Provoke Thought

Provocative. Watch it all.

2008-11-18T00:50:00.001-08:00

First things first. Some great points to consider.

Remember this.

2008-11-10T23:56:00.001-08:00

Whether he got your vote or not,it's hard not to appreciate the historic moments that are unfolding before our eyes. While the country remains conflicted about the methods to resolve our issues, there is a genuine sense of hope that this great orator has the answers.

Though, the last picture I saw of him, it looked as if he had just been "briefed"! It looked like some weight was added to his shoulders. This term will age any prez quickly. He's got enormous challenges ahead.

This is an exciting time to be alive.

Hopeful.

Consider with open mind - yes prop 8, CA -Much is misunderstood

2008-10-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

This is less about civil rights, and more about a dangerous evolution in the definition of "tolerance". Educational mandates and adoption policies will likely be enforced on a population that holds an understanding of marriage as designed for procreation and raising children in an environment that is conducive to a natural understanding of gender identity.

The irony is that examples show that the effects of activist judges and the claim of the "title" of marriage to same gender unions can provide intolerant actions against any religion that holds a belief of marriage as between man and woman.

I see this as a threat to religious freedom and I have a concern for the rights of children if the ability to be adopted into natural families becomes diminished. Count on early educational requirements to be far reaching.

This is a charged issue, and I've got nothing but love and tolerance for homosexuals and believe in "live and let live",... but let civil unions be as they may, and the term marriage remain clear in it's original purpose and form: preserved for those unions designed to bring forth and nurture new life. History and studies show this is the healthiest environment for child rearing, and it sends a strange message to put forth that gay marriage is an equivalent.

This IS about equal rights and freedom, but in reverse of the way most are realizing.....

http://www.whatistheharm.org

clipped:

"The experience of legalizing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, and of civil unions elsewhere, cannot be ignored. It shows that, even with the best of intentions, legalizing same-sex marriage will seriously undermine the religious freedom citizens have enjoyed since the founding.

It is but a small step for the state to impose this rationale on churches and other houses of worship and end legal recognition of religious marriage ceremonies that do not comply with the state’s expanded definition of marriage. This is not the only example of what is to come. Massachusetts, like many other states, strictly regulates private adoption agencies through licensing. Historically, this has not posed any difficulties for religious institutions, but Massachusetts now demands that all licensed adoption agencies be willing to place children with legally married same-sex couples.

However, Catholic Charities, the largest private social service provider in the state, could not in good conscience place its orphan children into homosexual households. After a bitter struggle, Boston Catholic Charities was forced out of the adoption business because it refused to embrace the state’s new definition of marriage. The result was doubly tragic because both orphan children and religious liberty took the hit for this misguided attempt at equality. "

Don't Dilute the Message

2008-09-28T02:07:00.001-07:00

I'm a believer in the 'short and sweet' philosophy when it comes to email.

I've had colleagues whose lengthy emails are laughed about behind their backs. In fact, the emails are dreaded by their recipients. But most importantly, they do not get completely read, the main message is lost, diluted and the senders credibility can be damaged.

Be brief. Use plain language.
Remove redundant or unneeded words, even sentences.
Keep it "above the line" and to one page. Nobody wants to scroll.
Use BOLD and bullet points to make your main message or action items and deadlines easy to find.

Email, Lean and Concise. <- Click for more words and sentences on the subject.

National Broadcasting Corp?

2008-09-19T21:08:00.001-07:00

Very interesting to me that NBC originally declined to run this ad:

High Fructose Corn Syrup Makes Mice Chubby

2008-09-14T09:07:00.001-07:00

Saw a commercial today about High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Designed to calm our concerns about the "natural" product... Whatever "natural" means...

Dig into to the studies, so you don't stammer like the lady in the commercial about the facts and the concerns.

clipped from Wikipedia:

"...soft drinks sweetened with HFCS are up to 10 times richer in harmful carbonyl compounds, such as methylglyoxal, than a diet soft drink control.^[23] Carbonyl compounds are elevated in people with diabetes and are blamed for causing diabetic complications such as foot ulcers and eye and nerve damage;^[24]^[25]""A study in mice suggests that fructose increases obesity.^[26] Large quantities of fructose stimulate the liver to produce triglycerides, promotes glycation of proteins and induces insulin resistance.^[27] According to one study, the average American consumes nearly 70 pounds of HFCS per annum, marking HFCS as a major contributor to the rising rates of obesity in the last generation. ^[28]"

read more

.... The "Crack of sweeteners"

An Obvious Solution? $1.50 per gallon

2008-09-11T00:39:00.001-07:00

Great video from T. Boone Pickens. Let's get to work on some solutions!
Tired of hearing arguments about lipstick today. I'd like to be living in the solutions.

Things that make you go,"Hmmm"

2008-09-06T00:19:00.001-07:00

And this is the BIG campaign to combat the Apple commercials?....Hmmmm.
Interesting, but there's still a lot of work to do.... I'll be waiting for the funny part.

Post net pictures at your peril

2008-08-26T20:34:00.001-07:00

THOSE drunken photos of you dancing in your underwear may seem
hilarious now – but in five years they could stop you winning the job
of your dreams.

This clipped from The Advertiser: "Adelaidenow"

YES, it's a good idea to think more than twice about what we post on a net!
Not just the Facebook, and Myspace gobbledygook we may post but even our Twitters and Pownces could be held against us!

I pondered recently if my great grandchildren will be reviewing my Twitter posts years from now........... Scary thought!

For that reason I keep many a rant to myself. Of course there's plenty of nonsensical drivel out there that has dripped of my fingertips into the eternal record of the human race. I cringe a little at the thought, but thus far it's nothing to lose sleep over. When I occasionally ask myself: "Self, who are you writing to?" I come back with the answer of "nobody" and "EVERBODY" in the same sentence.

Strange indeed. I'd better accompany this with a picture of something......interesting..

Here: Good luck finding a job with these silly hats, ladies!

Google is all up in my grill

2008-08-08T00:28:00.001-07:00

Google is now cruising down country roads in Sonoma County... amazing.

Glad the lawn was mowed!

Eliana's iCarly Song!

2008-07-26T07:14:00.001-07:00

Eliana has been asking me to upload a video to the iCarly website for weeks! She's excited at the thought of being on TV.

Knowing When to Push Back

2008-07-14T21:44:00.001-07:00

Some great stuff from Harvard Business Online. This comes from there "50Lessons" videos. This quick clip is an example of "push back" with a customer. (You'll dig Phil's accent, too.. Imagine him saying "I can't hold her,Captain", while your listening).

But, when is it time to push back within the company? This is just as difficult. It's about knowing the unwritten rules... knowing all the players. Timing is everything. Patience is a virtue, at times.... but, there is a limit.

"Catch ball" is a term used in Hoshin Kanri planning. (Policy Deployment).... Where the two way communication should allow for some "push back" against unrealistic objectives set from above. In a company that historically doesn't play this way, I think we still figuring this part out.
...It's a process.. It doesn't happen over night! So, in some ways the command and control model is in place under the guise of the Hoshin language.
But there is hope.... in the name of continuous improvement!

The Chain Theory

2008-07-07T07:22:00.001-07:00

I bought the book "The Goal", The Theory of Constraints, Eliyahou Goldratt for 70 cents on Amazon! Now, I just have to read it ...

Smarty Splash

2008-07-04T02:07:00.001-07:00

Splash
Originally uploaded by SdPanek

Eliana said, "Daddy, what's the middle number in the world.... I think, maybe it's 50, I dunno... Or maybe it's googleplex, is it?"

She's a smartypants, we talk about math sometimes..... and a lot of other interesting stuff.

Teen toob toss!

2008-07-02T00:58:00.001-07:00

Work Hard, Play hard.

I've also decided that it's fine to not own an expensive boat, a million dollar vacation home, and a pair of waverunners.... We get caught up in ownership... I can use those things a couple times a year for a fraction of the headache. I'm getting smarter all the time. I also discovered that it's harder to get up on one ski than it used to be!

Corporate Genetic Food

2008-06-07T23:35:00.001-07:00

We should be concerned. We're in the middle of a food supply experiment. Interesting that the intellectual rights of the food can be purchased, for a year...

I remember Paul Hawken from the book Magic of Findhorn,
I have a lot of catching up to do,he's wriiten a bunch more books. I appreciate his perspective. Definitely click the video.

Importance of Value Stream Mapping

2008-06-07T14:11:00.001-07:00

A fundamental to "Seeing" a process.
I've seen Process maps that don't do much good because there is so much detail that they're painful to look at! ....and others that don't have enough detail to reveal the issues. ... There's clearly is benefit to mapping and analyzing the value stream.

We've gone through some basic training, but need to get to the next level with this.
I'll be digging deeper on this in Houston with Optriprise.

This basic video is from SME

The SPAM Generation. US is fourth behind China, Brazil, and Turkey.

2008-06-07T12:55:00.001-07:00

Not a race to first place. This from Technology Review reveals where the bulk of the mess comes from. It's a crying shame we don't have better control over this.

....Makes me think of a Monty Python song. (See Below!)

The comments thread had a few good nuggets, too ...

Education Shiladie on 05/29/2008 at 1:05 PM
The number one reason these things spread like they do is people being completely ignorant about the internet. These are the people who are the reasons spam is so prolific: People who: 1. use the 'To:' field 2. click links (ANY LINKS) in an email 3. run windows and don't keep an up-to-date anti-virus on it (there are many free ones!) 4. reply to spam 5. have unsecure passwords (12345, password, nascar, jesus) Currently there are multiple bot-nets that are orders of magnitude more powerful then the world's largest supercomputers, and it won't stop unless people plain and simple smarten up.

Guzzler CraigsListings on the Rise.

2008-05-13T23:16:00.001-07:00

Gas prices spur Craigslist car & truck listings growth 120%

"My Suburban gets 120 MPG (*per person when fully loaded)." buy a burb and pass the hat!
That's the heading I'd like to use when I list our family 'burb' for sale. The teenagers have their own cars and we could probably live with something a little smaller, cheaper and minivanish..... But, I'm still getting complete minivan resistance from Suzanne. She drove one for over a decade and has been spoiled by Burb.

Funny, it tooks years to convince her to try our first Burb. Now she's hooked. Push might soon be coming to shove.

The Craiglist sale ads for trucks and SUVs are increasing right along with the latest gas prices. We'll probably do something within the year, but I still think 120 mpg ain't bad.

RFID News, Global Food Crisis, and other appocolyptical thingies

2008-05-05T22:05:00.001-07:00

photo by Kristin Smith

I love technology... but this weirds me out. Should I worry now, or wait until they're mandatory at birth?

RFID Journal

"For $149, a consumer can have a passive 134 kHz RFID chip, compliant with the ISO 11784 and 11785 standards, implanted in his or her arm, with the transponder's unique 16-digit ID number linked to a database containing that individual's medical records and, if they so choose, a living will." .... read more in RFID Journal

Behold a Black Horse: The Global Food Crisis.

"According to the United Nations, global food prices rose 35 percent in the last year...."
..."Rising oil prices have also had caused food prices to rise...."
"...This situation has not received enough media attention, prompting some to label it the "silent famine."....read more by Dr. Chuck Missler

Housing Prices Drop at Fastest Pace Ever - April 29, 2008 (MSNBC)

Housing prices dropped in February at the fastest rate ever, reflecting that the housing slump is gaining momentum and showing no signs of letting up.

Quotes ... Leading through Change

2008-04-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

"Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times."

— Niccolo Machiavelli

"People don't resist change. They resist being changed!"

— Peter Senge

"Your success in life isn't based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers and business."

— Mark Sanborn

"Innovation—the heart of the knowledge economy—is fundamentally social."

— Malcolm Gladwell

.. Just a few quotes that seemed timely.

Brainstorming - Random Word Technique

2008-04-21T22:19:00.001-07:00

Interesting brainstorming technique clipped from "brainstorming.co.uk"

Use the following as an example:

You are working for a car manufacturer in the wheel department and are trying to come up with some new ideas about the wheel (without reinventing it!) Imagine you are now given this random word: toothbrush! What are your initial thoughts? Probably something like "How on earth is this relevant?" or "What a silly idea, they're totally unconnected". But before we go on, spend a couple of minutes trying to come up with a few ideas.

Ok, here are some examples of ideas you might have come up with (including some working through of the thinking process behind them, which you would not normally write down):

Replacing the wheel with a toothbrush:

Bridging ideas:

Imagine the whole tyre of the wheel is made of toothbrush bristles. What are the advantages?
(PS tyre = tire using US spelling)

Much better grip in the snow.
Small stones pass straight through with a minor disturbance of the bristles. Cleans the road as it goes.

Resulting relevant ideas:

Create a snow tyre where the snow (or water) is forced though holes in the bottom of the tyre and shot out through small tubes in the rubber, thus stopping the tyre tread from clogging up.

Retractable spikes in the tyre.

Dimples in the tyre so that small stones are not felt by the passenger(s).

What other principles are there about toothbrushes?

Features of a toothbrush:

Bridging ideas:

Some toothbrushes change colour when they have been used for too long.
Some toothbrushes squirt out toothpaste while you brush.
They have springy handles to make sure you do not press too hard.
Some have ridges so that at least some bristles get to the bottom of the dips in teeth.
They come in plastic containers for travelling.
You brush your teeth with them twice a day.

Resulting relevant ideas:

How about a tyre which has two layers of coloured rubber so that when the underneath layer shows through, the tyre needed replacing. Also police could spot bald tyres from a distance.

Could a mini-camera spot oil on the road and spray out an oil remover or could the tyre eject salt in front of the car in the case of ice?

Could the suspension be a flexible bit of metal instead of a spring and damper?

If the rubber of the tyre was made of a mixture of hard and soft rubber then the soft bits would stick into the dimples in the road and stick better.

Could we sell a cover for car wheels so that in snowy countries the wheels would not get blocked with snow? Could we use the cover to stop being wheel-clamped?

Could we produce a device which measured the deterioration of the car tyre which each person could check everyday (how might they remember?)?

What are the benefits of a toothbrush?

Bridging ideas:

You don't get rotten teeth.
It scrapes nasty stuff from your teeth.
It makes your teeth feel clean and smooth.

Resulting relevant ideas:

Could we produce an X-ray device to measure the internal condition of a tyre.

People often have to pick out stones from the tyre treads. We could make a 'tread comb' to make this easier and encourage people to use it to make their tyres last longer. We could make it so it only fitted the tyres we sell and so our customers would be pleased by how much longer our tyres lasted.

Can we produce a tyre that sprays the ground water on to the car tyre and thus washes itself?

Things to watch out for when using the technique --> ....more

Today's Greatest Illusion (I Heart Tap Water Finalist)

2008-04-20T22:10:00.001-07:00

Think about it... The statistics are staggering... and we are being bamboozled.

Drink for free!
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/blog/archive/2008/04/18/and-the-finalists-are

Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

2008-04-19T00:47:00.001-07:00

Lee Iacocca has some scathing observations of our current state. Thanks for the straight talk.

Excerpt from his book, "Where Have All The Leaders Gone?"
Chapter 1. Had Enough?
Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I'd love to -- as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. I'm going to speak up because it's my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So I'll tell you how I see it, and it's not pretty, but at least it's real. I'm hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they don't vote because they don't trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS, ANYWAY?

Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them -- or at least some of us did. But I'll tell you what we didn't do. We didn't agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn't agree to stop asking questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people who call free speech treason. Where I come from that's a dictatorship, not a democracy.

And don't tell me it's all the fault of right-wing Republicans or liberal Democrats. That's an intellectually lazy argument, and it's part of the reason we're in this stew. We're not just a nation of factions. We're a people. We share common principles and ideals. And we rise and fall together.

Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?

THE TEST OF A LEADER

I've never been Commander in Chief, but I've been a CEO. I understand a few things about leadership at the top. I've figured out nine points -- not ten (I don't want people accusing me of thinking I'm Moses). I call them the "Nine Cs of Leadership." They're not fancy or complicated. Just clear, obvious qualities that every true leader should have. We should look at how the current administration stacks up. Like it or not, this crew is going to be around until January 2009. Maybe we can learn something before we go to the polls in 2008. Then let's be sure we use the leadership test to screen the candidates who say they want to run the country. It's up to us to choose wisely.

So, here's my C list:

A leader has to show CURIOSITY. He has to listen to people outside of the "Yes, sir" crowd in his inner circle. He has to read voraciously, because the world is a big, complicated place. George W. Bush brags about never reading a newspaper. "I just scan the headlines," he says. Am I hearing this right? He's the President of the United States and he never reads a newspaper? Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter." Bush disagrees. As long as he gets his daily hour in the gym, with Fox News piped through the sound system, he's ready to go.

If a leader never steps outside his comfort zone to hear different ideas, he grows stale. If he doesn't put his beliefs to the test, how does he know he's right? The inability to listen is a form of arrogance. It means either you think you already know it all, or you just don't care. Before the 2006 election, George Bush made a big point of saying he didn't listen to the polls. Yeah, that's what they all say when the polls stink. But maybe he should have listened, because 70 percent of the people were saying he was on the wrong track. It took a "thumping" on election day to wake him up, but even then you got the feeling he wasn't listening so much as he was calculating how to do a better job of convincing everyone he was right.

A leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, be willing to try something different. You know, think outside the box. George Bush prides himself on never changing, even as the world around him is spinning out of control. God forbid someone should accuse him of flip-flopping. There's a disturbingly messianic fervor to his certainty. Senator Joe Biden recalled a conversation he had with Bush a few months after our troops marched into Baghdad. Joe was in the Oval Office outlining his concerns to the President -- the explosive mix of Shiite and Sunni, the disbanded Iraqi army, the problems securing the oil fields. "The President was serene," Joe recalled. "He told me he was sure that we were on the right course and that all would be well. 'Mr. President,' I finally said, 'how can you be so sure when you don't yet know all the facts?'" Bush then reached over and put a steadying hand on Joe's shoulder. "My instincts," he said. "My instincts." Joe was flabbergasted. He told Bush, "Mr. President, your instincts aren't good enough." Joe Biden sure didn't think the matter was settled. And, as we all know now, it wasn't.

Leadership is all about managing change -- whether you're leading a company or leading a country. Things change, and you get creative. You adapt. Maybe Bush was absent the day they covered that at Harvard Business School.

A leader has to COMMUNICATE. I'm not talking about running off at the mouth or spouting sound bites. I'm talking about facing reality and telling the truth. Nobody in the current administration seems to know how to talk straight anymore. Instead, they spend most of their time trying to convince us that things are not really as bad as they seem. I don't know if it's denial or dishonesty, but it can start to drive you crazy after a while. Communication has to start with telling the truth, even when it's painful. The war in Iraq has been, among other things, a grand failure of communication. Bush is like the boy who didn't cry wolf when the wolf was at the door. After years of being told that all is well, even as the casualties and chaos mount, we've stopped listening to him.

A leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means knowing the difference between right and wrong and having the guts to do the right thing. Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you want to test a man's character, give him power." George Bush has a lot of power. What does it say about his character? Bush has shown a willingness to take bold action on the world stage because he has the power, but he shows little regard for the grievous consequences. He has sent our troops (not to mention hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens) to their deaths -- for what? To build our oil reserves? To avenge his daddy because Saddam Hussein once tried to have him killed? To show his daddy he's tougher? The motivations behind the war in Iraq are questionable, and the execution of the war has been a disaster. A man of character does not ask a single soldier to die for a failed policy.

A leader must have COURAGE. I'm talking about balls. (That even goes for female leaders.) Swagger isn't courage. Tough talk isn't courage. George Bush comes from a blue-blooded Connecticut family, but he likes to talk like a cowboy. You know, My gun is bigger than your gun. Courage in the twenty-first century doesn't mean posturing and bravado. Courage is a commitment to sit down at the negotiating table and talk.

If you're a politician, courage means taking a position even when you know it will cost you votes. Bush can't even make a public appearance unless the audience has been handpicked and sanitized. He did a series of so-called town hall meetings last year, in auditoriums packed with his most devoted fans. The questions were all softballs.

To be a leader you've got to have CONVICTION -- a fire in your belly. You've got to have passion. You've got to really want to get something done. How do you measure fire in the belly? Bush has set the all-time record for number of vacation days taken by a U.S. President -- four hundred and counting. He'd rather clear brush on his ranch than immerse himself in the business of governing. He even told an interviewer that the high point of his presidency so far was catching a seven-and-a-half-pound perch in his hand-stocked lake.

It's no better on Capitol Hill. Congress was in session only ninety-seven days in 2006. That's eleven days less than the record set in 1948, when President Harry Truman coined the term do-nothing Congress. Most people would expect to be fired if they worked so little and had nothing to show for it. But Congress managed to find the time to vote itself a raise. Now, that's not leadership.

A leader should have CHARISMA. I'm not talking about being flashy. Charisma is the quality that makes people want to follow you. It's the ability to inspire. People follow a leader because they trust him. That's my definition of charisma. Maybe George Bush is a great guy to hang out with at a barbecue or a ball game. But put him at a global summit where the future of our planet is at stake, and he doesn't look very presidential. Those frat-boy pranks and the kidding around he enjoys so much don't go over that well with world leaders. Just ask German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received an unwelcome shoulder massage from our President at a G-8 Summit. When he came up behind her and started squeezing, I thought she was going to go right through the roof.

A leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious, doesn't it? You've got to know what you're doing. More important than that, you've got to surround yourself with people who know what they're doing. Bush brags about being our first MBA President. Does that make him competent? Well, let's see. Thanks to our first MBA President, we've got the largest deficit in history, Social Security is on life support, and we've run up a half-a-trillion-dollar price tag (so far) in Iraq. And that's just for starters. A leader has to be a problem solver, and the biggest problems we face as a nation seem to be on the back burner.

You can't be a leader if you don't have COMMON SENSE. I call this Charlie Beacham's rule. When I was a young guy just starting out in the car business, one of my first jobs was as Ford's zone manager in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. My boss was a guy named Charlie Beacham, who was the East Coast regional manager. Charlie was a big Southerner, with a warm drawl, a huge smile, and a core of steel. Charlie used to tell me, "Remember, Lee, the only thing you've got going for you as a human being is your ability to reason and your common sense. If you don't know a dip of horseshit from a dip of vanilla ice cream, you'll never make it." George Bush doesn't have common sense. He just has a lot of sound bites. You know -- Mr.they'll-welcome-us-as-liberators -no-child-left-behind-heck-of-a-job -Brownie-mission-accomplished Bush.

Former President Bill Clinton once said, "I grew up in an alcoholic home. I spent half my childhood trying to get into the reality-based world -- and I like it here."

I think our current President should visit the real world once in a while.

THE BIGGEST C IS CRISIS

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. Where was George Bush? He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids in Florida when he heard about the attacks. He kept sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look on his face. It's all on tape. You can see it for yourself. Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to Washington and immediately going on the air to reassure the panicked people of this country, he decided it wasn't safe to return to the White House. He basically went into hiding for the day -- and he told Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put in his bunker. We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of our wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we were going to be okay, and there was nobody home. It took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and devise the right photo op at Ground Zero.

That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And what did he do when he'd regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq -- a road his own father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush didn't listen to Daddy. He listened to a higher father. He prides himself on being faith based, not reality based. If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will.

A HELL OF A MESS

So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when "the Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen -- and more important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?

HAD ENOUGH?

Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises -- the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to action for people who, like me, believe in America. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the horseshit and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had enough.

Copyright © 2007 by Lee Iacocca & Associates, Inc., a California Corporation

Provoke Thought

Provocative. Watch it all.

Remember this.

Consider with open mind - yes prop 8, CA -Much is misunderstood

Don't Dilute the Message

National Broadcasting Corp?

High Fructose Corn Syrup Makes Mice Chubby

An Obvious Solution? $1.50 per gallon

Things that make you go,"Hmmm"

Post net pictures at your peril

THOSE drunken photos of you dancing in your underwear may seemhilarious now – but in five years they could stop you winning the jobof your dreams.

More Questions

Google is all up in my grill

Eliana's iCarly Song!

Knowing When to Push Back

The Chain Theory

Smarty Splash

Teen toob toss!

Corporate Genetic Food

Importance of Value Stream Mapping

The SPAM Generation. US is fourth behind China, Brazil, and Turkey.

Guzzler CraigsListings on the Rise.

RFID News, Global Food Crisis, and other appocolyptical thingies

Quotes ... Leading through Change

Brainstorming - Random Word Technique

Use the following as an example:

Replacing the wheel with a toothbrush:

Bridging ideas:

Resulting relevant ideas:

Features of a toothbrush:

Bridging ideas:

Resulting relevant ideas:

What are the benefits of a toothbrush?

Bridging ideas:

Resulting relevant ideas:

Things to watch out for when using the technique --&gt; ....more

Today's Greatest Illusion (I Heart Tap Water Finalist)

Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

THOSE drunken photos of you dancing in your underwear may seem
hilarious now – but in five years they could stop you winning the job
of your dreams.

Things to watch out for when using the technique --> ....more