Top Brass Measuring Up Obama (and talking about it)

The Washington Post reports:

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, went unarmed into his first meeting with the new commander in chief -- no aides, no PowerPoint presentation, no briefing books. Summoned nine days ago to President-elect Barack Obama's Chicago transition office, Mullen showed up with only a pad, a pen and a desire to take the measure of his incoming boss.

Sounds reasonable enough. We all measure up a new boss, hoping to get a sense for how smart they are, how you'll get along, and frankly, whether or not they deserve to be your boss. But how many of us feel comfortable publicizing our impressions? How appropriate is it to stand around the water cooler and speak loudly and boldly about how good or bad the new CEO is? Probably not a good idea. Would you go on TV or speak to reporters? No again, right? It's simply not good employee citizenship.

Now imagine that your job dealt with matters of life and death and that your new boss was in charge of telling you, let's be honest folks, who to kill, how and where. Imagine the profound importance of your real and perceived relationship with that new boss. The utmost care must be put into ensuring things go smoothly and that everyone knows their place, the chain of command is without question. Not doing so puts people and property in real risk of injury, destruction, or death. Now let me ask the same question. How appropriate would it be in this case to publicize your impression of the new boss? Probably not so much, I'd say.

Nevertheless, as the article goes on to explain, some very top people in the military are flagrantly and very publicly passing judgment on Obama. While their comments tend to be generally positive, I can't help but wonder if such open verdicts are not completely out of place and, I'll use the word again, entirely inappropriate. Besides the issue of politeness (you wouldn't do it about your own boss even at McDonald's) and the stakes (we're talking about a job that entails protecting and killing potentially large numbers of people here), there is the matter of degrees of superiority. The divide that separates a corporate CEO and a line worker is big, indeed, but qualitatively, it pails in comparison to that which separates a commander-in-chief and an Army or Marine general. I believe that they have no place whatsoever, at least not in their capacity as military personnel, commenting publicly about their impressions of the new president's intellect, personality, or predisposition. It's simply not their place.

The reasons such comments are deemed okay, I believe, is that there is a bias that Democratic presidents are impotent wimps who either loath the military or don't know what to do with it. I wonder if the top brass passed judgment on Bush the same way? My guess is that they did not.

But what do you think? Thanks for commenting.

Will the University of Michigan Save the World?

A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world, scientists at the University of Michigan claim.

Read all about it.

Any guesses how long it will take for the project to be either shut down completely or marginalized into oblivion?

Just do it, right now

Almost a quarter of a century since Ethiopia suffered the devastating famine that led to Live Aid concerts around the world and an outpouring of global generosity, a tenth of Ethiopia’s population is at risk of starvation.

After three successive years of drought, the landscape is parched and desolate and temperatures soar above 50 degrees.

For the first time in a generation famine has hit the capital Addis Ababa. The price of food has increased three fold. People queue throughout the night for government subsidized wheat.

Save the Children is leading the way in providing relief to Ethiopians suffering. Don't wait. Don't make an excuse. Just pick up your credit card right now and make a donation of $25 with the widget to the left. Thanks.

Get Your War On

This series from 23/6 Video is brilliant.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

2008 a Good year to Buy Property

I've long thought that CNBC's Jim Cramer was kind of a wacko and his "predictions" largely worthless but this video from January really takes the cake.

"The language of today's international markets."

Watch Obama endorse the importance of linguistic and cultural literacy, particularly with respect to China and Japan.

No one's laughing anymore

This clip is now a part of presidential history. Notice the laughter. No one's laughing anymore. I also love the forced smile on Hillary's face. I think she might have known she was in trouble (or not, which was the real problem):

How to Kill the GOP: Give people what they want.

Those who read my blogs know that I like to deconstruct things to their most basic terms. HuffPost, via The Kos, is reporting that the passage of universal health care would destroy the long-term political prospects of the GOP, just as it killed conservative parties in England. James Pethokoukis, at U.S. News and World Report, writes: "After the [British] Labor Party established the National Health Service after World War II, supposedly conservative workers and low-income people under religious and other influences who tended to support the Conservatives were much more likely to vote for the Labor Party when health care, social welfare, education and pro-working class policies were enacted by labor-supported governments."

In essence, the GOP would be ruined if people got what they wanted, or more simply, if they failed at preventing people from getting what they want. And once they had it, they'd never again be fooled by the erroneous rhetoric about how big government's manifestly bad and how taking charge of your own life (or not) is always better than getting help [from uncle Sam].

A Scholars' Dirty Little Secret

A trusted senpai shared this with me. It's the teaching scholars' dirty little secret: Run effective classes and provide satisfying learning experiences while minimizing the time and effort put into teaching. As much as I'd like to disagree, it's pretty much necessary. Failing this makes research almost impossible, especially if you have a family. So the question is how to pull it off. I have some ideas, in no particular order:

• Use video podcasts. You could even substitute a whole week of lecturing with a series of 15-minute podcasts.
  
• Minimize testing. One mid-term and one final should do the trick. Other assessments could be done online (but avoid spending too much time setting those up unless they can be used year after year).
  
• Don't change assigned readings too often for the same classes. Introducing a new reading or two each semester's okay but don't get too over-zealous. Go with what works and stick with it. Saves prep time.
  

I'll think of more and add them. I'm doing this more for myself than anyone out there. Add your ideas to comments if you like. Input from students is particularly welcome.

Can you pardon the innocent?

There's been a lot of speculation swirling around about Bush's potential presidential pardons. In particular, people are wondering if he'll preemptively pardon any and all unnamed individuals in his administration or their agents who had anything to do with torture, extraordinary rendition, and warrantless wiretaps. A "blanket" pardon of unnamed people is not unprecedented but earlier examples were all part of a national healing process after a time of profound social and political upheaval. I feel this is very different.

The immediate problem is that the pardons would be for acts that undermine our constitution and are contrary to our fundamental national values. They are violations of human rights and, no doubt, have placed our country in greater danger by enraging people with their audacious flouting of international law.

For me, however, I see another fault, one that cuts to the core of the problem with the Bush administration. How can you pardon people for "crimes" before those people have been found guilty in a court of law? If they are not guilty of a crime, they are innocent, no? And therein lies the problem I think. The Bush folks for years now have been chasing, capturing, wiretapping, torturing, and locking people up on pure suspicion. No longer is guilt necessary to be nasty to people. Tangentially but related, I've noticed lately how the White House has altogether stopped using the word "suspected" in sentence such as "US aircraft bombed the camp of a [suspected] terrorist with ties to Al Queda." No trial needed. He's a terrorist!

Admirably, they are applying the same standard to themselves. They presume their people are guilty of a crime, thus in need of pardoning. But I say, how can you pardon "innocent" people? Or has they very ideas of "innocent until proven guilty" become a trite nicety, no longer valid in America?

Slaughterhouse Palin

Some videos you just have to see to believe. On Thursday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared in Wasilla in order to pardon a local turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving. This proved to be a slightly absurd but ultimately unremarkable event. But what came next was positively surreal. After the pardon Palin proceeded to do an interview with a local TV station while the turkeys were being SLAUGHTERED in the background!! Seemingly oblivious to the gruesomeness going on over her shoulder, she carries on talking for over three minutes. Watch the video below to see for yourself. Be warned, it's kind of gruesome.

I laughed so hard I cried:

Mitt Romney and Socialism

Mitt Romney might not have realized it but in the first three paragraphs of his editorial in today's NYT, he makes a strong case for nationalized universal health care and stronger social security entitlements. After all, health insurance costs and retirement pensions are the two biggest burdens the US automakers must shoulder that their foreign competitors do not.

Sacrifice

Obama's landslide victory has left me speechless with elation. My faith in the American people is restored. They decisively chose to reject the almost reptilian reactionism of the past 7 years; choosing hope, progress, and change over fear, negativity, and a backward world view. I like most of all Obama's emphasis on sacrifice. To be sure, I believe the Bush era, politically and economically, can be characterized perhaps best by selfishness. He and his cronies believe firmly that a "me-first" attitude is what makes America and Americans strong. But I believe a world where every man is an island who cares none about others and only wants to protect himself and those he loves, is a very bleak and lonely world. I also believe that this might be their objective. Lonely people, who have little hope or sense of community spend their days stuffing themselves with stimulation: more tv, more food, more movies, more alcohol, more sex, more travel, and on and on. Thus, capitalism thrives! But the great challenges of our age--global warming, dependence on foreign oil, and disaster capitalism-- can only be solved if people begin to live in moderation and with a stronger sense for their duty to be more responsible citizens. Yes, this requires less consumption, more thoughtfulness, in a word: sacrifice. Obama, I believe, has inspired me and many millions more to make those sacrifices.

It's a New Day

I'm back after a very long time away.

Celebrating the election of Barack Obama.

Watch this video from will.i.am:
It's a New Day

Anime and manga. Teach English in Japan. Jobs in Japan. Study in Japan. Learn Japanese. Study abroad. Japanese Language. Japan Tourism and Travel. Jalpak. Qantas. Cheap Flights. Hotels in Tokyo. Ryokan. Ski Hokkaido. Hotels in Kyoto. Matthew Stavros. ESL. TOEFL. Japanese movies. DVD. Otaku. Samurai swords. Kamikaze. Geisha. Japanese friends.