Much to the confusion of those who have not experienced combat -- parents and spouses, siblings and friends -- many young people say that 'going to war' was one of the best things that ever happened to them. Several of my friends from the Vietnam era attribute maturing and gaining purpose in their lives to serving in the military. Others find a new family and sense of belonging during the trials of combat.
But few are exempt from experiencing bad memories and emotional swings upon coming back home. They are changed, and as a changed person they now must fit into a world that has not moved along as they have. Indeed, those closest to the soldiers, so relieved and happy to be together again, only want them to get back to who they were before the disruption of a deployment.
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March 10, 2010
March 9, 2010
March 3, 2010
Rethinking Beijing’s Financial Options
Controversy can lead to interesting headlines, but also contributes to public confusion. Such is the case when economists engage in debates over just how much money China has invested in Washington’s mountain of debt–and the potential consequences of same. This is exactly what happened at a 25 February 2010 gathering of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. At a hearing titled “U.S. Debt to China: Implications and Repercussions,” Americans were essentially told to ignore data provided by Tim Geithner’s Treasury, and instead depend upon the musings of scholarly economists. And to think we complain about the reliability of Beijing’s financial reports.
A word of warning, a few of the following paragraphs are not user-friendly for the numerically challenged. According Tim Geithner’s folks, as of 31 December 2009 the Chinese were holding on to $755 billion of our Treasury notes. This figure is reported on a monthly basis via the Treasury International Capital System. Seems straightforward, until one realizes the Treasury only records foreign purchases by known country of origin. So if the Chinese acquire T-notes through an alternate channel–say a bank in England–Treasury credits the purchase to London…not Beijing. The result? An under reporting of China’s actual T-note ownership.
March 2, 2010
200,000 To Lose Unemployment Benefits This Week
More than 200,000 laid-off workers will prematurely lose their unemployment benefits this week thanks to Republican Sen. Jim Bunning's surly refusal to let the Senate extend provisions of last year's stimulus bill, according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project.
"This week, tens of thousands of jobless workers will receive the jarring news that they no longer have unemployment benefits, because Congress neglected to meet a basic benchmark for extending them," said NELP director Christine Owens in a statement. "As a result, workers, families and their communities will be cut off from a crucial lifeline and face even more confusion and uncertainty about when and how their benefits will continue. Congress must extend benefits immediately -- and for the full year."
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"This week, tens of thousands of jobless workers will receive the jarring news that they no longer have unemployment benefits, because Congress neglected to meet a basic benchmark for extending them," said NELP director Christine Owens in a statement. "As a result, workers, families and their communities will be cut off from a crucial lifeline and face even more confusion and uncertainty about when and how their benefits will continue. Congress must extend benefits immediately -- and for the full year."
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March 1, 2010
Do You Need All That Data?
Cross-posted from Harvard Business Online
Organizations love data: numbers, reports, trend lines, graphs, spreadsheets -- the more the better. And, as a result, many organizations have a substantial internal factory that churns out data on a regular basis, as well as external resources on call that produce data for onetime studies and questions. But what's the evidence (or dare I say "the data") that all of this data is worth the cost and indeed leads to better business decisions? Is some amount of data collection unnecessary, perhaps even damaging by creating complexity and confusion?
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Organizations love data: numbers, reports, trend lines, graphs, spreadsheets -- the more the better. And, as a result, many organizations have a substantial internal factory that churns out data on a regular basis, as well as external resources on call that produce data for onetime studies and questions. But what's the evidence (or dare I say "the data") that all of this data is worth the cost and indeed leads to better business decisions? Is some amount of data collection unnecessary, perhaps even damaging by creating complexity and confusion?
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February 25, 2010
Toyoda, Toyota, congress and the FBI
The FBI raided three Toyota suppliers in the US yesterday (Yazaki, Denso and Tokai Rika) in an antitrust investigation, and things weren't any better for Toyota in Washington's vast corridors.
In exchanges marked by cultural and language confusion, anger and apparent evasiveness, Toyota's worldwide President and CEO, Akio Toyoda, and COO of Toyota North America and head of Toyota Motor Sales USA Yoshimi Inaba faced the full wrath of a congressional committee investigating Toyota's many safety problems and recalls.
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In exchanges marked by cultural and language confusion, anger and apparent evasiveness, Toyota's worldwide President and CEO, Akio Toyoda, and COO of Toyota North America and head of Toyota Motor Sales USA Yoshimi Inaba faced the full wrath of a congressional committee investigating Toyota's many safety problems and recalls.
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February 23, 2010
Fix Night Raids in Afghanistan
While international forces in Afghanistan have killed fewer civilians in 2009 than in previous years many Afghans still feel abused and angry. One of the main reasons is night raids.
The military insists that conducting operations at night are necessary because it gives them the element of surprise. Afghans say it increases the chance for confusion, chaos, abuse, destruction, civilian casualties, and community fury.
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The military insists that conducting operations at night are necessary because it gives them the element of surprise. Afghans say it increases the chance for confusion, chaos, abuse, destruction, civilian casualties, and community fury.
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February 5, 2010
If We Can’t Beat’Em, Buy’Em
Total confusion erupted last week as the US, NATO, the UN and the Kabul government all issued different views on plans to end the nine year Afghan war by bombarding Taliban with tens of millions in cash.
One thing is clear: the US and its NATO allies are losing the war in Afghanistan in spite of their fearsome arsenal of high tech weapons and war chests of billions of dollars.
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One thing is clear: the US and its NATO allies are losing the war in Afghanistan in spite of their fearsome arsenal of high tech weapons and war chests of billions of dollars.
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January 22, 2010
The Volcker Plan: First Thoughts
Chaos. Confusion. Bewilderment. Twenty-four hours after the president's big announcement there's still an awful lot of head scratching going on about the Volcker Plan. Perhaps it will now begin to clear. But the rhetoric, the talk, the reporting haven't cleared up the biggest questions, the most obvious of which is that it's very difficult to see how this plan a) would have avoided the financial crisis in the first place or b) deals with the largest, hairiest, most chronic problems out there, the tangle of too-big-to-fail and moral hazard. Obama's statement Thursday only added to the confusion by slinging around terms, like TBTF and proprietary trading, whose technical definitions are murky at best.
It was, in short, pretty obviously a political speech, the silliest part of which was his ringing declaration that this plan would insure that "never again" would banks be too big to fail. First, saying "never again" is a dangerous fantasy. Second, even a cursory examination of the plan suggests it's far less about size and systemic impact and far more about conflict, speculation and politics.
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It was, in short, pretty obviously a political speech, the silliest part of which was his ringing declaration that this plan would insure that "never again" would banks be too big to fail. First, saying "never again" is a dangerous fantasy. Second, even a cursory examination of the plan suggests it's far less about size and systemic impact and far more about conflict, speculation and politics.
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Mass. Confusion in Health Care
As I looked out the window in Massachusetts this morning, everything seemed the same. But, from what I read and hear, everything changed on Tuesday night. That's confusing.
The confusion started as a red Republican, Scott Brown, threatened to take Ted Kennedy's bluest-of-blue, Democratic Senate seat. Then, on Tuesday, it happened - Brown won. Now, it's Mass. Confusion as the Boston Globe headlines "A New Political Landscape," and the Wall Street Journal quotes a Senate aide saying, "People are hysterical right now."
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The confusion started as a red Republican, Scott Brown, threatened to take Ted Kennedy's bluest-of-blue, Democratic Senate seat. Then, on Tuesday, it happened - Brown won. Now, it's Mass. Confusion as the Boston Globe headlines "A New Political Landscape," and the Wall Street Journal quotes a Senate aide saying, "People are hysterical right now."
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