Laughter.) Good afternoon, President Coleman, the Board of Trustees, to faculty, parents, family and friends of the class of 2010. (Applause.) Congratulations on your graduation, and thank you for allowing me the honor of being a part of it. (Applause.) Let me acknowledge your wonderful governor, Jennifer Granholm; your mayor, John Hieftje; and all the members of Congress who are here today. (Applause.) It is a privilege to be with you on this happy occasion, and, you know, it’s nice to spend a little time outside of Washington. (Laughter.) Now, don’t get me wrong -– Washington is a beautiful city. It’s very nice living above the store; you can’t beat the commute. (Laughter.) It’s just sometimes all you hear in Washington is the clamor of politics. And all that noise can drown out the voices of the people who sent you there. So when I took office, I decided that each night I would read 10 letters out of the tens of thousands that are sent to us by ordinary Americans every day –- this is my modest effort to remind myself of why I ran in the first place. Some of these letters tell stories of heartache and struggle. Some express gratitude, some express anger. I’d say a good solid third call me an idiot — (laughter) — which is how I know that I’m getting a good, representative sample. (Laughter and applause.) Some of the letters make you think — like the one that I received last month from a kindergarten class in Virginia. Now, the teacher of this class instructed the students to ask me any question they wanted. So one asked, “How do you do your job?” Another asked, “Do you work a lot?” (Laughter.) Somebody wanted to know if I wear a black jacket or if I have a beard –- (laughter) — so clearly they were getting me mixed up with the other tall guy from Illinois. (Laughter.) And one of my favorites was from a kid who wanted to know if I lived next to a volcano. (Laughter.) I’m still trying to piece the thought process on this one. (Laughter.) Loved this letter. But it was the last question from the last student in the letter that gave me pause. The student asked, “Are people being nice?” Are people being nice? Well, if you turn on the news today, or yesterday, or a week ago, or a month ago –- particularly one of the cable channels -– (laughter) — you can see why even a kindergartener would ask this question. (Laughter.) We’ve got politicians calling each other all sorts of unflattering names. Pundits and talking heads shout at each other. The media tends to play up every hint of conflict, because it makes for a sexier story -– which means anyone interested in getting coverage feels compelled to make their arguments as outrageous and as incendiary as possible. Now, some of this contentiousness can be attributed to the incredibly difficult moment in which we find ourselves as a nation. The fact is, when you leave here today you will search for work in an economy that is still emerging from the worst crisis since the Great Depression. You live in a century where the speed with which jobs and industries move across the globe is forcing America to compete like never before. You will raise your children at a time when threats like terrorism and climate change aren’t confined within the borders of any one country. And as our world grows smaller and more connected, you will live and work with more people who don’t look like you or think like you or come from where you do. I really enjoyed Alex’s remarks because that’s a lot of change. And all these changes, all these challenges, inevitably cause some tension in the body politic. They make people worry about the future and sometimes they get people riled up. But I think it’s important that we maintain some historic perspective. Since the days of our founding, American politics has never been a particularly nice business. It’s always been a little less gentle during times of great change. A newspaper of the opposing party once editorialized that if Thomas Jefferson were elected, “Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will be openly taught and practiced.” (Laughter.) Not subtle. Opponents of Andrew Jackson often referred to his mother as a “common prostitute,” which seems a little over the top. (Laughter.) Presidents from Teddy Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson have been accused of promoting socialism, or worse. And we’ve had arguments between politicians that have been settled with actual duels. There was even a caning once on the floor of the United States Senate -– which I’m happy to say didn’t happen while I was there. (Laughter.) It was a few years before. (Laughter.) The point is, politics has never been for the thin-skinned or the faint-of-heart, and if you enter the arena, you should expect to get roughed up. Moreover, democracy in a nation of more than 300 million people is inherently difficult. It’s always been noisy and messy, contentious, complicated. We’ve been fighting about the proper size and role of government since the day the Framers gathered in Philadelphia. We’ve battled over the meaning of individual freedom and equality since the Bill of Rights was drafted. As our economy has shifted emphasis from agriculture to industry, to information, to technology, we have argued and struggled at each and every juncture over the best way to ensure that all of our citizens have a shot at opportunity. So before we get too depressed about the current state of our politics, let’s remember our history. The great debates of the past all stirred great passions. They all made somebody angry, and at least once led to a terrible war. What is amazing is that despite all the conflict, despite all its flaws and its frustrations, our experiment in democracy has worked better than any form of government on Earth. (Applause.) On the last day of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was famously asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got -– a republic or a monarchy?” And Franklin gave an answer that’s been quoted for ages: He said, “A republic, if you can keep it.” If you can keep it. Well, for more than 200 years, we have kept it. Through revolution and civil war, our democracy has survived. Through depression and world war, it has prevailed. Through periods of great social and economic unrest, from civil rights to women’s rights, it has allowed us slowly, sometimes painfully, to move towards a more perfect union. And so now, class of 2010, the question for your generation is this: How will you keep our democracy going? At a moment when our challenges seem so big and our politics seem so small, how will you keep our democracy alive and vibrant; how will you keep it well in this century? I’m not here to offer some grand theory or detailed policy prescription. But let me offer a few brief reflections based on my own experiences and the experiences of our country over the last two centuries. * First of all, American democracy has thrived because we have recognized the need for a government that, while limited, can still help us adapt to a changing world. On the fourth panel of the Jefferson Memorial is a quote I remember reading to my daughters during our first visit there. It says, “I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but…with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times.” The democracy designed by Jefferson and the other founders was never intended to solve every problem with a new law or a new program. Having thrown off the tyranny of the British Empire, the first Americans were understandably skeptical of government. And ever since we’ve held fast to the belief that government doesn’t have all the answers, and we have cherished and fiercely defended our individual freedom. That’s a strand of our nation’s DNA. But the other strand is the belief that there are some things we can only do together, as one nation -– and that our government must keep pace with the times. When America expanded from a few colonies to an entire continent, and we needed a way to reach the Pacific, our government helped build the railroads. When we transitioned from an economy based on farms to one based on factories, and workers needed new skills and training, our nation set up a system of public high schools. When the markets crashed during the Depression and people lost their life savings, our government put in place a set of rules and safeguards to make sure that such a crisis never happened again, and then put a safety net in place to make sure that our elders would never be impoverished the way they had been. And because our markets and financial systems have evolved since then, we’re now putting in place new rules and safeguards to protect the American people. (Applause.) Now, this notion — this notion, class, hasn’t always been partisan. It was the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, who said the role of government is to do for the people what they cannot do better for themselves. And he’d go on to begin that first intercontinental railroad and set up the first land-grant colleges. It was another Republican, Teddy Roosevelt, who said, “the object of government is the welfare of the people.” And he’s remembered for using the power of government to break up monopolies, and establish our National Park system. (Applause.) Democrat Lyndon Johnson announced the Great Society during a commencement here at Michigan, but it was the Republican President before him, Dwight Eisenhower, who launched the massive government undertaking known as the Interstate Highway System. Of course, there have always been those who’ve opposed such efforts. They argue government intervention is usually inefficient; that it restricts individual freedom and dampens individual initiative. And in certain instances, that’s been true. For many years, we had a welfare system that too often discouraged people from taking responsibility for their own upward mobility. At times, we’ve neglected the role of parents, rather than government, in cultivating a child’s education. And sometimes regulation fails, and sometimes their benefits don’t justify their costs. But what troubles me is when I hear people say that all of government is inherently bad. One of my favorite signs during the health care debate was somebody who said, “Keep Your Government Hands Out Of My Medicare” — (laughter) — which is essentially saying “Keep Government Out Of My Government-Run Health Care Plan.” (Laughter.) When our government is spoken of as some menacing, threatening foreign entity, it ignores the fact that in our democracy, government is us. We, the people — (applause.) We, the people, hold in our hands the power to choose our leaders and change our laws, and shape our own destiny. Government is the police officers who are protecting our communities, and the servicemen and women who are defending us abroad. (Applause.) Government is the roads you drove in on and the speed limits that kept you safe. Government is what ensures that mines adhere to safety standards and that oil spills are cleaned up by the companies that caused them. (Applause.) Government is this extraordinary public university -– a place that’s doing lifesaving research, and catalyzing economic growth, and graduating students who will change the world around them in ways big and small. (Applause.) The truth is, the debate we’ve had for decades now between more government and less government, it doesn’t really fit the times in which we live. We know that too much government can stifle competition and deprive us of choice and burden us with debt. But we’ve also clearly seen the dangers of too little government -– like when a lack of accountability on Wall Street nearly leads to the collapse of our entire economy. (Applause.) So, class of 2010, what we should be asking is not whether we need “big government” or a “small government,” but how we can create a smarter and better government. (Applause.) Because in an era of iPods and Tivo, where we have more choices than ever before — even though I can’t really work a lot of these things — (laughter) — but I have 23-year-olds who do it for me — (laughter) — government shouldn’t try to dictate your lives. But it should give you the tools you need to succeed. Government shouldn’t try to guarantee results, but it should guarantee a shot at opportunity for every American who’s willing to work hard. (Applause.) So, yes, we can and should debate the role of government in our lives. But remember, as you are asked to meet the challenges of our time, remember that the ability for us to adapt our government to the needs of the age has helped make our democracy work since its inception. * Now, the second way to keep our democracy healthy is to maintain a basic level of civility in our public debate. (Applause.) These arguments we’re having over government and health care and war and taxes — these are serious arguments. They should arouse people’s passions, and it’s important for everybody to join in the debate, with all the vigor that the maintenance of a free people requires. But we can’t expect to solve our problems if all we do is tear each other down. (Applause.) You can disagree with a certain policy without demonizing the person who espouses it. You can question somebody’s views and their judgment without questioning their motives or their patriotism. (Applause.) Throwing around phrases like “socialists” and “Soviet-style takeover” and “fascist” and “right-wing nut” — (laughter) — that may grab headlines, but it also has the effect of comparing our government, our political opponents, to authoritarian, even murderous regimes. Now, we’ve seen this kind of politics in the past. It’s been practiced by both fringes of the ideological spectrum, by the left and the right, since our nation’s birth. But it’s starting to creep into the center of our discourse. And the problem with it is not the hurt feelings or the bruised egos of the public officials who are criticized. Remember, they signed up for it. Michelle always reminds me of that. (Laughter.) The problem is that this kind of vilification and over-the-top rhetoric closes the door to the possibility of compromise. It undermines democratic deliberation. It prevents learning –- since, after all, why should we listen to a “fascist,” or a “socialist,” or a “right-wing nut,” or a left-wing nut”? (Laughter.) It makes it nearly impossible for people who have legitimate but bridgeable differences to sit down at the same table and hash things out. It robs us of a rational and serious debate, the one we need to have about the very real and very big challenges facing this nation. It coarsens our culture, and at its worst, it can send signals to the most extreme elements of our society that perhaps violence is a justifiable response. So what do we do? As I found out after a year in the White House, changing this type of politics is not easy. And part of what civility requires is that we recall the simple lesson most of us learned from our parents: Treat others as you would like to be treated, with courtesy and respect. (Applause.) But civility in this age also requires something more than just asking if we can’t just all get along. Today’s 24/7 echo-chamber amplifies the most inflammatory soundbites louder and faster than ever before. And it’s also, however, given us unprecedented choice. Whereas most Americans used to get their news from the same three networks over dinner, or a few influential papers on Sunday morning, we now have the option to get our information from any number of blogs or websites or cable news shows. And this can have both a good and bad development for democracy. For if we choose only to expose ourselves to opinions and viewpoints that are in line with our own, studies suggest that we become more polarized, more set in our ways. That will only reinforce and even deepen the political divides in this country. But if we choose to actively seek out information that challenges our assumptions and our beliefs, perhaps we can begin to understand where the people who disagree with us are coming from. Now, this requires us to agree on a certain set of facts to debate from. That’s why we need a vibrant and thriving news business that is separate from opinion makers and talking heads. (Applause.) That’s why we need an educated citizenry that values hard evidence and not just assertion. (Applause.) As Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously once said, “Everybody is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” (Laughter.) Still, if you’re somebody who only reads the editorial page of The New York Times, try glancing at the page of The Wall Street Journal once in a while. If you’re a fan of Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, try reading a few columns on the Huffington Post website. It may make your blood boil; your mind may not be changed. But the practice of listening to opposing views is essential for effective citizenship. (Applause.) It is essential for our democracy. (Applause.) And so, too, is the practice of engaging in different experiences with different kinds of people. I look out at this class and I realize for four years at Michigan you have been exposed to diverse thinkers and scholars, professors and students. Don’t narrow that broad intellectual exposure just because you’re leaving here. Instead, seek to expand it. If you grew up in a big city, spend some time with somebody who grew up in a rural town. If you find yourself only hanging around with people of your own race or ethnicity or religion, include people in your circle who have different backgrounds and life experiences. You’ll learn what it’s like to walk in somebody else’s shoes, and in the process, you will help to make this democracy work. (Applause.) * Which brings me to the last ingredient in a functioning democracy, one that’s perhaps most basic — and it’s already been mentioned — and that is participation. Class of 2010, I understand that one effect of today’s poisonous political climate is to push people away from participation in public life. If all you see when you turn on the TV is name-calling, if all you hear about is how special interest lobbying and partisanship prevented Washington from getting something done, you might think to yourself, “What’s the point of getting involved?” Here’s the point. When we don’t pay close attention to the decisions made by our leaders, when we fail to educate ourselves about the major issues of the day, when we choose not to make our voices and opinions heard, that’s when democracy breaks down. That’s when power is abused. That’s when the most extreme voices in our society fill the void that we leave. That’s when powerful interests and their lobbyists are most able to buy access and influence in the corridors of power –- because none of us are there to speak up and stop them. Participation in public life doesn’t mean that you all have to run for public office -– though we could certainly use some fresh faces in Washington. (Laughter and applause.) But it does mean that you should pay attention and contribute in any way that you can. Stay informed. Write letters, or make phone calls on behalf of an issue you care about. If electoral politics isn’t your thing, continue the tradition so many of you started here at Michigan and find a way to serve your community and your country –- an act that will help you stay connected to your fellow citizens and improve the lives of those around you. It was 50 years ago that a young candidate for president came here to Michigan and delivered a speech that inspired one of the most successful service projects in American history. And as John F. Kennedy described the ideals behind what would become the Peace Corps, he issued a challenge to the students who had assembled in Ann Arbor on that October night: “on your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country,” he said, will depend the answer whether a free society can compete. I think it can,” he said. This democracy we have is a precious thing. For all the arguments and all the doubts and all the cynicism that’s out there today, we should never forget that as Americans, we enjoy more freedoms and opportunities than citizens in any other nation on Earth. (Applause.) We are free to speak our mind and worship as we please. We are free to choose our leaders, and criticize them if they let us down. We have the chance to get an education, and work hard, and give our children a better life. None of this came easy. None of this was preordained. The men and women who sat in your chairs 10 years ago and 50 years ago and 100 years ago –- they made America possible through their toil and their endurance and their imagination and their faith. Their success, and America’s success, was never a given. And there is no guarantee that the graduates who will sit in these same seats 10 years from now, or 50 years from now, or 100 years from now, will enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities that you do. You, too, will have to strive. You, too, will have to push the boundaries of what seems possible. For the truth is, our nation’s destiny has never been certain. What is certain -– what has always been certain -– is the ability to shape that destiny. That is what makes us different. That is what sets us apart. That is what makes us Americans -– our ability at the end of the day to look past all of our differences and all of our disagreements and still forge a common future. That task is now in your hands, as is the answer to the question posed at this university half a century ago about whether a free society can still compete. If you are willing, as past generations were willing, to contribute part of your life to the life of this country, then I, like President Kennedy, believe we can. Because I believe in you. (Applause.) Congratulations on your graduation, 2010. May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you. (Applause.) END 12:11 P.M. EDT ☞ By the way, do you know what makes a really good graduation gift (he says, with staggering immodesty)? This book.
Turbulence May 7, 2010March 17, 2017 Oops: NEW YORK (AP) — A computerized selloff possibly caused by a simple typographical error triggered one of the most turbulent days in Wall Street history Thursday and sent the Dow Jones industrials to a loss of almost 1,000 points, nearly a tenth of their value, in less than half an hour. It was the biggest drop ever during a trading day. The Dow recovered two-thirds of the loss before the closing bell, but that was still the biggest point loss since February of last year. The lightning-fast plummet temporarily knocked normally stable stocks such as Procter & Gamble to a tiny fraction of their former value and sent chills down investors’ spines. ☞ As the one engineer says to the other after their trains collide and they find themselves up in the air, nose to nose, in the British movie “The Wrong Box” – “We ’aven’t ’eard the last of this, Oyl whyger!” (Or words to that effect.) But leaving aside the technical glitch, there was Greece (and the wider implications some fear it will have). And there were investors planning to get out of the market, after its huge run up, at the first sign of trouble (and/or before the traditionally challenging June through October period) – Greece gave them a good excuse. And isn’t the British Petroleum catastrophe unsettling? And did the government’s Goldman Sachs lawsuit not sound awfully like the “bell” they famously don’t ring at the end of a bull market (but everyone strains to hear anyway)? Normally, it’s good to remember that the sun will come out tomorrow – even in Greece. But what if Katla blows, at it often does not long after its volcanic neighbor? At ten times the expected force, it might not be sunny for some time. But when isn’t there something to worry about. The Cuban missile crisis? We survived it and the market is up 20-fold. The Kennedy Assassination? The Vietnam debacle and Kennedy/King assassinations of 1968? Watergate? The 1987 market crash? Anthrax? Our challenges are enormous (and I haven’t sold the gold suggested here). But we’re making headway. Keep your head down and your chin up.
$87,000 In Taxpayer Funds For THIS Expert? May 6, 2010March 17, 2017 IT ARRIVED Did you know there are 3,500 parts in a pinball machine? And nearly half a mile of wiring? And 115 little bulbs? “A penguin on roller skates – amazing!” Believe It Or Not! I’ve lost two pounds. “TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE!” Growing up, I knew that to be the retort of choice but had only the vaguest notion what it meant. (There were so many things I parroted without understanding them, all unsuited for a family website. In later years a light bulb would occasionally – finally – go off. As in . . . oh! And then, upon further reflection . . . oh, my!) But the general notion of “it takes one to know one” was that the person most likely to be calling out someone for being gay (which was not the word in use back then) was the person trying most mightily to hide something himself. I had one such incident myself, when – to impress the high school classmate with whom I was smitten – I yelled at two men with umbrellas following us out of an off-Broadway show our English teacher had required us to see. My classmate, being comfortable in his own skin, was oblivious. Not me. The difference is, I was sixteen. It was 1963. That one of “America’s most prominent anti-gay crusaders,” George Rekers, a founder of the Family Research Council, should be acting this way at 61 – in 2010, for crying out loud – is just a bit much. (Likewise, that Florida’s Republican attorney general and gubernatorial candidate would recently have had the state pay him $87,000 to serve as an expert witness in an effort to retain Florida’s status as the only state to ban gay adoption.) Rekers, as you’ve doubtless read or seen elsewhere by now, hired a male prostitute to accompany him on a ten-day trip to Europe. Here’s one account. I chose it for its lack of active hyperlinks. This is a family site, and unlike Professor Rekers, you may be uncomfortable visiting the explicit site he picked to make the hire. Rekers explains that the 10-day vacation was all part of his Christian ministry – he rented the 20-year-old not out of fantasy or desire, but as a way to help the young man go straight (and for help carrying his bags). Like John the Baptist and Jesus, I have a loving Christian ministry to homosexuals and prostitutes in which I share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them . . . Well, good for him. But that anyone would look to this sad man for guidance, let alone expert testimony, strikes me as . . . unwise.
Stand Up For Your Health May 5, 2010March 17, 2017 Tom Anthony: “Now Business Week is covering this with some more details on the biological mechanisms involved.” ☞ In part: . . . Sitting is a public-health risk. And exercising doesn’t offset it. “People need to understand that the qualitative mechanisms of sitting are completely different from walking or exercising,” says University of Missouri microbiologist Marc Hamilton. “Sitting too much is not the same as exercising too little. They do completely different things to the body.” In a 2005 article in Science magazine, James A. Levine, an obesity specialist at the Mayo Clinic, pinpointed why, despite similar diets, some people are fat and others aren’t. “We found that people with obesity have a natural predisposition to be attracted to the chair, and that’s true even after obese people lose weight,” he says. “What fascinates me is that humans evolved over 1.5 million years entirely on the ability to walk and move. And literally 150 years ago, 90% of human endeavor was still agricultural. In a tiny speck of time we’ve become chair-sentenced,” Levine says. Hamilton, like many sitting researchers, doesn’t own an office chair. “If you’re standing around and puttering, you recruit specialized muscles designed for postural support that never tire,” he says. “They’re unique in that the nervous system recruits them for low-intensity activity and they’re very rich in enzymes.” One enzyme, lipoprotein lipase, grabs fat and cholesterol from the blood, burning the fat into energy while shifting the cholesterol from LDL (the bad kind) to HDL (the healthy kind). When you sit, the muscles are relaxed, and enzyme activity drops by 90% to 95%, leaving fat to camp out in the bloodstream. Within a couple hours of sitting, healthy cholesterol plummets by 20%. The data back him up. Older people who move around have half the mortality rate of their peers. Frequent TV and Web surfers (sitters) have higher rates of hypertension, obesity, high blood triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and high blood sugar, regardless of weight. Lean people, on average, stand for two hours longer than their counterparts. ☞ Which tipped me over the edge. In the interest of good health – how else to justify it? – I have gone completely crazy and, “believe it or not,” acquired this little beauty. It is supposed to arrive between nine and ten this morning. I am bathed in guilt but overwhelmed with anticipation. There may or may not be columns the rest of the week.
Paper Profits: Row With The Flow May 4, 2010March 17, 2017 I’m no engineer and have no idea how many wells there are in the Gulf of Mexico . . . but how could we not have had a giant dome standing by, just a day or two distant from any well in the Gulf, aboard a ship jointly paid for by all the drillers – and maybe all the insurance companies insuring those drillers – waiting for the day we all hoped would never come? Should we not have such things in place in the future – and in the North Sea and the Persian Gulf and wherever else? What other dome-like things (metaphorically) should we have standing by for other kinds of disasters? There must be a long check-list of such disaster-mitigators – tents, generators, gauze, antidotes, snap-together pre-fab bridges, whatever might mitigate a calamity at a nuclear plant, and on and on. Some of the items have yet to be acquired and adequately deployed, either because it would cost too much (an excuse that cannot be dismissed out of hand, but that does not hold up in the case of the dome) or because no one felt the responsibility to do it (a situation we could correct). Certainly, if the cost of such a dome had been $50 million to fabricate, in 1975, say; and we had had to spend $25 million a year maintaining it and the barge it sat on (or should we have left it sitting on the ocean floor, immune to hurricanes, to be hoisted by some gigantic winch if the day ever came to use it?), it would have been a bargain. How could this catastrophe have happened? ROZ IS ROWING AGAIN Even as ever more plastic is dumped into the ocean, she dips oar to brine to make her point. Australia, here she comes. CASH IS FLOWING AGAIN Let no one ever accuse me of sitting by my Bloomberg, pouncing on news the instant it’s released. Embarrassingly, I don’t have a Bloomberg. (I do have a Blumberg, four Blums, five Blooms, two other Bloombergs, and a Bloomstein.) My point is . . . I just now noticed a February 25 press release from Boise Paper. Remember our Boise warrants? Most recently purchased at 2 cents and up 40-fold? As reported periodically, I’ve already sold a lot of them, especially once they went long-term. But I still have a nice bunch, and according to that press release, debt has been paid down significantly and free cash flow is substantial. Is “paper” an industry of the future? Well, no, probably not. Might the stock hit $10 or $12 before the warrants expire June 18, 2011? Probably not, either. (For one thing, I’m not that lucky. For another, who knows what other catastrophes our economy or financial markets may encounter. For a third, I don’t want to jinx it.) But it’s not an altogether crazy notion, so I am holding on.