January 2010

Haiti and New Orleans

Haiti and New Orleans

When I was 10 years old my family moved from Minnesota to California. The move was huge, but it caused me anxiety because I had watched television shows predicting the next big earthquake and California falling into the Pacific Ocean. Of course, that was more than 30 years ago, and California remains part of the continental United States. However, the residents of California live with the threat of earthquakes every day. Unlike any other natural disaster phenomena, I would conjecture an earthquake is the worst threat to face. Contrastingly, in Florida we have days, up to a week, to prepare for a hurricane. Tornadoes come with minutes of warning, or hours if paying attention to conditions. Even mudslides, floods, and fires provide a reasonable warning. An earthquake, on the other hand, comes any time and with no warning. If you live in California though, you know the threat exists. Living in Haiti on the other hand is a place with minimal earthquake risk.

Facing disaster is reasonable when you know what threat exists, or more importantly have time to prepare. When Katrina struck New Orleans warnings were issued ahead of time, the citizens had a choice to stay or leave. Of course, a weather forecast is never perfect, but with Katrina the severity of potential of the storm obviously loomed. In contrast, Haiti was struck by the worst earthquake in 200 years with no warning, and unlike California, no predisposition for the expectation of earthquakes. It appears Haiti’s government and communications infrastructure collapsed, not unlike the local resources of New Orleans and Louisiana. Immediately, Haiti reached out to its neighbors to seek help, and so did New Orleans. In both instances, massive federal aid packages were mobilized to assist.

News coverage of the events in Haiti has been compassionate and focused on the successes of rescue. In South Florida the media is providing local stories of airports launching relief, medical teams departing, and families reuniting. It is nearly impossible to turn on the television without a reference to the current situation in Haiti and how the citizens of the world are reaching out to their neighbors. Unfortunately, last week there was troubling coverage of gangs, violence, and looting. I found the similarities to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans striking in this regard. Sadly, there are people who disregard the brotherhood of man and instead take advantage of disaster and troubling times. Amplifying this situation is sensationalism by the press of the minority doing so. Bothersome as these situations are though, we should not be left with images of theft and violence, but focus on the success of rescue and efforts to help those in need.

However, the real story remains at the ground level, not from the massive organized efforts. The individual rescues, and thousands of examples of neighbor helping neighbor. The real survivors in Haiti are those helping, not seeking assistance or depending on a foreign nation to save the day. The real survivors understand their fate is up to them and do not blame anyone for the earthquake that struck. In contrast, the residents of New Orleans shunned personal responsibility, looked to blame others, and waited for someone to save them. Haiti’s earthquake is going to forever change the look of neighboring nations as its own people realize it will take decades to recover. As we watch from afar, I challenge you to examine your own preparedness for unforeseen disasters, and remind you to believe in the goodness of people helping people.

January 31, 2010 by Health care preparedness Stupid People

Terrorism

Lately the news has focused on the Christmas Day underwear bomber and his attempt to destroy Northwest Flight 253 landing at Detroit. Fortunately, no lives were lost. However, I believe Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab succeeded as he has returned our focus to terrorism when considering the definition as “a state of fear and submission.” Sadly though, I would offer that citizens in America are not fearful, but instead subject to fear-mongering by the media and the government.

On September 12, 2001 I believe we were all stunned and wondered, “how could this happen?” President Bush moved to create a huge new government spending program with the formation of the Department of Homeland Security and the expansion of the Transportation Security Administration. The first DHS Secretary, Tom Ridge, created the threat level designations to identify the probability of attack, but it remains the same color, “Orange”, with no quantitative definition. In the post September 11th world we dutiful gave up civil rights in the name of safety, subjecting ourselves to demeaning searches at airports like removing our shoes, forcing little old ladies to forfeit knitting needles, and watching our children cry as they pass through the process. The ultimate idiocracy came with the subjection of infant formula and breast milk to potential disposal.

From there, the paranoia spread to other parts of our lives, all under the guise of the “state of fear.” We now attend sporting events and pass through metal detectors and have bags searched. Regardless of all the post September 11th expansion of technologies and counter-terrorism intelligence agencies, President Obama admitted there was a system failure; exemplifying the quote, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.” But, like predecessors, President Obama and DHS Secretary Napolitano have proposed further expansion of security; spending monies on new high-tech imaging machines, explosive sniffers, more databases for comparing intelligence, and increasing TSA. Somehow they expect this will bring a different outcome, but yet they are repeating the same things.

In the new 2010 environment I have noted a radical shift in public opinion, there is no confidence in the government’s plans this time. Thus, we the people have caught on to the charade, doing the same thing repeatedly will not bring a different outcome. Even media sources supporting this Administration have had a plethora of critical columnists and articles examining these new security proposals. Furthermore, citizens are finally showing outrage over the proposed invasiveness of new search techniques and enhanced screening.

Handling terrorism is difficult, but it is war. Unfortunately it is not like wars of the past where the enemy wore a different color or fought along geographical boundaries. In this politically correct world it has been made incorrect to reference a “war on terror” for fear of inflaming those who attack us. I prefer to look at the problem from an economic and statistical standpoint and question why certain terrorists are unsuccessful. I recognize there are two contrasting views regarding how security and safety is delivered. One opinion is to willingly submit to any search in the name of safety and the other is to minimize the invasiveness to the average person and instead profile certain groups. I think we also have to use quantitative values and look at cost versus benefit of different methods. Lastly, if real terrorism were to occur I do not think any amount of effort could be done to stop it.

January 23, 2010 by Uncategorized

Happy New Year


Many of us are taking a look at the last year and reflecting on what we did right and wrong and how to improve for 2010. I hope our government is doing the same, taking this time to reflect and improve its performance. Annually I make goals, not resolutions, but goals. After making a list of goals I prioritize and determine the actionable items needed to succeed. Unfortunately, I feel our government and country fall short similarly because there is no long-term vision, no goal. In contrast, President Kennedy did an excellent job of creating direction for the country when he set a goal of putting a man on the moon before 1970. Since then our Presidents have spoken in grandiose prose with no answerability thus allowing them to avoid political failure.

The past year, with a new administration, and significantly reshaped Congress offers an excellent opportunity for reflection. One year ago today we had no stimulus plan, no healthcare plan, no Copenhagen Agreement, and less troops committed to Afghanistan. At the same time, the U-6 unemployment rate was 13.5% versus 17% today, the new Whitehouse forecast unemployment to increase if stimulus was not passed, we were promised the automotive companies would not file bankruptcy if we bailed them out, and housing markets were forecasted to improve along with foreclosures dropping. Sadly, America has become sicker as unemployment skyrocketed, housing foreclosures hit historic highs, credit stopped flowing to consumers, commercial real estate markets teeter on collapse, the dollar is losing favor as the currency standard, and consumers curtailed their retail spending more than expected.

As individuals when our goals and plans do not work we have to reassess and change course. The most successful people consider this not a failure, but an opportunity. Watching and listening to pundits from political and financial news shows brings a plethora of analysts willing to pontificate blame. What we need is a leader; a year ago President Obama promised “Hope and Change”, but today’s polls show his approval rating at the lowest ever recorded for a first year president, disappointing even his most avowed supporters. I think the President’s single biggest failure has not been his desires for Hope and Change, but his insistent rearview perspective of placing blame on his predecessors. Leaders do not focus on blame, instead they own their circumstances, develop responsible goals and plans, and move forward.

Our government needs to change focus now and save our society before we fall like the empires of the past. Our Founding Fathers had a radical vision for a new republic and famously changed the world with the Constitution. President Roosevelt navigated the waters of the depression with specific actionable programs. President Kennedy motivated an entire generation to put public service first and a man on the moon. Mayor Giuliani cleaned up New York City and gave its residents hope after 9/11. The consistent leadership trait among these leaders is vision and accountability.

With a new year upon us I hope our leaders in government, Obama, Reid, and Pelosi, will focus less on their political future and stop blaming those who have been gone from power for more than a year. The minority leadership can help craft a vision side by side too and the majority must understand that dissent means debate and not continue to plow forward over unanimous objection. A new year brings new opportunity and can erase thoughts of the past; I hope our government leadership, looks forward and stops looking backward.

January 10, 2010 by Big Government